A Crown of Swords (The Wheel of Time, Book 7)

There's been a lot of reviews already, so I'll just confirm: a bit of a slog, good subplots for Egwene and Mat, although the whole bit with Queen Tylin is disturbing. I really just want to slap Nynaeve. I like strong female characters but she is so aggravating, so patronizing and un self-aware it

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drives me nuts. Also I find Perrin's and Faile's relationship disturbing. The only healthy relationships appear to be among the Aiel, and that isn't a given. I still love the world and am amazed at all the intricate plot threads.

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Crown of Swords, the seventh installment of the Wheel of Time series, marks a turning point – and not one that led to better things. This was the book I picked up all those years ago with the reaction "???" Closely followed by "!!!" This was the book about which I made notes, still kicking around

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somewhere I'm sure, about how wide the margins got and how big the text got, and, subsequently, how much the word count lessened. This was where the series really began to look a bit threadbare.

It's still a shock to close the previous installment and open this one to see text a good point or two larger, along with margins squishing the text area down considerably. Also, there's the simple problem that, for a very long time … nothing happens. That was the complaint I heard from a lot of readers in a lot of reviews about several of the books, and I always refrained from jumping onto that bandwagon – but good grief. It's one of the only status updates I made on Goodreads in the first half of 2014, when I was conducting the Big WOT Read: "Three hundred pages in - the length of a good many books - and so far? Rand has gone from Point A to Point B, Egwene has had a headache and done some thinking, Nynaeve and the others have gone from Point C to Point D, and Mat has watched a horse race. The print is larger, the margins larger, the book is shorter, and NOTHING is happening. Now I remember why I stopped reading WOT." That's it. No exaggeration, no sarcasm – that's literally what happens. It's a bit mad.

In the second half of the book, a few things happen – still not much – but in a way it's worse. Because the second half of the book largely consists of Mat being sexually harassed, and … um… a couple of other things. Oh, and then near the end Mat has a building dropped on him, and that was it for him for a while. Was he dead? I didn't think so, because of all the prophecies that had been made for him that hadn't seen fulfillment … but I didn't know, because as far as I remembered his wondering where his flaming luck went was the last time his name was even mentioned for several books. My memory is not great, but I very clearly recall being outraged as I finished the next book – and the next – and the next – without any kind of resolution to the situation. Or even, iirc, any of the other characters even wondering about the situation. "Where's Mat, I wonder?": never happened.

The writing even at this point was still entertaining. The worldbuilding was still impressive. As I may or may not have said before, I have to hand it to RJ: he credibly came up with a number of devices which allow his characters to move great distances in short amounts of time, which kept the sprawl of the story from holding up the telling of the story. (THAT's not what holds it up.) Enough – just enough – happened to retain interest, to keep a reader (me, at least) from denting a wall with the book and giving up on the series entirely … in fact, new mysteries still popped up (along with lots of new characters) which … at this stage in the game it was a study in endurance.

The problem is … no, not The problem. There are a few. *A* problem is the well-worn rut the writing has fallen into by this point. Fallen, and in the classic bad commercial parlance, can't get up. Nynaeve, who should be a strong character, is a walking collection of tics – but then, most of the women are. I'd love to get hold of this book in an editable form, and remove all the braid-pulling, skirt-smoothing, stalking, glowering, and catfights. It would be a novella. If I was then able to remove all the instances in which men pondered how little they understood women, and women pondered how little sense men had … and if all mention of clothing, men's or women's, with the silks and feathers and scrolls on sleeves, and my lord why should I have to know what color every single person is wearing unless it's relevant (which, once in a great while, it is) … I think this review might contain more words than the abridged book. It's a shame; the braid-tugging didn't really start in earnest till book 3, to my surprise, and it was so nice without it. Once begun, though, it was an immediate flood of tugging and gripping and yanking and otherwise abused scalp. I counted, until I got bored with it; it was absurd. If I had the ambition – and enough fingers – I would keep track of skirt-smoothings in this book. The total count would be high.

Oh, and then there's the sniffing. Seriously, sir, have you ever actually met anyone who sniffed this much without being chronically allergic to everything? It becomes a sort of synonym for "Nynaeve was annoyed" or "angry" or whatever – and, sadly, Nynaeve is nearly always annoyed or angry. That just is not enjoyable to read.

