The eighth installment of WoT is worse than the weak seventh and horrible in contrast with the initial books. While the first four books imparted a sense of wonder and had great action, the fifth and sixth books had momentous events, PoD is a mishmash of stillborn storylines without direction or purpose. Hopefully Jordan has not grown indolent such that he is only drawing out the series for his own fun and profit. Instead, he MUST pick up the pace and bring the series to a rousing conclusion within 2-3 books to avoid alienating existing readers and retain the ability to attract new ones.