But there're too many of them and they don't seem to get tied together very well. There are too many new characters to begin with and too many new ones being introduced. And with Rand's gargantuan task of uniting all the countries, I have little patience for the unnecessary dialogue and constant bickering.I couldn't possibly care less about how pretty Rand's buttocks are, or how the set of some unnecessary character's nose keeps him/her from being good looking; and I'm tired of reading about how men and women won't ever understand each other and the inevitability of Nynaeve, Elayne and Egwene bickering with one another. That bit with Mat and Queen Tylin (another useless character) was disgusting and something I didn't need to read.