Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This has to be the worst case of reader exploitation I havecome across. This book, supposedly a guide to the WOT world simplyrehashes what has already appeared in the first 7 books and contributes precious little that is new. On the plus side, at long last we finally get to see maps of the entire World; Seanchan in slightly better detail, Shara is a largely blank slate and the Isle of the Fisherfolk is not much better. There also appears an Isle of Madmen to the south which makes me fear additional complications to come. I suppose one should be grateful for these maps, despite their paucity of detail, considering that none of the series books contains anything but the same wretched map of the immediate world and pathetic city maps. If at all the book has any new information, it lies in the biographical sketches of the Forsaken, outlining their background and motivation. But the motivations themselves frequently seem to contradict the delineation of the characters in the series, especially Asmodean, and are totally out of sync with the Aes Sedai concept. Shallow is the word that describes these sketches in fact, as also the brief histories of the Seanchan and the other peoples. Bad proof reading is compounded by some of the worst illustrations I have even seen. The artist has obviously not read the books, so blatant are the contradictions. Look at the pciture of Lanfear and tell me if this is the most beautiful woman ever! Or the caricatures (I can't call these illustrations) of Galad, Lan or Aviendha for instance and match them with their characters. And would you believe that Min, who plays such a key role in the series, is not even mentioned anywhere! Some Guide indeed. Or perhaps we should be grateful there is no illustration of Min at least. This "book" is nothing but a bare faced attemnpt by the publisher to (get) money from fans who are hooked onto the series. Do not fall for it. I think TOR and RJ owe an apology and a refund to anyone who bought this (book). I am giving it 1 star because the system does not permit anything less. END