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casual_henk's review against another edition
4.0
Let's address the elephant in the room: Is "the slog" real?
To an extent, it is. The pace of the overarching story drops drastically.
However, a lot still happens. Most characters have sufficient development and tons of cool moments. The themes in the series become a bit more mature with each book. Some characters, like Nynaeve, have become more enjoyable to read about. Nothing seems to happen at certain points, mainly in the book's first quarter, where I struggled my way through. However, I am still interested in reading on and I still love the series. (If your name is Laurents, this book will probably make you quit reading the series)
To an extent, it is. The pace of the overarching story drops drastically.
However, a lot still happens. Most characters have sufficient development and tons of cool moments. The themes in the series become a bit more mature with each book. Some characters, like Nynaeve, have become more enjoyable to read about. Nothing seems to happen at certain points, mainly in the book's first quarter, where I struggled my way through. However, I am still interested in reading on and I still love the series. (If your name is Laurents, this book will probably make you quit reading the series)
kyle_sullvn's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
3.5
katlem's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.0
tallerthanblue's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
3.5
itmakessenseincontext's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
Mmmm Characters getting Development mmmmm
sarazeen95's review against another edition
5.0
Guys. Guys. Nynaeve! Lan! They marry in this book!
I just want to start off by saying that the cover of the Kindle edition of A Crown of Swords is stunning. Nynaeve’s jewelry is exactly how I envisioned it, the water is pictured perfectly, and I love how shadowy and slightly out of focus Lan is, as if he’d just dived in to retrieve her. Just beautiful.
I found the prologue to be a bit lengthy in the beginning, but I ended up getting sucked into it as usual, and it was almost a shock to read that opening paragraph. Elaida’s joy at receiving the news that her embassy had captured Rand is almost funny, knowing how Dumai’s Wells turned out. I despite Elaida, but at that point, I almost felt bad for her. Especially considering what Alviarin does to her. We also get a glimpse of the wolfish side of the battle and devastation that Perrin’s furry friends had wrought to the Shaido. Our Wolf King has mad game!
A Crown of Swords can easily be divided into three distinct plot lines, though of course secondary and even tertiary characters overlap at times.
Rand and Min have consummated their relationship, and he appears happy (well, as happy as it gets under these circumstances). I found the fawning of the nobles in Cairhien to be oddly satisfying, though I’m not entirely sure why. It’s while he’s dealing with one of the rebellions against his rule there that he’s slashed with the Shadar Logoth dagger by Padan Fain, right on top of his older wound by Ba’alzamon (Ishamael). He manages to survive that only because one of his Asha’man happen to be tremendously skilled at Healing. There’s a lot of back and forth going on here (which the other plot lines help to dissipate), but Rand invades Illian with a simply gorgeous battle plan. Sammael’s mad rush to Shadar Logoth felt a little off-putting to me; I’d expected this Forsaken to have prepared for all eventualities. The shock of meeting Liah there, however, took me completely off-guard. The Aiel Maidens are way, way tougher than I’d dreamed of, if she’d been able to survive there for so long. This is also where Rand meets Moridin (the reincarnation of Ishamael) for the first time. The momentous crossing of their balefire streams is barely outlined at all, but we realize the full effects of that later. Rand, who has no clue who Moridin is, is saved by him, kills Liah as an act of mercy, absolutely destroys Sammael by sort of feeding him to Mashadar (I still shudder thinking of that!) and returns to Illian. Almost immediately after getting back, the nobles of the city offer him the Laurel Crown of Illian since their king had vanished. Rand accepts and renames it the Crown of Swords (there are painful swords hidden in the actual crown itself which prick his head constantly).
However, while everything was all well and good, it was the last line which gave me goosebumps: that had a good sound to it. Caught up in the celebration, the people of Illian begin hailing him as the “King of Illian!” but Rand actually appears to feel pleasure when they begin shouting “All hail Rand al’Thor, King of the World!”. If the voice of Lews Therin becoming more and more coherent in his mind was not a good enough time, I took this as a flawless proof that Rand really was going mad due to the taint in saidin. And that is literally the worst thing that could happen.
