Dude...

 

I feel like What I want to say is spoilers.

I will say this: Rand goes through several phases throughout the series. Some of them are annoying and some of them are awesome. There was definitely a point where I dearly missed farmboy Rand.

 

Stick with the series through book 4. It widens dramatically from there.

Alright, thanks. So far it felt like Rand got a little better towards the end of book 1 but reverted back to his normal annoying self in book 2. Also still hasn't learned to stay away from civilization while carrying some very important cargo/being hunted. And his continual insistence that events around him have nothing to do with him despite the mountains of evidence that say otherwise. I'll try to muscle through to book 4 and beyond, hopefully the payoff is worth it.

I just started reading the books because I love the sci-fi/fantasy fiction genre and heard that this series would be getting its own TV Show. I finished book 1 and am halfway through book 2, and find the 3 boys to be almost unbearably stupid/annoying. Do they ever improve or do they remain stupid/incompetent for the sake of the cheap and easy generation of conflicts/plots in the story? If they do improve and become less annoying, at what point does it happen? I don't know if I could handle another 12 books of annoyingly stupid characters bumbling around like they're still fresh off the farm with an IQ of 1. I certainly hope that the tv show manages to cast charismatic actors who can make the characters less annoying and more compelling.