Probably my favorite of the series. Perrin had his show in the previous novel, but Mat, Rand, and Nynaeve really come into their own in this one. Some of my favorite scenes are in this book.

But it’s also chock full of gender stereotypes and some excessive handwringing over the propriety of character attitudes and clothing. It can be annoying as hell to read in sections. ( )

After a couple of less-good installments of the WoT, this one became more fun again.

Rand finally got his Aiel in gear and headed across the mountains to start conquering in the name of getting the world's $h1T together. (Not to mention making some interesting, complicated headway in the love department).

The villains made an appearance at the beginning, which I loved, because then we knew what everyone was up against and it increased the sense of what was at stake, rather than some of the volumes in which a random villain showed up at the end almost out of nowhere.

Mat's behavior and abilities became "curiouser and curiouser," with a nice twist in the final battle.

I wasn't as into the storyline with Nynaeve and Elayne. Joining a circus and trying to figure out where they were supposed to go didn't really keep my interest, but the outcome was cool, especially what ended up happening with Birgitte and Moghedien. Nynaeve became steadily more insufferable throughout her storyline--I got tired of being in her head. I hope she manages to pull the stick out of her bum later in the series and develops her power to Heal.

No Perrin in this book. Sad. :( ( )

Just left with one burning question... Who is really dead and who is nor? ( )

Fantasy

I like story and series in general (I’ve read them all several times). That being said, the majority of the female characters unfortunately have gotten on my nerves many times and for the same behaviours, over and over again. Their tisking, braid pulling, and condescending (supposed to be funny?) comments about men get really old. And the male viewpoint of women isn’t much better. Some parts one just has to grin and bare. ( )