|
|
|
hardback 1996, Tor
Though it took Robert Jordan about 18 months to write A Crown of Swords, the latest in the bestselling Wheel of Time series, at 663 pages it weighs in as one of the more slender volumes, considerably shorter than its predecessor, the behemoth Lord of Chaos (1994). While Lord of Chaos was a longer book, it was certainly a less satisfying installment of the story than A Crown of Swords.
Briefly, the main characters of the Wheel of Time series are Rand, Egwene, Mat, Perrin, and Nynaeve, five young people from a small village who are key to the defeat of the Dark One. Rand is the Dragon Reborn, fated to fight the Dark One, who was imprisoned by the Creator but is beginning to break free again. Rand, Mat, and Perrin are ta'veren, people who by existing are able to force fate to shape itself around them. Egwene and Nynaeve are Aes Sedai, women who can touch the One Power and thus work magic. Rand can also use the One Power, but because the Dark One has tainted the part of the One Power that is accessible to men, he runs the risk of madness.
Since this series began, it has accumulated close to 3,600 pages. With so many plots and subplots, of necessity Jordan can't deal with every plot in every book. Unfortunately, many pressing plots that fans were hoping to see furthered or resolved in this book were not dealt with, and some that were, were wrapped up too quickly.
In fact, A Crown of Swords, while tighter and better-written than Lord of Chaos, reads much like a wrapping-up volume to that previous story. The aftermath of the climatic battle of Dumai's Wells is dealt with. Mat, Nynaeve, and Elayne finally gain the Bowl of Winds, a powerful object that can be used to break the hold the Dark One has over the weather. We learn more about what's happening with the Seanchan, Elaida, Morgase, and Egwene. Lan Mandragoran returns as a main character and is reunited with his love, Nynaeve, and Perrin is still struggling to fend off the attentions of Berelain and pacify the jealousy of his wife Faile.
We also get a strange subplot in which Mat is sexually stalked by Tylin, the Queen of Ebou Dar. Technically what she does to him is rape, though in the end he doesn't seem to mind, and other characters who learn of his predicament laugh at him. I'm not sure whether Jordan had a point to this, and if so, what it was. But it certainly provides more grist to the mill of conversation about gender issues in the Wheel of Time series.
Keeping readers up-to-date with the plotlines poses a problem in a story this large. After devoting a few chapters to catching readers up with what's happened since the last book, this book was a third gone. This lays Jordan open to charges of padding the book with filler. After doing several rounds through the array of plotlines he chose for this particular book, the story was finished.
Unfortunately, not much else was. I had a vague feeling of dissatisfaction at the end of the story that could not be attributed to the fact that this was an installment of a series. It doesn't help that the ending is a quickly tacked together showdown between Rand and Sammael, a conflict that has been brewing for several books but comes to a head in only a few pages.
Judging from the end of A Crown of Swords, the eighth book in the series promises to be a real blockbuster. It had better be -- Jordan's fans have come too far to quit now.
Review by Sara Lipowitz
Reviewed August 2, 1996
ISBN 0-312-85767-5
 |
See other reviews of A Crown of Swords at Amazon.com |