I would say the inconsistency of the quality of the books (obviously I don't expect all the books to be masterpieces when you're writing a 14 book series), but the difference in the amount of enjoyment I get out of reading books 1-5 compared to 8-10 is night and day.

 

Also I would agree on the lack of meaningful character deaths. I don't want a ASOIAF style bloodbath, because I like getting attached to characters and when your favorite characters all constantly die off it can suck sometimes too.

This and this. Except that for me, books 1-6 were excellent and then, the series went downhill till TGS, perhaps. Also, the ASoIaF bloodbath part lol. I love that series, precisely because of its unpredictability. You never know who just might bite the dust when you turn the page.

Oh, and the Aes Sedai of the Third Age. How the Forsaken haven't been able to wipe out these bickering, useless, primitive, ignorant, arrogant, obnoxious hags is beyond me...except that the Forsaken haven't proven to be the best villains in the history of fantasy either, of course. So, I guess I'll add the incredible lameness of the bad guys to this list.

Just finished reading A Dance with Dragons and I'm currently doing a reread of the A Song of Ice and Fire series. I just realized I had forgotten lots of stuff while reading the latest installment.

Whether or not Elayne decided to claim the throne in her own right or not, the realm would have already fallen into civil war or worse.

 

That is wrong.

I'm neither right nor wrong. This just my personal take on the character. No more, no less. And that depends on personal preference and interpretation. Just like most of what you stated in your post is based on your own interpretation of the character. I respect your opinion, though I obviously disagree.

As fate would have it, I've already debated this very subject in the thread "Elayne's arc" in the Spoilers sub-forum. I wouldn't like to derail this thread nor repeat myself with what I've already posted on that thread, so I apologize for not debating you further here.

You hit the nail right on the head there. I think this is definitely true, and (sadly) very realistic as well. At the end of the day, this attitude is just part of human nature, and the fact it's such an underlying theme in WoT goes a long way towards making it believable as well as maybe different than simpler epics. WoT's characters and interaction have always been flawed (not only bickering, but also lack of communication for example) and probably always will be. It's just the way it is, heh!

Yep, this is the reason why I'm so into the WoT books, despite finding so many characters annoying or stupid lol! Actually, that's exactly why I find them so infuriating, because they're not perfect. And, as an author, whenever you can make readers love or hate your characters, then you've done your job. And, IMO, while not as good at developing characters per se like a GRR Martin, Jordan was a master at creating a world that feels real and is as flawed as our good, old Earth. It's complex, convulsed and infuriating...just like politics in the real world, IMO...hehehe...

I also think you've got a very good point on the difference between Perrin and Egwene in regards to the weight of tradition. This would be a major influence on pretty much anyone - especially as the Amyrlin, no matter how influenced by or free from tradition, would have to at least make a show of pandering to it in order to maintain control of the WT and keep the Ajahs happy. Even more so someone like Egwene who is young and was raised by Rebels. There have already been many "irregularities" (as AS would say) in Egwene's rise to power and opinion, at the moment I don't think she could afford to completely break away from traditional patterns.

Oh yeah...tradition does take a toll on Egwene, especially being so young. We know that she's trying to earn the respect of women, not only a few years or even decades, but centuries older than her. Like I said, this girl's no 900 yr. old Yoda and yet, she's got to be perceived as the little green Jedi Master was seen by his peers. No easy feat for her or anyone in her position. Plus, I do believe that inexperience is her biggest hindrance at this point (yeah, good thing she's got Siuan!)

Although I don't agree with Egwene's opinion and treatment of Rand, I understand where she's coming from. Rand HAS been growing insane, paranoid, arrogant. He HAS been affected by the taint. He HAS turned himself into a cold, angry, insensitive leader. This is where Egwene is coming from. She's worried, understandably so. Nynaeve knows better because she's been spending a lot of time with him; Egwene hasn't. IMHO it's normal for Egwene to need a bit more time and evidence before she can revise her opinion on Rand. To do otherwise would only make Egwene as rash and foolish as Elayne. I also think Egwene might make herself a little harder than need be because she must be wary of the friendship she may still feel deep down inside for Rand. And she wants make decisions with her objective mind, not subjective feelings (doesn't mean she's not biased, just that she's trying to take everything into account - sometimes successfully, sometimes misguidedly).

