straits

a̙͓̥̣͎͇ͣ̕r̞̤̩̰̱͉̲̈́e͖̾ͥ̔ͦͣͬ̈͢ ͫ̿̐ͣ͏̯̠̭ͅỹ͖̝̊̍̇̽ͪo̵ͨ̒uͣ͐҉ ̴̾t̨̮͈̠̹̼̒͆̉ͨ́̍͐h̨̎i͛̌̈́͂҉̳̼̹̫n̴̓̉̀͐̐ͣk̈́ͬ̀i̦̮̽n̘̯͋̇g͂̔͑̌̀ͣ̚͏̦̙͈̦̜͕̖ ̢̾͗ō̳͍̳͉̑̚f͔̝̝̦̐͡ ̖̳̙̱̄͌͞s̸̺̪̦e̮̬̭̰̻̞͌̈͊̎ͩͅẋͩ̔y͕̅͆̊̍ ̱̤͙̲͉̟͍̄͑p̣͙͕ͪ̃e̛̔̉̓̽ȃ̲͈̘c̸̬͙̦̅́ͨ͐h͇ē̡̲̘̹̦̊ͯͅs̘̮͔̠̬͂̃̐ͅ ̩̻̫̹̣̱ͩ̃dͧͬ̈́҉͕̫̲̠̫ĕ͚̏͐̃ͮa̷̝̟̹ͪr͙̤̗̽̓̃͒ ̟̟͎̬͖ͯ͗l̪͎̬̲͠é̟͆͒̌̉͘a͇̬̦̲̎ͦͭ͘d̡ĕ̸̘̜͔̹͇̈́̈ȑ͕̱̥͓͖͉̊ͬ͑ͭ

What does the name refer to?

He ends up with well over a 100 characters whose story-lines he must keep track of. It's an extremely ambitious project for a writer. Not to mention that some of the main female personalities are indiscernible over longer chapters (I remember confusing Egwene for Nynaeve during their inner monologues). But I'm probably being unfair; it's still a fascinating world he created.

WoT? I like RJ's storytelling but his characters lack flexibility. Most of them follow patterns based on some preset traits that he mentioned at some point.

Waiting for your personal Daario to comment.