Rating: 
Summary: Have You No Shame?
Review: I've been a loyal reader through the (seldomly) thick and (mostly) thin. This book is almost the last straw. I'm going to wait for paperback for the next one. This book takes place practically in negative time compared to the previous installment. Jordan needs to take a page from some other authors....and finish his damn series, already!!
Rating:
Summary: What was this?
Review: I am dumbfounded at Jordan's new novel. I cannot believe that this novel was published. I guess the editor looked at the name, and then without reading a word, passed it on. It violates so much that a novel - notice I didn't say "a good novel" - should possess. Including very basic rules that high school students learn. If you are not developing a story or characters, then what are you doing? Robert Jordan mastered three novels, since then they have subsequently gotten worse, to a degree that must break some sort of record. Has a novelist ever fallen so far?Read the last two faults from Caro Clark's Beginners' Four Faults: (3) Tea, Vicar? "More tea, Vicar?" Angela asked, taking his cup and placing it on the tray beside her.
"Don't mind if I do," said the Rev. Phelps.
"That was two sugars, wasn't it?" she asked, pouring the fragrant liquid from the heirloom pot into his cup and stirring in the milk. When he nodded, she dropped in two sugar lumps, stirred again, and handed him back the cup.
"Thank you, my dear," he said, accepting it with a smile.
How often have I read loving descriptions of cups of tea being poured, pots of coffee being made, even whole meals cooked and eaten? Or rooms cleaned or decorated, or journeys made? Too darn often. Writers get a high out of conjuring a tableau from thin air, and in the white heat of creation forget that tableaus of mundane details are not exciting. The reader will not share that euphoria. Reading about a cup of tea being poured is about as exciting as watching paint dry. How does this scene help further the plot or character development? It doesn't. The writer simply got carried away with describing everything. Fiction is supposed to be like life, but with the dull bits removed, not spelled out in excruciating detail. Examine your work. Test every scene. Is there anything that you think of as "setting the scene" or "capturing the atmosphere"? If there is, cut it. Every scene needs conflict and movement to give it life, and tea for the Vicar has neither. (4) Styrofoam. This is related to Tea, Vicar?, but it arises not from self-indulgence, but panic. Styrofoam is egregious padding novice writers stuff into their novels because they haven't enough story to tell (or think they don't) and need to create word count. Padding is distinguishable because suddenly the forward movement of the story stops dead. Nothing happens for a few pages. I read, I read, and at the end I've learned nothing about the characters I needed to know, nor have the characters done anything essential to the story. Every scene has to propel the plot to the crisis that will resolve the story. Styrofoam does neither. If you fear you haven't enough narrative, add more conflict. Don't give me tours of the countryside, long rambling chats, the characters making travel arrangements, or any other lifeless block of prose. I want action. I want inexorable movement towards the crisis. I want to be gripped. So cut the padding. If that makes your novel too short, re-think your premise, your plot, your primary and secondary characters, and rewrite. If you want to be published, you'll have to cure these faults, because I, your editor, won't do it for you. I'll just send it back. The above (3) and (4) are Copyright 1998 Caro Clarke
Rating:
Summary: A Recap
Review: So we go into "Crossroads of Twilight" expecting big and exiting things to happen do to what happened in "Winter's Heart". Well that's not the case on this the 10th installment of Robert Jordan's epic: "The Whel of Time". For some reason I think that the Wheel of Time is turning at a slower rate, and in some cases going backwards. The page count in this book is marginal compared some other gargantuan volumes in this series, and three quarters of it is a recap of what happened in the last book. I was so exited to buy this book that on it's release date I was in line at the Store where RJ himself was showcasing the book for the first time, I get home and read it, and 4 days later I'm like, That's it? Wait for the paperback, and don't hold your breath for the next book. George R.R. Martin Song if Ice and Fire is a much better story IMO.
Rating: 
Summary: On to bigger and better things...
