Tuesday, May 5, 2009

The Sword of Truth review

To whom it may concern:

Hey guys,

Um... A bit tired today, so I'm going to cheat.

"How's he going to cheat!" they ask


Two ways-- One, I will be reviewing a series instead of one book. Two, It's a series I started a while ago.

Okay, here we go:

Today I am reviewing the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. And I guess I have to say right off the bat, one of the reasons I've wanted to review this series is that I want to have atleast something on my blog that gets five stars. If you haven't read it, read it! If you have read it, love it!


Summary from Barnes and Noble.com (for book one):

"In the aftermath of the brutal murder of his father, a mysterious woman, Kahlan Amnell, appears in Richard Cypher's forest sanctuary seeking help ... and more. His world, his very beliefs, are shattered when ancient debts come due with thundering violence.

In their darkest hour, hunted relentlessly, tormented by treachery and loss, Kahlan calls upon Richard to reach beyond his sword-- to invoke within himself something more noble. Neither knows that the rules of battle have
just changed ... or that their time has run out.

This is the beginning. One book. One Rule. Witness the birth of a legend."



The first book starts off this action packed series with a resounding bang that left me realing. And for the most part, the books only get better from there on out. You fall in love with the characters. You feel swept up in the events and it is almost as though you are transported to Goodkind's beautifully described landscapes and settings. Not only is the series an excellent example of premier fantasy but it is thought provoking and deep and has themes that almost every person in the world can associate to.






This series gets a solid five stars from me. Because it really did change the way I look at life. Some of the books themselves are not five star worthy but as a collected whole, the series is probably some of the best literature I have ever read.










One Star:


The story line. It is hard enough to write a story that is interesting and cohesive in one 600 page novel. But Goodkind did it in eleven. And it is not as though there are eleven separate but interesting stories, all of the books have one overarching storyline which is epic, endearing, exciting, and lasting.







Two Stars:

The Protagonist. Richard is the most respectable, interesting, and all around awesome character I've ever read. And on top of that, he is never annoying. Ask me about annoying protagonists sometime and I can give you a two hour rant that ranges from Luke Skywalker to Harry Potter. But you never want to smack Richard upside the head, for not seeing something you saw in the plot line or for making irrational emotional decision that you as the reader would never see anyone doing. And most of all, he doesn't whine about having to be the hero.





One Star:

The other characters. Not only does Sword of Truth have an amazing protagonist, but the rest of the cast of characters are so lifelike and full fill their roles perfectly. From the comical ever hungry wizard Zedd to the stunning, intelligent and charming Kahlan, and the terrifying, blood chilling characters of Darken Rahl and Jangang. The characters of The Sword of Truth are the stuff of dreams (in a good way).





One Star:

The philosophical aspects. I mentioned in my Paper Towns blog that John Green's books are like philosophy in a bottle. And the reason I like that style of writing is because of The Sword of Truth. I found myself, while reading many of the books, stunned that the book could be a fascinating story and a, at times, chillingly accurate social commentary.





I've read books that have philosophy in them but most of them tend to include the philosophy of the the narrator and shove their opinions down your throat. But The Sword Of Truth allows its philosophical concepts to be expressed by the characters in situations, allowing you to form your own opinions about what is happening. By the way, does anyone know a synonym for philosophy? Because I've used a variation of the word 'philosophy' seven times in the paragraph and a nice synonym would do me a world of good.









I suppose this post is going to have to be long than I originally thought that it was going to be. I guess 'cheating' did me no good. But I can't justify writing a blog about The Sword of Truth without mentioning the new television series, Legend of the Seeker, that is based on The Wizard's First Rule (the first book in the series if you didn't catch the title from the picture).





The Legend of the Seeker suffers from based on book syndrome as do many other popular movie or television adaptations from literature. If you read the books, and then proceed to watch the TV show, you will be either slack jawed in disbelief or angrily throwing things because the writers for the show use the plot of Wizard's First Rule like Barbarossa uses the Pirates Code: it's more of a guideline than actual rules (Pirates of the Caribbean reference!). The only thing that maintains some accuracy to the books are the characters but Legend of the Seeker Richard (Craig Horner) falls short of my expectations for Richard. Kahlan (Bridget Reagan) and Zedd (Bruce Spence) are good. If you know the books well, you'll be very disappointed. However, that being said, the series in itself is interesting and well paced. If you view it as a standalone piece, separate from the books, it is quite good.




Okay, that's all. Please do read Sword of Truth if you haven't (a tall order for all of you slow readers out there, sorry!).


Until my next blog.


Best Wishes,


Adam

41 comments:

  1. My husband loves this series and has given it the same rave reviews!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am one or the slow readers however I did read the first book and Had To Listen To The Rest......I agree, this series has something for everyone and is a Fantastic Love Story.....

