Harder to get through but very good. ( )

Sammael morto ( )

Fantasy

My least favourite so far. Not a lot happened - I feel like I could have skipped the book and not be too lost going into the next one.

7 down, 7 to go. Ugh. ( )

See my review of Book One ( )

Perhaps I should be rating the books of this series higher. No matter how annoyed I get at the (surprisingly similar) aggrevating behavior of each of the original Two Rivers characters in persisting in thinking that they know better than everyone else and refusing to share potentially important information with their friends, once I start reading one of the books I can't stop until I am done.

This 7th entry in the series had many of these annoying moments (too many) but it was also the first book in the series in which a character showed some growth - surprisingly Mat Cauthon. ( )

Didn't have an as satisfying ending as the previous book, but I still enjoyed the book. ( )

Elayne, Nynaeve y Aviendha prosiguen con sus investigaciones en Ebou Dar para encontrar el ter’angreal con el que podrían frenar la espantosa ola de calor que azota el mundo. Para ello se reúnen con los Marinos, quienes dan el nombre de Cuenco de los Vientos al objeto.
Egwene continúa con su lucha para ser la Sede Amyrlin escogida por las Aes Sedai rebeldes, y acabar con el control que sobre ella ejercen las Asentadas y otros grupos de hermanas. Entre tanto, en los distintos reinos, nobles y dirigentes continúan buscando su propio beneficio, sin tener presente que la mano del Oscuro está tocando el mundo y que la Última Batalla se acerca.

Somewhat of a slow story, but with however-many volumes there are in the series I am sure that there will be a few titles that are more story building than story telling. ( )

As I continue the journey through the Wheel of Time, I'm still engrossed by most of the characters and their actions. Rand and Mat are my favorites; it's interesting to see their character growth as they evolve from being Two Rivers' farmboys to a ruler and a general.
This book is a bit slower primarily due to Nyneave and Elayne and their chapters. Every time they appear in the book, the plot slows down. I dread especially sections that feature Elayne; her entitlement and scheming just annoy me. But Cadsuane is an interesting addition to the story, and I love Min.
So, onto The Path of Daggers so I can find out what the fall-out is from this ending. ( )

This entry in the Wheel of Time series was all about the politics of wielding the one power. From a plot perspective, not much happened. Even the finale which the whole book had been building toward rather fizzled. Rather, what this book was the final push of the pendulum on a shift that has been coming for a long time: the demotion of Aes Sedai.

In the early WoT books, it was established that Aes Sedai were extremely influential -- both because of their ability to wield the power and because of their political influence. But almost from the beginning, we saw some cracks in that power. This book aimed to firmly establish that the Aes Sedai were not only not as powerful as they liked to imply, but that they were grossly under informed about the extent to which they had competitors in the yielding of the one power.

From a plot perspective, this isn't very important. But from a world building perspective it is. With the Aes Sedai as one player among many, the political landscape becomes even more complicated, which I'm sure will be used to cause all sorts of problems.

So that's the positive interpretation of the events in A Crown of Swords -- it's not so much that nothing happened as that what was happening was on a different dimension than plot development. That said, this book definitely did contain a number of sections that seemed excessive relative to the value they added to the story. ( )

Jordan heldur áfram að byggja upp fantasíuheim sinn í þessari sjöundu bók sinni. Hann á hrós skilið fyrir hve fjölbreyttur heimurinn sem endurspeglast t.a.m. í ólíkum siðum og menningu hinna ýmsu þjóðflokka. Hins vegar er söguþráðurinn og tempóið afskaplega hægt. Við kynnumst nýjum óargadýrum sem berjast við hlið hins Illa, leitin að töfragripnum sem á að geta lagfært stöðuga hitabylgju (kannast einhver við sambærileg vandamál í dag?) heldur áfram og í bakgrunni vofa yfir átök milli Rands og eins af hinum fordæmdu. ( )

IIRC, it was at about this point that it became clear that Mat was shortly to be leg-shackled. And since Jordan's female characters are terrible, with the possible exception of Min, and his male characters cease to be interesting and become hen-pecked the moment they get married, I realized my last reason for reading this series---Mat---would be altered/altared beyond recognition. Bye, Wheel of Time! ( )

