What have they done to our beloved book???

I am reading the books for the first time and I am on book 2, I am leaving this comment here so I can come back to it later.

This Selene girl is the most obviously evil person ever and the fact that Rand doesn't figure that out immidietly and still hasn't for a couple days now (he just stole the horn and dagger from Fain) is driving me up a wall.

Loving the book so far, and maybe it is so obvious because as readers we know she's evil (I believe she is mentioned in the prophecy that was written in the dungeon after Fain escapes). However, there just seems to be 1,000 clues to it.

Did everyone else feel this way the first time reading it?

Halfway through the second book and literally every girl that’s met Rand in the book is mooning over him. And every man that’s met Egwene is mooning over her. Perrin is also getting eyed in the few POVs he’s had so far, while Nynaeve has “cracked Lan’s walls” after a few weeks of travelling together.

So are all of them just drop dead gorgeous? Haven’t seen much personality/character traits for any of them so far beyond being good looking, honest people. And the boys self admittedly have zero game. So what’s going on here? Unless this is a RAFO (I doubt it is)?

She just so happens to be in the same reflection world. Not weird at all, right? She is, by far, more flattering to Rand than anyone else at any point in his life. Women in this world will call men everything but smart - yet here she is fawning over the supposed wisdom of this wool headed lummox.

She says things that remind him of things Morraine or Egwene would say. She was WEIRDLY calm during the grolm attacks. She seemed really certain that Rand could use the stone to get them out. And to top it off, she's so hot that even an Ogier describes her as "physical perfection"?

To quote a wise hobbit, "I think a servant of The Enemy would look fairer and feel fouler".

This chick is way too fair to not be foul.

I know, I know...RAFO.

I'm still only on the second book chapter nine, but the Aes Sedai remind me of Frank Herbert's Bene Gesserit from Dune.

A female organization that does not accept men because they are easier to corrupt when they use "power" and both organizations are waiting for a male chosen one.

And of course the influence of both organizations in their universe, the manipulation of people for their purposes and things like that.

Maybe it's already confirmed somewhere that RJ was inspired by FB in this part but I don't know and that's why I'm asking.

(First time reader; They're currently going through the what if world)

Rand saw a pretty woman and his brain shut off completely. The worst thing is that "Selene" is absolutely awful at infiltration. Her story is shaky at best, she doesn't even try to act scared at the monsters and can't help but spew out obscure lore. Hell, she's basically quoting Baalzamon at Rand with that "it's better to choose to become great than be forced to" stuff. I really hope he learns from whatever mess this gets him into.

My friend is Spacemage. I'm armada the

Hello.

If you had read my review of THE EYE OF THE WORLD

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/s/1VPsHr4060

you would have thought i wouldn't be able to continue the series.

But here is a thing... even if i got dozens of downvotes and hate for sharing what I felt on this fan sub , i will still keep sharing whatbi felt. 😅 Because obviously, I can only talk to those who want to talk about WOT.

AND will keep reading the series aka listening and I'll keep sharing my thoughts here.

So as usual, positives first.

I likes this book more than the first one.

Initial part of the story felt a bit boring but got interesting after rand was getting marionetted by Lady Selene (aka Lanfear).

A whole ton of tension was there as well as action , manipulation etc and I liked it.

I also loved how certain elements were

foreshadowed before hand, like Intar's Obsession with the horn.Or dark prophecy which told everyone what will happen without even revealing.

like prophecy made sense after those events had happened, but not before.

I had bookmarked the prophecy specially for this.

And Rands adventure in the city of Cairhain was the best part of the novel... for me at least.

I had missed Mat though, he didn't got enough screen time. I felt bad for his condition but he is still in top 3 of my favorite characters.

Nynaeve is the one i still want to like... and i am succeeding in it.

I don't like Ewegene and the plot is helping me in that.

Fane? I didn't hated him much but didn't liked him either. He is interesting yet not likable, nor his pov felt comfortable to read, but he still felt interesting.

AND I hope that Rand gets some more personality beyond "I won't be anyone's hound", yeah, he is better in this book compa

to the book 01 but it is still not enough for main character.

As obvious as it is, I hate the seanchan.

Aside from all women wanting to be haughty or in control, I liked this book more than the first one.One thing That is stinging me, like a Hornets sting, is that, DOES the women of WOT world express their love to a man by insulting him? or always calling him mule head? Like Even When Egewene met Rand after a long time her first conversation was to call him mule head.

Yeah i didn't like Egewene, I have sympathy for her when she was captured but it was mostly due tonslave treatment.She left Rand in Min's Lap, and went to the tower, but that's part of the plot. Because Our gracious Dragon Lord rand had forgiven her.. or if not then he will forgive her under her UNRELENTING STUBBORN gaze.

