I've read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and maybe this book is not as good, but I still enjoyed reading it. At first, the book is a little confusing, and I had to keep going back to make sure I was keeping all of my characters straight. In just the first few chapters, you already meet about a dozen characters! I suppose this isn't strange for fantasy standards, but it's worth pointing out. 
 I love a lot of the characters. They might seem like simple caricatures to some readers, but I find them to be intriguing. The constant battle between truth and deception is a constant theme in the book, and the mistrust between nations and cities reminds me of the lore found in Conan the Barbarian. The book also takes a number of surprising turns. Although the only thing that remains constant throughout the book is that there is rarely a time for celebration, and danger constantly lurks behind every corner. This constant state of alertness of the characters makes the book serious in nature, and I rarely found myself laughing while reading it. However, this shouldn't stop someone from reading it also. The story is worth it because Robert Jordan does a good job fleshing out the history and lore with such detail that I found myself completely immersed in the story. The way he describes the setting and characters, I could easily picture everything in my head in vivid detail. 
 Will I be reading Book Two: The Great Hunt? Most definitely, however I want to take a break from the epicness of fantasy and read some other genres before I return to the series.