Rating: 
Summary: Stop speed reading
Review: I agree it's very wordy compared to the prior WOTs. Jordan uses much more very vivid, explicite and descriptive prose. I found it helped when I slowed my reading speed, and taste and chew every sentence, and try to visualize the scenes. Even then some paragraphs and scenes go on too long and are repetative, sort of like a Mojo JoJo speech (powerpuff girls reference). If you try to read quickly, it is definitely not a satisfying read at all.I'm still immersed in the WOT world, and will patiently wait for the next one. I do hope Jordan goes back to his original writing style and pace though. I don't want to wait 10 more years for this grand epic to come to a close...
Rating: 
Summary: frustrating
Review: If the first few books in this series were back-story, character development, the setting of the board, the next few were a gathering of resources for a difficult task. Rand went east into the Aiel Waste to bind the Aiel to him, to gather the spears, leaving behind a sa'angreal and the Defenders of the Stone. At the time, this drove Morraine mad with frustration. After Crossroads, as we enter book 11, in 2005, this same pattern continues. What is most frustrating with Jordan's latest installment is that he creates tension by forcing his characters to make bad choices, choices that make little or no sense given the state of the board. We spent three or four books getting to where we are, gathering resources, giving his characters good options, and Jordan waves it all aside, pretends none of it is there. Rand, for instance: having gathered the Aiel behind him, Rand makes poor use of them, leaving behind Far Dareis Mai even after promising he would not. While aggravating some of the most sympathetic characters in the book, he makes a foray into the West, into the heart of Seanchan-held territory, accompanied by those most likely to poison his wine or slip a dagger twixt his ribs. With male channelers at his beck and call, having cleansed the source (the major accomplishment of the last book), Rand uses only a handful of them, far fewer than he could, enough to make an operation unnecessarily risky, enough to take casualties. Again, he pushes a resource he has gathered aside. When he has overwhelming force, he fails to use it. At the end of Crossroads, Rand makes another pull-out-your-hair choice, possibly the worst yet. Mat leaves The Band of the Hand behind then returns to them by the slowest route possible. No one makes proper use of the Aiel Wise Ones and their dreaming. And these aren't the worst cases, the ones that would tell too much of what happens in Crossroads. I could go on but... all these invaluable resources are readily available and Jordan asks us to believe his characters don't remember them in their time of need. It's like being in a room filled with kerosene, dry wood, and matches and a group of people come to the conclusion that they need to go into a cold, dark wood nearby and brave the wolves so they can gather soggy branches from the forest floor, then rub the branches together, all to start a fire. I recommended this series, once, to a friend, when it was at book 5 or so. I hope Jordan finishes the series. I will finish the series. I am unlikely to start another Jordan series after this. I think that summarizes the position most readers will take. We have too much invested in the series. The problem isn't so much Jordan's writing or his characters or the setting or the possibilities. These are Jordan's strengths, what drew readers to his books. The problem is that Jordan seems to have done his best work when his characters had few to no options (The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn, The Fires of Heaven) and now that they have options, he seems to wish to pretend that they have none, forcing them to make terrible decisions that are just painful to watch. I recommend Crossroads (in paperback) to those who have already read the first nine. It is not a bad installment, no worse than the last, really, but it's painful to read at points and does not come to a very satisfying conclusion. Tuon and Mat are perhaps my favorite characters in this book, because there is some development in their relationship. In the end though, Crossroads drags a bit and the characters make bad decisions and make poor use of their resources. It's hard to see how or when this series is going to come to a satisfying conclusion.
Rating: 
Summary: kick-me-in-the-face-HORRIBLE
Review: Well I'm sure most of you can already tell this book is god-awful just from the number of bad reviews, but let me just point out a few of the most annoying points which make readers want to hurl the book down in disgust:
1. (for me, the most significant): there is no longer one even remotely likeable female character in the story. every single one has by this point turned into a whiny, male-hating, insecure, jealous hipocrate. Even the few characteristics which clung to the lead females that allowed us to tolerate them (Nyneave's great strength with the Power, Birgitte's "toughness") have disapeared into the Pit of Doom. I want Elayne to die. And please let the Black Ajah kill Egwene!
2. NOTHING HAPPENS! You've all probably realized it by this point, but each successive WOT book progresses slower and slower. If someone walks through a camp, I really don't care what the guy fixing the pot by the corner had for breakfast, or what Elayne is thinking about every possible topic at every possible moment. Just do something for god's sake! Please get the plot moving.
