:fistbump
Me too! I've just finished it and this was the book that made me fall in love with the series originally, I liked Eye of the world, but it was The Great Hunt that made me dedicated to read the whole thing to the end. . .
In case anyone wants to check it out, the Tar Valon Times is running a three part series ranking all the WoT books. Click on the BLOG link at the top of the page to check it out. Fair warning - spoilers for the whole WoT series abound!
I think the Eye of the World is my favorite. I'm a sucker for beginnings. I love the inept farmboys. I also really love Moiraine in that book, she's so inspiring and in control. I enjoy Nynaeve and Perrin's battles to accept themselves. Plus I really like all the subtle parallels to Lord of the Rings. It's a nice homage without crossing the line into a parody or rip off.
The Shadow Rising, I think is my second favorite, it's where the worldbuilding really started to come into its own for me with the Aiel and the glimpses of the Age of Legends. Everything started feeling much less "generic D&D campaign setting" for me at that point. Although the Great Hunt has excellent world building too with the introduction of the Seanchan and the Portal Worlds.
The Dragon Reborn is my favorite book among them, constant excitement and the build up to Tear but the Shadow Rising has my favorite moments (Perrin in the two rivers!) but I mostly hated the Shadow Rising aside from that. An awkward situation lol. Dont get me wrong, the Aiel story was interesting. Its just TSR's pacing was often unbearable.
The Great Hunt and New Spring. The GH had lots of action and adventure. NS really gave me a great idea of the history of Aes Sedai, what they were about, and how they rose through the ranks.