Review: The point to a great story is the end...fourtunately for us, the end is coming up faster (bookwise) than everyone thinks. A great story has a beginning, a set-up, a climax, and a follow through. We are now on the precipce of the climax, but the follow through (maybe another novel after the Last Battle?) will be a grand work of art.
Reading between the lines, I feel as if the end will be like an Illuminator's display...full of action and brilliance that will be a delight to remember and talk about later with other people who are fans.
As for this book, the hits just keep on coming! Another set-up novel to be sure, but a great story takes the time to put each piece in it's place so that when ready, a slight pull here, and a little tug there, it all falls into place almost effortlessly. This installment is getting everything into place but looking at the grand picture, it'll be a doozy when the climax and follow through get here! A must read just to keep up.
Rating:
Summary: Tedious
Review: No matter how quickly or how slowly Jordan wraps up this series, there is no excuse for this exercise in inaction. There are, maybe, 6 pages of enjoyable reading in this tome, of which, possibly 2 advance the plot. This is far worse than 6, 7, or 8 in the series - something I thought, and hoped, I would never write. If you've read the prior nine, then you may want to wait for this to be remaindered, or read it softbound. You could probably learn everything you need to know from the book in 5 minutes on line (which isn't much). Otherwise, frankly, it isn't worth your time unless you graduated at the top of an Evelyn Wood Speed-Reading Class. One can only hope that if Jordan does decided to wrap this up soon, that he will deliver at least two decent novels to end the series, and make amends with the public that has supported him over the years.
Rating:
Summary: BORING, Nothing happened
Review: This was not just boring, but nothing even happened. I went on a road trip and listened to the audio. I kept waiting for something pertinent to happen and 30 hours later all I could do was shake my head and wonder what a bunch of garbage.......
Rating:
Summary: Could've been better, could've been worse
Review: Was the book slow, sure. Were too many chapters spent on increasing plot lines by inches, sure. Was the main character of the series virtually non-existent, yes. With all that I still enjoyed the book. In fact if you told me that there were going to be twenty more books in the series before the Last Battle, I would be ecstatic. I love reading the series, love the characters, love the world, love the way it engrosses you. The problem is the two years between books. To make the series truly enjoyable you have to re-read the whole thing. I don't have time for that anymore, but I was definitely annoyed by how many characters I could not remember because they had such minor roles in the past. Anyway, I know that this has been a rambley review (my first ever). In the end I want to say I will keep reading and enjoying every book written by Robert Jordan, but will hold a little bit of annoyance until the series is complete.
Rating:
Summary: So many strings so few pages
Review: Once again I delved into the wheel of time hoping to find a story that would shine like one of the first three books in the series.. but allas i was dissapointed.. once again. The weaver is trying to make a carpet out of too many threads and the carpet isnt getting anywhere near to completion. The book is +- 800 pages but not much happens.. a tiny bit here a tiny bit ther.. The story is draging its feet like a child that doesnt want to goto school.. Im really sorry i haveto say this but the story has lost its magic. Sorry folks but i wouldnt buy this book if i had a second chance..
Rating:
Summary: We Were Very Disappointed
Review: My husband and I couldn't wait to get our hands on this book having read all the rest of the series. And the series is awesome! Until you get to this book. Nothing really happened. People just seemed to move through the story without really doing anything...and there was lots of waiting. For what? I'm not sure. Nothing new happened. Nothing was concluded. We ended up spending ... for a hardback book full of filler. We still like Mr. Jordan but we'll wait for the paperback of the next book and hope it's better than this one.
Rating:
Summary: Slow, Slow, Slow
Review: I love this series, but this one is really boring. I suppose it is necessary to read if one is going to finish the series, but Robert Jordan could have given his loyal fans a much better book this time out. I will keep reading the series because I am hooked, but from now on wait for the paperback rather than scooping up the hardcover in the first week after a year of anticipation.
You can skim this one and get just as much as you need out of it. Conclusion: Wait for the paperback or borrow a friend's copy if you really want to read this one.
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