I'm sure I'm beating a dead horse here, but... [FOH Spoilers]

[Pr0fess0rSasquatch]

For the love of the Light, I cannot STAND Nynaeve and Elayne. I mean, holy crap! I just got to the part in Fires of Heaven where Rand marches on Caemlyn, and I swear I've read more in one day than I have in the last 6 months about stupid schoolgirl drama between Elayne, Nynaeve, Thom and Juilin. The whole section of them with the menagerie and their escape along the river to Salidar just made me want to puke. I constantly felt like it was a struggle to read more than three or four pages at a time.

 

I was so relieved when I finally came back around to Rand and the first scene was him taunting some hired floozy about teaching her to swim with saidin. He then proceeds to slap around some Tairen and Cairhenin lords, not give a $#!+ about anything Moiraine, Egwene and Aviendha have to say, and put the beatdown on Mat like a boss! A lying, scheming, cold-hearted, two-faced BOSS and I loved every moment of it LOL!!

 

But I digress... Will somebody PLEASE tell me the main female characters eventually get more interesting. I keep waiting for Nynaeve to finally break through to saidar and become a bad@$$, but it's not happening. I intend to finish the series whether they shape up or not, but I feel like these sections might be more bearable if I had something to look forward to in these women other than sniffing and braid pulling.

[Barid Bel Medar]

Yes, there is much development from both characters. 

 

Nynaeve most of all, she goes from a character most people thought annoying to a favourite. 

 

Elayne also comes into her own, but she's not as well received. 

 

That's the general sentiment, but really it depends on each person. You might like them, you might not. You'll get every opinion on both characters, some love them, some hate them. 

 

But they both definitely develop, I suggest make your own opinion knowing that all of the characters develop throughout the story, and some characters you may not like in the beginning can become favourites, and the other way around. 

[Pr0fess0rSasquatch]

I have no doubt that everyone has their individual opinion as I surely will. I wasn't necessarily asking if they become more likable, at this point I'm just hoping for any development at all as they don't seem to have changed much since we first encountered them in the story.

[Drakkon]

I think you will find that Nynaeve grows a lot.  I also understand were you coming from, I found many of the female story lines very hard to get through.

[bigdoug1971]

By the end, I had a lot of respect for Nyneave.  Elayne redeems herself by the end too.  For me, and I may be in the minority here, but Egwene's character, storyline, and arc were all pointless for me throughout the very end of the series.  I could have done without any of her story and I think the books would have been better off for leaving her out.

[Pr0fess0rSasquatch]

I think you will find that Nynaeve grows a lot.  I also understand were you coming from, I found many of the female story lines very hard to get through.

 

I just finished Fires of Heaven and I'm finally starting to see a little bit of maturity coming from Nynaeve. After the scene where she and Siuan do their little catfight thing in tel'aran'rhiod (I actually put down the book at this point and came back later), she finally took a long, hard look at herself and considered how she would have punished anyone else acting the way she was if she were still Wisdom of Emond's Field. Now, I don't expect her to miraculously change her ways from this one event, but it certainly seems to have set her on the right path judging from the way she handled the situation with Moghedien. Off subject, but I found the balefire part odd in this section because the real world effects were reflected in the dream world. Perhaps another topic to be posted for discussion?

 

 

By the end, I had a lot of respect for Nyneave.  Elayne redeems herself by the end too.  For me, and I may be in the minority here, but Egwene's character, storyline, and arc were all pointless for me throughout the very end of the series.  I could have done without any of her story and I think the books would have been better off for leaving her out.

 

I dunno, I'm certainly not thrilled about Egwene as a character but I don't get as annoyed with her as I do the other two. That could just be because there hasn't been as much of a focus on her as other characters, or it could be my own bias as I've always liked the concept of her dream powers. Plus her whole ordeal at Falme was pretty intense and I thought it was cool that even through it all she took away new skills and knowledge that made her stronger.

[Barid Bel Medar]

Egwene has her ups and downs, but while I respect bigdoug's opinion, I think they are very much in the minority, like or hate her, she plays an extremely important part in the books. 

 

Also, if Nynaeve in FoH is maturing, then I am confident you will find her growth more than enough by the end of the series. 

 

Elayne goes a bit slower, but there's reasons for that I won't go into for spoilers. However, she does get there. Most of the characters are satisfactorily grown. 

[mb]

I recall similar complaints from other readers about some character; a portion of those complaints in opening posts.

in those opening posts, I recall similar question about the respective character.

 

like it has been told in those threads, it is for the most part reader opinion.

[dawnflower8]

Nynaeve definitely gets to be a more interesting character. Egwene as well. I used to find Nynaeve a very annoying character, but I grew to like her. Egwene is actually a character I have always liked.

 

In my opinion, Elayne is the worst character in the whole series. She is incredibly annoying, and while she does change some, it's not major.

[bigdoug1971]

I guess I tired of the immature whining. [edit]

[Sabio]

Think that's by biggest complaint with Egwene and Elayne, they don't seem to grow as the series goes on.  Nyn as the beginning of the series IMO is far different then NYn at the end. 

[Southpaw89]

Nynaeve definitely gets to be a more interesting character. Egwene as well. I used to find Nynaeve a very annoying character, but I grew to like her. Egwene is actually a character I have always liked.

 

In my opinion, Elayne is the worst character in the whole series. She is incredibly annoying, and while she does change some, it's not major.

 

This