Delete the words "though" and "tight" ;) My one major pet-peeve with Jordan's prose. 

I don't see the point. "More focused story line" is subjective. Who gets to decide what the "focus" of the story is? What if I disagree with you or the next person about where the "focus" should be? This sounds like a "Phantom Edit" to me.

And how can the work ever be fairly judged if 50% of it is missing? It's like trying to understand what Tolstoy was trying to say by reading an abridged War & Peace. "But people who would never read it otherwise will read it now!" They haven't read it, though, they've read a "good parts" version. Not the same. 

I'd much prefer an Annotated WOT. At least your getting some new content for your money. Cutting it down doesn't make any sense to me. Leave it the way RJ wrote it. 

The original U.S. covers are my favorites :)