Reviews with content warning for Rape - A Crown of Swords: Book Seven of 'the Wheel of Time'

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

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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.

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ayvie's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

There are some great things in this book, but there are several instances of (CW) rape and it's not handled at all well.

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tiny_artificer's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

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dreamreader's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

I had been fairly sure that I never made it to this book the first time I attempted this series years ago, but upon picking it up to read for what I thought was the first time, I realized that I remembered lots of it. I'm not entirely surprised that I apparently completely forgot making it this far in the series, and I'm also unsurprised that this is where I ultimately abandoned it (I think. I don't remember Path of Daggers at all, so I don't think I made it that far).

I did like this book a lot this time around. It has its problems, but every book in this series so far has its problems. This book doesn't have much forward plot progression, but there is a feeling of chess pieces being moved on a board, so I think in future books I will be able to look back on this one and really appreciate what happened here.

That being said, this book had my least favorite plot arc so far: Ebou Dar. Specifically, the whole Mat and Tylin mess, which plenty of othe reviewers have commented on. To balance that out, I did really enjoy both Rand and Egwene's chapters in this book, and thought in general there was a lot of great character work here. I'm still looking forward to more!

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vickyreptile's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Llegué a la mitad de The Wheel of Time. Y estoy más entusiasmada que nunca!
En esta entrega Rand sigue creciendo. Sufre contratiempos, claro. Es cruel, también. Pero además es increíblemente humano y peligrosamente poderoso. Me encanta verlo avanzar.
Por otro lado, coincido con muchas de las reviews: este libro contiene una violación explícita y nadie dice mucho porque la víctima es un hombre (y, además, un hombre abiertamente mujeriego).
Creo que Rand y Mat se llevan las palmas en este libro, junto con un poquito de Egwene y casi nada de Elayne. Nynaeve , insoportable. Perrin? Insoportable (y la mujer más).
Haré breve descanso y vamos por el 8.
PD: Necesito que la adaptación a serie llegue a mostrarnos todo este universo o me voy a morir.

Content Warnings

clarehiyama's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

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

3.5

I have to echo the many reviewers and say that Mat’s experiences during a large chunk of the book are absolutely sexual assault. It’s disturbing how much it’s discussed and how it is portrayed as a non-issue or just a little farce. And it’s especially a shame because, again, like many other reviewers, I felt that otherwise, Mat had a great book and developed a lot as a character.

Other than that, I enjoyed it for the most part but boy is this series long and winding! How does everyone keep track of all these names?? Between our main cast of characters, the Aiel, the various nobles of Cairhien, Tear, and Caemlyn, Whitecloaks, Ebou Darians, various Darkfriends/Forsaken, Aes Sedai, & Ashaman, I am having serious issues keeping up. I similarly have trouble keeping the MANY nations & peoples straight, not to mention the plot points. There’s so much distrust and intrigue between the various forces that I also struggle to remember who knows what. This is now just a litany of complaints but I stand by them. I enjoy the process of reading but between the beginning and end of this book, it doesn’t feel like we’ve gotten very far.

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