I agree, up to a certain point. Rand is going insane and, before his epiphany, he was becoming a tyrant. Perhaps not as bad as the Forsaken, but still a dictator, nonetheless.

Now, the problem for me here is that, sooner or later, Egwene will have to rally around Rand. Simply because of the Prophecies. It's clear that everyone will have to rally around the Dragon's Banner come Tarmon Gai'don and not the other way around, except for Seanchan prophecy, which has him bending knee to the Crystal Throne. But, as far as the Karaethon Cycle goes, Egwene and all other leaders are gonna have to find a way around Rand's current state, to work with him for the good of all. And I just don't see her willing to do that.

I see her, well, doing what every other Aes Sedai has tried to do to him, since Moiraine in the very beginning: control and manipulate him, because they feel they're the only ones capable of guiding him in the Last Battle, when the Seanchan attack on the White Tower clearly demonstrated that the Aes Sedai are incapable of solving a crisis by themselves. If they failed so miserably against To'raken and such, how will they fare against new Dreadlords? IMO, this is something Egwene should be looking into, instead of just being obsessed with building upon the greatness of the White Tower and, again, like it or not, she must rally around Rand. Sorta like, desperate times demand desperate measures or something along those lines.

She's been raised as Rebel Amyrlin for a while, yes, but I think that was still a few steps removed from being raised as proper Amyrlin of the White Tower. She was only the half-accepted leader of a small group of sisters. It's only very recently she has acquired full leadership, so she has a lot more to learn and experience about it. I think Egwene is a mixed bag of good and bad points, but so far to me the good outweighs the bad. Agree to disagree?

Not really lol, 'cause I do see your point and I also take age into consideration. This a kid we're talking about, after all. She's holding a position similar to say a Yoda or a Dumbledore, which is not easy for someone her age. So, I'd say that it's more typical Aes Sedai arrogance and prejudice, in addition to inexperience, that is affecting her, more than anything else. Say, Perrin is freeing himself from self-created traumas and insecurity, while Egwene is being bound by 3000 yrs. of Aes Sedai tradition. So, IMO, this could be the major difference.

I think Elayne had a point by wanting to take the throne herself - otherwise she would just be seen as Rand's puppet, without any backbone or authority of her own. I don't think she would get much respect then, and that could lead to major issues about her leadership once TG is past and the DR is gone. So on that front, I think she made a difficult decision, that lead to a big mess, but was probably the right decision.

 

That's all I'll say in favor of Elayne. In all other respects, she's a great one to botch up the job, make bad decisions and continuously repeat the same mistakes.

I understand, but again, I must insist: to my understanding, WoT society at large has been the same since the Breaking. And old habits die hard, as they say. So, I've always thought that one of RJ's underlying messages in the story was how stupid human nature can be, at times. "We may be at the brink of destruction at the hands of a terrible alien force, such as the DO, but we still have to bicker and squabble amongst ourselves" lol!

So, in this case, I'd say that Randlanders must do whatever they need in order to survive. An event such as Tarmon Gai'don will change your world forever, even if the Light does win. So, IMO, I agree that Elayne's idea would have been the right one, under normal circumstances. Just not with the Last Battle around the corner and when a civil war will weaken your nation, instead of strengthening right then and there.

Exactly, that's why I said that you worry about the present, first, but not leave the future unplanned for, either. Just don't spend all of your time looking ahead, 'cause you might miss that pebble on the ground that could make you trip and break a leg, if you know what I mean.