3. I hate every stinking female character... oh wait I already did that one...
4. What the hell happened to Rand? He does pretty much nothing in the book.
5. Egwene, useless as usual, sits with her army outside of Tar Valon and accomplishes nothing. You'd think that this book would deal with and finish the siege of Tar Valon, since the army is in place and all, but nooooo, it probably won't happen for another 3 books or so (by which point most of America will either have burned Jordan's books or made several attempts on his life).
6. DIE NYNEAVE DIE!
7. Most characters, which were never very realistic, have lost so much credability that we cannot even pretend they act like regular human beings. People don't just run away squeaking when a woman they don't know "fixes a look on them". I mean honestly, would you run outta the way if a 5 foot woman came stalking down the street, pulling her braid? No, you stand there and ignore her as just another person.
8. and finally, the most annoying thing by far... all plots against Elayne's life fail. Damn it!
Rating:
Summary: A dying series
Review: The Wheel of Time was the best fantasy series ever written. In the last two books (some 1,600 pages), Jordan has barely moved the story forward. There used to be great action in the books. Now, the author seems determined to fill in every bit of detail and back-story for the series. And it's simply dull. An advisor wants to say something to Perrin. He gets out a one-line sentence SIX PAGES later! They spent those six pages walking through the camp, and Jordan tells us all kinds of extraneous stuff. It does nothing for plot development. The whole book seems to go this way. Crossroads (paperback) is over 800 pages, and Rand doesn't appear in the first 600-plus pages. That's just silly. I used to stay up early into the morning to read the latest WOT novel. I barely finished this one. With New Spring (his latest novel) taking place before The Eye of the World, it feels like Jordan's main goal is now to write about the world he's created: not tell Rand's story. I want to know what happens to the Dragon Reborn. I hope the series ends soon enough that I'll still be reading it. Jordan is a superb writer, but he seems to have lost sight of his purpose with this series. It's a shame.
Rating:
Summary: Painful and Sad
Review: I will not delve into the poor plot development, slow pace and repetitive dialouge. Many others on this list have done so already. However, like most I feel I have to warn away anyone who is considering the arduous trek of winding through this tale. As many have said the first 5 books are quite compelling, but like a fly trap they draw you in and hold you while you suffer through the next 5 books. At this point I am through, Mr. Jordan you have beaten me. I know longer have any interest in knowing what happens to your characters, even though at one time I would have stood in line to buy the next installment the day it came out. It is now simply a sad, painful day when I see one of your books hit the shelf.
Rating:
Summary: The conspiracy!
Review: It seems obvious to me what Robert Jordan and Tor are doing. They are, of course, trying to milk as much money as possible from this series. Think about it for a second. I, for one, really liked the end of Winter's Heart. It was fast paced and interesting; it reminded me a lot of the excitement I had while reading The Eye of The World. After finishing Winter's Heart, I thought to myself that Jordan's finally back on track. Well, guess what? He isn't. The ending in Winter's Heart was just a ploy to get us to buy the next novel. Which, since we were going to buy it anyway, didn't really need to have anything interesting in it at all. So then guess what happens, the next book will be dull, but it will have an exciting 100 pages at the end. Then we'll do the same thing as before: say "Great! He fixed himself!" But then Jordan will write another Crossroads of Twilight. This must stop! In the name of all that is good and holy it must stop! Take the initiative! Write to Tor and Robert Jordan! Tell them what you think! I know I am!
Rating:
Summary: Thank the Light someone finally said it!
Review: I want to applaud one reviewer (Oscar, "honesty of a review [no spoilers]", January 15, 2004) for pointing out that many WOT fans reviewing "Crossroads of Twilight" positively (3-5 stars) tend to do so based on the fact that they liked the series as a whole or that they believe the next book will be "better". I've seen very few high ratings here that actually liked the book itself. Therefore, it is a bit ridiculous because it IS misleading. Like Oscar said, Amazon should really have a section to review the series as a whole. Meanwhile, I wish to join Oscar in asking fellow reviewers to keep in mind that customers reading yours reviews are typically reading them to find out if the particular item in question is worth purchasing. In this case that item is "Crossroads of Twilight" NOT the entire series or any future installments. We have no way of knowing if the next book will be praisworthy until its release and, unless you're using a comparison of how the series has progressed since it's beginning (which the majority agree, went from 5-6 wonderful installments to swiftly decreasing in quality with each succeeding volume), simply rating this book -- in my opinion a terrible piece of literature -- five stars based on Robert's past work or to boost the rating isn't fair to those who have yet to spend their hard earned money on it. Now everyone has a right to their opinions and I respect the few who honestly enjoyed this book and rated it accordingly. Also, opinions lead to hypothesis and other comparisons, which is fine as long as it doesn't distract too much from the subject at hand. In other words, sometimes it's hard to keep perspective about something you've invested so much time, money, and energy in but WOT reviewers are typically very intelligent (you have to be to keep up with a series of this magnitude) and the majority, I've noticed, have amazingly managed to agree to a consensus. That consensus being that CoT is not worth buying.
