For me the book was a great addition to the WoTiverse. Yes it's not RJ rwriting it, but frankly RJ got too burdened down in his own prose and story-telling ability by the end of the series anyways. This story should've and COULD'VE been done in 10 books but he dragged it out by bringing in all these extraneous storylines that frankly have done nothign to move the story forward and have bogged it needlessly with about 700,000 unnecessary words.

BS is yes a younger writer who has been greatly influenced by RJ by his own admission, but he is still his own writer and brings a younger more succint version to this universe that got too cumbersome for it's own good.

Did some of the writing of the characters bug me? You bet your bottom dollar, but it didn't turn into a major "buzz"kill when I've been reading this story for 15+ years and I just want to finally know how it ends. Personally, I've hated Perrin since EotW and felt there was FAR too much of him in this book, though he did finally get a little less BITCHY, MOODY and f*cking Whiney prissy by the end of the book.

I liked how BS wrote the forging of the power-wrought hammer but it was quick succint and DONE in UNDER 250 pages. WOW. Amazing that we can do that.

RJ was definitely the Tolkien of this generation and before you say that tolkein was AMAZING and all that. Just think back on the hobbit.

NUFF SAID.