As for the male channelers, I agree that there's many difficulties, biases and prejudice to overcome. As a man, I've always identified with the Asha'man, of course, and never with the present day Aes Sedai of the Third Age. So, if I was one of them, I'd be the first who wouldn't want to have anything to do with them, at all.

My point was only that I don't see Egwene taking them into consideration for better or worse. She doesn't seem to include them amongst channelers, the way she does with Wise Ones, Sea Folk, Kinswomen, etc. IMO, real progressive thinking would include both halves of the Source (I guess this is why Jordan used the symbol of the Yin/Yang for the Aes Sedai, to illustrate this need for balance, precisely).

So, all I'd like to see is Egwene laying the groundwork for a potential fusion in the future, starting by doing away with those ancient prejudices that infest those under her command, at least. Leave the rest up to Rand.

Though we know Egwene sees Rand and how far she is from seeing him for what he truly is (a far more powerful and wiser channeler than her, regardless of gender), let alone see him as an equal. And herein lies the problem, IMO. If the head's infected, then surely, the rest of the body will follow.

As for Egwene's progression compared to Perrin, I must disagree. It's been a while since Egwene was raised by the Rebels and that, along with Siuan's tutelage (I totally agree w/u on this one), should be more than enough to make a good leader out of her by this point, IMO.

Especially, after all she had to overcome after Elaida tried to break her. She did grow a lot and the way she handled herself did earn her lots of points, IMO, though her stance concerning other issues (such as Rand) definitely took those points back.

Still, there's no comparison between Elayne and Egwene in my book. Egwene saved the White Tower from the Seanchan and is unifying it, whereas Elayne split Andor apart and send it to war, weakening her country big time in light of Tarmon Gai'don, instead of strengthening it.

IMO, she should've swallowed her pride, taken the throne when Rand offered it and included all of her politicking as part of her plans for the future, precisely. Keep the stability and order the way Rand had done it (personally, I can't see the difference between her hiring sellswords, as opposed to keeping an Aiel guard in place, like Rand did, since both aren't exactly loyal Andorian Queensguards) and worry about securing your rule later.

I wouldn't be so harsh on them in that regard, though. I think there is a fair point in the fact that the Dragon Reborn is in charge of leading and hopefully winning the Last Battle, but other rulers MUST be concerned about life post Tarmon Gaidon. If no one worries about it, well... complete chaos will ensue. It's a balance. Winning TG is obviously number one on the list as otherwise the world will be destroyed, but making sure the victory is not an empty one (as in DO is disposed of but world sinks in chaos due to leadership breaking up and no plan being made by any rulers, leading to civil war, more deaths, etc) is a huge number 2. Rand's focus should be entirely on TG (although I'm sure even he is sparing a thought for the aftermath), but the Amyrlin's or the Queen's should be also on the future. They do need to take care of the world post TG and DR.

 

What bothers me more about Elayne is that her concerns for the future sound a lot more power hungry and self centered to me for reasons mentioned above, not to mention /ToM spoilers/ wanting to monopolize use of gateways and the Kin for example. She does look guilty when the Kin mentions this could mean she would be the only ruler able to send armies anywhere, Heal them instantly, etc./end spoiler/

 

In comparison, Egwene's concerns seem more constructive and positive to me as in sharing of training across cultural borders, strengthening everyone in the process. Of course her idea is to try to keep the upper hand for the AS (and fair enough, it's her organisation), but in practice I do believe EVERYONE will benefit from this. I don't think she wants to add fuel to the fire - she wants to unite, as she has worked to unite the White Tower already. Of course uniting can be dangerous (no ruler should gather too much power/influence), but the intent and the potential results don't seem anywhere near as bad as Elayne's plans to me.

 

I'd say they are similar in the sense that both have made it their priorities to make their queendom/tower the number one seat of power in the world, but Egwene's methods seem a lot smarter/healthier to me. It feels to me that Elayne is trying to rule by division and power mongering, whereas Egwene is trying to rule by uniting and spreading the knowledge/power. Elayne is all about closing down, Egwene opening up.

