Path of Daggers and Winter's Heart

I'm a bit behind, but have finished both The Path of Daggers and Winter's Heart, books 8 and 9 of the WoT. The series is gettin' good, yo.

• The Borderland rulers have formed a pact
• The Seanchan are attacking all over the place
• Elayne and Avienda have become First Sisters, and with a similar ceremony bonded Rand to them and Min in a odd kind of 4-way marriage ala Big Love
• Path of Daggers is the shortest book in the series and my least favorite
• Elayne, Nynaeve, Avienda, et al use the bowl of the winds to reverse the Dark One's influence over the weather, and it starts raining/snowing
• Elayne claims the Lion Throne
• Rand is attacked by rogue Ashamen (?)
• Perrin is off trying to stop Masema and Faile is kidnapped by the Shaido, along with Morgase and others
• Perrin chases the Shaido and is sad and grr
• Matt is trapped in Ebou Dar and finally meets his Daughter of the Nine Moons, who is the only woman he's ever laid eyes on that he doesn't instantly think of bouncing on his knee
• Matt plots an escape from Ebou Dar
• Dashiva, one of the Ashaman, turns out to be a Forsaken, Aginor
• Rand and Nynaeve cleanse the source
• I THINK that I started reading the series in 2000, when Winter's Heart was published - of course it took me a year or more to catch up to publication dates, but this is about when I dove in the first time. It was a revelation! I love fantasy! Who woulda guessed?

Whew! Tons of plot lines moving forward all at the same time. I'm already well into the next one, Crossroads of Twilight.

Also, just heard that the final book, A Memory of Light, won't be out until January, 2013. Sigh . . .

•