Rating: 
Summary: Don't Bother Buying It
Review: In the beginning, the Wheel of Time books were fast-paced, rich with character development, and presented a nice admixture of themes from Tolkien, Herbert, and other great authors. But alas, the wheel turns, and the well has run dry. There is hardly any plot to speak of in this book, and the repetition of inane musings and descriptive phrases (smoothing the folds of a dress, tugging at a shawl, etc.) is enough to drive one to distraction. In effect, upon finishing the book, everything about the Wheel of Time universe seems two-dimensional and trite. Perhaps the copy editors at Tor have been told to leave Jordan's writing untouched, or maybe Jordan just hammered through writer's block for the sake of meeting his deadlines. Whatever the reason, you're wasting your time and your money if you buy/read this book. For that matter, hold off on any early purchases of the 11th book until you see more positive reviews.
Rating:
Summary: Hurry up and stand still
Review: Like most reviewers here, I agree: this book goes nowhere. I didn't believe it until I read it myself. Literally, the plot ends in almost exactly the same place it began. Readers of the series could skip this thick volume and not miss a thing of import. Like others, I miss the early days of the series and am starting to resent Jordan's apparent milking of the series for profit (ie: the re-release of book one as two "new" seperate books...) With books like this one, you're losing fans by the thousands, Jordan...
Rating:
Summary: Adding my voice to the chorus
Review: I don't really have anything to add to what has been said by over a thousand other reviews. This book sucked[was bad], but I, like many others, read it anyway, based on the past glory of the series. I hope Robert Jordan is proud of how he suckered all his loyal fans. Even if this book was an intentionally dull setup to make the climax that much more exciting, it's an insult for him to expect us to pay him for the privilege of being bored by him. Maybe he'll read these reviews and try a little harder next time.
Rating:
Summary: Two thumbs down
Review: I won't read another Jordan book. This series started wonderfully. I was totally enthralled. Now I think the series has become as much of a chore to write as it is to read. The book was great bed time reading. It put me to sleep in 15 minutes without fail. Perhaps Robert Jordan should take a page from Michael Jordan and just retire.
Rating: 
Summary: More detail, less action
Review: I've been reading the "Wheel of Time series" for over a decade now. The first 6 books rank with some of the greatest fantasy of all time, certainly the best in the last fifteen years. Books 7 and 8 were not as good, but they still had enough action and plot twists to keep the reader interested. I began to get a feeling with books 7 and 8 that Jordan was drawing things out, giving too much detail without moving the story line along. This has only gotten worse with the last two books, "Winter's Heart" and "Crossroads of Twilight." At least "Winter's Heart" had a climactic finish with Rand cleansing Saidan. "Crossroads" is simply 600+ pages worth of trailer material for the next book. Perrin spends the entire book chasing Faile and doesn't even rescue her. We have several pointless chapters dealing with Elayne's political maneuvering in Andor. The rebel Aes Sedai are camped outside Tar Valon doing absolutely nothing (for several chapters!). We only get one chapter with Rand dealing with the after effects of cleansing Saidan (isn't this a rather important story line to only get one chapter in the book?). There are some interesting parts in the book, dealing with Logain, Alviarin, Mesaana and Shaidar Haran. I also thought the end with Egwene being kidnapped does set up good material for the next book, as well as the story lines dealing with alliances with the Seanchan. The possible alliance with the Black Tower and the rebels is also a good story line (we might actually get to figure out what Taim is). All in all I was disappointed with the book. I think that RJ needs to be locked in a room with a computer and not allowed out until he finishes the series. That way he might get to the point a lot quicker. Hopefully with the next book we might get a lot more questions answered and might see the end to the series. I'll be somewhat sad to see the story end, but the series is now starting to get stale.
