Shivertongue he/him Posted July 20, 2012 Posted July 20, 2012 THIS THREAD WILL MOST LIKELY CONTAIN SPOILERS. Discussion thread for the Great Reread, pertaining to book 10, Crossroads of Twilight. This is book number ten, which means we are in double digits now. And I will admit, to the new readers, this is where it might start to get tough. You can do it, though! I BELIEVE IN YOU! Unless you started with this book, in which case you deserve every bad thing that has ever happened to you in your entire life. For information and to join The Great Reread, please go here.
Jack the Halls he/him Posted August 2, 2012 Posted August 2, 2012 I know I'm in the minority, but I'm a big fan of this book. It does so many different things. Not only does it contain some giant character moments, but it brings everything that came before together in such a way that it sets up the final books. I think of it almost as prologue to books 11-14. I also like it because it allows us to spend some time with all the characters before we are hit with the avalanche of plot climaxes. It's because of this book that books 11-13 are able to be as epic as they are without falling apart. 1
Ryan he/him Posted August 2, 2012 Posted August 2, 2012 You're in good company, Jack. It's Brandon's favorite book. Personally, I still find it dull. On a scale of Melville to Correia, I'd put it a couple notches above an Austen.
LevenThumps Posted August 4, 2012 Posted August 4, 2012 I know I'm in the minority, but I'm a big fan of this book. It does so many different things. Not only does it contain some giant character moments, but it brings everything that came before together in such a way that it sets up the final books. I think of it almost as prologue to books 11-14. I also like it because it allows us to spend some time with all the characters before we are hit with the avalanche of plot climaxes. It's because of this book that books 11-13 are able to be as epic as they are without falling apart. I agree. Crossroads of Twilight is not my favorite book, but I don't consider it a terrible book either.
Jack the Halls he/him Posted August 9, 2012 Posted August 9, 2012 You're in good company, Jack. It's Brandon's favorite book. I had no idea! That's too awesome. What's kinda funny is that I feel Jordan really wrote this book specifically for the fans, and yet it's the least liked. It's not my favorite, but it's possibly the most important of the series.
frozndevl Posted September 14, 2012 Posted September 14, 2012 By this time in the series, I am wanting certain things to already be taken care of. I think this is a mirror to my first read through, only this time I know they will be happening sooner rather than years away. Things like getting Faile back, Lan's bond being transfered, etc. One thing that happens with such a wide spread story is that there are so many people that are clueless about what is going on around the world. The one that comes to mind is the cleansing of Saidin, which everyone not involved with thinks was just some new Forsaken weapon. I know that we as the readers know everything (at least we like to think so) but the apparent idiocy of so many just bothers me. I also never understood why the Asha'man would agree to let the Aes Sedai bond them; the little paragraph where one of the sisters keeps, I thin it was Jahar's, dragon pin because she didn't give it to him just really bothered me. I do like Logain and I can't wait to see what he is up to at the Last Battle. I hope he beat the living snot out of Mazrim Taim, who at this point does appear to be up to no good.
frozndevl Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 So, finished this last night, and I completely forgot about how this book ended, and I am sure I have forgotten how KoD begins. What's crazy, is I already can't remember what exactly was going on with this book. The fact that Egwene got captured, I knew was coming, but I couldn't remember when was a nice surprise. I guess this would be the closest thing she ever had to her failure, but of course it happened after she managed to turn the chain into cuendillar (sp?). I do miss Rand in these books, but this truly is a series with 4-5 major plotlines that are very detailed and so I can understand why it takes so long.
Aeshdan he/him Posted September 22, 2012 Posted September 22, 2012 What's crazy, is I already can't remember what exactly was going on with this book. The fact that Egwene got captured, I knew was coming, but I couldn't remember when was a nice surprise. I guess this would be the closest thing she ever had to her failure, but of course it happened after she managed to turn the chain into cuendillar (sp?). And then she followed it up with her greatest victory, outstubborning the entire White Tower while captive, drugged, and being whipped six times a day. You know, she probably wouldn't have won the final duel with Messanna if she hadn't gone through this first.
Ryan he/him Posted October 6, 2012 Posted October 6, 2012 I just finished the prologue. 100 pages long, nearly an eighth of the book (by page count), and containing a large number of viewpoints so that, by the time one has a little movement, it's time for another. Makes for a slog no matter how you view it.
Ryan he/him Posted October 15, 2012 Posted October 15, 2012 220 pages left. I can do this! Gotta push through! Okay, I will admit, there are some interesting things in this book. It's just that, more often than not, the characters are thinking and talking rather than acting, giving the sense that nothing is happening.
Ryan he/him Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 I finished this book last night. And boy, I'm not sorry to see the back of it. I feel like this book is unique in the series in that it seems to make no attempt to advance any of the plotlines at all (with the exception of Egwene's, of course). Instead, it seems focused on showing the state of the world at a crossroads, in the wake of the world-altering cleansing of Saidin, and with the Shadow's conniving more prominent than ever. It took an entire book to show all of it, and set up the mad, 4-book-long rush to the grand finale. So yes, I can appreciate it on that level. In fact, I've head Brandon say that this is his favorite book, and for the very reason that it's unique not only in the series, but in all of fantasy. Jordan's craft is on full display, and I can acknowledge that this is not a bad book. But, well, I just find it dull, and there's just no getting around that.
Aethling he/him Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 Got to the part lastnight where Elayne finds out she is having twins. One of the confusing things about this series is the timeline jumps when switching from character to character. So far, there have been four different viewpoints for the Cleansing, and Egwene hasn't even popped in yet.
Ryan he/him Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 Got to the part lastnight where Elayne finds out she is having twins. One of the confusing things about this series is the timeline jumps when switching from character to character. So far, there have been four different viewpoints for the Cleansing, and Egwene hasn't even popped in yet. I found that most viewpoints included some reference to the cleansing (and about when it occurred), so you could get at least an approximation of when things are happening.
Aethling he/him Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 I completely understand why he did it. The misinterpretation could be solved fairly easily just by them keeping in touch. Nyn can go into the dream world, and that would give the information to Egwene and Elayne.
Lightflame he/him Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 I finished this book last night. And boy, I'm not sorry to see the back of it. I feel like this book is unique in the series in that it seems to make no attempt to advance any of the plotlines at all (with the exception of Egwene's, of course). Instead, it seems focused on showing the state of the world at a crossroads, in the wake of the world-altering cleansing of Saidin, and with the Shadow's conniving more prominent than ever. It took an entire book to show all of it, and set up the mad, 4-book-long rush to the grand finale. So yes, I can appreciate it on that level. In fact, I've head Brandon say that this is his favorite book, and for the very reason that it's unique not only in the series, but in all of fantasy. Jordan's craft is on full display, and I can acknowledge that this is not a bad book. But, well, I just find it dull, and there's just no getting around that. Actually, I'm pretty sure he said in the Q&A that his favourite is The Shadow Rising. /hasnointentionofdoingagreatreread
Ryan he/him Posted November 17, 2012 Posted November 17, 2012 Now I wish I remembered where I'd heard that. Oh well. BTW, The Shadow Rising is my favorite, too.
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