I honestly didn't know how I'd rate this book. It started out really strong, but I found that the parts with Nynaeve and Elayne dragged, along with Egwene in T'A'R. I guess I couldn't care about Nynaeve and Elayne hunting Black Ajah and Egwene really started to annoy me with how bratty she is.

Despite that, I liked this book. There's a lot of things that really drives the plot and how the characters developed. Seeing Rand's POV again was really great in terms of seeing how he's changing and how his abilities are starting to weigh on him, as well as the prophecies. We really get to see him get more powerful, but at the same time we see the taint starting to affect him. We also learn who Rand's parents were and I liked the scenes where he acknowledged it.

We also get to see the Two Rivers and Emond's Field again. I actually looked forward to the scenes there a lot since it hasn't been "seen" since the first book and I wanted to see what happened to it. I liked those best because we start to see these peaceful farmer folk accept that their lives have changed and they have to adapt. Also, that scene with Aram was pretty sad, even if it was so short, it did have a lot of impact.

Mat seems to be coming into his own as well. There's definitely something going on with him, something that would make him someone other than a gambler. Mat is certainly a hero in this story and I expect his arc to develop a lot more.

I don't want to spoil more but as usual, I enjoyed how detailed the book was, and how everything develops. There's a lot more world building and lore in this book and both are welcome, especially since how it was delivered was handled well.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book and seeing how things develop further from here.