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Crown of Swords (The Wheel of Time, 7)

Crown of Swords (The Wheel of Time, 7)

List Price: $69.95
Your Price: $44.07
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: This is where the decline began/it's part of the series
Review: "This is the lowest rating I have given any of the books of the series. I liked the book, but I don't really think that anything happened in it. Rand fights one of the Forsaken, but we are not sure if that one is dead at the end of the fight." That was what I said when I first reviewed this book three years ago. From further research, I have since discovered that this book was the first to not be fully edited after the author had written it. I think much of the angst and frustration that the author received over book ten he should have received over this one. It is the same old formula of a Forsaken dead every so many books, but now the formula was old and trite, and poorly edited by the author, as well as being the first of the Unedited Volumes by the publisher. Initially, I gave this a four star rating because of the introduction of Cadsuane, but after reviewing, rethinking and re-reading, I had to change mine opinion. Both as a stand alone, and as part of the series, book seven can only be considered a stop-gap, one that we had to wait for and after the first six volumes, one that was not very satisfying. COT is not the worst book of the series, COS is.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Soooooo much better than the Lord of Chaos.
Review: After trying desperately to get through The Lord of Chaos, the Crown of Swords is a breath of fresh air. I gave it more stars than it perhaps deserves, if only because book 6 was so terrible.

Things actually kind of happen in this book. Kinda. I'm now going to try to get through book 8, and hope that Jordan keeps the "Mat knows women, Perrin knows women, but I'm a clueless Messiah foretold in the Age of Legends as the defeater of the Dark One. . .but even I am powerless against feminine wiles of my strong-willed co-protagonists!" to a minimum.

(PS. Lan is too cool for that annoying, stubborn to the point of being mentally retarded pony-tailed woman. Seriously, their relationship makes no sense. Grin and bear it, I guess.)

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Same Old
Review: Braids are pulled. Skirts are smoothed. Men are degraded. The three ta'veren are clueless about women. Rand has temper tantrums. Lews Therin cackles madly in the background. The quest for enchanted tupperware continues. Clothes are described in excruciating detail. The required number of Forsaken is killed.

Despite these things, some good did happen in this book. It wasn't nearly as slow as book 6. I almost cried from joy last book when they discovered Traveling, no more month long journeys! I was also overjoyed when Elayne and Nynaeve finally began to grow some sense. Adviendha is having a good effect on them. Some of the same phrases are used constantly, do you know how many times Nynaeve pulls her braid and girls smooth their skirts? Talk about irksome. The constant description of clothes is still incredibly annoying. I think the guy wants to be a fashion designer. The World of Dreams was created simply so the he could describe dresses. hem, moving on. Plot does manage to progress. Another Forsaken was killed. Bet ya didn't see that coming! We can probably predict how many books there will be based off the number of forsaken. The thing in this book that bothered me the most was definitely the Whitecloaks/Morgase. We didn't need to know all the political currents of the whitecloaks if they're all killed by the Seanchan! One chapter would have been enough. Many subplots have not been wrapped up, and instead continue to grow. Ah well. Good, entertaining books, but not prime literature.


Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Continually excellent
Review: Firstly, don't even bother with this review or any of the others if you havent read any of the previous books in the series. Its so complex (in terms of number of characters etc) that long standing WoT readers often have trouble keeping up. Secondly, if you are thinking of writing a review then please, please, please do not give away any plot points. Its very annoying!

This book, in my opinion, mantains Jordans high standards and is an improvement on the last book. Once more the pace is slow and you need to be prepared for this. It won't suit all people no matter how detailed a world he is building up this way. Personally I love this. It makes a marvellous contrast to other books such as the Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson. Both are different but excellent in their own ways. Its good to read books of variety in pacing.

However, Jordan did get a little bogged down occasionally in the last book which I would give 4 stars for this reason. Crown of swords is different. I never once felt that a passage was unneccessary and all the detail simply added up to paint a wonderful picture of another world.

Some would say tht nothing happens in much of this book. I disagree, we see a subtle developments in character interaction particualrly between Mat, Elayne and Nynaeve, the intruduction of new elements to the world (true source for example) as well as a cliff-hanger of an ending. This all serves to set us up nicely for not only the next book but the rest of the series.

The aforementioned character development helps to negate the fact that Jordan still uses descriptions of Nynaeve tugging her braid, thinking all men are dumb etc. This is because you can see that these developments are leading us away from this. Hence me saying earlier that there are no wasted words. Without this, I would have begun to have become fed up with this but Jordan, skilled writer that he is has advanced things at just the right time.

