If you felt a strong influence from the works of JRR Tolkien in "The Eye of the World" is far less obvious here. Direct references, in any case, are less numerous. Of course, reactions and behavior Ingtar compared to Cor are often reminiscent of Boromir those attracted by the Ring. But Jordan is emancipated also the Lord of the Rings by offering many other original features. Whether with the Great Game of Cairhien nobles, by the use of stone doors or pathways, or by the return of thousand years later Artur Hawkwing armies sent across the ocean to Aryth (1) it clearly offers us an original fantasy, built on sources that she never thinks of denying. The Wheel of Time is not inscribed in the epic vein of Guy Gavriel Kay, where it is the characters who have the most beautiful role. Here, often, it is ultimately the scenery that steals the hero, and rich descriptions are obviously not for nothing. We always want to know more about the Age of Legends, one wonders how these could be built two gigantic statues at Tremalking and nearly Tremonsien or what these parallel and vaporous trails crisscrossing the sky worldwide Stones Doors ...
However, the book is not without flaws. If one is happy to find the character of Thom Merrilin to Cairhien, we are somewhat disappointed with the small number of pages devoted to it. It finally did cross again here that the trajectory of Rand al'Thor by a (wrong) serendipity. If it is really he who murders the king Galldrian revenge, we would have liked to read the story. Later, the transportation of different groups to the Pointe Toman - which by the Doors Stones, who by assault - seems a bit fast, almost as if Jordan needed to take his characters, but he could not devote enough pages. Fortunately, he was careful to show how the Stones and the Doors Routes could be dangerous - description of alternative lives Rand al'Thor during the use of the Stone Gate is also superb - and we do So not expect however that all the characters are traveling like that now. In fact, history is so rich it almost seems it is a little cramped in the seven hundred pages of "The Great Hunt," and it would have taken two hundred more pages in order to properly tell everything mentioned it!
One thing is certain: Jordan Masters masterfully history and we do not get bored for a second to read his story. The narration is for many, who do not frustrate the reader constantly jumping from one character to another to artificially maintain the suspense, but instead spends the time it takes each thread before weaving go another. The Wheel of Time is a work apart - a work that deserves, of course, with its 10,000 pages -, we will read and re-read it in always finding something new.
(1) This is probably my favorite part of the mythology of the series. An army that disappeared body and many thousand years earlier while crossing the ocean, which was actually founded a civilization on a distant land, and returns to take possession of his land of origin ... I find that a force incredible emerges from this idea.
