First of all, the lack of Perrin for the entirety of the novel brings the rating down. Perrin's my favorite character by far, so I was disappointed he was completely left out, although it does make sense with the context of the story.

Anyways, this is still a very good entry for the Wheel of Time. So far, Jordan's strengths are definitely worldbuilding and plotting. This book is a great example of those strengths. I don't particularly connect to his characters on a super emotional level right now, which is a little frustrating because I consider myself a character-first reader, but the elements in the story and the world Jordan is building is really quite spectacular.

And I can only imagine the characters continue to get better, which is the case with Mat, Aviendha, Rand, and Nynaeve in this book. ESPECIALLY Mat. I couldn't stand him in Eye of The World, and now he's becoming a favorite. Great arc so far.

The Shadow Rising is still my favorite entry so far, but this one is surprisingly a very close second considering my favorite character is completely absent.

Edit 8/7/23: Bumping down to 4.25