It really doesn't matter what Demandred has been up to at this point - raising armies in Shara, controlling Seanchan, pretending to be the King of Murandy - his character has been wasted. He was a gun on the wall that never fired, or if he does, it will be underwhelming in the extreme. Taim is a great example of what Demandred COULD have been - a character developed as an enemy who got very close.



The style has been consistently bad throughout the series. If you're reading Robert Jordan for anything other than a fun story, you're reading it for the wrong reasons. I'm not sure if your comment was meant as a slight against Sanderson, but RJ's style was abysmal on a predictable basis (i.e., all the time). How many times did he have to repeat "stout Two Rivers woolens" or remind us that Nynaeve pulls her braid? How many unnecessary horse names, dress details or other "filler" did he throw in? How many clichés did he give us in place of real people?

I read the Prologue because I won't have to read it now when the book comes out, and I want to be done with the whole damn series. My expectations are extremely low at this point, but the Talmanes portions made me think there might be a bit of entertainment left in what has been drawn out for far, far too long.