If I didn't know for certain that Robert Jordan had a long and very happy marriage, I would honestly guess that he didn't know any women very well. Had, perhaps, only read about women in the more satiric types of fiction. Because my God are the women in these books ridiculous. The constant smoothing of – or gripping of – skirts, and of course the constant fussing with hair by characters who don't just go ahead and yank on it like Nynaeve.

It's all such a shame. It's a darn good story, even still. But it should not take chapter after chapter just to get a bunch of characters into place to work a spell, which is what happens in this book. Every female character should not be more of an idiotic termagant than the last one. A decent chunk of this one is spent with Nynaeve in a temper, Elayne pretending she's not, then Nynaeve apologizing and Elayne reacting with shock – Nynaeve! Apologize! Light!

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"And the beat goes on". (I couldn't help agreeing with Min, though when she thought Rand sounded like "a pillow stuffed full of haughty.")

The Wheel of Time is an epic. A Crown of Swords is the 7th book in the series and it is not a good idea to read it without having read the earlier novels.

Rand does almost nothing of any import in this one, Matt, Elayne and Nyneave are the ones who did most of the story and are the ones who

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actually accomplished something. This book most of the time not spent in Ebudar was just giving us a chance to catch up with all of the myriad characters across creation.

I like this series and I enjoy it but to be honest this one doesn't have a whole lot going on, it's more of a set up for things to come.

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Ok, the new story of the male caster becoming a war machine that could go mad and the power struggles are intriquing, they could be their own book. Unfortunately it's a small portion and again takes a long time to finish. too slow but I want to know how it ends!

I didn't enjoy this as much as any of the others. For 800+ pages, not much happened.

The seventh book of the 2009 pre Gathering Storm reread and why are we not at the climax yet? Now, as we continue on our way one of the themes that Jordan seems intent on developing is that of evil. We don't have the glimpse into the heads of those characters as perhaps we should to truly see where

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evil will take us.

Is this book a good one? If you are not reading the entire series, then you will be lost, and it will not be worthwhile to read. There are so many plot lines, that the book loses people, and story arcs are barely concluded.

Oh, another one of the evil that we are exploring more of, bites it, which is good for the good guys. But that Arc has been going on since book three. What has taken so long.

Then in other arcs, barely a word about our tower in exile friends, which is ripe with political strife and turmoil and evil interlaced within its domain. Perrin, moved off stage for later shenanigans. Which is now a precursor that tells us, more is coming, this is not the last book, we are going to make it longer.

So here is the big picture. The series is too long, or too much is happening in too short a time. Our heroes are being thrust in an ever accelerated pace, after Rand saves Cairhein, to do more grown-up things then they should be capable of or prepared for given what we have walked down the path with them.

All of a sudden our three male Tevern and equally powerful Aes Sedai girls, are still that, boys and girls thrust to do very adult, wise things for which it would take years to master.

And the amount of balls they are juggling in the air, would take years also. It is as if FDR looking around on December 8th said, well lets let these six 20 year old juniors from community college handle the entire American war effort. I'll sit back and take the credit, but they can defeat Hitler and the Japanese, no problem.

Our heroes are faced with so many challenges that they should have had the years to develop especially as we have had 20 years to wait for the end of the series.

Thus we conclude that if you are a fan of the series, this is a transition book. There are some fun and exciting sequences, but even with the closing of some arcs, the book opens new doors and by now we know, that some of the things that Jordan adds, when he adds new things, just can not be finished unless he forces us to read 3000 new pages...

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The seventh book of the 2009 pre Gathering Storm reread and why are we not at the climax yet? Now, as we continue on our way one of the themes that Jordan seems intent on developing is that of evil. We don't have the glimpse into the heads of those characters as perhaps we should to truly see where

Show More

evil will take us.

Is this book a good one? If you are not reading the entire series, then you will be lost, and it will not be worthwhile to read. There are so many plot lines, that the book loses people, and story arcs are barely concluded.

Oh, another one of the evil that we are exploring more of, bites it, which is good for the good guys. But that Arc has been going on since book three. What has taken so long.

