I will also note, though, that it took me a while to get into the first one. I thought the characters were annoying (especially Nynaeve and Egwene), and thought that parts seemed rather ...goofy?... and it was hard for me to suspend disbelief for long enough to be drawn in. Eventually, I became...
HAHA! This exactly. I find that I get really absorbed in small details or background events in the stories (I've only read through book 2, starting on book 3.) Of course, the over-arching plot is great, but the details really make the story for me.