Reviews with content warning for War - A Crown of Swords

This is a shorter book than several of the previous and yet it felt like one of the most tedious so far. Several times throughout the novel, Jordan would have paragraph-long descriptions that read like Wikipedia entries. Beyond the tedious sections, Jordan also left out most – if not all – of the most action-packed sequences in favour of revisiting them via flashback. Several times we join characters after something exciting happens, and are told about it in the character’s head, instead of just being allowed to experience the story altogether. This drew out the reading significantly. I will also never forgive RJ for not letting me see Nynaeve and Lan’s wedding.

I also, personally, felt the reluctance to say the word, “Rape” in rape scenes was a pointed choice that I don’t agree with. Also, knowing that RJ intended the Mat rape scene to be a “humourous role-reversal” really takes any unintentional realism he may have woven into that scene feel gross, unnecessary, and lacking compassion.

Characters: 2.25⭐️/5

Every RJ novel I read, I complain about how the characters never remain consistent. And, here we are again. At multiple instances, Elayne and Nynaeve’s names could have switched and it wouldn’t have mattered. In fact, the only characters who really retain their own personalities are Rand, Mat, and Perrin – though even they fluctuate to some extent.

The characters have such fantastic potential and yet they cannot seem to remain consistent long enough to meet that potential. And, though there are 2700 named characters throughout this series, several of the more minor characters feel so unimportant the only purpose they seem to serve is to make the plot more confusing and convoluted.

Plot: 3.0⭐️/5

The plot could have been more interesting, but there was no reason for anything to take as long as it did. This book – to achieve the necessary plot – could have lost a solid 100-200 pages and been a stronger, more interesting read. Some parts were definitely interesting, so elements were definitely engaging, but overall it fell kind of flat, and I spent most of the time wishing I got to see the fight between Perrin and Rand instead of two paragraphs on what a longboat is.

Who Should Read This Book?

Those who read book one to five of The Wheel of Time and are able to overlook some misogyny

Content Warnings?

Toxic relationships, blood, gore, abuse, domestic abuse, war, sexual assault, rape, toxic friendships, gaslighting, misogyny, sexism, death, murder, injury, injury detail, sexual harassment, emotional abuse, slavery,

Post-Reading Rating: 3.0⭐️/5

This one really didn’t have that amazing moment at the end. It was just okay.

Final Rating: 2.5⭐️/5

Content Warnings

espressoreader's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I loathe the Tylin. Vile creature.

Content Warnings

jlkenneth's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5/5 stars. I definitely have some mixed feelings about this one, but in spite of that, I think this might be the most I’ve enjoyed a WoT book since some of the early ones. I think Lord of Chaos was probably a better book, but I ended up finding this one easier to get through for a few reasons, in spite of the plot slowing down slightly. The shorter page count was incredibly refreshing after the last 3 books all being 800-900 pages, and I also think this is Jordan’s most balanced approach to varied POVs. Typically in one of these books, I hit a point where I am just tired of hearing about the same character - and usually when that happens, there’s another character I’m dying to learn about, who only gets 3 or 4 chapters in the whole book. A Crown of Swords was really the first time in this series where I felt satisfied with the amount of time I spent with each character; I stayed excited to know what everyone gets up to in book 8, and wasn’t ready to scream after being stuck inside one person’s head for 400 pages. (Spending less time with Rand in this one probably helped because despite him being the main character, I still just find him helplessly frustrating to listen to for so long.)

I also think my increased enjoyment of this book comes down to splitting my reading between audiobook and a physical read, which helped me get through the slower sections. That said, I have always enjoyed the sections that focus more on pivotal events in the lives of these characters than the more “epic” sequences, as those are usually where I have gripes with Jordan’s execution and/or lack of explanation. All that meant this was a bit of a perfect, slower WoT book in my opinion.

All in all, this is the most excited I’ve been to dive into the next volume, and I think the shorter page count, wonderful character development, and political intrigue/set-up here really made the difference. Also, this was finally the point where we really get to see Mat shine and GOSH it was worth the wait. I can definitely see why he’s a fan favorite.

