AA is a good read. The characters are solid, but as Nessa said, they get better as you read along. You know, as they grow. Much of the slow development, in my opinion, is due to the "era" in which the novel was written. That was they way stuff was done in those days.
Moggle, try not to criticize and rip into everyone that just happens to have different taste than you. And please try to keep profanity out of your posts. I'm sure you like novels that other people think are terrible. That's kind of the point of having a variety in the fantasy genre--everyone can find something that appeals to them.
All that said, I don't agree with Erik that she does characterization better than "anyone else in the fantasy genre." I don't think she is even close to being the best. She does a good job in her earlier works (her recent works, in my opinion, fail and fall into the realms of cliché), but I personally feel that others are much better.