Rating: Summary: More build up Review: First I would like to say that I had to give at least one star. I couldn't give it a zero. It deserves a zero. I can't give any plot points away, because nothing happened. Every character is in the same basic situation at the end as in the beginning. I think just about anybody could have written the same thing for this book. All of the characters go on a path that could have been easily skipped over as stuff that happened between books and did not need to be written. The only reason for this book to be out is so that the series wouldn't be forgotten. I doubt a good fantasy series like this would be forgotten. I think it would have been better for this book to have not been written. It was written and tarnishes the image of an otherwise very good series.
Rating: Summary: not so bad as some say Review: i enjoyed this book as well as all the others in the series, this is just less action packed. either way, you should read all the books through to really get into them.
Rating: Summary: Robert Jordan has lost control Review: there is the distant possibility that, maybe, just maybe, Robert Jordan is introducing all these various storylines with a clear purpose in mind. There is the possibility that he actually keeps track of all the hundreds of characters and keeps them around for a, any, reason whatsoever. MOre likely, however, Jordan lost control a few books back and is now just swept with the tide like the rest of us, not knowing where its headed or how it will resolve itself. I read somewhere that he knows how this series will end, that this is the first thing he wrote when he started WoT. Well, this is the 10th book of the series, and he needs at least a couple more before the grand finale. I just cant believe that he needed 10, plus possibly 2 more (at least), all for providing setup to this awesome conclusion. RJ has lost his touch and vision, and it pains both the author and his readers that this series is ongoing. It is not too late to save this series, but please, take some time and think it thru before publishing book 11.
Rating: Summary: The Prologue Review: Before I read this book, i was thinking about how the prologues in each of the WOT books seems longer than the book before... Then I read this one, a book where the prologue should be entirely deleted and the rest of the book would serve as one. While the story had not advanced significantly in this series in some time, that was fine with me because things were happening in the world that were interesting. Crossroads of Twilight, however, contains virtually nothing that contributes to the world, no events of note until the last page. Filler I can take. This book was sub-par filler.
Rating: Summary: A Quick Analogy Review: Once I ate a BBQ Pork sandwich, and boy it was really good. So good that I ate another one, and another and another. Finally after ten of the same BBQ Pork sandwiches they didn't taste quite as good. That doesn't mean it was bad, it just was not as good as the first one. I'm really not sure what the cook is doing in the back but next time I come to eat I may just order something else.
Rating: Summary: Consistently atrocious ZERO Stars Review: What I once loved to read I can no longer tolerate. I haven't bought the last two books (I swore that Path of Daggers debacle was the last time I gave my money to RJ) but read them in the bookstore. If this is the same man who wrote the first five books in this series, he has turned his creativity from entertainment to a sadism. A less enjoyable book may not be possible. Anyone capable of such a melodramatic go nowhere marathon should be hailed as the Antistoryteller of our time. Here's a tip; Three books (going on four) and Elayne is still trying to get the Lion Throne!?! It should have taken One Sentence: 'Elayne arrived in Andor at claimed her Mother's Title'. Or better, 'Elayne went to get the throne but was quickly killed along with Faile'.
Rating: Summary: Skim it, at best Review: I've had it with Jordan. This is the last book of the Wheel of Time I will ever buy. I regret buying this one. Professional reviewers call for patience, ask us to wait because the NEXT book will be interesting. Give me a break! Jordan is spooning out endlessly tiresome minutae and characters that have little to do with the promised Last Battle. Besides, if the conclusion of this series ever happens, who is going to possibly remember a character in book seven, relating to one in ten, and back to something we all read years and years ago? If Jordan was a new author, this book would never be published.
Rating: Summary: A complete waste of time..... Review: An utterly useless piece of literature. It is a shame that the series that involved me so deeply into the world of fantasy has come to this. Mr. Jordan clearly lost his talent for engaging writing. To believe that anyone would find this almost 700 pages of minutia entertaining is clearly delusional. If I haven't made my point yet allow me clarify: NOTHING happens in this book. The entire book could be summarized in a few concise paragraphs.
