My reviews of The Wheel of Time novels are getting just as repetitive as the actual books. There's really not much more to say. A Crown of Swords is another long slow installment in which there are too many detailed descriptions of clothing, references to spanking, concerns about bosoms, and people blushing. There are pages and pages which chronicle secondary characters' extensive internal thoughts. But what bugs me most, though, are the constant depictions of people and places as if they have a corporate personality:

"Men strutted arrogantly along the streets with often ragged vests and no shirts, wearing great brass hoops in their ears and brass finger rings set with colored glass, one knife or sometimes two stuck behind their belts. Hands hovering near knives, they stared as though daring someone to give the wrong twist to a look. Others skulked from corner to corner, doorway to doorway with hooded eyes, imitating the slat-ribbed dogs that sometimes snarled from a dark alleyway barely wide enough for a man to squeeze into. Those men hunched over their knives and there was no way to tell which would run and which stab. By and large, the women made any of the men appear humble, parading in worn dresses and twice as much brass jewelry as the men. They carried knives too, of course, and their bold dark eyes sent ten sorts of challenge in every glance ... Children darted from every second door with chipped pottery cups of water, sent by their mothers in case the Wise Women wished a drink. Men with scarred faces and murder etched into their eyes stared openmouthed at seven Wise Women together, then bobbed jerky bows and inquired politely if they could be of assistance, was there anything that required carrying? Women, sometimes with as many scars and always eyes to make Tylin flinch, curtsied awkwardly and breathlessly asked whether they might supply directions, had anyone made a bother of themselves to bring so many Wise Women?"

If I found myself in this place, I'd think it was The Twilight Zone!

I will say, however, that someone must have told Mr Jordan to quit with the braid yanking, because Nynaeve seems to be attempting to stop the habit. Now, if we could just get all of those ladies to stop adjusting their clothes every time they feel any sort of negative emotion... and I'll be happy on the day that an Aes Sedai can walk down the street without making someone flinch, cringe, jump, squeak, drop something, or run away.

With all this detailed description, there's not much time for action. There are only a few significant plot developments. The most important one is an event which we've been waiting for for the last 3 books (at least) which finally occurs very quickly and anti-climatically in the last chapter of this book. But, if you've read this far into The Wheel of Time, that's no surprise, is it? And, if you've read this far, you feel like it's too late to stop now, don't you?

I'm listening to this on audiobook (no patience for the print versions) and I should mention that Michael Kramer and Kate Reading are amazing readers. After all this time, I suppose these characters are almost like family to them, and they've got the personalities down perfectly. Their voices and additions of droll humor really instill some much-needed life into these novels.

Just the 3 first of the serie are somehow worth the reading. Following the readers review I bought straight the 9 first books. What a mistake. the Game of Thrones or even Sword of truth series are far better than the Wheel of time serie. It is as if Robert Jordan is paid by the line like the french writers from the 19th century, Balzac, Flaubert etc...
So far I have finished 1 to 7. From the 4th (till 7th) they just are impossible to finish. Like chewing branflakes forever and being unable to swallow it.
I really regret I went further the third.

Do not make my mistake unless slow rythm and low level action is what you seek.
Robert Jordan has also the gift for beginning threads of stories with no intention of closing them, creating new characters without really caring to give them substance, depth or real influence on the plot.

My recommendation: read the 3 first ones, and then taste the 4th, if you have the patience and like it carry on. If not don't hope it'll get better and you'll get some action or anything ...stop right there.
Same with the 5th etc...
Don't buy them all at once like me.
This a real never ending story, not even close to that, and it just gets slower and slower with more and more characters...
I hate it, but may be you won't.
My bet ? you will.

i never recieved this book. nor did the seller contact me after i sent a message trying to find out where the book was.

The seventh book in this series misses the mark. Action sequences are just referenced and female bickering and clothing takes up most of this book. I am sick of reading about these interchangable women.
I loved books one, two, and three but Jordan now seems to be afraid to do anything with his characters. Nynave,Elyane and other Aes Sedai treate Mat and any helpful man horribly. Most of the female characters don't understand basic manners and dress like whores.
Women are rutinely told to run naked and are spanked and punished by other women. Jordan's obsession with breasts and beating naked women gets ridiculous. Men may enter Ruiden clothed but women must go naked. Men incure toh but are never punished women must be beaten naked. I have started hoping that some of the female characters will be killed off.
Interesting events happen but we are told of them after they pass and not in detail. Morgase's story takes an interesting turn but we are left hanging.
More time should be spent on action and less on bickering. I am worried that the rest of the series will be a disapointment.

It was at this point that the WoT started to suffer from bloated exposition, and drawing out scenes that in the long run didn't amount to anything. What was truly annoying was the scene in Ebou Dar, where the narrative was drawn out incessantly over Tylin/Matt, the introduction of the Kin and the petty squabbling with the Windfinders. Also particularly annoying was the introduction of Casuane-am I the only one who felt her introduction was a little too convenient (after the disappearance of another prominent Aes Sedai in Book 5)? Along with Faile, Cadsuane has become another character that grates on my nerves. Also the Rand/Perrin argument should not have been off-screen (as it were)-that scene deserved to be told in real time, not rehashed from memory.

Despite those complaints, Ebou Dar has some funny moments, and the second half of the book really pushed the action. We got to see some interesting Forsaken viewpoints, and the ending fight scene was decent. It would not have been bad if not for the lack of action in the first 200 pages.