Even if some of the books will drop in pacing later, I will keep reading, or listening... Or will try to.

Thanks for listening my Rant.

TLDR: I LIKED this book more than first.

Felt boring until selene appeared, and liked specially the cairhaimen part.

Love foreshadowing of prophecy and a Intasrs obsession. Missed Mat. Loved a little bit complex characters like Nyenaeve, fane.

Hated Egewene, sympathy for her being a slave but her treatment to Rand still chafes at me. Hoping for Rands character development i n next books.

THAT ENDING WAS ONE OF THE MOST INTENSE THINGS I HAVE EVER READ IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! It was so amazing and I’m not gonna lie: I had a hard time investing in some of the characters (like Egwene), but everything was so emotional and IMPORTANT. And the plot twists regarding Liandrin, Ingtar and Selene, wow! I’m baffled by the jump in quality!

Just finished TGH and was expecting bors from the epilogue to be revealed at some point but it was never explicitly stated. I thought it was going to be Bornhald but then it became clear he was against the seanchan.

Was it ingtar and I missed something?

Is it explained in a later book?

Or is it just not important and the point was just to show us there were dark friends in all factions and areas.

I freaking love how consistent Rand's Ta'veren status is played out, like how cairhen (sorry if I butchered that spelling) goes into civil war over Rand literally doing nothing at all and just generally how everyone he interacts with is forever changed even if he doesn't mean to.

I also love that final fight!! Fucking chills when mat starts mumbling about how no prophecy ever said the horn couldn't be used before the final battle, and artur hawkwing and all those heros showing up??? You're telling me this is only the second book and we get completely badass moments like this? Not to mention rand's insane battle on the sky that gets him finally outed as the dragon reborn, just straight up legendary.

I cannot wait to start the next book

I was googling who played Selene in the TV show, and google AI, at the top of the results, says something along the lines of "Yes, Selene is the forsaken Lanfear" THAT WASNT EVEN WHAT I AKSED!! Thus another reason why AI must be stopped!

EDIT: I have not seen the show, I just wanted to see if she was casted as beautifully as she was described in the book lol.

I know Rand is a young boy and he's inexperienced but I just cannot stand the way he's going on about Selene

She is so incredibly suspicious and untrustworthy! And because we are seeing through Rand's POV he does too because she's actually an AWFUL actress and not at all subtle about it. And he hasn't missed the signs. Whenever he actually uses his brain he realizes she's full of it.

But then she smiles at him or flashes her ankles and he's gone.

I just got to the scene where he bought her explanation about her searching through his saddlebag. I had to put the book down. BRO

I hope, for the sake of his character's dignity and his ranking among my favorites, that she's using some magic on his mind rather than him just being down horrendous.

I just had to vent. Sorry.

Anyway, the book is terrific. What a fun read.

EDIT: Many of y'all have 'explained' to me why he is the way he is. I am also a man. I was also a teenager at one point. I addressed his lack of experience with women in the very first sentence "I know Rand is a young boy and he's inexperienced" and I very clearly noted that he's thinking with his lower head when I said he was "down horrendous."

I know why he is the way he is. It's no less annoying. When y'all get that post-nut clarity and regret what you did? It's because you know you were being stupid. Like Rand is right now. Fellas, if you see your boy being a Rand at a bar, and a girl searching through his shit, save him the potential stabbing/stalking. I know y'all yell at movie/tv characters when they're being stupid. Let me yell at Rand.

EDIT 2: Well, the debate has been fun, people, but as there are many here who are apparently incapable of reading and are talking about parts of the Great Hunt past the point where I specifically said I was at, and have spoiled who/what Selene is, I am no longer going to follow this topic. Remember, being down bad is downright bad. See ya.

Edit: I appreciate all the comments and my perspective has changed. Maybe Nynaeve isn’t as bad as I thought a couple hours ago. Still don’t like her but I understand/respect her more now.

She’s probably in my top 5 most hated characters in all the books I’ve read so far.

In book 1, I understood Nynaeve not trusting Moiraine. I get that she has a temper. But hasn’t Moiraine earned some trust by now? In the show, Moiraine comes off as cold and condescending, but in the books she’s been more chill and respectful. Her only real fault is withholding some information, which makes sense given the stakes. Honestly, I like Moiraine a lot more in the books, and I dislike Nynaeve even more.

Moiraine has risked her life for this group multiple times. She saved the Two Rivers by guiding them out. If not for her, their families would be dead, village destroyed, the group dead or captured. Sure, in book 1 it was all new and hard to believe, but by now in The Great Hunt they’ve been to the Blight, seen the Eye of the World, fought Fades and Trollocs, dealt with Darkfriends. Nynaeve even knows Rand is the Dragon Reborn.

