(possible massive Wheel of Time spoilers ahead)

RJ had a few interesting characters. He developed them, led us to become involved with them, and then started butchering them plot-wise in cruel and unusual manner.

Rand used to be the driving force behind the plot. But as a psychologically unstable person, I can safely say that (magic induced or otherwise) rage attacks are no fun at all, after the first few times. Rand, once a hero confronting his strange lineage and dark future became a shell of a character.

Perrin was once everyone's connection to simple-minded rural good-naturedness. But then he got smart, and *****-whipped, and a rural warlord.. a little too much Cpt. Sheriden for me.

Matt, now. There's a good fellow. Jordan's attempt at making him the Anime-like superhero, thus ruining him, turned against him, and Matt still manages to be an amusing and interesting character, his strange historical memories combining with his small-town hustler mindset in a very gratifying manner. Just enough antiheroum mixed with the heroum.

Alas, seems to me that he's the only survivor.

I'll skip the rest of them (whose name I've forgotten, it's been a while since I've read the books, but if anyone wants to remind me of any, I'll be obliged to criticize them properly.)

My conclusion is: Robert Jordan created enough characters for at least half a dozen stories, but put them in one book, and eventually got tired of maintaining all of them. Maybe he should conclude the ''main'' storyline, and release books that focus on the other characters seperately?

moovie ... good
book ... evil