Down in Ebou Dar, Mat, Elayne, Nynaeve and Aviendha are still searching for the Bowl of the Winds. Nynaeve and Elayne discover a large group of ex-Accepted and -novices of the White Tower, all of whom had either run away or failed the tests to become Aes Sedai, a group which was closely monitored by the Tower even though the members of the Kin themselves were unaware of it. After managing to convince these women that they truly are Aes Sedai, they strike a bargain with the Sea Folk in exchange for help using the Bowl of Winds. After the ter’angreal is retrieved, they plan to use a gateway to leave Ebou Dar. They finally (finally!) retrieve it in the first third of the book, though. Nalesean’s death broke my heart; I did like the boy. The group is attacked and almost killed by a gholam (not the giant clay monster, by the way), but Mat’s Power-repelling foxhead ter’angreal saves them and they manage to get away. Nynaeve runs afoul of Moghedien, who strikes the ship she’s in. She almost drowns before being rescued by Lan (how he got there is a story I’m getting to shortly). He pulls her out of the water (and nearly gives me a heart attack in the process) before finally, finally, FINALLY marrying her.
Lan. This man is so cool. I love this guy. So much! Have I mentioned I love this guy? Because I do!
Wait. Where was I? I got lost in Lan-Land. Oh yeah.
The entire group of Aes Sedai, Sea Folk Windfinders, Kinswomen and Mat and his men are just about to leave Ebou Dar when the city is invaded by the Seanchan. Mat forces the women to flee without him, and they just manage to get away in time. Once in a safe location (in Andor), the women create a circle, linking each other, and use the Bowl to finally break the climate free of the Dark One’s hold. Back in Ebou Dar, Mat witnesses the Seanchan invasion of the city just before a building collapses on top of him and he blacks out.
In Salidar, Siuan is training Egwene on how to fend off the Hall’s attempts to control the young Amyrlin Seat while resisting Elaida’s rule. There are divisions in the rebels as well, and Egwene is completely aware of the fact that she was chosen purely because these factions believed she would be easily manipulated. She proves herself to the exact opposite, partly due to her own leadership qualities and partly because of Siuan’s help. She quickly manages to gather a small group of Aes Sedai who are sworn only to her as Amyrlin. It is during this that she discovers what happened to Lan’s bond to Moiraine after the Blue’s death: she’s long before made plans to pass the bond on to a Green named Myrelle who is well-known for being able to save Warders from the unstoppable (and always fatal) desire to avenge their Aes Sedai if she is killed. Myrelle tries to keep Lan hidden, but Egwene and Siuan find out. She commands Myrelle to send Lan to Nynaeve in Ebou Dar, which is how he ends up saving his wife-to-be from Moghedien.
A Crown of Swords is the kind of book that, when it ends, you’re left wondering where the pages had disappeared to. I turned the last page and was left open-mouthed. Was Mat going to stay buried beneath that fallen building? Did that mean he’s dead? If Jordan could kill Moiraine, then no one is safe — is Mat dead?! How’re the Forsaken going to react to the climate being fixed?
I actually whispered, “You can’t just leave me hanging like this!” after I was done reading.
I will say, however, that after Lord of Chaos, Book 7 seemed a little slow. Until he descends on Illian, Rand’s parts dragged. It was nice to see him happy with Min, but I wanted more of the Dragon Reborn than just how much he loves his girlfriend(s). Nynaeve’s stubbornness stops being funny and becomes a little annoying afterwards, though Lan turned into her redeeming quality. Mat spends the first half of the book trying to keep up with the Aes Sedai and the other half being sexually chased by the queen of Ebou Dar.
And that’s something I want to talk about.
I understand that the relationship between Mat and Tylin is controversial. I’ve read online forums after forums of people debating whether her (admittedly aggressive) pursuit of Mat is consensual or not. Even when they start to sleep together, fans are divided on whether this is rape or not. I will admit that, if you replaced Mat with a woman and Tylin with a man, it would definitely appear to be rape. That is without a doubt. But you also have to factor in Mat’s general character is well. I will not call this rape because he resists her advances due to his habit of being the pursuer and not the pursued. In every (short, romantic or sexual) relationship we as readers had seen him in, he was always the one who chased the girl. In my mind, this is why he reacts with indignation and downright confusion when Tylin starts to chase him. I have no doubt that, if he had had the time to chat up the queen, he would’ve been delighted. He’s simply not used to a woman being the dominant party.
That being said, however, I’ll admit to some feelings of discomfort and wrongness while reading their interactions. There were times when I was convinced that Mat was being raped and his feelings of helplessness seemed very, very real. In contrast to his thoughts were the thoughts of Morgase: there is distinct darkness, depression and feelings of horror after her rape. Is this because of how our society views female rape versus male rape? One is taken very seriously while the other is laughed at. Is Jordan trying to highlight this inequality by making Morgase’s experience horrifying and Mat’s humorous? Or is it what my initial thoughts were: that Mat is simply unused to sexually-forward women? The decision is left to the individual reader, of course. I, on the other hand, found myself swaying between the two.
