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Me, I kind of do, but not without major reservations.

I knew I was not reading Jordan when I saw the word "sprout" 5 times within like a page or two (yes, I GET it already, Sanderson, plants aren't growing), and then showing up throughout the book with depressing regularity. Jordan had his faults, could draw a story out so much it got boring and futile, but I think he had more skill... or maybe just more of a vocabulary.

Also, known characters are acting out-of-character a lot... minor things mostly but a lot of them, I caught myself thinking things like "hey, Egwene wouldn't have said that!" quite a lot. The characters seem... simpler. And wordier. Compare Ingtar's reveal vs Verin's, for instance.

Still, it does some things better than Jordan did in his last 5 or so books. Like, I am not totally bored, and I'm not wanting to kill most of the female characters in some gruesome way, which is a definite improvement. And unlike in the case of the post-Frank Herbert Dune books, I actually feel I trust the author that he's working with the original notes and towards the originally intended ending (whereas Brian Herbert to me is merely a fanfic writer). I guess I'll finish it and read the next ones, for the story if not much else.

And what do you guys think?

I thought it was good. I didn't really have any problems with the way the characters acted as I read it. To me it felt like the same characters and I thought Sanderson did an admirable job. Also I don't remember any parts where I had to read 3 paragraphs that only described the various dresses that women were wearing in the room. I do think the book lacked some punch in the Perrin and Mat chapters. Mat's in particular. The scene with the crazy village was decent but really didn't need to be there IMO.

it was an action packed drama filled adventure and I loved it!

The way I saw it was how you sometimes have 2 people tell the same story to you. They put the emphasis on different things, they embellish more or less then the other and one is more eloquent or has more wit.

However, it is the same story, just told from a different perspective.

I liked it. I knew I wasn't reading Jordan, but after the first few pages it stopped really standing out that I wasn't.

Much better in my opinion. Wasting my time with needless crap does not make me happy. Honestly, if the story itself hadnt been so good, I wouldnt have continued reading through the mindless dribble of Jordan descriptions. Sanderson gets to the point quicker, with the same effect, leaving me feeling fulfilled.

Wasn't as good as it coulda been had RJ been able to do it. It's RJ's story and RJ tells it best. Chars, setting, etc all needs his touch to reach their full potential. It was still good.

Just another example of what I had in mind, though to me this one is somewhat more galling than most.



Seriously? Ain't? From Laras?

There were no instances of "ain't" at all in books 1-10. There were an entire two instances in the Knife of Dreams, and thus by extension in the whole series. Those two were within seconds of each other, by the same person, some nobody NPC.

I know it's a nitpick to some people, but it really is as out of character for the whole series, and definitely for Laras, as if she were to say "OK". Jordan was very purposeful and careful with the vocabulary he assigned both the whole series as well as specific characters.

Oh well, I'm a critic at heart. Even though I did enjoy this book more than not. Just had to wince at times. At fairly frequent times.

True. And I admit it made me laugh at times.

You caught on that too! That bugged me through the entirety of the book! I even told that to my friend when she asked me how it was. I don't remember ain't in KoD, but it definitely struck me as out of place and uncharacteristic of any character when I read it here.

Other then that I didn't really feel that there was too big a difference in how the characters 'should' act. Mat seems a bit 'whiny' by some standards, but I see that as a natural extension of the one he loves being out of his protection. Egwene, for once, and Nynaeve, became tolerable. I was upset there wasn't enough Faile, though her one major scene was badass.

I've always had the problem, since like book 5, with the disbursement of character chapters. WTF was Elayne in this book? I missed her and yet I was treated to like 30 chapters of Egwene, and, while she is badass in this book, she pales in comparison, imo, Faile. I'm hoping the next book has more: Elayne, Faile, Mat, Logain, Taim, and Trolloc#4 (like serious, we don't get enough Trolloc POV here, I feel this series is racist towards them)

Yeah, This book certanatly focused on what seemed to be minute things... The fact that everytime a new place was described they brought up food spoilage and the fact that nothing was growing... I was fed up with it after the prolog, yet it was mentioned almost every chapter...

There was quite a bit I found irritating about the book, yet I still found it be the most enjoyable in a LONG LONG time. Sanderson made Nynaeve seem like a real person, not a charecture. Unfortunatly, no luck with Egwene.

However, I felt Sanderson stepped into Jordan's role quite well, I mean, he still made Perrin/Faile Chapters tedious, boring, and whinny... It takes a master writer to make me live that perpetual torment...