Halfway through this renowned epic fantasy series, I find that I'm hooked even if somewhat begrudgingly. For books of such lengths (>650 pages in hardcover) with barely incremental forward movement of the central storyline, I find them difficult to put down. I am reminded of a soap opera. Jordan weaves a plethora of storylines with flawed (mostly) empathetic characters each sufficiently developed, including, if to a lesser degree, his human villains, that I am captured by their personal stories. I still dislike his frequent depiction of the genders as two completely separate species unable to understand the other and often, thus, descending to dismissive or arrogant condescension. At times, I think Jordan does so in an attempt to be humorous, but it falls flat. Sophmoric sexism however tongue-in-cheek. Still, Jordan is masterful in creating unique different cultures and nations, each to admireable detail -- if still, in my humble opinion, being excessive in his detailed description of each character's, seemingly, daily change of clothing. This seventh novel's conclusion falls back to the worn out narrative device in that of Books 1 - 5: the final pages depicting Rand (the central protagonist) battling another Forsaken (major minion of the Dark One), although this time it is unclear if the villain is truly killed, despite Rand believing so. Jordan again peppers the book with a number of human insights and pithy comments, although some display the sexism I make note of. Examples are in the Comments section below. ( )

https://www.astridterese.no/2010/11/30/tidshjulet-av-robert-jordan/ ( )

There's been a lot of reviews already, so I'll just confirm: a bit of a slog, good subplots for Egwene and Mat, although the whole bit with Queen Tylin is disturbing. I really just want to slap Nynaeve. I like strong female characters but she is so aggravating, so patronizing and un self-aware it drives me nuts. Also I find Perrin's and Faile's relationship disturbing. The only healthy relationships appear to be among the Aiel, and that isn't a given. I still love the world and am amazed at all the intricate plot threads. ( )

This is the first book in the supposed slog of the series. To be honest, it's been a slog for me since book 4. And I like this one a little more than book 6. There are some long-needed telling-offs and putting-in-places. And while the ending isn't as banger as previous books, there are some cool happenings such as a hobo rumble.

This is the first book in the series to squarely address the problem of rape. It doesn't examine the issue in much detail, but it does explore the confused mix of emotions felt by a male victim of a female rapist. And the book acknowledges that in a world where women have most of the power, women can rape men and get away with it, and the male victims won't be taken seriously. ( )

Wow, I didn't realize how long this one took me to read - 42 days! Since the pandemic started, I've lost my 2 hour daily commute/listening time, so I only get to listen when I do road runs/walks. Still, I thought that I'd read it quicker than that. Maybe it's because it just flowed better than the previous one? I'm glad to see that Mat got a lot of face time in this book, even if he's still so whiny. And the return of another character that hasn't been around for awhile was very welcome. On to the next one! ( )

Well, this installment of WOT may be regarded as part of the "slog" but I think it is actually the book I have enjoyed the most so far. Am not sure why. It's certainly shorter. The characters are showing some signs of maturity although not many. I still hate Faile and prefer the Rand POV. My audiobook listening is on 1.75X which also speeds up the read. ( )

And so begins the slog.

[b:A Crown of Swords|13890|A Crown of Swords (Wheel of Time, #7)|Robert Jordan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1358542379s/13890.jpg|791214] is by far the slowest book of the series thus far.

What was once a climactic battle--Rand versus the one or more of the Forsaken, in Shadar Logoth no less--feels somehow less for all the times we've seen it, even if Rand does end up conquering another kingdom.

Egwene spends the entire book trying to solidify her position as Amyrlin in truth, including a whole handful of things 'that have never been done' (we hear quite a lot of that series).

The main plot line in this book follows Elayne, Nynaeve, Birgitte, Aviendha, and Mat in Ebou Dar, searching for the Bowl of the Winds--a ter'angreal that could be used to heal the weather. It's an interesting enough plotline, but do in large part to every single main character in this series' inability to communicate with one another, it takes far longer than it should. And hey. The Seanchan are back.