Rating: Summary: Stomaching a Master? Review: If the overwhelming weight of reviews preceding this one hasn't persuaded you, then I don't know what will. At the risk of overkill, I am adding my own negative review, but I am hoping to contribute some new observation. It's clear that despite the vast difference in their qualitative judgments that both the five-star and the one-star people are talking about the same book, and the same problems. Even the most glowing of reviews is forced to stoop to exhort the potential reader to "have patience" with, to "stomach", to "endure" the protracted set-up of a "master". Well, a good writer writes good set-up, which is indistinguishable from the narrative. And that's all I have to say about that. At this point, reading Jordan is like talking to one of those semi-retarded adults that doesn't look directly at you, but talks continuously about his Star Wars toys, or vintage postage stamps shortly before wandering off to cut out faces from magazines and paste them to his walls. Jordan must be suffering from some bizarre synthesis of writer's block and logorrhea. My best guess is that he has written himself into a real bind: major plot points hinge on characters who can walk in dreams and teleport around the world being unwilling to simply talk to the other ones. Successful resolution of such thin suspense is going to take a lot more than, "Oh I just realized I hadn't popped in to say hello in awhile. What's that you say? Well, why didn't you say so? We can take care of that right now!" Rather than deal with this dilemma, which is common to nearly all writers whose characters transgress the boundaries of human capabilities so thoroughly, Jordan appears to be reproducing, in excruciating detail, the research he must have done into dress and fabric, tea, equestrian sports and blah, blah, blah. I haven't done the work, but I heard from someone who had, that some of Jordan's later books cover only two or three days...WITH OVERLAP!!! I hate to beat the "GET MOVING" drum when so many others have gone before me, but hey... It's fairly common that when an author does one thing poorly-let's say, plot-that he will do another thing very well-like maybe characterization. Well, you can't fault Jordan for his singularity here. He's pretty much the only one who does both very, very badly. Judging by his characters, I would say that Jordan had his formative years as an author writing bizarre sexual harassment scenarios. It reminds me vaguely of Garrison Keillor's Lake Woebegone, where "all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average" In the world of the WoT, you get, "All the women are spunky, until they fall in love, and then they treat their men like overgrown children; all the men are stoic, but appear entirely willing to be treated as overgrown children by women, except particularly brassy ones, whom they threaten with being taken over the knee for a good spanking; and all the children are...well, all the chracters act like children"...or something. The best thing I can say about this series is that the first book is really good, and that the second is only three-quarters bad. The taut, well-crafted "Eye of the World" stands alone, and I recommend that it be read that way. But there are hints, even as far back as that, that the WoT was going to turn into a disaster. Read George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" instead.
Rating: Summary: Ditto Review: With over 1400 reviews, the only change you'll have of reading this is if it gets picked for the main page. This book was exciting. That is to say exciting as watching paint dry is exciting. I had more fun picking out today's socks that I did reading this latest installment. "Honey, I'd like you to read Crossroads of Twilight. It's got some amusing andecdotes for you. Oh, and here's a gun so you can blow your brains out. You'll thank me for it." I could tolerate any insurance seminar. For days I could sit there and listen to them go on and on with a big smile on my face. And they'd say "How can you stand it?" And I'd say "'Cause I've read Crossroads of Twilight. I can take anything." And you know what thy'd say? They'd say "I know what you mean. The 10th Wheel of Time book. Whoah!" Jordan took literally over HALF of the book to get us to where he left us at the end of Winter's Heart. I can remember when even the character stuff was good enough to keep me up to 2 or 3 in the morning. This one put me right to sleep, but like a trained WOT fan, I finished it - with a bad taste in my mouth. Sure #9 ended with a bang, but you never hear a single echo of it. Jordan doesn't even TOUCH on the squeeky clean saidin. It's hardly used in CoT. Go ahead and buy it - if you don't, you'll lay awake at night wondering if it really is as bad as people here say. Blah blah blah filler blah blah blah Third Age fashions blah blah blah Aes Sedai like cheese with their whine blah blah blah. (Insert your own amusing comments here - I'm too tired)
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