Crossroads of Twilight - Robert Jordan

CROSSROADS OF TWILIGHT

Book 10 of "Wheel of Time"

Read about the other books HERE

ISBN - 9780312864590
FIRST PUBLISHED - 2003
GENRE - Epic Fantasy
BINDING - Paperback
PAGES - 700

AUTHOR - Robert Jordan

BEST-SELLERS - The Shadow Rising, The Dragon Reborn, The Great Hunt

SYNOPSIS - [From Goodreads]

In the tenth book of The Wheel of Time from the New York Times #1 bestselling author Robert Jordan, the world and the characters stand at a crossroads, and the world approaches twilight, when the power of the Shadow grows stronger.

Fleeing from Ebou Dar with the kidnapped Daughter of the Nine Moons, whom he is fated to marry, Mat Cauthon learns that he can neither keep her nor let her go, not in safety for either of them, for both the Shadow and the might of the Seanchan Empire are in deadly pursuit.

At Tar Valon, Egwene al'Vere, the young Amyrlin of the rebel Aes Sedai, lays siege to the heart of Aes Sedai power, but she must win quickly, with as little bloodshed as possible, for unless the Aes Sedai are reunited, only the male Asha'man will remain to defend the world against the Dark One, and nothing can hold the Asha'man themselves back from total power except the Aes Sedai and a unified White Tower.

Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn himself, has cleansed the Dark One's taint from the male half of the True Source, and everything has changed. Yet nothing has, for only men who can channel believe that saidin is clean again, and a man who can channel is still hated and feared-even one prophesied to save the world. Now, Rand must gamble again, with himself at stake, and he cannot be sure which of his allies are really enemies. 

QUOTES - 

“Sometimes, pain is all that lets you know you're alive.” 

“If your enemy offers you two targets, strike at a third.” 

FL Speak - [contains spoilers]

Boy o boy, this is getting interesting. The plot continues to thicken and the conclusion is not very far away. [Okay, its still far. But we know its coming. It simply has to.]

So here's the grub. Let me simply point out what happens without going into the details. Elayne, her lovely highness is in Andor and she's expecting twins. 10 marks for guessing who the daddy is. And she ain't safe one bit. Plots to overthrow her or simply kill her arise like a bad penny everywhere. Birgitte, poor lass, has her hands full. Not to forget the bickering Elayne has to maintain with the Aes Sedai, the Sea Folk, the Kin and Nynaeve.

Elsewhere, Perrin is still in search of his kidnapped wife, who is not having a good time under the rule of the Shaido. Serves that know-it-all, puffed up chick, me thinks. And Perrin is dangerously close to making  a deal with the dreaded Seanchan to get his wife back. Even if it means betraying Rand [which he probably will do, that wolf-eyed, love-struck blacksmith]

Rand is missing. Not surprising. Since he managed to do the impossible in the last book. If you haven't read the last book and still getting your kicks by reading this one, lemme tell you, he cleansed Saidin. Hah! He has only 2 chapters in this one. So what that tired sheepherder does is send Davram Bashere to make a truce with the Seanchan. Yes, got me thinking too. But apparently Rand thinks that he can only fight one at a time. Its either the Shadow or the Seanchan. And fighting the blasted Shadow is more important than ever. Right? RIGHT??

And Oh...Remember Egwene?? She's leading her troops straight to the heart of the White Tower. And she has a problem. She wants to win but she doesn't want bloodshed. tut tut.
Frankly the other sisters just want to go back but they're not sure if they face an embrace or a death. So its a standoff. And bwoy! there's a major surprise in the end. huhuhuhu.

Now, to my fav WoT character MATRIM CAUTHON!! Yes, he's still on the run with the Daughter of the Nine Moons, the same lady he's supposed to marry in the nearby future. And what he discovers?? The lady who keeps suldams as pets may quite be one. Yes, Tuon can learn to channel the One Power. I only wish Mat put a bloody a'dam over her. When you read Mat, you know you're in for a treat. His banter with Tuon, his cursing...Light! I missed his cursing.

The one major disadvantage this book has is that many of these events occur simultaneously with the events of the previous book. So as you can imagine, the to and fro goes on and on. I told you about Egwene right? She has been travelling with her army for 2 books now only to stop to watch the view of the White Tower. And there are more plots! You'd have thought that by book 10, the time for building and adding more plots were over, but Robert Jordan is apparently a different creature altogether. He adds more and you're left wondering how will he tie those up. Fans of Mr. Jordan, who has stuck to his books till here, I'd be happy to tell you that from here on, the story quickens again.

Tarmon Gai'don is not far. And some more secrets are yet to be revealed. The Children of the Light have their own plans and so does Mazrim Taim. Romanda of the White Tower will not be silenced and the Seanchan has a far bolder plan than anyone ever guessed. And that's in the next book. Le sigh.

And I found this amazing lolcat of Mat. bwahahahaha :D

PROPHECY - 

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

My Rating - 3.5/5 stars

PRICE - INR 350/-

Muad'drin tia dar allende caba'drin rhadiem