Honestly, I've been reading these books since 1997, and I have always struggled with the first handful of chapters in TGH, no matter how often I read the books. It's not that its boring or not engaging, but the pace just seems to drag for those first chapters, because a lot of it is set up, and...
Nifty, and you don't have to use the title for me, I just like to address the newly Sworn with Sedai or Gaidin because it made me excited and happy when people did it to me.