Rating:
Summary: Patience, and Predictions
Review: Maybe the 4- and 5-star reviewers are right, and those of us who couldn't stomach this book are just too impatient and shallow in wanting more plot advancement after a mere 10 books. I'm sure we'll see it in book 11. In fact, based on the important "crossroads" Jordan has brought us to in book 10, I'll make the following optimistic predictions of things to come: 1. Elayne's mother (um, what was her name again?) is reunited with her daughter, and sneaks Elayne some spicy food and real tea. Elayne immediately goes into labor, which continues throughout the book.
2. In a hopping rage over this, Birgitte splits the inseams of her breeches, and decides she looks good in a dress after all. Finding a whole new world of fashion opening before her, she hangs up her bow and picks up a needle.
3. The bond between Nynaeve and Lan continues to strengthen. People notice Lan tugging on his right earlobe with increasing frequency, which makes them suspect it is becoming longer than the left one. Min tries to read his aura, to see if it's true.
4. Egwene learns that her kidnappers are a secretive sect of Aes Sedai who have discovered the powerful ter'angreal known as "tai'lannol", and that she is to be the subject of their experiments with it.
5. Rand realizes he is a masochist at heart, and throws over Aviendha, Min and Elayne for Cadsuane, just so he can experience their suffering along with his own. Between this heartbreak and Elayne's labor pains, Aviendha grinds her teeth to little nubs.
6. Faile is rescued, only to discover she is allergic to canines. Perrin, in a fit of grief, looks for a low-cost spay/neuter program.
7. Mat and Tuon develop a "George and Gracie"-type routine for Valan Luca's Grand Traveling Show. They are finally captured by a Seanchan captain who sees a billboard for "Nine Moons Over Pair-a-dice" and grows suspicious. On second thought, I think I'll skip book 11.
Rating:
Summary: Boycott the "New Spring"!!
Review: A complete waste of time and money. The money-mongers won't see another cent of my hard-earned cash until book 11 comes out, and then only after I read the first hundred pages while standing in the aisle at the bookstore. DON'T BUY THE "NEW SPRING" TITLES! Send a message to the author and the greedy publishers...
Rating:
Summary: the reason why this never ends...
Review: The reason why it never ends? 1800+ reviews of the same thing. Okay, time for the answer: simple...Jordan is afraid to end this. The series has defined him and been a part of his life so long that he is actually afraid to end it. Because he can't see beyond the series. And there's that fear that once this is done, then there is no more of many things. Therefore he is procrastinating and obfuscating, delayinging finishing it. He keeps creating subplots and detail to almost the molecular level (thanks to one of the spotlight reviews for that!) to postpone the enevitable choices he is afraid of making. Jordan has a serious dose of avoidance and his readers are those who suffer for it! And this book is yet another in a line that is become increasingly immobile. Okay when you read this think about it a little bit. Just don't jump to his defence or whatever. This is correct. The evidence fits. This is why it is the way it is. So I proffer the opinion that short of a serious kick in the pants, this series isnt going to end anytime soon. And I don't think there is going to be any significant advancement either. Until Jordan overcomes his avoidance and fear of choice, then expect more of the same. Which is a real shame. I don't think this is about the money. I think it's deeper than that. I think he just can't let go, so he, as the god of the world he created, is doing everything in his power to keep it alive. I think he's too infatuated with his power in that world and is too attached to it. He writes for himself. Of course, because he is the god of that world. That's what a god does, seemingly - creates, manages and moves things around from a position of eternal omnipotence. And so it drags on, and on and on. He's so afraid to let go. And I think, some of you who defend him, are too. So in 100 reviews time somebody can recycle this as their own opinion (like my comparison between Jordan and the entire works of eddings and tolkien, except changed it to war and peace), just remember where you saw it first.
|
