I thought Sanderson portrayed Rand brilliantly in this book.

In fact, I actually got shivers down my spine while witnessing Rand's step by step transformation into "Dark Rand." And I haven't had shivers down my spine in this series since Taim ordered the Aes Sedai to "Kneel before the Lord Dragon or you will be knelt!"

Now, I've been calling for a more realistic and darker tone to this story for years. And I must say, Sanderson has done it brilliantly.

After using the True Power, Rand's mannerisms reminded me of another fearsome fantasy character. His softer tone, cold stare and his habit of answering heated questions with a quiet, yet incredibly menacing question, invoked vivid images of Roose Bolton, from Martin's series.

When someone threw an accusation at him, Rand would simply fix his intense gaze on the person and reply softly: "Is that what you think?"

And then let the silence hang. SOOO menacing, and so intense. Leaving everyone in fear as to what his next reaction might be.

Rather than try and intimidate everyone with his strength, he now KNOWS his own strength, and does not CARE what anyone else thinks. And like Rand rightly acknowledges, this is so much more effective in getting what he wants.

Look, I know about the need for him to laugh and cry and be strong rather than hard and all that absolute NONSENSE, but the truth is, I LIKE the hard Rand. In fact, I LOVE the hard Rand. I enjoy reading about the Dark Rand far more than I ever enjoyed reading about Rand the boy, or Rand the whiner, or Rand the "let Cadsuane lead me around by the nose."

Damn I enjoyed this book. I just wish the hard Rand survived longer. Or in fact never went away.

"Do you believe that I could will the Pattern to stop your heart, this instant, if I so desired, Cadsuane?"

Simply awesome. I believe a different author could have written the story in such a way that the HARD Rand remains, and the Light STILL wins the Last Battle.

The need for the soft Rand is simply a personal preference of the original author, that has to be honoured. In the real world, the harder a battle commander is, the more ruthless he is, the more effective he is. This battle for hearts and minds stuff is so New Age, and so terribly boring.

There, that's my view.