Unfortunately, together with [b:The Path of Daggers|140974|The Path of Daggers (Wheel of Time, #8)|Robert Jordan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390508613s/140974.jpg|1098593], [b:Winter's Heart|13891|Winter's Heart (Wheel of Time, #9)|Robert Jordan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1480096268s/13891.jpg|791225], and [b:Crossroads of Twilight|113435|Crossroads of Twilight (Wheel of Time, #10)|Robert Jordan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1408325146s/113435.jpg|195579], A Crown of Swords begins the slow section of a Wheel of Time, with the vast majority of plotlines likely to be cut if/when the series moves to TV. There's still a whole pile of fascinating storylines and epic battles, but they do tend to come fewer and further between.

Still worth the read. Just perhaps with a bit more skimming. ( )

I was pleasantly surprised (as I have been by the last couple of books) that there was enough relevant plottage going on to keep me wanting to read the book, rather than just trudging through it out of some self-flaggelation type of obligation. I almost gave the book 4 stars. Almost.

The ending is . . . lame. WoT endings are usually by far the best part of the book, but this ending is a bit anti-climatical and doesn't leave us with much closure. I'm still not convinced that Sammael is dead, no matter what anybody says.

It's hard to believe that this book only covers a period of about 10 days. Jordan's habit of backtracking every book to keep us up to date with what was going on with the rest of the world at the end of the last book is extremely annoying. And it just gets worse as the series goes along. ( )

To me book seven is unique from the others of the series and in fact most other fantasy stories in that here we begin to see multiple enemies not vying for a common goal but rather clashing with both the protagonists and the other antagonists. The being of Shadar Logoth formerly Padan Fain has emerged separate and distinct from the forces of the Dark One. And the internal politics of the Dark One's greatest followers creates a interesting and unique challenge for the protagonist and a draw for readers.
( )

Oh man. I picked up this series in 2002 or 2003 and blazed through all the books published to date, which I think was Crossroads of Twilight. At this point, I can't believe I made it that far in the series. I remember thinking that the first book was all right, but even after book three I started getting WoT fatigue. And now, looking back, I really have no desire to reread in order to finish off the series, because there is no way I could jump back in with book 11 and have any idea what is going on. ( )

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Title: A Crown of Swords
Series: The Wheel of Time #7
Author: Robert Jordan
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 727
Words: 296K

Synopsis:

From Tarvalon.net & authored by Toral Delvar

Elaida sends fifty Red sisters led by Toveine to the Black Tower to gentle any men learning to channel, under the impression that there will be at most two or three men who can channel. She believes that raising Egwene means the Aes Sedai in Salidar will return to her, since if they were serious in their rebellion, one of the more senior Aes Sedai would have been chosen. She has secret plans working among the rebels. In Alviarin's presence she has a Foretelling that the Tower will be whole again and the Black Tower rent. Mesaana teaches Alviarin Traveling.

Sevanna, along with the strongest of the Wise Ones who can channel, prepares to attack those holding Rand. They attack and are driven back. Sevanna and her Wise Ones summon Sammael, who arrives with Graendal. Moridin (probably) watches. Therava brings Galina, who has been captured. Galina is named da'tsang. Sammael brings them an Oath Rod. He gives them something he claims will let them Travel. They use it and it spreads them everywhere. Sevanna takes the Wise Ones with her. Shaidar Haran watches.

Morgase urges Niall to help her take Andor back as soon as possible. He learns of the Seanchan, but is murdered before he can tell anyone. Valda takes control and pressures Morgase into sex. The Seanchan attack. Morgase is taken to Suroth, who is angered by her use of Suroth's first name. Morgase renounces the throne and the High Seat of House Trakand. She is stopped from commiting suicide by Lini. Balwer takes them away.

Rand gives the Aes Sedai into the care of the Wise Ones, to Taim's displeasure. He takes Asha'man bodyguards. They Travel to a point outside Cairhien, then walk the rest of the way. They are told that Colavaere has taken the throne. Faile and Berelain are both acting as Colavaere's attendants. It is revealed that Colavaere had Meilan and Maringil murdered. Instead of sentencing her to death, Rand strips her of her titles and exiles her to a farm. She commits suicide. Rand learns Aes Sedai are in Cairhien.

Rand goes to Caemlyn, hoping to find Elayne, and learns Caraline Damodred and Toram Riatin are setting up in opposition to him. He learns there are nine Aes Sedai known to be in Caemlyn. He leaves Morr there. Rand sends the army gathered in Tear off to Illian with two of the Asha'man, Hopwil and Adley.