So basically if you love the series then you will love this. It has many classic Jordan moments that stir the soul (a'la dumai wells!). If you are beginning to tire of things then please give it a chance as hopefully you will see the advancements that take place to make this one of the great achievments of fantasy literature. And he hasn't even finished yet!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: please kill them off
Review: I hve loved these books so far. All have been wonderful in there own way and this one is of course no exception. That said I must now complain. I don't understand why Mr. Jordan has to make every women in his books act as if they are the devil. I dread every time that I see the chapter is about them. Every time that they speak I want to strangle one or all of them or at least slap them up side there head. They are rude and mean and usually mess up every thing that they want to do because they don't understand that they don't know everything. I guess that this would be ok if it was one or even two women but it is every single women that Jordan has written in. (Brigitte dosen't count in my rant of course.) Then there is Perrin or I guess the lack there of. Lets face it Perrin is probably the second best character the Jordan thought up next to Rand and he was not in the last book and is hardly even in this one. Besides that he has no purpose so far compared to Rand and Mat.
Again I will tell you that I love this book and all of the rest so far but I just had to get that off my chest thank you.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Phenomenal series, but it's getting long.
Review: I've read a lot of the posted reviews and see a recurring viewpoint. Jordan is losing it. Whether it be the corruption of the One Power, an overbearing female editor, or a greedy desire to milk the readers from book to book, it is clear that he is losing direction.

I commend him on the first 5 or 6 books. A tremendous storyline and plot, a geographic world that he is able to describe without losing coherence, and a cast of characters that far surpasses Hollywood for movie extras. I especially like the way he does jump around. Some storytellers get too involved with sticking to one scene and finishing it, but Jordan is not afraid to bounce around between characters and scenes (it reminds me of the fast paced scene-changes of Star Wars). I do not like his break from traditional grammar, the way he throwes adverbs and adjectives around makes it hard to follow, kind of like reading something from Shakespeare.

Unfortunately, the huge breaks in storylines, the micro-stories that don't just evolve, but appear out of nowhere, the meekness of the male characters, the inability to continue hunting arch-enemies have all contributed to a great fizzle. After book 1, I bought 2-8. I am reading 8, but if it continues to fizzle, I may take a break until the next few books are out in paperback to see if Jordan recaptures the flair needed to bring the story to a climax.

Other recommendations: Stephen R. Donaldson, "The Thomas Covenant Chronicles"; Raymond E. Feist, "The Riftwar Saga"; Elizabeth Hayden, "Rhapsody".

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Good Yet Drawn Out Book
Review: The seventh book of the wheel of time series is good. But it is pretty drawn out and there's a hundred charcters you have to keep up with. Though this book has a great ending like most of this series. There are a lot of Ashaman, dedictated, and soldiers dying and it's because of one thing: the taint on saiden. Rand has three loves now, and the Forsaken are getting angrier. Some parts of this book especially the ending won't let you put this book down.

A very fun, interesting read.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Waste of Time and Money
Review: The Wheel of Time series is "New Age" fantasy. Channeling, a new age technique, is the only form of magic in this series. The series GARBAGE! I've read much better fantasy than Robert Jordan. For example, Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series is 100 times BETTER than the Wheel of Time! I wasted my time reading the 1st 6 books, and I am glad I had the sense to stop there! Don't waste your money buying JUNK! Don't waste your time reading this JUNK!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: please kill them off
Review: This book is a very refreshing addition to the series. Book 5 was good, book six could have been better, but this one definitly delivers. It's up there with the first 3. I've read over half in under 3 weeks, and I hope to finish in another 2.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Another Upturn in the Wheel
Review: This series has been like a roller-coaster ride for me. There have been definite peaks and valleys, and, after suffering through a valley with "Lord of Chaos", the series has taken another rise in this installment.

Several sub-plots are playing themselves out in this volume, including Rand's successful escape from his imprisonment by the Aes Sedai and his subsequent removal of Colavaere Saighan from the Sun Throne. After her removal, Rand banishes her to a farm, but she ends up hanging herself.

Lan, Moiraine's former warder, has returned and has married Nynaeve.

Nynaeve, Elayne, and Mat are continuing their search for the Bowl of the Winds, a ter'angreal which may be able to reverse the endless heat wave which has been covering the world and restore the world's natural weather.

Finally, the Seanchan have come back and are attacking Ebou Dar.

Some interesting new charatcters, such as the Asha'man, men who have come to the Black Tower in order to learn how to channel, have appeared in this volume.

I found this book to be better than book six was. Overall, I've enjoyed the series as a whole, but there has been little consistency from one book to the next. Aside from books one and two, the qualtiy of each following volume has changed with each ensuing installment; one book would be good, and the next would be not so good. I hope book eight will break the pattern and be at least as good, if not better, than book seven was.


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