Robert Jordan starts breaking into his stride with this one as far as writing style goes. The plot is not the most exciting of the series, but the sarcastic witticisms of many of the characters are more frequent in this, and he continues in that vein at least up through Knife of Dreams. I haven't read the others yet, and am rereading the series. Since the last 3 are written by a different author, I don't know if those amusing asides and one-liners will still be there. I'm sure I'll find out. 
 While I mentioned that the plot is not the most exciting in the series, that doesn't mean that it still isn't good. Fain has a semi-major role, but he gets much worse/better later in the series. We also meet a couple of other second-tier characters who are important such as Verin, Lanfear, and even Birgitte for a hot second. 
 Most importantly, we meet the Seanchan in this one, and they're quite a piece of work. They have aristocratic class notions that would make the nobility of pre-revolutionary France drool with admiration. One scene has always stood out to me. (view spoiler)[Rand battles a Seanchan lord in a sword fight while the lord's two main servants stand aside to await their lord's pleasure. Rand kills the lord, and the two servants immediately pull out knives, and plunge them into their own hearts, saying something about "As my lord dies, so do I," or something like that. Rand simply stares at them and determines that their entire race is just plain crazy. Meanwhile, other lesser servants throughout the building simply lay on the floor against the walls in poses of supplication while fighting goes on around them. If they get killed, they get killed. If not, they don't. When it's over, we assume they get back up and continue trimming candle wicks, or whatever it is they do. (hide spoiler)] 
 Awesome stuff.