Well, just to clarify, I wasn't trying to say that plans shouldn't be made for the future. Only that the order should be reversed; that instead of E & E planning for the future of their respective institutions/nations first and Tarmon Gai'don second, they should put their plans on hold, at least till the dust has settled. Because, IMO, any good leader should have the vision to know that, even if you win the Last Battle, the world you'll go back to just won't be the same as it was before, arguably, the greatest war in history.

In that sense, any and all plans you could've made could very well be all for naught. 'cause you never know just how things will be after it's all said and done. So, keep your plans in the oven and take them out when the time is right. Perfect balance, as described by many theorists, is about the here and now first, the future and the past later. You don't disregard them completely. You just concentrate on the task at hand, 'cause otherwise, that future you envisioned may never come to pass.

IMO, there is only one leader/ruler in the Randland who is doing exactly this...

That's what I'm talking about. Perfect balance between taking care of the most pressing issues affecting your life, your world, so on and so forth in the here and now, w/o stopping to think about the future. But never making that future your top priority either. Make sure that it's here first and then, you can worry about it.

As for Egwene, maybe it's my gender talking, but it bothers me to no end to see her shun male channelers, even when the taint's been cleansed. She may or may not know this, but if she does intend to include all channelers into the White Tower (and most importantly, uphold the name Aes Sedai, which applied to both, men and women, when the order was founded) then she must include male channelers in some way.

As for Elayne, I hear you. What bothers me to no end is, how this girl has thrown her realm into total and utter chaos. One only has to see what Andor's been through since she took over, to see the MAJOR failure that the girl's been as a queen. So, maybe some readers may like her and that's cool. But I for one, would hate to be "average Joe" from Andor during her reign. I'd be shouting, "somebody bring back the Dragon and his Aiel. Pleeaaasee!" lol!

they are consistent with a ruler who has to take care of minor but pressing issues before dealing with a much larger one...also, i think the first was a negotiation tactic and the last was never actually seriously considered, just used to get info

Hmm...I don't really know if what I wanted to say qualifies as spoilers or not, so I'm gonna play it safe.

What both, Elayne and Egwene have been planning before ToM, is not consistent with rulers taking care of "minor, pressing issues before a much larger one". Both these girls ('cause neither's a full-grown woman yet) have been planning far ahead into the future, putting Tarmon Gai'don in second place behind every single other plan they've conceived for their respective rule.

Elayne's intentions to take over Cairhien cannot be considered a "minor issue" in any possible way. This an entire nation being taken over by the ruler of another nation. That's no minor issue, by any means.

Ditto for Egwene's plans to take older women, Sea Folk Windfinders and Aiel Wise Ones into the White Tower for training. That's a major turnaround of Aes Sedai policies that have been standing for centuries. The girl hasn't even repaired the schism in the tower completely and she's already thinking of adding more fuel to the fire.

IMO, the minor issues these two should be concerning themselves with is working together and organizing the forces under command for the Last Battle. Because if you are not well prepared for that, then none of your world will be left standing and any and all plans you've laid out for the future (no matter how major or minor) will never come to fruition.

I just haven't seen either making plans and arrangements to take on that huge event, which is already around the corner, btw. And that's extremely short-sighted and stupid; it's not being able to see past your own nose and get a glimpse of the bigger picture.

Cads.......Am I the only one who sees the bullying nature come out almost entirely in the last two books? Yes, things we see now color what we saw before, but I just don't think she was as much of a bully under RJ.

IMO, like the heavyweight bully that she is, Cadsuane's reacting to losing her grip on the "al'Thor boy", whom she was used to look upon as an ignorant, inexperienced kid that was nothing next to her is to be expected. As Rand has come to remember more from his previous lifetime as Lews Therin, making her literally feel like a mere babe next to him (just as he observes in TGS), she has become desperate to keep her grip on him, though she never really had it. And now, she doesn't know what to do, simply because, unlike all those fools who defer to her, Rand just refuses to bow to the idiotic old bitch.

