CoT is widely considered the worst book in the series, and then RJ did a prequel after it. For obvious reasons that didn't sit well with some people, regardless of how good or bad the book actually was.


But Siuan and Moiraine are two of my favorite characters, so I didn't mind it at all. I also didn't start reading the series until CoT had been out for six months, so I wasn't in the same boat as a lot of people. It helped me deal with my Moiraine withdrawal.

The fact RJ wrote this, and another prequel was going to be about Moiraine, gives me hope that some of the upcoming Moiraine scenes were written by him. BS has said that RJ skipped around writing the scenes he was most excited about first.