Well Jordan and a lot of fantasy writers borrowed heavily from Tolkien world.
Good or bad, but certainly a compliment to Tolkien. Jordan did make his world his own, even with tropes and such.
Be great if they made a half decent game from it to.
I really need a reread, but it was a tad overstated. I love the scene with a cosy Inn with tabac pipes. Then again it gave me LOTR vibes. Gandalf will walk in and hrpmm on his pipe.