Crossroads of Twilight

The Lowest Point of the Entire Series

Any additional comments?

Crossroads of Twilight is a long, tedious, uninteresting entry into what has become a tired and bloated fantasy series. This is a book filled with plot threads stretched well beyond their logical breaking point. Consisting of five plot lines involving the core characters, most of which have been dragged through no fewer than four of the preceding novels, this entry fails to capture any of the excitement and wonder that made the first third of this long, LONG series so incredible. Characters are morphed beyond recognition, put into ridiculous and illogical situations in, I suppose, an effort to up the ante for the promised epic conclusion. After ten books one would think that Rand, Matt, or Perrin would finally come to accept their roles in the slowly unfolding drama but we are yet again subjected to endless exposition detailing their illogical and nonsensical reluctance. This book is boring and tedious and at times, unforgivingly silly. Unless you’ve invested countless hours in this series and, like myself, are determined to see it through to the end, I would in no way suggest this novel as any kind of standalone read. I’m not even sure it would make any kind of sense unless you’ve trudged through the previous nine. If you are a fan of the series, I suggest getting the audiobook – the stellar narration of Michael Kramer and Kate Reading make this bitter pill go down a lot easier and I assure you that the series does get better – particularly when Brandon Sanderson takes over after Jordan’s untimely death.

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Low point in the series

While anyone reaching this far in the series will not stop having gotten this far, the action of this novel has been put on pause. To quote from wikipedia's plot summary:

"Perrin Aybara continues trying to...

"Mat Cauthon continues trying to...

"Elayne Trakand continues trying to...

"Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, rests after...

"Egwene leads the rebel Aes Sedai in maintaining..."

Literally no new action begins and no plot lines end. There are some interesting scenes, but Crossroads of Twilight merely rehashes and stretches a few chapters of Winter's Heart into an entire novel. Perhaps this review is colored by the powerful drama and high action of the other novels; Crossroads of Twilight is a novel of intrigues. Newcomers to the series should definitely not start here, and fans will not want to pass this by. Just be prepared for a different type of listen than the first nine novels.

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Winter's Heart: The Deleted Scenes

What disappointed you about Crossroads of Twilight?

Each chapter felt like a "deleted scene" from the previous book. This is not the same Jordan as earlier. Perhaps he got too side tracked with other projects or was ill, but clearly this book is the worst of the series so far.

Have you listened to any of Kate Reading and Michael Kramer ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The performances are spectacular. Reading and Kramer consistently perform in this series.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

If you are a fan of "historical fiction", you might enjoy this book more than I. Story-wise it is very weak, but the details and plotting is very deep. Reminds me a lot of reading historical fiction novels.

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Almost nothing happened!

The only (ONLY) part of this book that impacts the story line is Matt and Tuon's courtship. Aside from that, I was bored witless. I read somewhere that Jordan was influenced by War and Peace. I couldn't agree more. This book removes all doubt.

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Yawn

I've loved every book in this series up until this one. Nothing happens, literally nothing exciting goes on. But you learn about every single rebel aes sedi, so many names you just get lost in The Who's who of it all. I'm hoping the next book picks up. Also micheal Kramer reads faster then ever and Kate reading still sounds like a robot.

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Why was this a separate book?

Jordan was either making a money grab or filling in time while working out how to start ending the series. This "book" if it can be called so does nothing to advance the story line and could quite easily have been abridged and added as a prologue to a book that actually has some substance in it. To be honest I nearly fell asleep during some of the chapters with Jordan droning on and on about some endless drivel that has no other consequence in the greater scheme of things.

I think the problem with Jordan is that he has created so many characters and sub-plots/story lines that he felt he needed to try and bring them all up to date so he could proceed with the main character, Rand. Dedicating a whole book to this is a really a poor way of doing it.

I hope book 11 gets the story back on track. I've enjoyed the series generally. The concept is good, but the execution fails in a number of places and that drags down the overall enjoyment.

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Not so bad.. if you re-read the whole series

I was one of those that gave up on WoT after trying to read Crossroads. I never finished. Several years later, and I gave WoT another chance. I bought every RJ audiobook and listened to the over again. I have to admit, Crossroads made more sense, even though not a whole lot still happened. It is indeed a book that's purpose is simply to build up the rest of the overall story. That is probably the biggest problem with the book - it is SUPPOSE to create more questions and answer none. But being able to continue on to Knife of Dreams immediately after finishing Crossroads, I gained a deeper understanding for the purpose of the book. I still think its the worst of the series, but I think most people were so horrified with the book that when it ended, there was great disappointment. KoD and Crossroads should have been a single book, but if you read the series over again, I don't think you'll find Crossroads so bad.

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Just Stringing out the Series

The longer this series continues the worse the books become. One gets the impression that Jordan is just trying to run the series out to an even dozen. However, at the rate he is resolving the stories sub-plots and his penchant for resurrecting characters previously killed off, it is hard to see this series finishing before reaching 20 books.

This book is an example of how much prose an author can waste on the construction of stand lamps, the tailoring of clothing or which insignificant character is standing next to whom and still get paid for it.

The end of the last book detailed one of the most significant plot twists in the book, that of Rand cleansing the male half of the source, and it was barley mentioned in this episode.

This book was nothing more than a 24 hour prelude the the next book. I am so glad I only wasted an audio book subscription selection and didn't plunk down $30 plus dollars on the hardcover edition.

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Not Much Going on Here

What would have made Crossroads of Twilight better?

After all of the action and activities of the first nine books, it seems like the author ran out of plot. Although all of the sub-plots were brought up in this book, it seemed like every one of them was waiting for something to happen. Instead of actions, adventures, and obstacles to be overcome, the author spent most of the time introducing new characters just so he could describe them in great detail with no apparent need to make them a meaningful part of the story. Yes, there seemed to be plenty of political intrigue, but that does not substitute for an actual story.

Has Crossroads of Twilight turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, I have really liked all of the previous books in the series, even a couple in the middle that seemed a little slower. There is a whole lot of things that need to happen to bring this series to a conclusion and I just don't understand why we aren't any closer to that conclusion after this entire book. The characters are interesting. In general, the interactions between the main characters are good.

Which character – as performed by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer – was your favorite?

In this book, I found Elayne to be the most interesting. She had a lot going on: trying to consolidate power, keep a kingdom moving, and worrying about Rand. Kate really seems to make the most of Elayne's and Egwene's characters throughout the series. I like the new Taraboner accent that I first noticed from Kate in this book. I like Michael's interpretations of the Saldaens and Illianers (especially the Illianer accent).

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Crossroads of Twilight?

I would cut out the parts about Egwene's headaches. I would cut out some of the internal squabbles she has with the rest of the hall. Probably a little more about Elayne's trips to see people she had to get to back her becoming queen.

Any additional comments?

I suspect this was about the time the author started to get sick. I hope that it gets better when Brian Sanderson takes over and brings his energy to the plot.

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The Publisher's Summary Says It All

Yawn. Another book by Robert Jordan full of beautiful descriptions and characters. Unfortunately nothing happens. Plot and storyline have been forgotten and Jordan seems to be content with providing a book that has no content. Skip the book and read the Publisher's Summary, you'll be well prepared for the next in the series. Hopefully by then, Jordan will remember how he began this series and provide a good storyline as well as good writing.

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