Author: Robert Jordan
Cover Artist: Darrell K. Sweet
Publisher: Tor
Binding: Hardcover
Publication Date: January 2003

The tenth book in Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. By this point, even when Jordan stated book twelve would be the final one, many readers have given up on the seemingly never ending series. That didn’t prevent Crossroads of Twilight from topping the bestseller lists though. It was published in January 2003, with 26 month wait between Winter’s Heart and Crossroads of Twilight and even in the eyes of many die-hard fans this book was something of a disappointment. Jordan’s verbosity reaches new heights and the progress in the story seems to grind to a complete halt. I always considered Crossroads of Twilight something of an experiment by Jordan. One that did not turn out too well.

On a more personal level the book annoyed me tremendously when the cover almost fell off after one reading. I had a friend get me a signed copy and paid for it to be shipped here. As such it is pretty difficult to replace should it fall apart completely. I’ve had a number of Tor hardcovers which were substandard in quality of the binding but almost falling apart after one reading is ridiculous. But that’s besides the point, let’s stay focussed on the books. A quick recap of what everybody is up to, as usual this contains spoilers up to book nine.

Mat is camped with Luca’s circus outside Ebou Dar, trying to keep his channelling women hidden from the Seanchan and trying to recover from the fact that he has accidentally kidnapped his prophesied bride, the daughter of the nine moons, who happens to be heir to the Seanchan throne. A thread in the pattern that first appeared in The Shadow Rising. The company leaves Ebou Dar behind and sets out at a snail’s pace in the direction of Luggard. On the way Mat finds out about the unusual courtship customs of the Seanchan.

Perrin is still chasing the Shaido who captured Faile. At the moment he is riding through Altara. They have tracked down the Shaido but they appear to vastly outnumber Perrin’s band. Force of arms is not going to free her. While resupplying in the town of So Harbor Perrin encounters another of the bubbles of evil that have recently risen to the surface. So Harbor will have to deal with it’s own problems though, Perrin’s priorities are clear. Faile in the mean time is trying to plan her escape from the Shaido camp. This turns out to be a formidable challenge even with the Shaido’s divisions amongst themselves. She is aware of the number of Shaido however, escape is necessary. Anything to stop Perrin from reckless actions.

Elayne and Aviendha are still trying to secure Elayne’s bid for the throne as well as not undermine Egwene’s position by revealing the bargain with the Seafolk. Outside the city wall a large army of her opponent has gathered but with the channellers being able to let supplies in by Gateway, the city is in no danger of falling any time soon. The throne on the other hand is still far from secure. Her pregnancy (due to Rand’s brief visit in Winter’s Heart) is also causing her problems, interfering with the use of the One Power.

Egewene’s army has arrived at Tar Valon, laying a siege on the city. They are not able to close the city’s harbours though, which means starving the city to surrender is not an option. Egwene is determined to avoid bloodshed however. Action will have to be taken quickly, the tension in the camp is rising and matters don’t improve when Aes Sedai start being murdered with the One Power.

Rand and Nynaeve are largely absent from the book. It has quite a bit of overlap with Winter’s Heart, at the end of which they are busy cleansing the male half of the One Power. In the brief glimpse we get of what Rand is up to after that feat, he sends Bashere to propose a truce with the Seanchan. Rand has been struggling with the problem of how to deal with the Seanchan since first encountering them in The Great Hunt, this change of attitude may well be the most important thing that happens in this novel.

The overlap with Winter’s Heart is probably why this novel doesn’t work very well. Jordan let each of the main plot lines in the book begin on the day Rand and Nynaeve cleanse the male half of the source. A bit of channelling that can be felt all over the world. In doing so he restricts himself and the time frame of the book. Which is not necessarily a bad thing if most of the characters where not busy doing dreadfully boring things. Perrin is going shopping, Egwene is busy exchanging icy glares with Aes Sedai while preparations are being made to take the city of Tar Valon, Elayne is trying to lay the foundation of her rule, in other words meeting with lots of more or less important Andorans and exchanging pleasantries. Even Mat, usually good for some excitement, mostly travels around trying not to be noticed by the Seanchan.

Jordan is obviously setting the stage for the final two books in the series. A lot of what he describes needs to happen, the question is, do you need to write a book about it? Jordan spends chapters on things other authors would handle in a paragraph. That would be bearable if there was some plot movement elsewhere in the novel. There isn’t. Jordan spends well over 600 pages on getting the stage set for the grand finale of the Wheel of Time series. I suppose that you could say we are in the eye of the hurricane here. Or you could say Jordan completely stalled.

Unfortunately the trouble doesn’t stop there, the usual annoyances with Jordan’s work are still present. Foremost of them is juvenile treatment of the relationship between the sexes, as well as the prevailing attitude among many of the world’s inhabitants that anyone who doesn’t agree with them is witless or a primitive. To top it all off Jordan leaves us with a huge cliffhanger, and while I must admit it leads to the strongest part in the next volume, Knife of Dreams, I most certainly did not appreciate it during my first read right after the book was published.

All of that certainly sounds like I didn’t like this book at all. Perhaps that is overstating matters a bit. It is still The Wheel of Time, Jordan does know how to tell a story and his world is a marvel of detail. There are a few specific things in this book I found interesting. Even though he is a minor character, I am curious to see if Rodel Ituralde’s plan actually works. He is the last of the great captains mentioned in the books to make an appearance. Knife of Dreams does not reveal al that much more but one can hope for A Memory of Light. Jordan also introduces the most interesting riddle since the death of Asmodan, is Noal actually Jain Farstrider? Well, actually the question arises in Winter’s Heart but there is no escaping it in this book.

These things are not enough to carry the book of course. This reread was not as hard as the first reading but Crossroads of Twilight is still a book that only the real fans will want to read. After nine books, with the end of the story in sight, there really is no giving up now but Jordan certainly does not make it easy on his readers. All I can say to encourage you to stick with this series is that the story will get back on track in Knife of Dreams.

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Topics: Crossroads of Twilight, Darrell K. Sweet, Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time, Tor