Brilliant! Absolutely loved it this time around. I'm giving this a 5 stars. By no means is this book slow. Yes book 6 has a slow pace and yes books 8-10 drag. But book 7 is fantabulous. 
 We happily do not see much of Egwene and the slow moving rebels. It's nice to see Egwene establishing herself but the Aes Sedai's cool/calm stares and passive aggressiveness just pisses me off. The less the better. 
 We also don't see much of Faile/Perrin/Berelaine. Thank God. We'll be seeing too much of them in the next couple of books. But thankfully this installment spares us. 
 Rand's plot here is amazing. This is where he completely ditches the "innocent, sweet and gullible farmer personality" and turns into full dick mode (except when one of the girls force him into bed). But I mean who wouldn't become a dick after being stuffed in a box and tortured!? Rand continues to be heartbreaking. 
 Mat! This is a coming of age book for Mat. He really matures in this book. I guess getting raped does that to a person. And having to take care of Olver. I loved watching his relationship with Birgitte bloom. Another thing which boosted his maturity. As if Mat needed any more awesomeness. I guess he's being prepared emotionally to meet the Daughter of the Nine Moons (honestly one of the biggest mismatches in this series). 
 The ending was a bit iffy. It was exactly the same concept as the book where Rand goes after Rahvin. Waygates and Balefire. Waygate and Balefire. Except with the whole balefire touching incident, which is a crucial moment for the main plot. 
 7 down! 6 more re-reads to go. Again, exciting yet frightening.