It took less than a year for Robert Jordan and Tor Books to get The Great Hunt on the bookstands after the original volume of “The Wheel of Time” (The Eye of the World) appeared. It took them more than two and a half years to get from volume nine (Winter’s Heart) to volume ten (Crossroads of Twilight). Will it be late 2005, or maybe even early 2006, before those of us still alive see volume eleven in the series? ⁽¹⁾ Or later? Rumor hath it that Jordan has allowed himself to be sidtracked into expanding the eminently forgettable prequel novella New Spring and writing an additional prequel short novel before proceeding with the next volume. ⁽²⁾

Crossroads of Twilight has been heavily criticized, largely for resolving nothing. And that’s just what it resolves, I’m afraid. In an era when the entire series is complete and you can pick it up off the bookstand and read it through in a couple of weeks, this will probably make little difference. In an era when it sits in the middle of a five-year (at least) dry spell between novels that do (hopefully) resolve something, it is a major flaw.

The book takes off shortly before Rand and Nynaeve cleanse saidin (the male half of the One Power), the climactic struggle of Winter’s Heart; we can tell this, because partway through each of the book’s sections somebody notices the inordinate amount of channeling involved with the cleansing. It covers a relatively short period around that operation — two weeks, perhaps a month. And nobody moves much of anywhere.

We start with my favorite character, Mat Cauthon, now saddled with Tuon, the Daughter of the Nine Moons, heir to the throne of Seanchan, whom he is fated to marry. They are fleeing Ebou Dar. Well, perhaps “fleeing” is not the right word, since that involves speedy motion, and whatever motion is involved is not speedy; they are with Valan Luca’s circus, which travels a few miles every day. At the start of the book, they are feeling their way towards some kind of relationship. At the end of the book, they are still feeling …

Perrin is, of course, looking for his wife Faile, who has been kidnapped by the Shaido Aiel. He continues to look. I should add that Perrin is, as usual, very introspective, but in no other book has Jordan demonstrated this in such great and excruciating detail.

Elayne continues to attempt to gain support for her claim to the Lion Throne. One may hope that in three or four more books (at the current rate) she will have enough to feel secure.

Egwene and the rebel Aes Sedai now have Tar Valon (almost) isolated, and a plan in the works to isolate it completely. Gareth Bryne, whom everybody agrees to be one of the Great Captains, knows, and has said, that they will have to send their army into the city and fight their way into the White Tower to win their battle, but some want to negotiate. So … not much happens (until the very end, of course).

We get a quick look at Rand, who is recuperating; Nynaeve also has a (wordless) cameo. A pity. After Mat, Nynaeve is my favorite character, though far too many (male) readers seem to hate her. Padan Fain, the (I believe) “Gollum” of the series, is on a well-deserved vacation, perhaps recuperating from his encounter with Rand and Lan at Far Madding in Winter’s Heart.

What meat there is in the book seems to be in the (as usual, long) Prolog and in the sidebar chapters, which show us what the other side(s) is/are doing, most notably chapter 21 (“The Mark”), in which Alviarin returns to the Tower to find her power base sadly eroded by events, the Forsaken Mesaana is hauled up short, and we learn a lot more about the enigmatic super-Myrddraal Shaidar Haran. Logain and his two bonded Aes Sedai, Gabrelle and Toveine, seem fated to play an important role, and what little we see of them makes us want more. Oh, and Loial the Ogier, a major player in earlier books, comes back on stage, but not significantly. Yet.

Jordan promises to finish the series in two more volumes. Well, he promises with the simple qualification “if …” I hesitate to try holding my breath, but hope springs eternal …

⁽¹⁾ Jordan has since confirmed that the next book in the series will appear in late 2005, i.e. almost three years after this book.