Then in other arcs, barely a word about our tower in exile friends, which is ripe with political strife and turmoil and evil interlaced within its domain. Perrin, moved off stage for later shenanigans. Which is now a precursor that tells us, more is coming, this is not the last book, we are going to make it longer.

So here is the big picture. The series is too long, or too much is happening in too short a time. Our heroes are being thrust in an ever accelerated pace, after Rand saves Cairhein, to do more grown-up things then they should be capable of or prepared for given what we have walked down the path with them.

All of a sudden our three male Tevern and equally powerful Aes Sedai girls, are still that, boys and girls thrust to do very adult, wise things for which it would take years to master.

And the amount of balls they are juggling in the air, would take years also. It is as if FDR looking around on December 8th said, well lets let these six 20 year old juniors from community college handle the entire American war effort. I'll sit back and take the credit, but they can defeat Hitler and the Japanese, no problem.

Our heroes are faced with so many challenges that they should have had the years to develop especially as we have had 20 years to wait for the end of the series.

Thus we conclude that if you are a fan of the series, this is a transition book. There are some fun and exciting sequences, but even with the closing of some arcs, the book opens new doors and by now we know, that some of the things that Jordan adds, when he adds new things, just can not be finished unless he forces us to read 3000 new pages...

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This was a reread for me, I first read it when the hardback was released a few years ago. Sped through it and then said, in disgust, Nothing Happened. But as the newest book in this series came out recently I figured I'd take a skim through in preparation. Lucky I did, as I didn't remember anything

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from this book. Apart from the very very end. And I think the reason is that nothing actually happens in this book, apart from one thing. At the end.

There is a lot of X going there, and Y preparing for that, and Z recovering from the other. But actual events? Few and far between.

I suppose that is the problem when you write such a long series and have so many major characters, not to mention a multitude of other minor characters. Through in a load of politics and scheming and there is quite a bit of setting up of scenarios.

Obviously, if you haven't read the others in this series there is no point in picking this one up. If you haven't enjoyed the others then you won't enjoy this one. And if you read it after waiting and waiting ages since the previous one you'll be annoyed at the lack of action and forward movement. However it does make a lot more satisfying reading when you have book 11 there and waiting to be picked up.

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Jordan, uncharacteristically one might say, produces a Wheel of Time novel which starts off with action, has plenty of exciting sequences in the middle and offers a grand finale to boot. There is none of the spirituality of the previous two entries and the action centres around the original Two

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Rivers 'heroes', as their stories continue on a collision-course with the Dark One. Although Jordan is still verbose and frequently uses five hundred words when fifty would suffice, there is less redundant prose here, although anyone looking for brief and concise fiction would have escaped from the Wheel of Time some volumes back. The story is worth the content and and Crown of Swords offers the propellant this ailing series needed offering various entertaining aspects of fantasy fiction from tavern brawls to field warfare, mysterious quests to assassinations. Entertaining from the first page to the last, although a little wordy on the way, this is a reminder of why the series is so popular.

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So intriguing a series that I'm still reading after 8 books.

Still fighting the madness that is slowly trying to manifest within him, along with enemies in every direction, Rand continues to grow stronger and gain more support in this volume of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. A Crown of Swords is the seventh book in the series and is definitely

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better than the last two in my opinion. The characters all continue to evolve as the story continues toward an ending I can’t wait to see. I love this series and hate to see it end, but at the same time I want to know what is going to happen.

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In this seventh book of the Wheel of Time series, Rand is recovering from being captured, imprisoned and tortured by White Tower Aes Sedai, Egwene is finding a balance as a very young and underestimated Amyrlin Seat and Elayne, Nynaeve, Aviendha and Mat are trying to stay alive while looking for a

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ter'angreal that may help change the weather back to normal.

There's a good amount of tension in this one - few large battles, but many of the characters get into substantial scrapes. I'm rather partial to Mat, and he's featured for a good portion of the book as he, Elayne and Nynaeve search for the Bowl of the Winds in violent Ebou Dar. Perrin, another I'm fond of, is not so heavily featured, which was disappointing. However, Lan returns! And reunites with Nynaeve! Yay!

