I started this book after I heard about its TV show, and learnt that this is one of the longest fantasy series. I haven't read much fantasy either. I enjoyed this first book, the adventures of a group of friends from a village that they need to escape their home town. Robert Jordan gives a very good detail of every thing that happens during their journey, and how the society are structured. I found that society structure quite puzzling. Women and men have different roles and duties on their everyday lives. They are not shown as one lower than the other, but it uses many stereotypes of our real society. The woman takes care of the kitchen while the man attends the business - this was a bit annoying (I suppose as our society). However, there done stats¹ that seems to indicate that the following books will get more gender balanced! [1] www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/statistical-analysis-wheel-time/