Poor old Rand
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The series of books is brilliant, but the story line seems to be dragging on and on now chasing in never ending circles. We don't seem any nearer the final conflict than we did 6 books ago. It has got to the stage now where you just read the books because you want to know what is going to happen. After this endless stream of books and the closeness you begin to make with the characters, you could sit and write the ending for yourself. It has started now to become very predictable, where you can read what is going to happen in each chapter before you have even read it. I just hope with the sad loss of Robert, that who ever writes the next book in the series that they make it the final chapter and that they just manage to end the book as he would have done himself. It could have ended at least 2 books ago.
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Another superb Robert Jordan WoT installment!
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A Crown of Swords picks up where Lord of Chaos left off. Rand al'Thor, The Dragon Reborn has been worrying about Forsaken Sammael for some time. It is in this story that he finally decides to confront him. Meanwhile, Nynaeve, Elayne, Mat, Thom, Juilin, Aviendha and Birgitte head to Ebou Dar to find the Bowl of the Winds and make the weather right again. A number of new characters are introduced - the sultry Queen Tylin of Altara and the mysterious and bossy Cadsuane Melaidhrin. We get to hear more of Sevanna and the Shaido Aiel, mostly from Sevanna's point of view, and Sammael and Graendal both make numerous appearences. Despite being slow in some places (Perrin is STILL the most boring wheel of time character, and Faile the most annoying), A Crown of Swords is an able successor to the great lord of chaos. But don't get it until you have read the 6 preceding books!
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A decent addition to the series, but the cracks are starting to widen.
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The seventh volume of The Wheel of Time carries us over the halfway point of the series (with the final book now being split into two volumes, bringing the series total to thirteen) in terms of wordcount. However, in terms of the actual story we're much closer to the end. Robert Jordan made a decision in the latter part of the series to reduce forward story momentum in favour of developing subplots and character interactions, a rather controversial choice that has resulted in the series' overall mixed reviews across SF&F fandom. By this seventh volume, we are starting to see the impact of this decision.
The book opens in the aftermath of the massive Battle of Dumai's Wells, when the Dragon Reborn, imprisoned by the Aes Sedai loyal to Elaida, was rescued by his supporters and both sides had to fend off an attack by the Shaido Aiel. During this battle nine of the rebel Aes Sedai swore fealty to Rand to prove their loyalty and the Asha'man, a society of male channellers created by Rand to use in the Last Battle, proved their worth. Resisting the urge to revenge himself upon Elaida, Rand prepares for his much-foreshadowed confrontation with Sammael, whilst at the same time trying to finally win over the Sea Folk and the Cairhienin rebels to his cause. Meanwhile, in Ebou Dar, Mat, Nynaeve, Elayne and several other characters are trying to find the Bowl of Winds, an important artifact that will restore normal weather to the world. In Amador, stronghold of the Children of the Light, a shift in the balance of power puts Morgase's life in danger, and from the south and from the west an even greater threat is emerging to challenge the alliance Rand is hoping to assemble against the Shadow.
There's a lot going on in A Crown of Swords, and the book conveys a feeling of momentum and movement compared to the largely static Lord of Chaos, which makes it a moderately more satisfying read. There's also a widening of the worldbuilding, with the Sea Folk presented in more detail then we have seen before, the introduction of the Kin (a secret society of female channellers) and the revelation of a new form of magic, the True Power, and a convincing reason given why we haven't seen it before (although we have, kind of). We also get to meet a deadly new form of Shadowspawn which presents a real sense of menace, just as we were starting to get bored of Trollocs and Myrddraal. As with the last three books, multiple storylines proceed in tandem and build to a series of large-scale, epic climaxes which shift the balance of power in the world and the story and leave the reader eager to plunge into the next book.
However, several key problems emerge or are solidified in this book. There is a lot of talk and overlong chapters in which very little happens. Forward character development proceeds satisfyingly for several characters, but others (most notably Elayne) seem to be stuck going round in circles to the increasing frustration of the reader. The fact that one of the most interesting and morally complex characters in the entire series dies in this book is also rather irritating (given how reluctant Jordan is to kill off characters in this series). The introduction of the Kin also feels like a redundant step too far. On top of the Aes Sedai, the Aiel Wise Ones and the Sea Folk Windfinders, we really didn't need yet another group of female channellers and their attendant politics. On the other hand, Jordan sometimes gets criticised for his introduction of a whole new bunch of characters among the White Tower Aes Sedai who are assigned to flush out traitors, but he doesn't devote much time to them and they are clearly essential for the resolution of the Aes Sedai civil war storyline.
A Crown of Swords (****) is largely a satisfying continuation of the story despite the increasing longueurs in some of the storylines. Some of the new characters and elements introduced are more successful than others, but broadly there is still the sense the story is going somewhere with continuing hints that we are moving towards a definitive conclusion. Unfortunately, this is the last time for several volumes that this is apparent. The book is available from Orbit in the UK and from Tor in the USA.
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Brilliant!
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Im only 15 years old and i have found the Robert Jordan books fascinating! im only up to A crown of Swords and i dont care about how long the book is, it gives more detailed descriptions and it leaves you wanting to pick up the book again when you put it down! What i would like to know is will Rand and Elayne get married, or will he marry min or the aiel girl?? I also would like to know if Egwene marries Gwayn or Galad? And Finally, does Matt marry the daughter of the 9 moons? Thank-You! Im now going to get back to the book and hopefully finish it!!
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Wake me when we get to a good bit...
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I am on book 7 of the Wheel of Time and it's beginning to annoy the hell out off me. It's clearly never going to end;
Jordan is either going to be dropped or die before they are finished. Books go by now and NOTHING happens! He spends chapters explaining why chairs are set up in a room and pages discussing the necklines on dresses! In book six they get an army together to storm a town; as far as I can see it takes until book 9 to get there! All they do is travel places! The basic book is like this:
Pages 1 - 250 explaining what happened in the last book and explaining the people etc.
Pages 251 - 950 all the people in the story start moving to somewhere else and talking and drink tea etc.
Pages 951 -1000 something happens, normally nothing to do with anything else that has gone on in the rest off the book and normally takes the first 250 pages of the next book to work it out! Its annoying to say the least. I keep going just for the sake of it now! The really frustrating part is he builds up a really
good story now and again (for example in book 5 a village is being attacked and one of the main guys bonds everyone together to defend it) and then he forgets out it for several books (this bloke doesn't reappear until book 7!). Crazy.
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