I've always been under the impression that Rand can't stand the bossy, nosy, insufferable hag's guts any more than many readers whom, like me, can't stand her. So, I've always thought that he put up with her only 'cause of Min's viewing. So, I'd have to say that any changes I've seen in her are in-universe (signs of desperation) and not related to the change in writers.

Look at it like this.

 

Bashere: You're Taim?

Taim: Yes

Rand: Prove it, channel for me

Taim: *channels*

Rand: Thats enough for me, screw Basheres doubts. You are Taim, not some randomer claiming to be Taim, not a Forsaken in disguise, even though all the Forsaken Ive met so far channel and use disguises and a guy sent to headhunt you doesnt know you. Hey, handy thing you can test for the ability to channel, very odd that you figured that out after meeting only five others that can channel. But hey, you can channel, and Ive heard of you before, so you MUST be Taim. So watch out for the rest of these recruits showing the sort of knowledge I have from my past lives, or the unrealistic amount of knowledge you pulled out of your ass. They might be Forsaken!

 

Thats basically what happened when Taim came into it. Rands insanity doesnt impair his judgement on this, its his own stupidity. Whether or not Taim is Taim doesnt matter; how Rand proves it to himself does. He might as well have said "Hey Taim, do you know the Forsakens secret handshake?" and when Taim says "Duh, of course" Rand then says "Okay great, tell me if anyone else here knows it, they must be Forsaken."

Rand has had plenty of really stupid moments. I like him, but that's a fact. Leaving the Black Tower in total control of a guy he met 5 minutes before and not doing anything for so long to check up on him despite the numerous clues he had that something fishy is going on, is probably the most blatant one.

 

Not having any Maidens or friendly channellers(a dozen Wise Ones, for example, he had hundreds of those available) protecting him when meeting the Tower Aes Sedai envoys in LoC is another totally stupid act by him.

lol...you both have a point, I admit it.

How long has Logain been screaming at Rand's ears that something fishy is happening at the Black Tower and that Taim is as crooked as his Saldaean nose, as David says? And yet, Rand does nothing against this.

Now, I'm sure this is not a plot hole because it's just too big to miss, of course, and it makes no sense whatsoever...unless Rand's been on Taim's case since the very beginning and has some nasty surprise in store for him.

This is the only way that I would understand Rand's clumsy, stupid attitude concerning Taim and his minions. Not justifying it (personally, I'd have to see Rand pull some very clever stunt to make this believable) but I can't find any other explanation for this, other than sheer stupidity, yep.

Still, in both cases, I must say that Rand doesn't strike me as the stupidest character, though any actions of his that could be considered stupid have to be amongst the biggest stupidities committed by anyone in the series...crazy or not.

No Im not saying he is annoying, he is my favorite character by a long way! Im saying he is one of the stupidest. Look at how he "proves" to himself that Taim is Taim in Lord of Chaos at the beginning, and tell me you do not agree. And yes, the Light has been in a lot of trouble because of it, because of the Darkfriend Ashaman situation

Under normal circumstances, I'd definitely agree with you 100%. But, in Rand's case, we know he's been losing it, almost since the beginning of the series, so IMO, you'd have to make an exception in his case. Y'know, like a "hey, I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid" kinda free pass?

'cause, IMO, that's what's going on with Rand. He is crazy and, while many of his decisions (especially concerning Taim and the Black Tower, I agree) may strike us as unorthodox or just plain stupid, that's 'cause those are the decisions of a sick mind, not a stupid one. At least he does have this advantage over say, Egwene, Elayne and many others, IMO.

Rand. Sometimes he can be quite clever, but other times he can be such a dumbass, and the beauty of it is that half of the time his reasoning is understandable until you look at it closely.

