Good:
- Mat, he was back and I enjoyed almost all of his scenes in this book.
- Related to that, Tuon was good this book. Probably as much because she's mat-related as anything else.
- Androl was outstanding. Before and after the Black Tower got cleared he was great. Pevara worked well with him, though the whole "relationship" happened kind of fast.
- Elayne was only mildly insufferable, same for Faile.
- Just over all it was satisfying. The battles may have dragged on a bit, but it never got to be a chore or anything.
- Corrupted generals. It was a bit over-telegraphed with the dude at the Blight, but was nice and subtle with the other three. Handled really well and really made Graendal seem like a master schemer.
- Olver and the horn was great. I got choked up when he recognized Noal. Someone....someone came back for him...I..I just need a minute...
- BATTLE OGIERS!
- Warped time by the Bore was a brilliant idea. Letting the various battles play out without seeming ridiculously short, without making Rand there drag on too much. Because no one wanted a week worth of that fuckin' dream world fight.
- Egwene was actually pretty great for her last few hours of life.
Bad:
- Before that last few hours Egwene was still fucking awful. Condescending cuntery left and right. Every thought in her head is groan-worthy.
- Rands dream war with the Dark One was gay. I didn't mind once they stopped with the Duelling dream shit, but all that crap before it just felt like filler.
- Perrin's spending the entire book chasing a pretty minor character.
- Every farmer from the Two Rivers is a supernaturally amazing archer? OK...I guess and now Lan says they're also amazing horsemen? Fuck off.
- Bit hamfisted with some of the foreshadowing stuff. Too much "Well that person or thing looks weird, but it's probably nothing........OH SHIT IT'S SOMETHING!". I mean, these people aren't hyper-vigilant by now? Really?
Not sure how I felt about Lanfear at the end. I liked her sort-of redemption arc with Perrin, but it felt rushed at the end. And the way Perrin fought off her compulsion was...cheesy. "I love Faile"...blah. Liked him casually snuffer her out though and taking that hit for Rand doesn't have to.
I didn't hate the change of perspective on the Dark One like some of you, it was pretty ambivalent about it. And I did like the idea that Rand figured out he needed to add the True Power to the seals to make them really work. Not sure why, the idea just resonated with me. Like, a nice glaze of evil will keep him from being able to chip away at them.
Also glad to see from here and other places that the magic pipe at the end wasn't something obvious to other people that only I didn't quite grasp.