I want to pick this series back up now that the final volume's out (because I've wanted to find out how this series ends for at least ten years) but due to the Kudzu Plot and Loads and Loads of Characters I'm intimidated to just jump back in. I'm not entirely sure I have the endurance to reread the entire series. For the record, I haven't read a book in this series since 2005. How difficult would it be to jump in at The Gathering Storm without having reread any of the books recently? If too difficult, what should I reread first, or are there good resources on the Internet for getting people back to speed without rereading the entire series?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

Once my questions have been answered you can use this as a general-purpose thread for discussing the series.