In the end, I’ll give A Crown of Swords a 3.5/5. The pacing could have been faster, though I completely understanding the need for world-building. Rand adding king to his list of titles and Nynaeve and Lan tying the knot makes it all worth it.
Also, Moridin. Need I say more?
I just want to start off by saying that the cover of the Kindle edition of A Crown of Swords is stunning. Nynaeve’s jewelry is exactly how I envisioned it, the water is pictured perfectly, and I love how shadowy and slightly out of focus Lan is, as if he’d just dived in to retrieve her. Just beautiful.
I found the prologue to be a bit lengthy in the beginning, but I ended up getting sucked into it as usual, and it was almost a shock to read that opening paragraph. Elaida’s joy at receiving the news that her embassy had captured Rand is almost funny, knowing how Dumai’s Wells turned out. I despite Elaida, but at that point, I almost felt bad for her. Especially considering what Alviarin does to her. We also get a glimpse of the wolfish side of the battle and devastation that Perrin’s furry friends had wrought to the Shaido. Our Wolf King has mad game!
A Crown of Swords can easily be divided into three distinct plot lines, though of course secondary and even tertiary characters overlap at times.
Rand and Min have consummated their relationship, and he appears happy (well, as happy as it gets under these circumstances). I found the fawning of the nobles in Cairhien to be oddly satisfying, though I’m not entirely sure why. It’s while he’s dealing with one of the rebellions against his rule there that he’s slashed with the Shadar Logoth dagger by Padan Fain, right on top of his older wound by Ba’alzamon (Ishamael). He manages to survive that only because one of his Asha’man happen to be tremendously skilled at Healing. There’s a lot of back and forth going on here (which the other plot lines help to dissipate), but Rand invades Illian with a simply gorgeous battle plan. Sammael’s mad rush to Shadar Logoth felt a little off-putting to me; I’d expected this Forsaken to have prepared for all eventualities. The shock of meeting Liah there, however, took me completely off-guard. The Aiel Maidens are way, way tougher than I’d dreamed of, if she’d been able to survive there for so long. This is also where Rand meets Moridin (the reincarnation of Ishamael) for the first time. The momentous crossing of their balefire streams is barely outlined at all, but we realize the full effects of that later. Rand, who has no clue who Moridin is, is saved by him, kills Liah as an act of mercy, absolutely destroys Sammael by sort of feeding him to Mashadar (I still shudder thinking of that!) and returns to Illian. Almost immediately after getting back, the nobles of the city offer him the Laurel Crown of Illian since their king had vanished. Rand accepts and renames it the Crown of Swords (there are painful swords hidden in the actual crown itself which prick his head constantly).
However, while everything was all well and good, it was the last line which gave me goosebumps: that had a good sound to it. Caught up in the celebration, the people of Illian begin hailing him as the “King of Illian!” but Rand actually appears to feel pleasure when they begin shouting “All hail Rand al’Thor, King of the World!”. If the voice of Lews Therin becoming more and more coherent in his mind was not a good enough time, I took this as a flawless proof that Rand really was going mad due to the taint in saidin. And that is literally the worst thing that could happen.
Down in Ebou Dar, Mat, Elayne, Nynaeve and Aviendha are still searching for the Bowl of the Winds. Nynaeve and Elayne discover a large group of ex-Accepted and -novices of the White Tower, all of whom had either run away or failed the tests to become Aes Sedai, a group which was closely monitored by the Tower even though the members of the Kin themselves were unaware of it. After managing to convince these women that they truly are Aes Sedai, they strike a bargain with the Sea Folk in exchange for help using the Bowl of Winds. After the ter’angreal is retrieved, they plan to use a gateway to leave Ebou Dar. They finally (finally!) retrieve it in the first third of the book, though. Nalesean’s death broke my heart; I did like the boy. The group is attacked and almost killed by a gholam (not the giant clay monster, by the way), but Mat’s Power-repelling foxhead ter’angreal saves them and they manage to get away. Nynaeve runs afoul of Moghedien, who strikes the ship she’s in. She almost drowns before being rescued by Lan (how he got there is a story I’m getting to shortly). He pulls her out of the water (and nearly gives me a heart attack in the process) before finally, finally, FINALLY marrying her.
Lan. This man is so cool. I love this guy. So much! Have I mentioned I love this guy? Because I do!
