The repetition in this book started geting funny after the first four hundred pages or so. Every time one of the village boys encountered a serving-maid, I'd say along with them, "Wish ____ was here, he knew how to talk to girls!"I'll bet the book could have been shorter without all the deja vu events, not to mention the neverending journey to Tar Valon, or wherever they were going. Jordan has good ideas, but that's some massive overwriting. And there was nothing original about the characters. Lan's the usual strong-silent type who falls in love with a woman he can't have. Rand et al are the innocents loose in the big dangerous world, discovering their talents. The villain (or villains) is never developed either.What settled it for me was the glossary, where the main clans of the Trollocs were named. The names are fancy misspellings of Devil (Dha'vol), Goblin (Ghob'blun), Golem, Demon, Banshee and other fantastic creatures. Great puns. Ha ha. Terry Pratchett did it better.