The Wheel of Time Reread: Book 10 - Crossroads of Twilight
*SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THIS AND OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES*
Find the full list of posts in my full re-read of the series HERE
As I said in my review of Winter's Heart, I was ready for Crossroads of Twilight to be one of the worst entries in the series. But I have to admit that it's not nearly as bad as I remembered. It's not a highlight in the series, but it's certainly not terrible.
So, why was I expecting the worst, and why was I so pleasantly surprised?
How Not to Handle The Aftermath of a Major Event
I can remember exactly why I disliked Crossroads of Twilight the first time I read it. It was because of how Jordan handled the fallout from the previous book.
The Cleansing of Saidin is a major evening in the story of the Wheel of Time. Not only does it significantly shift the balance of power in the world, but it also shows exactly what unbelievably powerful things Rand is capable of. What I, and I'm certain most other readers, wanted to see next was the aftermath.
But Jordan didn't do that. Instead, he went back to what other characters were doing before, during, and after it happened, only returning to Rand at the end. Essentially, spending the entire book avoiding the one thing we wanted to see.
But this time around, it hasn't bothered me quite as much. Do I think it works in hindsight? Not at all, but I can see how Jordan came to make the decision that led to him doing things the way he did them. And knowing I would need to wait to see what happened next makes that wait less frustrating.
But does that mean the book doesn't have problems? Oh no.
Slump, or Bloat?
"The Slump" is my term for the middle point in the series where it is generally accepted the quality dips. After a great start from books one to seven, from book eight until around book twelve, we tend to find people lose interest, even to the point of giving up on the series.
But I've come to think I may have been using the wrong word. Because it's not so much a slump in quality, as a bloating of content.
You see, Jordan's writing never lacks quality. He's just as good a writer as he's always been. I've talked about how Jordan's expertise in giving us enough snippets of information to put together entire C-plots is one of his greatest strengths. (The prologue for this book is an excellent example of this.) But his weakness in these middle books in the series is not using this ability more.
The example I'm going to use is Elayne. I won't argue her storyline isn't important to the story, but everything to do with her claiming the Lion Throne didn't need to be shown. All we needed was to know she was doing it, have a few scenes catching us up on how difficult the process was, can then come back when it was done. In the same way that we go entire books without seeing Matt of Perrin, we could have gone several without seeing Elayne after the Bowl of the Winds for several books. Because ultimately, the political and military wranglings she goes through add nothing to the overall story and take nothing away if removed.
The Elongation of Part 3
During this reread, I've identified that the series can be broken into parts. Part One and Part Two both consisted of three books, giving us self-contained trilogies that focus on a particular section of the story.
But Part Three doesn't do this. If we argue it begins with Book Seven, then it should have finished with Book Nine. But here we are in Book Ten, and I don't think we're done.
I think this is because of the Bloat.
Part Three of the series should have been from Books Seven to Nine. And I think it should have come to a climax with the Cleansing of Saidin. But because Jordan spent too much time on stories that could have been told in snippets or cut completely, he ran out of space.
Matt and Tuon, Power Couple
But let's talk about the positives of Crossroads of Twilight. And the big one is that it gives us Matt and Tuon's relationship.
The character dynamic between these two is one of my favourite in the series because they are opposites who complement each other perfectly. Tuon is heir to the Seanchan Throne, used to people treating her almost literally worshipping her. Matt, on the other hand, is someone who stands up to nobles and those in power on principle and isn't the least impressed by someone based on their bloodline. They challenge each other but, more importantly, demonstrate that they want to be challenged. Matt, at least, knows they are destined to be married, which forces him to try and get to know her, and this is what draws Tuon to him. She's constantly testing him, but more to learn who he is rather than for him to prove himself. It's a nice change from most other relationships in the series, which tend to fall into love at first sight, with people declaring they will marry someone they've perhaps met twice and then not seen in months (I'm looking at you Egwene, stop being so damn soppy).
However…
God, the amount of gendered dialogue! Once again, when it comes to men and women interacting, Jordan had to commit to making everything about gender. Yes, as always, I'll temper this with it being an intended part of the world-building, but, again, it goes way too far. And for some reason, it felt particularly uncomfortable here.
And so, what do we have waiting for us as we go forward into Knife of Dreams?
Well, there's the good. Egwene is now a captive of the White Tower, and I love that plotline. We also have more development of Matt and Tuon's relationship and Perrin's plans to rescue Faile. But we also have the rest of Elayne's quest to take the Lion Throne, possibly the most superfluous plotline in the entire series. So it's possible I've misremembered, and Knife of Dreams is the lowest point in the series, rather than Crossroads. But we'll see.
But what is most significant is that the next book is the final one Robert Jordan wrote himself before his death, leading to Brandon Sanderson taking over. But I'll discuss what that meant for the series in a later post.