No, that's a factor. Taking into account the position of a book in a series doesn't compromise it. - Edit 1
Before modification by Dan at 21/11/2010 05:26:08 PM
One of the reasons I feel that ToM is the worst in the series is that it demonstrated how deeply flawed Jordan's overall structure and pacing has been. It compromised the entire series and gave very legitimate ground to many of its detractors.
even if it's wrong. 
I'm really not sure what you find so objectionable though. It was far from perfect, but I still thought it was pretty good, easily better than anything between ACoS and TGS. Really, is the pacing any worse than KoD? I almost got whiplash reading that thing (and it was STILL better than ACoS-CoT). Are you sure your opinion of ToM doesn't suffer from the fact it follows the superb TGS?
I'm really not sure what you find so objectionable though. It was far from perfect, but I still thought it was pretty good, easily better than anything between ACoS and TGS. Really, is the pacing any worse than KoD? I almost got whiplash reading that thing (and it was STILL better than ACoS-CoT). Are you sure your opinion of ToM doesn't suffer from the fact it follows the superb TGS?