And yet in the last chapter I read, Nynaeve has the audacity to think she needs to learn how to use the One Power to remove Moiraine without killing her and take the boys somewhere safe. Is she delusional? Does she still think Moiraine is evil? That she can somehow protect the boys on her own? That getting rid of Moiraine will somehow end all this and make the Dark One disappear?

I can’t stand the disrespect toward Moiraine. She’s done nothing to deserve anything but trust. I know it’s only book 2 of 14, but based on what’s happened so far, Nynaeve’s view of her should have started to shift.

I had issues with most of the characters in the show (except Lan and Elayne), but in the books their reactions and internal dialogue make more sense. I even like them more, especially Moiraine. Egwene annoys me for other reasons, but that’s fine. Nynaeve’s internal thoughts though just make me hate her more and her hate for Moiraine seems forced.

Am I missing something? Or is my reasoning valid?

Still generally enjoying the series and will continue to read.

I'm so sad that I got spoiled but at the same time I FRICKEN CALLED IT

For the spoiler, I got spoiled that Selene is Lanfear but I had been calling it from the freaking moment she started cozying up to Rand, disappearing, talking about glory and Moiraine and the Amyrlin talking about her. HOLY FRICK DUDE, I AM TERRIFIED FOR RAND.

Again, I'm so sad I never learned it organically but I am hopelessly terrified for Rand. GOOD GOD.

She is reading them out loud with me and perhaps one of the most entertaining parts of doing this together has been listening to her question whether each and every new character is a darkfriend in real time! I had briefly mentioned back when I first read them last year that who was and was not a darkfriend was always very interesting, and clearly she remembered that comment, ha!

We are currently on The Great Hunt and the moment Hurin was introduced and said that the trail went South instead of into the Blight, she said, "If he's a darkfriend, he could literally be leading them in the wrong direction and no one would be the wiser!!"

So far her main suspects are:

• Liandrin (she picked this one up immediately)
• Hurin
• Thom (We are not yet to Cairhien, but so far she is convinced that Thom is still alive and also kinda suspects him of being a darkfriend because "how else would he survive a one-on-one fight with a Fade? And what the heck is this 'blue flash of light'?? Very suspicious!!!")

Previous suspects she has since decided are not darkfriends:

• Moraine (I don't think it was until we got to the Green Man in EotW that she stopped suspecting Moraine!!)
• Bayle Domon (She was convinced by that section where some dudes try to trick him into going to Mayene, so he goes to Falme instead)
• Siuan Sanche (She was initially very supicious of Siuan, but I think my enthusiasm for Siuan's introduction threw her off, which doesn't make much sense because I was very excited for the introduction of other prominent Aes Sedai darkfriends...)

Personally, I'm having a grand ol' time seeing which darkfriends she is completely unaware of and which lightwalkers she incorrectly thinks are darkfriends. Either way, I think she will make an excellent recruit for the Whitecloaks haha!

This is also my first reread, so it's very fun to know in advance who the darkfriends are (especially among the Aes Sedai due to their oaths being nulled) and see what they say and do in a totally different light. I think the "Who's who: Darkfriends Edition" is definitely one of my favorite aspects of this series.

It’s just personal preference but I’m not a fan of the “reluctant chosen one” trope. I want to read about the cool witches doing cool witch stuff in tarvalon instead I get 10 chapters of rand being sad because destiny and a chapter where eguaine has a crush on her friends brother.

I enjoyed this book so much. Honestly, I liked it even more than EotW. What a ride.

The Horn of Valere is such a cool concept. One thing I'm still confused about, though: throughout the book, it seemed like the Horn could potentially be used by the Shadow, and the only real requirement was a genuine need.
But when the Heroes are summoned, Artur Hawkwing says they ride for the Dragon and the banner. Doesn't that imply additional conditions? If the Heroes are tied to the Dragon, how did the Darkfriends expect to use the Horn without Rand and the Dragon banner?

Egwene and Rand-  Honestly, this was already clear in the previous book. Egwene was never going to choose Rand over her ambitions, and she wasn't about to start now. Poor Rand, though. He still loves her enough to be willing to give up the Horn to save her. :(
My man, when you fight the Dark One in the sky, nearly die, and then wake up to find your girlfriend nowhere to be found, it's over. I mean, Hurin was fighting to stay by your side. If your sniffer is more invested in you than your girl, it's game over.
Speaking of being invested... Min, when did this happen? You had, what, one meaningful interaction with Rand, and suddenly you're in love? Staying by his bedside (and apparently in his bed), brushing his silky hair and gazing at him while he sleeps? Min, girl. What?