This also puts me halfway through the series, which feels like a huge accomplishment!

Read on for my thoughts on the more controversial aspects of this book 😉

I do have some mixed feelings (as always) when it comes to the depiction of gender in this series. I think a real discussion of whether this series is sexist or flipping patriarchy on its head (seriously, it’s hard to tell sometimes and that’s evidenced in the mixed reviews each book receives) requires a lot more nuance and time that a GR review allows - but it seems like this point in the series might be a polarizing when it comes to your take on that question. Initially, it’s difficult to tell when Robert Jordan himself viewed men and women as inherently opposed, and that viewpoint came through in his work, or whether this is intended as a commentary on how the world is broken and flawed in his series as a result of the Breaking of the World and the Dark One’s corruption of saidin. I’ve read some good arguments on both sides, and both seem to fall short in some ways. For me, A Crown of Swords was one of the points where the characters’ treatment of the opposite sex was most infuriating, AND it was also the point where I started to think it was definitely being done intentionally rather than just as an RJ’s unconscious bias.

*light, non-specific spoilers below*

This book takes the prevailing views of gender in this world and introduces the issues of rape and sexual assault. Specifically, one of the male characters is repeatedly forced into nonconsensual sex against his will. The women in the story seem to take it as a big joke (he couldn’t possibly have been FORCED!? By a woman?!?), and it is constantly addressed as if the situation is humorous, but it seems pretty clear to me that the reader is meant to interpret this situation as rape. Yes, even when the characters refuse to see it that way. The victim in this sexual assault situation is constantly feeling embarrassed, out of his body, and like he’s on the verge of tears or panic attacks, which should clue us in to the fact that this is a legitimate SA scenario and he doesn’t view it humorously.

In my opinion, a lot of folks have difficulty separating the characters in these books with the author himself. Because the entire series is written in the first-person limited point-of-view, there is never an external narrator who tells us what to think - which I see as precisely the point of this series. In the 80s and 90s, fantasy had a tendency to be moralistic and simple, and the portrayal of gender roles was almost always extremely stereotypical (the works of David Eddings come to mind). Jordan flips things on their head with women in power and used to authority, while also keeping a lot of the stereotypes his audience would have been familiar with (i.e. women are incomprehensible, men think with their muscles, etc.). This book is the first time where I’m starting to see the commentary for which he intended this decision. If the genders were flipped in this sexual assault case, what we’d be left with is a fairly realistic representation of how women are frequently treated in the wake of sexual abuse or rape. The victim explains what happens to one of the women near him, and he is told he shouldn’t have smiled at his abuser the way he did, and insinuates that he wanted it to happen the way it did.

This sort of victim blaming is exactly what tends to happen to female victims of SA, and I think RJ was trying to challenge the views of his readers and build empathy for survivors. I don’t think it’s Jordan who trivializes the issue, I think it’s several of his female characters who do. This was his way of challenging a common scenario by inverting it, while still not making it the centerpiece of his work (because it is a side plot). I don’t think it’s fair to write Robert Jordan off as a sexist because of this, though I do think the point is often belabored and he could have done this without so much repetition (it really does get tiring listening to these characters’ asides about the opposite sex). This section also read differently on this side of the me too movement, but it’s easy to forget how often sexual assault was trivialized and victims were blamed at the time these books were written (even though that still happens).

Okay, mini-essay done 😅

Content Warnings

missgarceau's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This felt like a chore and I am really upset about the TW’s in it. Definitely check warnings.

Content Warnings

diazona's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

iloponis's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

3 stars bc i kinda feel like not much happened but i still adore these characters. if nothing else at least this one was a good character study for rand

Content Warnings

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

jenna36's review

Go to review page

adventurous inspiring slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Once again Jordan's worldbuilding and character development are fantastic. I heard this was the start of "the slog" but I actually thought the pacing and the pieces of the puzzle that came together in this book really kept me invested. Pretty much the last 200 or 300 pages of the book were absolutely phenomenal.

Content Warnings

More...