Discount Price: $7.99
Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780812550283
ISBN number: 0812550285
Label: Tor Fantasy
Manufacturer: Tor Fantasy
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 896
Printing Date: November 15, 1997
Publishing house: Tor Fantasy
Sale Popularity Level: 8009
Studio: Tor Fantasy
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.
Amazon.com Review:
Robert Jordan has created a rich and intricate tapestry of characters in his Wheel of Time series. In this seventh volume, Rand al'Thor--the Dragon Reborn--draws ever closer to the Last Battle as a stifling heat grips the world.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
3.5 stars. This is the 7th book in the Wheel of Time series, and only a few days have passed since the conclusion of the last book, Lord of Chaos.
At the conclusion of Lord of Chaos, Rand had been freed from the imprisonment by the White Tower Aes Sedai sent by Elaida, the Amrylin Seat of the Tower, to capture him and bring him to her to guide and use as the White Tower chose. It is while on the march to Tar Valon that Rand frees himself, and a great battle is fought there with Rand and his allies being victorious. Due to this event, Rand forces the Aes Sedai there to swear fealty and oaths to him.
It's during this book, A Crown of Swords, where I believe the plot slows down considerably. It doesn't move forward much, but there was enough going on that kept me reading and I did enjoy it overall. Like in the past few books, we get character viewpoints mainly from Egwene, Nynaeve & Elayne, Mat, more from Perrin, and of course Rand the star of the series.
Rand continues to get more insane, he still doesn't believe the voice he hears inside his head is just that, "hearing voices". He still believes it is another person (Lews Therin) talking to him inside his own head. I've always wondered about his denial of the facts, with him refusing to acknowledge the fact that, "Ya know Rand, you *are* going crazy and it is a symptom of channeling tainted saidin!!".
He knows the fate of all male channelers, as he knows the male half of the True Source was tainted by the Dark One's touch during the War of Power thousands of years before. He understands this, yet he still believes that the voice he hears is a separate person from himself (although how he manages to convince himself that a separate person could reside in his own head and converse with him....heh).
Oh well, I don't think it's meant to be rational, Rand's belief the voice is separate from himself. I think in some ways he's desperate to believe Lews Therin's voice in his head *is* a real person, because in his eyes if it's not, he's already insane. Rand has a lot of struggles regarding this, his fate and trying to come to terms with his approaching insanity, not to mention his impending fight with the Dark One and Forsaken at the Last Battle. So, I can almost understand how he may be going insane already. It's already clear he's got some anger management issues (he flies off the handle quite frequently, rages and temper tantrums), and I thought Jordan did a great job over the last few books slowly giving you, the reader, a glimpse of Rand's descent into madness and how it is effecting him already.
Nynaeve & Elayne, with Mat in tow, also continue their search for an object, the Bowl of the Winds, in Ebou Dar that could correct the unseasonably hot weather. Their viewpoints are probably my favorite sections in the book (other than the bits from the Forsaken). Nynaeve & Elayne encounter other women that can channel that may be able to lead them to the Bowl. While Mat is disgruntled and frustrated with having to put up with the 2 women. I enjoyed reading his sections, his thoughts about women, which was hilarious to read about, especially the parts about how horrified he was at the thought of a Queen chasing him. Which was ironically amusing, as Mat's character is very roguish and something of a womanizer. Very funny to be privy to his thoughts concerning what he thought about that!
Egwene struggles to be more than a puppet Amrylin of the rebel Aes Sedai, and succeeds in subtly manipulating the Aes Sedai around her (with the help of the deposed former Amrylin Siuan, who is now an Aes Sedai again after being healed by Nynaeve in Lord of Chaos). One interesting thing with Egwene's section of the book, one of the Forsaken has attached himself (or should I say "herself"?) to Egwene and while it's not clear what his/her orders are, it's obvious the Forsaken was placed with the rebel Aes Sedai and Egwene to cause more trouble for the Light.
That leads me to the roles of the Forsaken in this book. Each book has given more glimpses into the Forsaken, so each new bit of information is like a puzzle piece that fits together into the puzzle of "What is up with the Forsaken?". Like I said before, while their orders aren't entirely clear it isn't hard to piece together what they are doing. Mainly to cause as much chaos and confusion for Rand and his allies. There is also a new Forsaken that appears in this book, named Moridin. It is actually quite easy to figure out who he was before, as Jordan gave clues and if you've paid attention to previous books it's quite easy to solve. Hint hint: the Dark One can bring dead Forsaken back into new bodies to cause more mischief! All the more so because only you, the reader, know this as the characters have no idea about this!
This is one thing I liked about Jordan. He teases with ... Read More
Rated by buyers 
-
This is the most disappointing book yet of the series. I hate to spoil all the surprises, but here I go:
- The Aes Sedai are still so arrogant and annoying that you actually start hoping they'll all be stilled. Better yet, collared and whipped mercilessly. All hail the Seanchan!