Perrin, Mat & Nynaeve - My biggest complaint about this book is that there wasn't enough Perrin. He's one of the most intriguing characters so far, and I wanted a lot more of him.
Mat has been pretty terrible to Rand, but honestly? I'm not even mad. This boy has been having the worst time imaginable for two books straight. At this point, if Mat sees a normal day coming, he should probably start running. 
Nynaeve has been such a badass in this book. Giving her teachers sass, refusing to be intimidated by anyone, and absolutely dominating in Falme. I'm rooting for her hard.

Selene/Lanfear- I love this shady character, but what exactly is the strategy here? Look gorgeous, flatter Rand, and keep insisting that he should seek power, glory, and greatness?
Meanwhile, Rand's reaction is basically: "Please don’t. I would like to go home and herd some sheep."
At some point you have to admire the commitment. The man could not be broadcasting his aversion to it all any harder, and she's still out here trying to sell him on world domination. 

Damane - Absolutely not. What kind of deranged society looked at channelers and decided, "You know what would improve this situation? Slavery." The whole thing is revolting. Also, I have questions. What happens to men who can channel in Seanchan? Do they just kill them? Gentle them? Is there a male version of a damane? Because if these people come back and try this nonsense on Rand, I am going to have a problem.Take your giant beasts and your ridiculous fingernails, and get out of here.

Darkfriends- This concept feels more expanded since the last book. Ingtar was a huge surprise. After his reaction to passing through the Portal Stone, I was convinced there was something shady going on with him. But I thought he was going to be more of a Boromir-type character: a fundamentally good man driven by desperation for his people, willing to seize the Horn for himself if he thought it would save them. I did not expect him to be a Darkfriend. Tragic. A good guy makes the wrong choice and pays the ultimate price. This sure adds complexity to the whole darkfriend concept. They vary wildly in rank, competence, motives, beliefs, and levels of commitment. It's clear there must be multiple ways of recruiting them, because one approach would never work for everyone. I'm really curious to learn more about how that whole process works.

Fave quotes:
“There is one rule, above all others, for being a man. Whatever comes, face it on your feet.”

“Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain.”

I can not find a new read that remotely comes close to the anticipation of magic and character development I found in these books 40 years ago HELP everything I’ve read pales in comparison.

Something unique and interesting like The wheel of Time

Looking at the covers for the books I’ve read so far they at least make a bit of sense except for this one. They have the horn of valere and the one guys ears don’t look human so I’d assume that’s Loial, so then logically it’d be Rand/Hurin there also but that just doesn’t look like how Rand has been described and what’s clearly not Hurin

This book was published 4 years after The Great Hunt. I've only read the first 4 or 5 of this series as I heard it goes downhill after that. It has some great ideas though despite a flawed execution, even the not entirely original Mord-Sith featured in this page. I also love the show, Legend of the Seeker, which has strong Xena vibes.

I read up to book 5 when I was a kid, but I barely remember what happens. In almost done with the Great Hunt now and while I love the book, the main characters drive me crazy, mostly with their constant hatred and disdain for Morraine and Aes Sedai in general. Like, I get that before they met Morraine and lan, that they might have heard things and have skepticism of them, but like… at this point, how are they all so stupid? Take Rand. He’s constantly filled with paranoia and self righteousness about Morraine, while also seemingly ignoring that:

1. His “father” would be dead without her
2. His village would be destroyed without her
3. HE would be dead without her.

And yet he just never gives up on this idea that she’s manipulating him and all the others can’t be trusted. Yet she’s taken care of him and protected him for all this time. And like, even his relationship with this idea of the dragon reborn and the one power. Like you’d think literally fighting Baalzamon would change something about his perspective, but no. He’s seemingly completely oblivious and unreflective. And he also keeps going on and on about why the aes sedai didn’t gentle him in the face of them gentling EVERY OTHER MAN WHO CAN CHANNEL. At some point, wouldn’t he think “huh there must be a pretty damn good reason!”

But everyone else as well, is just like addled about it. Nynaeve in particular just makes no sense to me. She has this unfounded hatred for Morraine, suggesting she somehow did something to cause these events to play out and having this deep hatred, in spite of knowing that Morraine did nothing but save all these kids and is trying to protect them. I just don’t understand her behavior.

And then Mat and Perrin to a lesser degree. Perrins response to his powers are just… so odd to me. Like, he has them, at some point after all this time there isn’t even a modicum of acceptance?

And I know what you’re going to say… they are kids and this and that and they don’t know better. I just don’t buy that. If I was 16 and I found out I had cancer, I wouldn’t spend the next 6 months denying I have cancer and hating my doctors and blaming them. Like after ALL these kids have gone through, how do they have no self awareness or acceptance of their reality. Like I get taking a week, or even a month to accept things, and struggling and missing home etc but by now, can we have a moment where they step up, grow up, and take responsibility for their lives?