“And it shall come to pass, in the days when the Dark Hunt rides, when the right hand falters and the left hand strays, that mankind shall come to the Crossroads of Twilight and all that is, all that was, and all that will be shall balance on the point of a sword, while the winds of the Shadow grow.”
-Robert Jordan, Crossroads of Twilight
Warning! From here on there will be SPOILERS for the Wheel of Time up to and including book 10.
Crossroads of Twilight was written in 2003, and is the tenth entry in the Wheel of Time series. This was a difficult review to write as this was the book for me, and likely most fans, that epitomised the infamous ‘slog’. As many would agree, CoT is probably my least favourite WoT book.
“When you knew you were going to hang, the only thing to do was grin at the noose”
-Robert Jordan, Crossroads of Twilight
Well, I’m not too sure if I grinned as I stepped up to this bucket, after hearing all the slander this book gets. I can say though, after reading it, while it wasn’t as bad as I’d feared, it definitely wasn’t up to par with the best of the Wheel of Time. It’s not that there were many bad parts, rather a lack of any oomph throughout. Most of the book is just talk. Elayne talking with her allies, Egwene talking with the Hall, and while I definitely don’t consider myself a purely ‘read for the action’ guy, I still like there to be things happening, and there just wasn’t much that happened in the book.
Quick mention-many of the events within Crossroads of Twilight take place simultaneously with those at the end of Winter’s Heart-namely Rand and Nynaeve wiedling the Choedan Kal to cleanse Saidin.
Perrin’s arc was one of my favourites in this book however. We continue to follow Perrin as he struggles to find a way to free his wife Faile ti’Bashere from the Shaido, a plotline which I genuinely don’t mind. We also see him losing the loyalty of the Two River’s men due to certain . . . misunderstandings. That along with the different factions rubbing against each other the wrong way, makes for a rather messy little camp situation, one which Perrin tries to turn a blind eye to in his single minded focus to rescue his wife.
We see our gentle blacksmith becoming much colder during the course of Crossroads of Twilight, even resorting to torturing an Aiel prisoner towards the end of the book (definitely not an easy job), culminating in one of my favourite moments.
An unpopular opinion, I know, but I really enjoy Faile’s POV’s in this book (and previous ones). Yes, I find her relationship dynamics with Perrin to be frustrating at times, but I find her much more bearable than many of the other female characters we’re exposed to. Also, with Faile, I’ve got to mention Rolan, one of my favourite minor characters.
Just in case you need a reminder, Rolan was the official one who captured Faile, giving him first authority over her. He is Mera’din (‘brotherless’ in the old tongue); one of those who have abandoned sept and clan.
“When you ask questions, Lini used to say, then you have to hear the answers whether you want to or not.”
-Robert Jordan, Crossroads of Twilight
We got to see Elayne again. Yay. And she’s pregnant. Honestly, I love reading politics in books, and the Wheel of Time is a great series if you’re a fan of political shenanigans, but I honestly don’t feel it’s necessary to know every little detail of the daily running of a kingdom. Especially not one as big as Andor.
That plus her attitude meant I found her chapters were the largest contenders in bringing down my enjoyment of this book. Don’t get me wrong though, there were many parts of Elayne’s arc I appreciated in Crossroads of Twilight, but not enough to balance the rest. Also, I really despise the toxicity of the Sea Folk (Ath’an Miere) channeleres and Kinswomen, both of whom are mainly interacted with through Elayne’s PoV’s.
However brief, we get to see a glimpse of Rand in Crossroads of Twilight. He appears to be resting from his ordeal of cleansing the male half of the power. He meets with Logain, another chapter I thoroughly enjoyed, and organises Davram Bashere, Logain, and Loial to negotiate a truce with the Seanchan. I’m also really enjoying Min and Rand’s relationship development.
“If your enemy offers you two targets, strike at a third.”
-Robert Jordan, Crossroads of Twilight
I was hoping I’d seen the last of Valan Luca’s Grand Travelling Show and Magnificent Display of Marvelous Wonders after book 5 ended.
Alas, we cannot have everything in life.
In Crossroads of Twilight, Mat and the gang decide to join the travelling dawdling show in order to keep a low profile. Well, more like hide themselves by standing out. The show isn’t exactly drab. I enjoyed Mat and Tuon’s growing relationship and how it wasn’t rushed into, like a couple others I could mention.
Cough. Egwene and Gawyn. Cough
Which brings us onto our final main plotline. We finally picked up again with Egwene and the rebel Aes Sedai, who we haven’t seen since Path of Daggers, where we learn that the rebels will try to strike a bargain with Elaida. The Sister’s also reluctantly come to a consensus that they should revive the ancient tradition of making circle’s with the Asha’man (male Channelers). I liked seeing Egwene’s growth into her role as the Amyrlin Seat, and her growing friendship with Siuan.
Another thing that brought Crossroads of Twilight’s rating down slightly for me was the (non existent) climax that we are spoiled for in the Wheel of Time. I wasn’t that bothered, but I had to just bump it down slightly when you compare that ending to, say, book 3 or 6’s endings.
Final side note before I finish up the review. Another probably very unpopular opinion, but I feel Daved Hanlon is very underrated.
Not him as a person. Heck no. I’m saying Captain Mellar’s PoV is always a treat. He’s a disgusting and vile man, but he has such an interesting point of view. I just love his inner voice, it’s very distinct and . . . clever?
In its own way, I guess.
“Sometimes, pain is all that lets you know you’re alive.”
Robert Jordan, Knife of Dreams
Sometimes that’s how I felt reading Crossroads of Twilight.
Overall, this book was, on the one hand, definitely the weakest so far, but on the other hand, definitely better than I thought it would be, due to all the negative feedback fans give it.
Still, I didn’t have to wait 2 years to read it.
Still want to read it?
Here’s one of The Fantasy Nobility’s opinions on the book…
“I can see why folks might have bailed on this stretch.”
Mike