- Rand, Mat, and Perrin continue to regard women as The Grand Mystery of the Universe. Not to mention them acting like a bunch of chaste catholic school girls about sex. Well, with women anyway. Maybe Two Rivers is a place where the sheep are more nervous than the women. Come on guys grow a pair or get out of the closet already.
- Infinitely more insignificant characters are introduced that you will never remember if you spend any time between this book and the next. Don't worry, none of the assistants to the Assistant Peon are relevant.
- For all the women with low cut attire and men running around with swords, where's the senseless violence or gratuitous sex? Someone kill somebody already! Not even much sensible sex and necessary violence. Even Rand's one duel with another blademaster is over before it begins, with a remarkable lack of description. Tragic
- These books are getting cookie-cutter. Hmm, only 5 or so Forsaken left...and 4 more books? Gosh, who could possibly get killed in the last chapters of this and the subsequent 4 books? Rand skulks around talking to himself. A Forsaken plots against Rand. Rand kills Forsaken.
- Just skip the last chapter and make up your own climax, you'll probably be more satisfied than with what Jordan wrote.
If, like me, you have concluded that the majority of Jordan's writing is fluff, just start skimming for dialog, you won't miss anything important and it will trim this book down from 855 pages to about 55 pages.
Rated by buyers -
While I rate this book highly, this is the very first book in the series where I really began to feel that the story was being stretched out deliberately to yield more books in the future. Many of the subplots advance slowly and more subplots are introduced, leaving more loose ends to tie up later. Don't get me wrong, this is still a wonderful book and worth your time. If you're a fan of the series, this is a book you need to read, just prepare yourself for a story that is still as long as previous volumes but not as deep.
Rated by buyers -
Robert Jordan in one of the best fantasy series EVER!Item just as described, fast shipping!
Rated by buyers -
I really enjoy RJ's work, but I, like many others wonder why he needs to repeat himself over and over. Or give us every single detail about even things that are not all that important. Myself, I really hope that there is only one book left and that RJ finishes it soon. And I pray that Kate Reading and Michael Kramer are still doing the unabridged audio CDs then too.
Both Kate Reading and Michael Ramer, the narrators in this book on CD do a wonderful job. Both do a brilliant job of instilling life into the words written by Jordan that you don't actually mind too much when things repeated needlessly by the author. Each narrator's voice add rich dimension to each character so that you can keep track with ease who is saying what while retaining the intended point of view in the written text.
The plot, as many other's have already reviewed doesn't move very fast in some sections and in the head, you are left wondering, why wasn't book 6 and 7 just made into one book and some of the needless stuff left out. We have enough character and plots/sub plots to last for the rest of the books. RJ doesn't need to add in more, but he does (Not only in this book but in the coming books).
Some things I liked:
Matt being chased by a queen of things as a play-toy
Nynaeve getting over her block
Lan's return to Nynaeve
Nynaeve and Lan's marriage - through really I would have liked to have more details about what happened during the actual `wedding' aboard the seafolk ship and what vows made/etc.
Some things I didn't like:
Faile's temper and how Perrin reacts with this slow wittedness that borders on stupid at times. Yes, yes, big strong guy, doesn't like to hurt people, likes to think things out. Joy to you, but when is he going to learn that his wife wants him to have a bit of a temper around her. Show her, who's boss, etc. Get a little rough with her, she won't break.
Elayne and Nynaeve's childish behaviors. Infact all the women seem to have this, almost foolish notation that they are always right even when it's proven they are not. Nynaeve was head of the women's circle back home. Elayne is supposed to be the daughter hair. These women are not children. Both should have learned, if not before the books started, then by now that everyone makes mistakes and that when you do the best thing to do is make amends and get on with life.
Anything with Shaido(spelling) these people are annoying and really don't seem to be doing anything with the over all plot. If RJ plans to make these the group that survice the last battle, I'm going to be really annoyed. Many of the Aes Sedai are the same way, why the heck are we bothering with all these subplots that don't seem to do anything at all.
And I'm starting to get annoyed without knowing certain things that would be good to know while being subjected to meaningless details about what people are wearing when we won't be seeing them again or if we do they are wearing something else that we get to hear about again.
With the books on CD, all those little details that can be really annoying while reading are far more tolerable. Names and places are easier to keep track of, at least for me. Pop in the CD, listen while you drive, workout, or doing yard work without all that worry about.. "is this the same person from earlier, darn I can't remember how her/his name was spelled"
I have all but book 8 and 9 on CD and prefer this media for enjoying RJ's work above any other. When I can find 8 and 9 I'll buy those as well. I strongly recommend listening to all the UNABRIDGED books on CD vs reading them
Find other books like this one:
