Crossroads Of Twilight (Book Ten of The Wheel Of Time) by Robert Jordan

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Crossroads Of Twilight (Book Ten of The Wheel Of Time) by Robert Jordan
Crossroads Of Twilight (Book Ten of The Wheel Of Time) by Robert Jordan Pub: Orbit/Times Warner. 700 page hardback. Price: Ł17.99 (UK). ISBN: 0-84149-129-2.

check out website: www.orbitbooks.co.uk

I have to admit to being somewhat at a disadvantage when tackling ‘Crossroads Of Twilight’.

I haven't read the previous nine books in ‘The Wheel Of Time’ series and whatever comments I can make on this tenth volume, I believe that being familiar with the series so far is a fairly necessary precursor to reading this one.

Having said that, I was able, just, to follow events in ‘Crossroads Of Twilight’.

Book Ten tells the continuing tales of Perrin, Mat and Rand - characters first introduced in Book One. Here we learn that Rand is resigned to his destiny as the Dragon Reborn and is still searching for allies in an upcoming end-of-days battle. Perrin, meanwhile, is searching for his wife, Faile, who has been kidnapped and will stop at nothing to find her. Mat, hiding out in a travelling circus, is on the run with Tuon, a Seanchen Daughter of the Nine Moons.

Crossroads Of Twilight (Book Ten of The Wheel Of Time) by Robert Jordan Learning that their destiny is to be husband and wife, he finds the situation falling further and further out of his control. With the Seanchen enemy soldiers liable to find them at any time and return Tuon to her throne, the journey is slow and hazardous.

At the same time, in the White Tower, home of the magical Aes Sedai, there is corruption and division. Egwene, the true leader, the Amyrlin Seat, has taken a group of rebel Aes Sedai and is laying siege to the Power. But intrigue and suspicion run among them and she doesn't know whom she can trust. Desperation gradually leads her to consider the unthinkable - a collaboration with the Asha'man, men who can channel magic and healing as the Aes Sedai women do.

It may be the only way to defeat the Dark One's power, the source of the ultimate evil in ‘The Wheel Of Time’. In yet another thread to the book, Elayne, heir to the throne of Andor and expecting Rand's children, is also fighting corruption and Darkfriends, who work in loyalty to the Dark One.

After a rather confusing and long prologue, the story(ies) settle down, advancing the various arcs began in previous books. Because this is only one part in a much longer story and there is at least one more book to follow after this one, it is debatable how much the story actually flows. The characters move from A to B, things happen, tensions and suspicions arise and darkness and worry grows but it does get somewhat tedious and bogged down in unnecessary detail. By far the most engaging part is Mat and Tuon.

Although new to the character, I soon warmed to Mat and his journey of self-discovered and growing attraction to Tuon is well written and entertaining. Tuon herself is an intriguing and interesting character. Second to this is the quest of Perrin to find his wife, which sadly does not happen in this volume.

However, both the fantastical elements of the hero's quest and the more human elements of loss and grief are well portrayed, as Perrin goes to more and more extreme measures to gain information on Faile whilst losing more of himself in the process.

The part of the story involving the Aes Sedai, although perhaps more traditional fantasy, and the details of the use of magic, channelling and the different groups, Ajah, of Aes Sedai (politics, it seems, gets everywhere!) are also quite well-formed.

It is only towards the end, though, that various threads start to come together. Action is taken by Egwene and events and tension begin to build into a crescendo and we are left with a cliff-hanger into the next volume.

As a newcomer to ‘The Wheel Of Time’, I did find the now-established threads of this on-going saga confusing. Like all great fantasy epics, though, this is ultimately a battle between good and evil, and a hero's quest on the part of Perrin, Mat and Rand, who have learnt that they must follow events through to their destiny.

The scale of events and character is incredible and to weave them through over ten books is certainly talented. However, as a result of so many threads and intricacies it can be difficult sometimes to keep a grip on who is who and where. This can be overwhelming for the newcomer and probably even for the established Jordan fan. There is great detail in the book, the writing very lyrical and of a style often found in epic fantasy. Whilst this detail is useful and certainly shows Jordan's talent as a wordsmith, it can become convoluted and distracts from the storyline and action.

The main characters are three-dimensional and well described, but there seem to be too many supporting characters, all with too much details where there doesn't really need to be any and not enough where there might be. Hardly any of these were as clear to me as the main characters of Rand, Perrin, Mat, Tuon, Egwene and Elayne. In addition, they all seem to have very similar names! I certainly had to concentrate hard to follow all the various strands of action.

It can't be denied that Jordan has great vision and imagination in his writing. He has created a realistic world complete with a history, legends, different kingdoms, politics, religion and magic. To keep this going through at least ten thick books is extremely impressive.

I imagine that it would take some concentration and determined to follow the fortunes of his characters through over ten books but they can be engaging and, as I said, there is a definite disadvantage to coming in near what must be the middle of the third act. This is likely to be a welcome addition for any fan of ‘The Wheel Of Time’ and I may even be tempted myself to read more of the series but I would have to begin at the beginning.

Laura Kayne

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