Although this book and its contents are actually a precusor to the rest of the series, introducing the characters of Lan & Moiraine at this point seems to take away from the other characters that will be introduced in later books.

To be honest - although this book is good and interesting, I'm not sure that if this was the first book released, I would have actually read the rest of the series. Releasing this book when Jordan did, allowed us to see where these two pivotal (but not central) characters came from, their motivations, dreams and desires.

Basically this story describes how Moiraine (already in the white tower & friendly with Siun Sanche) hears the prophecy of the "Dragon Reborn" in the end days of the Aiel War and sets out to discover who he is (note: The Prophecies are also sometimes known as the Karaethon Cycle) ... details in this book preceed the following (The Eye of the World) by approximately 20 years.

We are also introduced to Lan Mandragoran - the last survivor of Malkier (a kingdom on the Borderlands). During the course of this book, the concept of the "Black Ajah" is also introduced and also a description of each Ajah along with their core focus (i.e. Green Ajah = Battle Ajah etc...).

The Good

• Wheel of Time Novel and Universe ... in and of itself this is a positive as the length of time between novels always leaves you wanting more.
• Some insight into the character of Lan ...
  

The Bad

• Although having a Wheel of Time novel is good ... when it doesn't advance the story to a significant extent (unfortunately this is true of quite a few of his later books), it really leaves you feeling cheated!
• Hard to understand how Siun goes from very low level Aes Sedai to Amyrlin Seat by the next novel based on her actions in this book ... there is nothing really that points to her strengths (aside from the stated fact that she is quick to learn) or the experience that being the Amyrlin Seat would require.
  

& the Ugly?

• As in most of the 2nd Quadrology of Jordan's epic ... the introduction of side characters is numerous and tedious. They do nothing to advance the story and their death's don't really move us.