    ReplyDelete
  3. This series gets better with each book. When you begin, the story captures you like any other well-written book would, but as you progress through the series, the philosophical tone is brought to the forefront. I agree with you, there is certainly much thought provoking material in what I assumed to be a lighter set of books. Faith of the Fallen, one my favorite of the series, is an incredible example of this. Not only does the book futher our love affair with Richard's integrity and humility, it does something that is rarely seen - inspires the reader and provokes introspection. Well done, Goodkind. I was sorry to see the series end.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow... I just stumbled across your blog, and I most certainly will never hold your opinions with any regard regard. This series was utterly terrible, and I am both ashamed and disappointed in Goodkind. The first two books were interesting, and seemed novel enough to ignore the similarities to Jordan's WoT series. Much after the third or fourth book, all chance of that goes out the window. Jordan already wrote this series, and much, much better at that (excluding the ***-pull ending). And you say he doesn't cram his philosophy down your throat? To quote another, he "treats his ideals like a 2x4 to the head," and Richard never seems to step down from his soap box. Apparently, communists and their ilk are bad. Wow, thanks RR. Perhaps I found this book too late; when I was still in elementary school and reading Animorphs, this might have sated. Except that I wouldn't let children that age read this series thanks to the strange, and outrageous idolized, Stockholm syndrome displayed between RR and Dena. Way to much of a BDSM undertone for little ones in my opinion. Avoid at all costs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ur just a sick fucked up dooche who says this about such a good serie... R.I.P goodguys, btw loved ur review xD ^^

      Delete
    2. This guy is obviously an idiotic dickhead. He knows nothings!!!!

      Delete
    3. About the Stockholm Syndrome: Richard realized that at one point Denna(note the spelling) was a human that had had the potential to live a real life, but was robbed of that, which starts Richard off on the whole "your life is your own thing." And as the series progresses, it gets more philosophy-based, something that may be a little too much for you, but is fine for the rest of us. Admittedly, the first and second books were the ones that kept me the most captivated, but the rest have actually helped me to change my outlook on life, much the same as the author of this blog. There are many lessons to be learned, and quite a few of the Wizard's Rules are good for keeping in your memory. And yes, you suck. Sincerely, Sir Teddy III

      Delete
  5. the last dudes and idiot...
    Just thought i'd point that out.
    awesome series, if i get bored i will read this or some david gemmell. the plot is awesome, characters amazing and if anyone critisized it for going for to long and saying WoT is almost the same then they obiously havnt actually compaired them properly or paid attention while reading.
    i was readin WoT because a friend said it was good, im up to twilight crossroad and it has been going on and on. people say richard is stupid? look at rand for christ sake.
    all three of the ta'varen (or however spelt) have made stupid mistake after stupid mistake and it seems the only reason they are winning is because they have people all around them practicly leading them by the fingers.
    Oh and by the way, has WoT had a Tv series made after it? No, and thats because they knew it wasnt as good as SoT.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rip off series!
    Just take the Sister's of the Light and compare then to Aes Sedai... unbelievable rip off of Robert Jordan and this is only 1 of many examples.

    TG's main redeeming feature is that his endings are relatively novel although one must say alot of the way the "heroes" get out of trouble is too convenient and naive.

    Overall 2 /5 stars.

    Won't ever be reading another TG book or series ever again.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I loved these books but am baffled as to how Zed's daughter got raped by Darken Rahl? DR was a child burned by Wizard's Fire. The boundaries went up. Zed lived for a while in the Midlands until he got annoyed with bad politics and left for Hartland. Can anyone clear this up for me?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The way I understood it was that Zedd left because Darken Rahl raped his daughter and didn't want his grandson to be brutally murdered because he didn't have the gift (even though later on he turns out to be the most powerful wizard in three thousand years). And as for Darken Rahl being a child when this happened, I believe he may have been around ten to his teens, but considering how he was raised... not that surprising.

      Delete
  8. If you are below 16-17, sure read it you will probably enjoy it, if above, AVOID! After 2-3 books I loved Richard, after 6-7 I hated him and everything he stands for. TG, I wont even start...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Really? What was it about six that made you hate it? Six is my favourite for sure... it changed my outlook on everything. The first five were fun and sometimes inspiring, but Faith of the Fallen blew me out of the water

      Delete
    2. Really? What was it about six that made you hate it? Six is my favourite for sure... it changed my outlook on everything. The first five were fun and sometimes inspiring, but Faith of the Fallen blew me out of the water

      Delete
  9. Richard never whines about being a hero huh? " I dont like my sword I dont want the gift" and for rwo hundred pages in tfotf " no one will listen to me" and genocide is aparently a good way to deal with comunism.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I sounds like your a slack jawed mouth breather who will read just about anything that has a lot of boobies and blood there is not a single character that a human can relate to in this book richard has deus ex machinima dripping out of his ass and kahlan is one of the dumbest broads to have ever been penned the books are full of save the day loopholes and holier than thou drivle. not only is tg a terrible fiction writer but I would in no way consider him a philosopher on par with anyone other than the town drunk. thank you and have a nice day

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's why his book is the most paid for fantasy book of all time...yeah that's what I thought.