Rating:
Summary: 600 pages of words, 50 pages of actual content
Review: Yet again, Jordan has proven to his fan base that he is filling a contract with a publisher and not caring about the content of his books. And, we the fans (a.k.a. the lemmings) have fallen into the trap of buying a book because of what it possibly could be, only to realize we have wasted our money on a book with nothing redeeming about it. Face it Jordan, you are no Tolkien. COT is a mirror of it's predessors. A book with over 600 pages of words that amount to basically nothing. And only about 50 or so pages at the end of the book that are actual story. These are so obviously placed to wet our appetitie and make us eagerly await and eventually purchase the next volume in this story. (Something I plan to NOT do) If one were to take this book apart, removing the drivel which is meaningless and only keep the neccesary parts which pertain to the over all plot, you'd have a novel no bigger than a comic book. Which as we all know wouldn't make any money or make Jordan's publishers happy. Instead Jordan delivers excedingly more nonsense than content. Making sure he reaches his word quota to appease the publishing gods. I truely believe that Jordan has lost track of the overall scope of this epic, lost control of the world, and is writing books for the money rather than the enjoyment and entertainment of his diminishing fan base. There is no way he can conclude this series in two more books (as was previously thought). He keeps stretching the story into so many different directions. Just when you think things are starting to come together, they do a 180 degree turn, and lead us further away from the original plot of the story. Don't waste your money on this book, borrow it from a friend (after consoling them for their foolish purchase) or get it from the library if you really want to subject yourself to a mind numbing experience. (Unless you have Insomnia, then this may be a good cure.) Jordan will have to do quite a bit to redeem himself in the eyes of his fan base after the insulting novels he has published over the last few installments of the Wheel of Time.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing - but eager for more
Review: As an ardent fan who re-reads the series at least once a year this was a very disappointing volume.
Much of the text summarizes historical info - a waste for anyone who has read the series. Perhaps the series is getting too long?
Also, very little happens. I believe Jordan is a victim of multiple plot lines - we get chunks of info about Mat, then Perrin, then Elayne, and then Egwene before a little update on Rand. There is no connection - it is like pieces of 5 books slapped together.
My suggestion - merge people together so you can cover some ground or put out separate books.
I will get the next volume - I hope I am not disappointed again.
Rating:
Summary: what happened?
Review: Mr. Jordan has always said that after he finished TWOT series that he would like to write another. Well, hands up everyone who thinks that what is what he has done? TWOT, full of action, adventure, a world of imagination and colorful, unique characters, ended around book 7 (some say even earlier). Now a second series has begun, full of cliches, the same characters doing exactly the same thing they were the book before - nothing. The worst thing about the degeneration of the series (other than the fact that I will continue to read the remaining books as soon as they come out, hoping that somehow all of my time and "care" about the characters and the world of TWOT has not been wasted) is that the characters that we loved in the beginning because they were different, unique individuals, have all become... well, the same. They all think about every triviality the same way, they all do nothing - at all - and worst, for some reason, they all seem to think that if they keep waiting and doing nothing, that that is somehow a brilliant strategy! What happened to the characters we used to love and cheer for? Now they all send me to leep - in the same way! There is no more uniqueness about them.
And on the cynical side, one of the other reviewers prompted me to check on the amount of words in COT compared to say, TLOC - the margins are larger, the font is larger, there are less words per line and less lines per page (yes, that's how bored the made me that I went and checked these things) - ie. if COT had been printed the same way as TLOC, it would only run to about 400 pages!
So, 2 stars - but that's only for the first books of the series, and the hope that Mr.Jordan will finish TWOT the way he began.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing really happened.
Review: Its part of a huge series that I habe been longing to read for three years. As a fourteen year old I don't get much money and it too me a while to save up fo rhtis book. What a waste. The story took place over the course of a week. Nothing really happened. Oooo Yeah. Matt travels with a circus. Perrin blushes a lot and doesn't shave. I know they say that these last few books ahve been building up for some great finale. If the Last Battle doesn't happen soon I'm not going to buy this series anymore. It took me a month to read just because I couldn't read more than a few chapters without becoming tired.
Rating: 
Summary: TV viewers need not apply
Review: All these "nothing happens" reviews are clearly being written by people who don't actually READ books to find out what happens, or to fully escape into alternate worlds; they just 'read' a book to experience grand plot explosions and gratutitous so-called romance. These are the same people who like shoot-em-up movies with explosions every 7 minutes and who made Titanic the highest grossing movie of all time. They've got no attention span to speak of, and they frankly shouldn't be reading Robert Jordan's work. It's far too good for them. My advice is: if you DIDN'T LIKE COT, QUIT NOW. You won't deserve the fabulous ending that's obviously in the offing. For those who wonder at the "lateness" of my review, hey, I did what any REAL READER does--I started at the beginning, and worked my way up. The more I re-read Jordan's work, the more impressed I am by how small details add up to enormous things. Even things from TEOTW have consequences in this book. That takes real writing, and serious control of your world. That said, I think that this is the densest piece of work that Jordan's done to date in Randland. I'm still re-reading, trying to pick up all the clues--and some of them are very small--that will help me solve the hundred mysteries included in the series. It will take me until the next one comes out 2 years from now to really be sure of what I think I know about most of them. Jordan is a genius, and I'll pay DOUBLE next time.
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