I think this book would have ended up being this way even if RJ was still alive UNLESS he decided to split it into two parts. There are sooooooooo many stories to wrap up that it really had to be a book where serious wrapping was done. My only real complaint was not getting the scenes where Egwene cleanses the rebel camp of the Black Ajah, but that would have added who knows how many more pages. My guess is that RJ would have had to write a rock em sock em action packed thriller or else write an extra book. Probably the other two books will be that anyhow. Wasn't this supposed to be a trilogy, then 7 books, and now it's going to be 14 books?? With RJ gone, the writer's prerogative to do it exactly the way he or she wants is gone. I myself simply enjoyed seeing where the plot lines are going and seeing how all of our discussion turned out to be right or wrong and then now I'm enjoying reflecting and am reading the discussion about this book and speculation about the next. I'm ecstatic that I only have to wait a year and commend Brad Sanderson for his hard work. I can't imagine how he's doing it all and I hope he gets some rest and relaxation! I'm going to reread pretty quickly, but I have some other nice, new books from the library that I'm reading through, and also my husband wants to read.