Wait. Where was I? I got lost in Lan-Land. Oh yeah.
The entire group of Aes Sedai, Sea Folk Windfinders, Kinswomen and Mat and his men are just about to leave Ebou Dar when the city is invaded by the Seanchan. Mat forces the women to flee without him, and they just manage to get away in time. Once in a safe location (in Andor), the women create a circle, linking each other, and use the Bowl to finally break the climate free of the Dark One’s hold. Back in Ebou Dar, Mat witnesses the Seanchan invasion of the city just before a building collapses on top of him and he blacks out.
In Salidar, Siuan is training Egwene on how to fend off the Hall’s attempts to control the young Amyrlin Seat while resisting Elaida’s rule. There are divisions in the rebels as well, and Egwene is completely aware of the fact that she was chosen purely because these factions believed she would be easily manipulated. She proves herself to the exact opposite, partly due to her own leadership qualities and partly because of Siuan’s help. She quickly manages to gather a small group of Aes Sedai who are sworn only to her as Amyrlin. It is during this that she discovers what happened to Lan’s bond to Moiraine after the Blue’s death: she’s long before made plans to pass the bond on to a Green named Myrelle who is well-known for being able to save Warders from the unstoppable (and always fatal) desire to avenge their Aes Sedai if she is killed. Myrelle tries to keep Lan hidden, but Egwene and Siuan find out. She commands Myrelle to send Lan to Nynaeve in Ebou Dar, which is how he ends up saving his wife-to-be from Moghedien.
A Crown of Swords is the kind of book that, when it ends, you’re left wondering where the pages had disappeared to. I turned the last page and was left open-mouthed. Was Mat going to stay buried beneath that fallen building? Did that mean he’s dead? If Jordan could kill Moiraine, then no one is safe — is Mat dead?! How’re the Forsaken going to react to the climate being fixed?
I actually whispered, “You can’t just leave me hanging like this!” after I was done reading.
I will say, however, that after Lord of Chaos, Book 7 seemed a little slow. Until he descends on Illian, Rand’s parts dragged. It was nice to see him happy with Min, but I wanted more of the Dragon Reborn than just how much he loves his girlfriend(s). Nynaeve’s stubbornness stops being funny and becomes a little annoying afterwards, though Lan turned into her redeeming quality. Mat spends the first half of the book trying to keep up with the Aes Sedai and the other half being sexually chased by the queen of Ebou Dar.
And that’s something I want to talk about.
I understand that the relationship between Mat and Tylin is controversial. I’ve read online forums after forums of people debating whether her (admittedly aggressive) pursuit of Mat is consensual or not. Even when they start to sleep together, fans are divided on whether this is rape or not. I will admit that, if you replaced Mat with a woman and Tylin with a man, it would definitely appear to be rape. That is without a doubt. But you also have to factor in Mat’s general character is well. I will not call this rape because he resists her advances due to his habit of being the pursuer and not the pursued. In every (short, romantic or sexual) relationship we as readers had seen him in, he was always the one who chased the girl. In my mind, this is why he reacts with indignation and downright confusion when Tylin starts to chase him. I have no doubt that, if he had had the time to chat up the queen, he would’ve been delighted. He’s simply not used to a woman being the dominant party.
That being said, however, I’ll admit to some feelings of discomfort and wrongness while reading their interactions. There were times when I was convinced that Mat was being raped and his feelings of helplessness seemed very, very real. In contrast to his thoughts were the thoughts of Morgase: there is distinct darkness, depression and feelings of horror after her rape. Is this because of how our society views female rape versus male rape? One is taken very seriously while the other is laughed at. Is Jordan trying to highlight this inequality by making Morgase’s experience horrifying and Mat’s humorous? Or is it what my initial thoughts were: that Mat is simply unused to sexually-forward women? The decision is left to the individual reader, of course. I, on the other hand, found myself swaying between the two.
In the end, I’ll give A Crown of Swords a 3.5/5. The pacing could have been faster, though I completely understanding the need for world-building. Rand adding king to his list of titles and Nynaeve and Lan tying the knot makes it all worth it.
Also, Moridin. Need I say more?
writingmidnight96's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Like all things to do with sex in Jordan’s writing, sexual assault happens behind closed doors so our interaction with it is with characters dealing with the emotional fallout after the fact.olivera420's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
Rounded down because of a certain event that happened in the book and made me want to throw it into a fire.
Rounded down because of a certain event that happened in the book and made me want to throw it into a fire.