      Delete
    2. Just because it's the most paid for fantasy book doesn't make it good. The negative comments contained in this post "charitable" at best.....maybe if I follow the typical discussions in the book it would go something like......"the negative comments are charitable, really, the negative comments are charitable, yes, the negative comments are charitable, I didn't know the negative comments were charitable, well the negative comments are charitable. Yep, it's almost as if Terry felt like no one ever listened to him as a child. It's the worst rip off of books I've ever seen. This 12 book series could have been written, maybe well, as a trilogy, as a trilogy, as a trilogy.......get it?

      Delete
    3. See this " . " it's called a 'period'. Please learn how to use it you are exhausting my eyes

      Delete
    4. See this " . " it's called a 'period'. Please learn how to use it you are exhausting my eyes

      Delete
  11. I could not get enough of this series when I started reading it. It had so much potential, a strong male character destined to save the world and a beautiful women helping him along the way. Throw in magic, an antagonist, twists in the plot that lead to discoveries about the worlds and the characters they really are an engaging read. However after book 6 the story line got repetitive, the characters did not grow- there was no real excitement or suspence in the writing just a drawn out description of what Richard was up to... the adventures seemed drawn out and pointless... I think Terry Goodkind makes you appreciate authors like Robert Jordan and Isobelle Carmody who can write a long series without dissapointing the audience with repitition and long dry plots.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Six is definitely the hightest point for me... and seven the lowest trough. I've read this series four times or more, but never the seventh book. I can appreciate 8 (though it is somewhat repetive) and 11 (gladiator rebellion always tickles my fancy). 5 always leaves a bad taste in my mouth

      Delete
    2. Six is definitely the hightest point for me... and seven the lowest trough. I've read this series four times or more, but never the seventh book. I can appreciate 8 (though it is somewhat repetive) and 11 (gladiator rebellion always tickles my fancy). 5 always leaves a bad taste in my mouth

      Delete
  12. I am an avid reader of fantasy and I really like Terry Goodkind....but I am afraid that he has not done himself proud with the Sword of truth series.
    Let me qualify...up to and including Faith of the Fallen, it was a fantastic series of books with a compelling story...then with The Pillars of Creation....Naked Empire...Chainfire...the books became slow and unfocused, with an incredible amount of repeating sections from the earlier books. It just seems to me that Terry decide that the series would be eleven books and stuck to that regardless...and embarked on drawing the whole thing out just to fill pages..
    A pity. I believed he would have been better saved by realising that there was not enough material after Faith of the Fallen for five more books, and had instead finished the series with just two more books...that would have removed the need for the constant repeats and back referencing...and drawn out dialog which serve no other purpose than to fill pages.
    I hope Terry will revert to quality rather than quantity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah me too... I am severly disappointed with the shameless panning out after the series properly ended. I love the whole series (minus 7 of course) but I can definitely see your point.

      Delete
  13. Ya this is the first review of this series I've found that was actually positive. Its clear this guy is just some fanboy who knows absolutely nothing about what makes good literature.
    "He doesn't whine about having to be the hero" was my favorite part... All Richard did for a majority of the series was complain about his gift that made him the most powerful person in the world and reject all the prophecy that says he's destined to save the world. At one point he runs away from the war into the mountains for half a year because he couldn't deal with it. If he had ever stopped complaining and actually attempted to learn his gift he could easily have won the war in a matter of days, but then we couldn't have a 12 book series could we?
    Then there's the preaching. Not philosophy, its just preaching. The stupid part is that Terry is trying to cram down our throats ideas that any person of average intelligence already knows, but clearly the people in his books come nowhere near average intelligence. What? Radical socialism is unfair? Who would have thought? What? You say we shouldn't just rely on others to help us when we can help ourselves? Insanity!
    Thanks for insulting my intelligence Terry.
    Finally, there's the way in the last hundred pages of every book Richard pulls the solution to everything right out of his... well you know. A good writer uses elements he's already introduced earlier in the book to resolve the main conflict. Terry just decided to start pulling solutions out of thin air. Pathetic.
    These books were just plain weak. Yes there are plenty worse, but there are so many better. Terry was just cranking these out as fast as he could. Save your time and read a series by an author who actually cared about the story he/she was writing.

