Let’s rank all 14 books in The Wheel of Time series

10. A Crown of Swords, Book 7 of The Wheel of Time

A Crown of Swords comes hot off the heels of one the craziest climaxes in the series thus far. Following the build up from Lord of Chaos, the seventh book does a lot right. It introduces another mysterious Aes Sedai, features a long-awaited confrontation between Rand and one of the Forsaken, and drives Nyneave’s character forward in exciting ways. However, the conclusion feels a little muddled.

The book succeeds at tightening up loose ends while continuing to development prominent characters and relationships, such as Rand and Min. But there are times when the story comes to a crawl. The duel with the One Power in Shadar Logoth at the end was captivating, but didn’t have the impact most endings in this series have.

But coming so soon after the events at Dumai’s Wells, it is compelling enough to push any reader to breeze through this book in a matter of days. The mystique Cadsuane Sedai brings to the table is something readers had been missing for a while and it feels good to have it back.