Back in Cairhien, Rand tries to send Berelain back to Mayene after an assassination attempt. Cadsuane arrives and tries to provoke him, asking if he's started hearing voices. Idrien arrives from the school and tells him of Fel's death. Rand tells Min of this and they comfort each other.

Perrin and Rand stage a fight over the Aes Sedai prisoners, to give Rand an excuse to send Perrin away, though in reality he goes to Ghealdan with Grady, Neald, Masuri and Seonid, as well as Wise Ones. Loial goes with one of the Asha'man, Karldin, to visit the stedding and guard the Ways.

Rand convinces himself that he raped Min and withdraws completely. She brings him out of it and makes him see sense. They admit their love for one another. She tells of a viewing of Rand and another man merging, and one of them dying. Rand goes to meet the Sea Folk, taking Bera, Alanna, Rafela, Faeldrin and Merana, putting Merana in charge of them. Min sees that they will be loyal to him. His ta'veren effect helps in the negotiations, with the Sea Folk giving away much. He leaves Merana and Rafela to negotiate and goes with Min to deal with the rebelling nobles.

Caraline recognizes Rand but says nothing. His ta'veren effect works on her and Darlin, who reveals he would be happy to support Rand, but feels he no longer has a choice. Cadsuane and several other sisters are in the camp, as is Fain, with Daved Hanlon and Toram Riatin, who, due to Fain's influence, hates Rand.

Toram and Rand duel with practice swords This is interrupted by fog attacking the camp. One of the Red Ajah sisters present is killed. Rand uses balefire, causing Cadsuane to slap him and tell him never to use it again. Fain stabs him with the dagger from Shadar Logoth. Samitsu partially Heals him, but she says she believes he will die. Darlin carries him out. Min tells the full story of Rand's capture and they return to the palace in Cairhien. Here, Flinn tries his Healing, sealing the wound away.

Rand wakes two days later, having been Healed further by Corele. Min tells him that Cadsuane is to teach him and the Asha'man something they need to know. He hears the army is almost on Illian, so he Travels to Bashere and his men. He takes them and the Asha'man directly into Illian, where the Asha'man set off all of Sammael's traps. He chases Sammael to Shadar Logoth. Here he sees Liah. While Rand is attacking Trollocs, Sammael strikes at him and he loses the Power. A man, probably Moridin, arrives and helps Rand. They both use balefire, with the streams crossing, causing double vision. He drops hints that Sammael is at the Waygate then leaves, claiming plans will have to be abandoned if Rand is killed. The man didn't use saidin. At the Waygate, Rand sees Sammael turn to look at Liah, who Rand balefires, as she is about to be killed by Mashadar. Sammael is then gone. On his return to Illian, Rand is pronounced King.

Moghedien is taken by Shaidar Haran to Moridin, who has two cour'souvra, one of them hers.

Elaida is woken by Alviarin, who tells her that Rand has broken free and twelve sisters have returned. Alviarin takes control of Elaida by threatening to reveal both this and the fact that sisters sent to the Black Tower. She orders some sisters punished for keeping angreal and others praised, in order to cause dissension amongst the Ajahs. Elaida visits Seaine and sets her looking for traitors, which Seaine take to mean Black Ajah. Seaine enlists Pevara on the search.

Egwene struggles for some control over the Salidar Hall, using the fact that Sheriam, Lelaine and Romanda can't stand each other to occasionally get her own way. Talking with Siuan, she learns Sheriam has sent sisters to the White Tower and hasn't told the Hall because she fears Darkfriends. It occurs to her that Elaida may have done the same. She feels Moghedien escape, which prevents her taking advantage.

Nicola tries to blackmail Egwene about pretending to be Aes Sedai before she and Elayne were raised. Egwene threatens her and Areina in the real world and in Tel'aran'rhiod. She talks to Melaine, Amys and Bair and reveals she is Amyrlin and warns them of Moghedien. She has visions of Gawyn and Mat.

Theodrin and Faolain swear fealty to Egwene. Faolain also tells her how much she dislikes her. Egwene sends them to see if anyone saw Moghedien escape. She tells Siuan it shouldn't matter how strong in the Power she is. Romanda and Lelaine complain about Delana wanting to name Elaida Black.

Halima "heals" Egwene's headaches.