Wait a minute, not sure I'm getting you here...

Are you calling Rand the most annoying or stupidest character in the series? Or, both?

Because if you consider him the most annoying (though the guy's been gradually losing his mind, which would sorta justify many of his antics, IMO) then that's a matter of personal preference and I respect that, of course. Though I strongly disagree because I can think of 15-20 characters in WoT who are far more annoying than Rand al'Thor.

Then again, if you're calling him the stupidest, then man! Is the light in trouble or what? I mean, since they'd be led by the stupidest character in the series, I'd have to say that the Light is in deep, deep sh*t now.

And if it's both, well, all of the above applies.

I would say ultimately Egwene is both dumber and MORE power hungry than Elayne. The entire attitude of believing Rand should be showing HER respect (just like Elaida did)is one of AMAZING arrogance that surpasses anything Elayne does. Especially given that Elayne was actually brought up for this her whole life. Egwene has been away form home exactly as long as Rand has, and has accomplished less. In 200 years, her job will be taken by soemone else. Fifty years later, by soemone else. Fifty years later by someone else.

 

There is ONE Dragon Reborn and the Prophecies say nothing about the White Tower saving the world from the Dark One. Use some situational awareness.

Exactly, exactly, exactly!

So exciting to see I'm not the only one who's seen this. I was beginning to think that I might have missed some entry on the Karaethon Cycle where it read that the Dragon Reborn would be a puppet handled by the White Tower or something along those lines.

Because every single damned Aes Sedai (from Moiraine to Elayne) has tried to control and manipulate Rand, from the very beginning. The three Amyrlins, Moiraine, Nynaeve, Cadsuane, etc.

Hmm...come think of it, I'd have to change my opinion and say that the Aes Sedai of the Third Age, as a whole, are the most annoying/stupid characters in this series.

If the question was "who is the most stupid among the main characters only", then I wouldn't have objected much to people bringing up Elayne. I wouldn't agree, but it's debatable.

 

But the thread is all characters in WoT, and the way I see it, there's just no way anyone can convince me that Elayne is in the same league as Miss Idiocy Elaida ("Hey, let's build myself a huge palace on the eve of the Last Battle"), or "I swore to kill the only hope of the Light because of a rumor" Gawyn.

Indeed, the title doesn't exclude any characters and you said it, my friend, the way you see it is that Elayne is not as stupid as Elaida or even her own brother. In my case, the worst of the lot is not even Elayne. I rated her second on my personal list, behind Cadsuane (to me, the worst of the lot by far and wide). So Elayne's not even the worst of the lot to me.

The reason why I said that characters such as Elaida and Sevannah and the Forsaken, for instance, may be worse is because they are antagonists; they are supposed to be much more unlikable than the heroes. Not because I feel that this is only about main, secondary or minor characters, antagonists or protagonists.

My decision on Elayne is not based on stupidity alone, but rather a combination of both, stupidity and annoyance, based on the title, precisely. So, while I agree that Elaida is way stupider than Elayne, it's the annoyance factor that makes Elayne worse in my book. Because people are supposed to dislike Elaida and Elayne not so much. I'm not trying to convince anyone of agreeing with me on this. That's just how I feel about her.

I am a bit confused why some of you keep reading the series, if you hate most characters so much. ;)

Well, I certainly can't speak for any one else here, but I'm into this series because of the story and a handful of characters I do like or find interesting. The fact that I, for one, happen to dislike many more characters than I like (which includes me in this category) isn't enough to offset my enjoyment of the main plot and those characters in the very least. There is something known as freedom of choice. It is my right to choose what I may/may not read and why, regardless of how strange or confusing others may find my reasons to do so.

I hate to break the party line, but I really like Elayne.

 

BTW, it's plain ridiculous to list her as the most stupid in a series where the likes of Elaida, Sevanna, Gawyn and most of the Forsaken exist. Hate Elayne as much as you want, but have a little objectivity.

