While I am not yet finished this book (I am in the final stretch) I am finding the book somewhat..very frustrating. Correct me if I'm wrong (I'm reading two series at the moment, Sword of Truth being the other, and quite glad I am) but I seem to recall the previous books having smoother transitions between leaving off with one character and returning to them (filling in details of what they have been up to, while other characters went about on thier adventures), and to give Mat's killing of Couladin little more than an "...oh, btw, Mat killed Couladin..." seems a little odd since Jordan is so inclined to add as much detail as his fingers can possible type.

I am the type of person that, once I start a book, I have to finish it, no matter how much I hate it, so...this book is taking forever to get through, but at least I know I will have a change of scenery when I switch to the next SoT novel after this one. The endless nagging of women and their attitudes towards men, how stupid they are, how stubborn they are, how they cannot be trusted with more information than they can handle in any given moment...(and yes I am female lol) but the author has more than made his point about his feelings towards women and how they feel about men. Of course, the women are ALL b***** or so it would seem, at least each one certainly thinks all the rest are. And they way the women seem to think they own a man just because SHE likes him...*sigh* will this book ever end?

I will say, I have liked to WoT story for the most part, but it is getting tiring to read, especially knowing this dribble will go on for far to many more books before it ends IF it ends. As yet, I have not heard that it does. I do have to say though, I have to agree with R.G Dawg and some of his comments about the series as a whole (Feb. 15, 2004 http://www.sffworld.com/brev/si179p1.html)

As for the volume of characters in the series, if you have ever read Kate Elliott's, as yet unfinished, series, Crown of Stars, this one is a breeze to keep track of. I can only hope that once I start the next book (after the next SoT novel) that I can enjoy it and not have to drag myself, kicking and screaming, to the couch to read on (if only I wouldn't hate myself for not finishing the series).

I find this to be the best book in the collection, though, unfortunately I did not like that we only saw a glimmer of Perrin's story at the beggining and never again afterwards... I truly think that Perrin should be more part of the story.
But the ending of Shadow Rising makes me want to read this immediately and was not wrong when it 'promised' an amazing book.
I would suggest only starting from the beggining because you can only enjoy this collection to it's fullest if you have all the information you need.

When I started this book, I was starting it with the cliffhanger from the previous book. Robert Jordan has a cunning ability to take an idea, expand it and make it addictive. I know of many people who are also addicted to Robert Jordan's books and it's nice to know that it's not just me.
In this book you can't wait till you get to read about a certain person's story. How everything fits together is brilliant, but I wish there was more on Perrin's story and not just references.
It feels like you become part of a well-developed world that seams to have references to our world that are casually slipped in. Here is a warning, that his series, like Eddings is addictive.