Elayne and Nynaeve go to the Sea Folk to get help with the ter'angreal they are looking for. They recognize the description as the Bowl of the Winds. After no success in finding it, they send Birgitte to Mat to tell him he is to help them.

Mat gambles on horses, with Olver as a jockey. He sees Mili Skane, a Darkfriend, and follows her to Jaichim Carridin's place. On the way he picks up a signet ring of a fox scaring birds. Sammael tells Carridin not to go after Mat unless he gets in the way.

Mat goes to see Tylin and leaves a note about Carridin. Her son, Beslan, takes a liking to him. Returning to the inn, Mat is attacked by a man in his room. Birgitte visits Mat, who remembers Birgitte from Falme, and they talk in the Old Tongue. They agree to keep each other's secrets. They get drunk, which affects Elayne. On Birgitte's return she tells Elayne that Mat wants an apology and thanks for rescuing them from the Stone. Aviendha and Birgitte both agree that he is owed an apology.

Mat annoys Elayne and Nynaeve by saying that it was nothing when they apologize. They promise not to demean him and to listen to his advice. He moves to the palace. Upon leaving, they are accosted by Setalle Anan, who refuses to believe they are Aes Sedai and takes them to the Kin. When they insist they are Aes Sedai, Reanne throws them out and threatens to spread their descriptions. Setalle recognizes one of them as someone she met, but the woman claims it was her grandmother's sister. Elayne begins to think about the ageless look. They are attacked on the way back to the palace.

Mat is pursued and caught by Tylin. The girls set him watching the Kin. He attends a festival with Beslan and his friends, where they are attacked by beggars.

Elayne is brought before the other Aes Sedai, who threaten to punish her for talking to the Kin. When she learns Carridin is claiming her mother is arriving, she loses her temper and threatens the others, who realize she stands above them. She forces them to go and meet the Kin.

Moghedien tries to balefire Nynaeve but is put off by pigeons. Nynaeve’s boat and bodyguards are destroyed. She almost drowns, but gives in, thus overcoming her block against the Power, and survives. Lan pulls her out. They get married and she fetches the Windfinders.

They go to the Kin, who agree to take them to the store of Power-related objects. Mat arrives, having just found it himself. They thank Mat, who is told of Moghedien by Lan. At the store, they are confronted by Falion and Ispan. Mat saves Elayne from a gholam, which is injured by his medallion. It kills Nalesean during the battle. They return to the palace, where Mat uses his being ta'veren to make the Windfinders agree to go wherever Elayne and Nynaeve want. Mat goes off to find Olver with his men, Thom and Juilin. The Seanchan attack and he gets trapped under a wall.

My Thoughts:

This would have easily been a 5star book, especially storywise, if Elayne and Nynaeve weren't in it. Everyone else seems to be growing up, even Matt, but those 2? Bitching, moaning, complaining and generally acting like people who I would gladly kill. Their storylines weren't huge but as silly as it may sound, it ruined everything for me. Ok, maybe “ruined” is a bit strong, but when a book goes down a whole star because of one of the smaller plotlines, I call that a “ruin”.

Everything else was what made this series the wonder that it became. While Jordan tends to being a bit too verbose, even that doesn't truly stand in the way of the story or the skill with which Jordan weaves the various plot lines.

This book puts me at the half-way mark for this final re-reading of the Wheel of Time series. I am glad I am doing this but like I've said in previous reviews, this will be the last time I read this. I just can't deal with the way that some of the women act. Nor can I put up with the supposed good guys being no different, in essence, than the bad guys. All Nynaeve can think about is punishing the various people around her who annoy her or “insert reezons”. She thinks exactly the same as one of the Forsaken and it just disgusted me.

For such a long book, I'm having a remarkably hard time coming up with something to say. So I'm done.

★★★★☆ ( )

I love the wheel of time series and I've been reading the series since the 90's and I've reread these books at least 4 times and I always say the whole series is my favorite whenever anybody asks which books I like.

The way Robert Jordan describes his world, he does it in such detail that you can picture it in your mind and I just love his characters he created. He has so many characters that have there own storyline and there own adventures they go on and I love following them. Sometimes I go back and reread individual characters storyline and each reread I discover something new about them because Robert Jordan is so detailed with his characters that sometimes you don't catch everything on the first read.

I would recommend this series to anybody.
( )