    ReplyDelete
  14. One of the worst fantasy literature I have ever read-period.TG is an amateur writer at best.For the most part I felt like I was reading a ripoff from Robert Jordan with a dash of Randian objectivist philosophy thrown in for good measure.Richard starts as a pretty decent protagonist but somewhere down the line he mutates horrifically into a priest.Damn,he could have used his amazing power put those armies to sleep with his diatribe and avoid all the drama.

    ReplyDelete
  15. It has good and bad qualities. All in all though, I really like it. I've read a few reviews and some are right in parts by saying it's bad, but I wouldn't stop reading the series because of it. For example, one review I read said that he turns from Seeker of Truth to the Preacher of Truth... that made me laugh for a while but it is accurate, he becomes a windbag. Another thing is throughtout every book, a good guy gets captured at least once. But throughtout the series I think it is quite a good series.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. the Seeker is not just someone who eliminates anyone who disagrees with him, he is the one who must show the truth hidden underneath the lies. By "preaching" he makes people think of what the truth really is and i am sorry if this sounds hostile but I am just trying to point something out.

      Delete
  16. I actually read other people's opinions about something for awhile. Now I'm sad for wasting my time. Whether another person likes or dislikes something is irrelevant. Figure it out for yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I got 2/3 of the way through Faith of the Fallen and that's as far as I'm going. The hero's supposed to be as powerful as God, but can't get his act together and do something useful, like exit the troops invading his empire; and his girlfriend has a hissy fit and decides to slaughter everybody in sight who doesn't kowtow the minute she opens her mouth, and who apparently thinks being forced to obey her is somehow different from being forced to obey somebody else. Ntm enough Ayn Rand to choke Mrs. Astor's pet horse.
    Anyone who actually got through 11 volumes of this has more stamina than I ever will.

    ReplyDelete
  18. i have read every single one of the novels and almost know them by heart and they have become my number one series and will always be the best series i will ever read.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Overall, I thought the books were well written and interesting. I agree with some of the posts, in that the middle books held a sense of the same paradigm. Still, Goodkind introduced a different scenario (or at least enough to distinguish, in my opinion) than other fantasy writers I've read. My favorite is WOT, but I'm happy with Sword of Truth.

    ReplyDelete
  20. ....i tried....
    i really did...

    i first ran into this series when i was relatively new to fantasy.
    i loved the dark themes e.g. torture, as they seemes a nice break from "elves and unicorns" cliche.

    but surely enough i started "smelling the poop"...

    thre are many problems with this series.
    the soapboxing, the juvenile,awkwardly simplyminded philosophizing...
    others have already done well to point these out.

    i'd like to shine light on another issue:

    RR is perfect. utterly perfect.
    this is by far the most annoying trope.
    Richard can do no fuckin' wrong. ever.
    he never makes a mistake.
    he's smart, talented at pretty much EVERYTHING, and everyone in the World (Old & New) with functioning genitalia is pathetically in love with him.
    on top of that he's gratingly "good", to the point of being elevated to a higher being.
    the series bites down hard on Richard's "purity of spirit",
    and it never unclenches.
    he's the kind of character a teenager would write.

    the main trouble here is oversimplicity.
    Richard good, 'insert_badguy_here' bad.
    if Richard was shown to have some failings, something to bring him down from his pedestal, the series would have greatly benefited.

    it's sad to read this series as a more experienced reader. rediscovering the gaping faults that, while noticed enough to cause me to stop reading on the first try, i could not initially articulate.
    i now fully grasp their destructiveness to the series.

    an epic fantasy series, parts of which i treasure, is now revealed as unworthy.

    the world is a little bit sadder a place for it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you stopped early in the first book, then you would never have gotten to his faults, which he has plenty of, but always tries to correct. Richard is the definition of a good person, not as a hero, even, but as a simply *good* person.

      Delete
  21. That's why his noval is the most paid for fantasy book of all time yeah thought soo fuckface.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol, why is it that conservatives get so angry when everyone doesn't agree with them?

      Delete
    2. What gives you the idea that he/she is a conservative? They could be a hypocritical liberal, for all we know.

      Delete
  22. I thought this was a sarcastic review till I read the comments.

    "And on top of that, he is never annoying."" And most of all, [Richard] doesn't whine about having to be the hero" -> :-D

    "chillingly accurate social commentary"."But The Sword Of Truth allows its philosophical concepts to be expressed by the characters in situations, allowing you to form your own opinions about what is happening"

    These statements are the exact opposite of what I observed while reading the series. Especially about Richard whining. Tell me you didn't notice that.

    Sorry for critiquing your critique instead of the book. I agree wholeheartedly about the likeability of the supporting characters like Zed and how horrible TV series.

    Thanks for the review. Peace.

    ReplyDelete