Crossroads of Twilight

[thisguy]

 

I feel like this book (CoT) is, at least, half filler. It's the first book in this reread that's been a chore to get through. At first I started slowing down the pace, now I'm speeding up just to get through it. So, many chapter could be paired down. Then, there's the ridiculous jumping to conclusions that the Forsaken have to be behind the gigantic amount of force being felt by the cleansing of saidin. Aviendha meets with Egwene, they discuss the Rebels wanted to make a deal with the Ashaman for linking purposes. Aviendha asks Egwene if she'd still want to do that if the huge amount of OP everyone felt was not from the Forsaken. Why didn't she mention that through the warder bond, she and Elayne felt Rand where the OP was being used? While I have no problem with them wanting a treaty of some sort with the Ashaman (in fact, it's probably a good idea), they jump to conclusions pretty quickly.

 

Anyway, Mat's part of the book is ok. Nothing much happens, but it sets things up. Perrin's part is surprisingly ok, too. In fact, although I haven't read the last 180 pages yet, it's arguably the best part of the book so far.... and, that's really not saying a whole lot. The Elayne part is pretty blah, too. Although, I do like the chapter where she meets with the rulers of the different Andoran houses sworn to her. Still, so much of that could just have been paired down.

[Suttree]

Try to stick with it thiguy and view it and KoD as one book. For all that it is slow(and prob the worst book in the series) it sets up KoD well and there is some very strong prose. Many scenes that seem inconsequential are key for things that happen later. There is very little "filler" in the sense that it doesn't connect to something down the line.

[YourNewDragonAndGod]

On the plus side KoD is much better. But maybe you should slow down your reread. There is still 3 1/2 months to go.

[thisguy]

Try to stick with it thiguy and view it and KoD as one book. For all that it is slow(and prob the worst book in the series) it sets up KoD well and there is some very strong prose. Many scenes that seem inconsequential are key for things that happen later. There is very little "filler" in the sense that it doesn't connect to something down the line.

I get what you're saying, and I have no plans to stop reading it. Just seems like so much of what's written (especially in Elayne's and Egwene's chapters) could have been reduced. There is a lot of mental blah blah - which is funny because I often enjoy a book better than the movie made out of it because we get to read what the character's think and feel. But, it just repeats and repeats. I vaguely remember being disappointed with the book when I first read it now.

 

Anyway, yes, I totally agree that his writing is very tight in this book, it's just what he's writing about that is just blaaaah. Did we need almost an entire chapter on cuendillar creation?

[thisguy]

On the plus side KoD is much better. But maybe you should slow down your reread. There is still 3 1/2 months to go.

I can't help myself when I enjoy a book. I read fast, usually. Also, I kinda want to get it done and move on to other things. It's addicting. HAhahaha!

 

Listen, whatever I complain about on these boards, I think the books are excellent. I think most of the story lines are great. I even like that I hate some characters who are heros.

What I might do is reread (again) book 13 the last 2-3 weeks of December so that it's fresh for the final book. ;)

[YourNewDragonAndGod]

On the plus side KoD is much better. But maybe you should slow down your reread. There is still 3 1/2 months to go.

I can't help myself when I enjoy a book. I read fast, usually. Also, I kinda want to get it done and move on to other things. It's addicting. HAhahaha!

 

Listen, whatever I complain about on these boards, I think the books are excellent. I think most of the story lines are great. I even like that I hate some characters who are heros.

What I might do is reread (again) book 13 the last 2-3 weeks of December so that it's fresh for the final book. ;)

Tbh Im glad that I dont have all the books and am currently waiting on tSR from my library. I like to stretch the sries out as not much else has caught my attention recently. And I agree these forums are fantastic. And the only bad storyline is Elayne with the Windfinders.

[Alanna]

I can't help reading fast too...that's why I waited until pretty recently to start my reread. Though I do like to finish about a month early; I like being able to speculate here on the boards with a fresh reread in mind. The last time I reread the series, before TOM came out, was the first time I made myself read the series really slow. And I actually picked up and understood a lot of things I had never understood before.

 

I agree about COT. What RJ does in COT is pretty cool from a literary standpoint, but it does read slow. And I definitely understand why people who actually had to wait for the book were frustrated with it, cuz I definitely would have been. I started reading the series right after COT came out, so it wasn't so bad, the first time. Now when I reread, I actually try to get through COT really fast, because I love KOD so much.

[master]

cot is good for one reason. mat and tuon,

 

I'm really dreading the chance of brandon screwing up their chemistry, theres not much else I care about but... [i should stop before this gets into a fullblown rant.]

[Clouded]

Try to stick with it thiguy and view it and KoD as one book. For all that it is slow(and prob the worst book in the series) it sets up KoD well and there is some very strong prose. Many scenes that seem inconsequential are key for things that happen later. There is very little "filler" in the sense that it doesn't connect to something down the line.

 

Agreed. There a lot of great little connections between the books. My favorite is between Mat and Tuon. At the end of CoT, Mat realizes that after all his time with Tuon, he barely knows her. "He had hardly a clue" is the the way RJ puts it. Then, near the end of KoD, Tuon realizes that Mat is much more than he seems. And she ends the chapter with a similar thought, "She had hardly a clue". Makes me smile everytime.

[Alanna]

The Mat/Tuon chapters are the one thing I really love about COT.

[master]

The Mat/Tuon chapters are the one thing I really love about COT.

 

 

probably one of the few things most people would agree on, even jordan was planning to write books dedicated to them.

[csarmi]

oh no not CoT again...

[Alanna]

Yeah...the Mat/Tuon outriggers would have been awesome. I always got the impression that more people were excited for the Tam prequel, but I Mat and Tuon in Seanchan were the ones I was most looking forward to.

[SylvanFox]

CoT is probably the worst in the series, but very worth reading. The Mat chapters were good, but this was about the time that I started to groan every time I reach an Elayne chapter.