Book Review: 4 Treasure Boxes
Book Two of the Wheel of Time
Publisher: Tor Fantasy; 1st THUS Edition edition (October 15, 1991), ss Market Paperback: 705 pages, Language: English, ISBN-10: 0812517725, ISBN-13: 978-0812517729

The writing in this book is very exciting and the plot is both intricate and well thought out. I have started the 2nd book again (I have now read it 3 times) and it is just as good as the first time, (since it has been several years between readings, I can not clearly remember what is going to happen.) I found the book hard to put down.

There are a number of interesting events in the book and we are introduced to the Seanchan (an invading army from overseas.) The story continues to unfold with new revelations and we learn more about the prophecies. I also enjoyed the way the character’s from Emonds field refer to each other and found their way of looking at life endearing.

It begins directly following the events in the first book.  They have just dealt a blow to the Dark One, and recovered the Horn of Valere.  However, the Horn is stolen and the 3 boys (Rand, Mat and Perrin) are part of the group that go to retrieve it.  They are on the trail of Padan Fain (an evil darkfriend) and Trollocs, being helped by a sniffer (someone who can smell and follow evil.) The 2 girls, Egwene and Nayneve, go with the Aes Sadei back to the White Tower for training in the One Power.

If you have not yet read the book, then do not read anymore of this blog since it details the events of the book.

Rand, Loial and Huran (the sniffer,) get separated from the rest of their group when they are carried away by a portal stone which takes them to a mirror world, a world with no people in it, but a world where they can travel more quickly than the real world.  While there, Rand dreams of the Dark One and in the process his palm is marked with the Heron.  He also meets a beautiful woman, who we later realize is Lanfear (0ne of the forsaken.) With the woman’s help they manage to get back to the real world using a different portal stone ahead of the horn, which Rand recovers.

While they wait for the rest of their group in Cairhien the horn is stolen back by Fain who is taking it to Toman Head in Falme, Rand and friends decide to get there via Portal Stone, however, the trip through the stone is very different this time.  During the trip the group experience innumerable alternative realities and when they finally arrive at their destination several months have passed.

Meanwhile, Liandrin (a member of the Black Ajah) takes Egwene, Nynaeve, Elayne and Min to Falme to be collared by the Seanchan.  This is where they put collars on women who can channel the one power and turn them into slaves.  These collars are able to control the women through pain. However, only Egwene gets collared, Nynaeve and Elayne both manage to escape and with help from Min they are able to free Egwene.

Finally the boys recover the horn and when they are surrounded by enemies from all sides, Mat blows the horn and the heros from the dead (100 important souls who keep being reborn as the wheel turns) come back and fight the enemy under the banner of the dragon. Rand once again faces the Dark One, but this time it is in the sky over Falme where everyone can see the battle and his face is clearly shown.  He manages to once again strike a blow against the Dark One, but in the process he receives an injury in his side that can never really heal.  His other hand is now marked with a heron and it is another sign that he is the dragon reborn.

We are re-introduced to the Captain of the boat that helped Rand, Mat and Thom escape in book one, Bayle Doman, who just happens to have one of the Dark Ones seals in his possession.  One of Seanchan confiscate the seal and place it beside one that he already has.  At the end of the book, he along with everyone else end up in Falme for the culmination of the book and the big battle.  Once everything settles down we find that the two seals are now broken making that 3 of the 7 seals.  The final battle is approaching.

I really liked the way the book ended, it came to a good, satisfying ending, yet there is still much left to happen and I am anxious to see how it all plays out.

To Purchase: “The Great Hunt” from Amazon, click here or on picture above