an unbelievable book. absolutly amazing. It has a tolkien like feel to it, and some of the same feelings and themes, but much better in my opinion. Good Luck of me ever setting this one free. Its kinda long, and tedious, but in the end, the result is overwhelming. My mind reeled for days, until i could buy the second one, The Great Hunt. and so far, each one in the Wheel of Time series has gotten better and better. The chericters are amazingly well done, and i often find myself thinking of them as real, because they are so well formed. This is an awsome book.