Um...dunno if you've noticed this, DS, but except for Gawyn, the other characters you mentioned are not supposed to be heroes. They were written to be disliked by most readers, actually.

Alas, if it's stupidity we're talking about, there's quite a few of the "good guys" aside from Gawyn (and in much more important roles than those of Sevannah or even Elaida), who are extremely stupid.

Concerning Elayne, where there's smoke, there's a fire, as they say. You may like her all you want, but that doesn't make her any better in most people's eyes, I assure you. I may be a bit confused why someone would like this character, but we all have different preferences and taste, so like the girl all you want ;)

Cadsuane, Elayne, Gawyn, Egwene, Elaida are my top 5. In that order. I just can't stand Cadsuane.

The way she keeps calling Rand, "al'Thor boy", added to her meddlesome nature and the fact that she hasn't done anything (at least onscreen and IMO) to grant her the title of "legendary" Aes Sedai, added to the fact that she screwed up big time with the male adam, make her the most annoying and stupid of all for my taste. By far and large.

Nynaeve was pretty bad too, till she started helping Rand, I agree. Still, reading about her wanting to control Rand and thinking she knows better than him, when she's been more lucky than good so far, is still pretty annoying.

A french friend I met on a french forum read them in spanish, so I suppose she found them, but I couldn't say where... She read till LoC the last she spoke of it...

 

I have bought the german version, and the cover are goods. In fact, those are Sweet's covers, but silvery shade, and I admit they are far morr acceptable so :)

 

We have the book published, yes, but with a bad translation, and we had Knife of Dream this month. Two days ago if I'm not mistaken. And with twice as much books.

Yeah, your friend must have found them in Spain, I guess. Spaniards are much more into fantasy than other Spanish speaking natives. I live in Mexico and here, fantasy is practically non-existent. All you can find is the usual suspects (LotR and Potter). Other than that, you have to buy imported books in English. Which is how I've gotten most of the WoT books (others, I bought online at Amazon).

As for the translation, I don't like the words they've chosen for some terms in Spanish, like Channeling and the Forsaken (translated as the "Renegades"!). So, I understand what you're saying. Also lost in the translation are the different "accents" that RJ used for each region. All in all, characters lose a lot of personality and color this way and the whole thing feels lame, if you know what I mean.

IMO, the first looks more like the fight against the cavern orc of LotR than anything in WoT... Even Loial or a Trolloc isn't that big! Hopefully, this edition stopped, and now it is far far better with the new edition. We have covers depicting WoT scenes (more or less.. there is one with Rand nearby Tar Valon -_-)

Yeah, that's how the first cover feels. Like a Hobbit fighting a Troll in LoTR. I was trying to remember if it could be some creature from the Blight that the company fought on their way to the Eye, but there was nothing that looks like that. And yup, it's completely out of proportion for a Trolloc (and too ugly for an Ogier, IMO lol!).

But, hey, I'm not complaining. You guys are getting the books published, at least. In Spanish, the books are really hard to come by. Haven't even been able to find a good pic to post here! Good thing I can read them in English.

Damn, Demiandre! You're right. Those French covers are really awful.

The cover for tEotW is OK, I guess. Though I dunno what scene it's supposed to be depicting. But the other two are definitely worse than the US covers.

The only good thing's how they resemble medieval tapestry. If someone designed them especially for tWoT, they're not w/o merit, I'd think. It's just that they don't fit in well with the vibe of the whole series, IMO.

LOL..is it just me or Rand standing on the mast of Domon's Spray in the cover of the EoTW ebook looks just like Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker in Episode III?

Anyways, no comparison between the ebook covers and the US TOR covers. The Spanish edition Wot covers are far better than their US counterparts, too. Similar to the UK editions. No illustrations, but very classy all the same. I guess it'd be interesting to see pics of the different WoT covers around the world.