The beginning a marked resemblance to the Lord of the Rings: The quiet village, the Black Knights faceless, the attack of the night hut (by orcs renamed Trollocs) away with a magician, the ferry crossing The big bad who wakes (north and not east) ... But gradually Jordan says the originality of the universe he built and that takes a fascinating breadth and complexity over the volumes: c is less Manichean and politically more complex than the Lord of the Rings.
Another characteristic that manifests itself in the first volumes Robert Jordan was gone (presumably) on a trilogy and the original prophecy elements are quickly made. But the success of the series and the tracks opened up constantly Jordan to enrich his universe led him to leave around 6 volumes, then twelve, then ...
So inconsistencies appear. For example the hero (Rand) although young and inexperienced will triumph over Baalzamon presented as the most formidable of the "bad guys" in a duel with some event features courses that he took from a warrior in Volume 1. More Later he will learn the magical powers and become more and more formidable, facing almost every new tome "bad guy". In Volume 5 is thermonuclear war with Rahvin, suddenly teleport and fireballs that collapses buildings of the city. Mastering a quarter to half of these spells, Baalzamon Rand should have taped to the wall instead of being killed foolishly.
But we forgive and forget these construction errors because the pace, intrigues and prophecies lead us into a frantic carnival.
More annoying, not having had a clear plan to and surfing on the success of his work in Jordan adds, multiplies the descriptions and characters (I have noted more than 1,500 in the first 10 volumes of the edition English including forty are really important) and even we can say that frankly dilutes his story when comparing point where we are at the end of Volume 8 or 9 with the situation at the beginning we realize that has advanced only a few weeks in history, a hundred pages instead of 700 would suffice. By dint of dragging, Jordan passed away before finishing the tome 12 ... his family is supposed to complete this epic fantasy (2 or 3 volumes yet?).
Despite these reservations, I'm still addicted to the series, to the richness of its universe, the psychology of the characters in terms of effort and tortuosity intrigues: I prepare quietly reading the tome 11 ...