I was wondering though... Did some people feel that parts of the book really dragged and didn't really forward the plot (Perrin/Faile). While in other parts (Egwene) it went by almost too quickly? She stands up to the Amrylin and all of a sudden the Aes Sedai all start looking to her? Seemed ridiculous.

I liked it..more fastpaced imo than when RJ wrote it. Did miss out on some characters, but I think he did that on purpose so he could work on somme of the side-plots

Much better than the last book RJ wrote, where I had the feeling he spend 300 pages (out of 600 or so) describing what every character felt while Rand was cleaning up Saidin.

I have only one thing to say after reading it.

I WANT THE NEXT ONE NOW MOVE YOUR ARSE SANDERSON!

Seriously, i think he's done a great job with it and though it seems heretical to say it, I do think the fresh author and less wordiness has actually brought back some of the original pace and excitement of the first book.

I have a couple of chapters left but overall I think it's a great read. I thought most of it was pretty close to Jordanesque or at least enough not to be distracting.

Mat though was an issue for me. It's almost as though Sanderson made him out to be what RJ described him as being, though Mat's actions didn't often sync with how RJ described him. The trickster, the gambler, etc. He didn't have the humor to be a trickster though in this one he seemed to a bit more.

Many of the characters had one liners in this book that didn't exist in the others - some making me laugh but others making me think..okay, they'd never say that.

All in all though, my issues were minor and I am loving it so far.

Rand & Egwene have become very serious people - moreso than any of the other books I think.

Didnt read every post but wanted to add my tidbit and feelings. When I read the first chapter before the book came out, I was worried. LTT didnt interact how he had in the past and rand just wasnt the same character that RJ made him out to be. Then I started the new book and the short chapters, constant character jumping, and words like "throttle" that just made me stop reading and go, no one would say that in WoT.

However, from the domination band being put on Rand til the end of the book, I only put the book down once because I couldnt miss class that day. I started to hope LTT would talk since he let out so much info and liked how LTT got so upset about not being able to finish The List after Rand balefired the palace. I had slowly been enjoying egwenes growth into a true AS and Amyrlin in the previous books, but wow, I actually was looking forward to chapters that started with her name now.

My favorite character after brandons touch had to be Talmanes. He cracked me up picking on Mat so much, and I liked him bringing back the more jolly side of Mat as well. "Fine," he snapped. "Thom, you're with me. Joline, you watch the soldiers." that was posted above made me actually laugh out loud while reading.

I cant wait for the next one. I know the presentation is different and slightly detracts from the WoT world I've grown to know, but I read Gathering Storm in 2 sittings, which no other WoT book has come close to making me do.

All in all, it was very well done. The book does have a slightly different feel - some of the characters don't feel quite the same, but I'm willing to let it slide. Sanderson isn't Jordan.

I swear, if Cadsuane 'Phaws' one more time, I'm going to throw the book! I actually am enjoying it; I like how quickly things are happening... it's just that characters are seeming more of a caricature of what they are suppose to be, and I've had a friend agree with me on this.... what does everyone think about the way in which Sanderson writes Cadsuane? I don't like how she is so open with her plans and, most of the time, extremely revealing of her thoughts and actions. I think Sanderson is trying really hard for us to get a good laugh at some of the characters that we shouldn't be laughing at! Oh well, all in all, I'm enjoying it, so I shouldn't complain about the little things.

I think this new Cadsuane is... unsubtle compared to the previous one. I mean seriously, giving Tam an exact script to follow? What did she think would happen? This could have been maneuvered so much better.

The fact that it did turn out all right is really an Ass Pull to me (did that last scene with Rand make -sense- to anyone?).

Part of what brings Cadsuane down is that there is so much of her internal monologue and thoughts given out, more than before. This is true for other people as well. In Jordan's writing, many characters could be almost larger-than-life because you only saw what they did - they were stubborn and inscrutable, you didn't get invited to share their doubts and fears. In the previous books, I had a fairly strong sense that Cadsuane knew where she and Sorilea were going with Rand. In this one, oh boy.

I am reminded of Moiraine, not even flinching while Mat attacked her with the Shadar Logoth dagger. If Sanderson were writing that scene, he'd have her squeaking in panic.

I didn't notice Siuan snort even once

I really enjoyed the book. I liked how Egwene became a badass. The Rand chapters really showed how he was becoming insane because of all the pressure he was putting on himself. The two Rand sections that were the most memorable was after Semirhage put the domination band on him, and when he reunited with Tam and the aftermath of that. One thing that I didn't like was that there were characters that didn't get face time at all in this book!