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My favourite Wheel of Time book so far.

A Crown of Swords is a well balanced installment of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series, especially when looking at it as part of the series' 2nd Act. The book's various story lines pick up where they left off in the previous volume, Lord of Chaos, and either continue or come to a conclusion

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that quickly leads to a new one taking its place and either bringing together or separating the large cast of characters. Unlike the previous installment, A Crown of Swords seems to be better paced as Jordan stuck with a story line for several chapters in a row until it came to an appropriate place to transition to another story line or for the next book. Throughout the book, a variety of character developments take place with the most important happening with Nynaeve followed by Mat and Rand.

There were a few things that were somewhat of a drag, mostly the usual complaints one hears from longer time fans like in-depth detail on clothing, hair pulling by a certain character, the interactions of various women with one another, etc. The one that continues to be a personal problem to me is that the climax at the end of the book seems rushed with all of it occurring during the last chapter of the book. But since these "problems" or complaints have been present throughout the series an objective reader does get use to it.

Overall, A Crown of Swords is a good read and I recommend you continue reading The Wheel of Time series with this book.

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Firmly in the Dreaded Middle. Egwene in Salidar is one of my favorite plotlines - Egwene in general is one of my favorite characters, maybe my favorite overall - but I loathe Ebou Dar (minus about three scenes,) I have zero patience for Cadsuane, and while there are still lots of good crunchy

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minor-character bits, there's not enough major-arc movement to suit me.

Note: In general, I can't review this series with any objectivity. I've been reading it since I was eleven years old, and it's thoroughly embedded in my brain.

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Better than the last one. not so long winded. much quicker pace and the story went somewhere.

This is where the series really started to drag for me and this re-read is no different. It took me a long time to work through this one and I kept putting it down, pulling other books off the shelf and then coming back to it. While quite a bit does happen and the story moved forward, it probably

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could have been about 400 pages shorter and just as effective. I will of course keep moving forward as I do recall the pace starting to pick up again here in the next book or so and I believe book 8 is the farthest I've been in the series so I'm looking forward to seeing what is after that. Still love the series even thought this book is not one of my favorites.

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It was very good. Much better than the previous book, which lagged at times. This book stuck with each storyline for a longer period and had more action. All in all, an engrossing read! On to Book Eight!

I felt this installment lost a lot of momentum at the end. It became really easy to put down. I still love the series as a whole, though.

Still fighting the madness that is slowly trying to manifest within him, along with enemies in every direction, Rand continues to grow stronger and gain more support in this volume of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. A Crown of Swords is the seventh book in the series and is definitely

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better than the last two in my opinion. The characters all continue to evolve as the story continues toward an ending I can’t wait to see. I love this series and hate to see it end, but at the same time I want to know what is going to happen.

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I know that WOT is not for everyone, but returning to these books after many years I found the first six books to be more or less perfect for what they are. This seventh book to my taste is where Jordan really started to lose his way.

Rand's return to Cairhien offers a promising enough beginning,

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but what follows doesn't feel particularly important and doesn't prove particularly entertaining. Just when it might have felt that Jordan should start moving the overarching storyline towards a conclusion instead we are introduced to numerous new (or revived) characters, few if any of which will end up adding much to the series. The activities of our main characters start to feel more like filler than anything monumental (e.g., just about everything in the Ebou Dar sequence). And after offering spectacular climactic endings to the first six books, Jordan here leaves us much more confused than satisfied.

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This one picks up right where Lord of Chaos ends - in fact, there is a little bit of overlap where we see what happens from Sevanna's point of view when Rand escapes the White Tower's grasp (described in the previous book). Elayne and Nynaeve continue their search in Ebou Dar, with Mat helping out,

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while Egwene marches to the White Tower. Rand bounces around between Camelyn and Cairhien, involved in all kinds of palace intrigue and an almost deadly meeting with Padan Fain. And he goes to Shadar Logoth again to battle Sammael. Big cliffhangers at the end of this one, with the Seanchan coming to Ebou Dar.

Can't wait to start the next one!

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One of the lowest points in the Wheel of Time series. Just kick back, get something nice to eat or drink, and plough through.