Paperback, 848 pages
English language
Published July 15, 1997 by Tor Fantasy.
The protective barrier that separates Westland from its neighbors to the east is about to fall, letting loose a monstrous evil upon the world. Only the combined efforts of a young man dedicated to finding the truth, an enigmatic woman intent on concealing her past, and a crusty old hermit resigned to his inevitable destiny can prevent the opening of the three boxes of Orden-an event with the potential to destroy existence itself. The inclusion of graphic scenes of sado-eroticism, though integral to the story, may deter purchase by some libraries. Nevertheless, this first novel offers an intriguing variant on the standard fantasy quest. The richly detailed world and complex characters will appeal to mature fantasy aficionados.
Just dull very ordinary fantasy, weirdly sexist and niceguy-ish at the same time and yeah super homophobic.
My youth was reading these books before going to sleep :)
Fuck this nasty-ass libertarian bullshit.
DNF. I'll allow that the action was well-paced and intriguing, but the writing was just. So. Bad. I ached for a red pen. How did this ever pass editing? I couldn't do it, even as a guilty pleasure.
You have to accept failure before you can have success.
I have been told to read the first book in this series and stop. With how good Wizard's First Rule was this will be hard to do, but I realize that a fantasy series can easily overstay their welcome and I'd rather end with fond memory of the series and not a potential slog.
Sword of Truth reminded me a lot of Jordan's Wheel of Time series. There were parts in the story I had flashbacks to Rand or even to Aes Sedai and I found myself missing Wheel of Time. Similarities in fantasy stories are to be expected, and Sword of Truth is fairly basic but it kept me entertained.
The pacing of the story was excellent and I never found that one part dragged on. Strong secondary characters were introduced and I never felt that they were …
You have to accept failure before you can have success.
I have been told to read the first book in this series and stop. With how good Wizard's First Rule was this will be hard to do, but I realize that a fantasy series can easily overstay their welcome and I'd rather end with fond memory of the series and not a potential slog.
Sword of Truth reminded me a lot of Jordan's Wheel of Time series. There were parts in the story I had flashbacks to Rand or even to Aes Sedai and I found myself missing Wheel of Time. Similarities in fantasy stories are to be expected, and Sword of Truth is fairly basic but it kept me entertained.
The pacing of the story was excellent and I never found that one part dragged on. Strong secondary characters were introduced and I never felt that they were not essential to the story. The detour with the Mud People have relevance to the end and the change of POV's to Rachel was essential; all the little pieces of the story fit and that made it an enjoyable read.
The story is darker in places than other stories went, and I was happy for the bold mood change. The Mord-Sith "training" with the agiel had me completely hooked. I tore through those chapters and enjoyed how unpleasant the story became.
As the pages are clicking by and the first day of Winter approaches I wasn't sure the story would be able to wrap up in a satisfying way. Darken Rahl is a foreboding enemy and I felt he deserved a little more than a chapter for his downfall, but Richard is no ordinary Seeker so I will forgive the abrupt conclusion.
This was a solid story, I'm sad that the rest of the series can be passable, but I was content with Sword of Truth being a stand alone.
If I was reading this as a book, I would probably have given up. I was listening to an audiobook, however, and that makes a lot of difference, I've found. Especially if, like this one, the narrator is really excellent.
The story itself, though... Fairly predictable. Main characters tend to suffer from massive bouts of stupidity here and there. I'm sure the fact that Michael was a traitor was supposed to be a major plot twist, but that doesn't really work when one has guessed as much already at the beginning of the book. Richard having the enemy web and how it works explained to him in great and elaborate detail, immediately forgets this and wonders why his friends attack him. And of COURSE the confessor's power doesn't work on him because he's speshul and of COURSE the dragon actually ends up not wanting to eat him after all.
Contained …
If I was reading this as a book, I would probably have given up. I was listening to an audiobook, however, and that makes a lot of difference, I've found. Especially if, like this one, the narrator is really excellent.
The story itself, though... Fairly predictable. Main characters tend to suffer from massive bouts of stupidity here and there. I'm sure the fact that Michael was a traitor was supposed to be a major plot twist, but that doesn't really work when one has guessed as much already at the beginning of the book. Richard having the enemy web and how it works explained to him in great and elaborate detail, immediately forgets this and wonders why his friends attack him. And of COURSE the confessor's power doesn't work on him because he's speshul and of COURSE the dragon actually ends up not wanting to eat him after all.
Contained an awful lot of torture and an awful lot of something that clearly wanted to be romance but fell a bit short what with the great floods of tears and a remarkable amount of sex for being a book in which nobody ever gets laid. Not consensually anyway. I'm sure if you were to do a word count of this book the number one most used word would be 'pain', followed by 'tears' and 'rape'.
I decided to read this book because I watched the TV series which is based on it, Legend of the Seeker. I rather enjoyed that series, and I thought that I would enjoy the book also. I wasn't disappointed!
Be warned, this is a long book. I only have time to read about half an hour a day, so it took me over a month. I think that's a testament to how good it is, though, that I would stick with it for that long!
If you've watched the TV series, let me also warn you that the book is very different. I can understand why, though - there is so much in the book that simply wouldn't work on television, or that would make it impossible to tell neat little stories that fitted in one hour episodes.
The book is also quite a bit gorier than the television series. …
I decided to read this book because I watched the TV series which is based on it, Legend of the Seeker. I rather enjoyed that series, and I thought that I would enjoy the book also. I wasn't disappointed!
Be warned, this is a long book. I only have time to read about half an hour a day, so it took me over a month. I think that's a testament to how good it is, though, that I would stick with it for that long!
If you've watched the TV series, let me also warn you that the book is very different. I can understand why, though - there is so much in the book that simply wouldn't work on television, or that would make it impossible to tell neat little stories that fitted in one hour episodes.
The book is also quite a bit gorier than the television series. Darken Rahl and his servants and allies are evil to the core, and do things to each other and other people that I could never have imagined possible... and I can imagine human beings doing some pretty despicable things to each other! Still, every single character is richly detailed, and has hopes and dreams, goals and justifications. Because of this, when one reads about their private thoughts, one cannot help feeling justified right along with them, and one begins to think of them as human beings. That is, until they go off and do something even more despicable!
On the heroes' side, the relationship between Richard and Kahlen is a complex roller-coaster ride. Heroes aren't without their flaws, and our merry band of Richard, Kahlen and Zedd (along with several sometimes-companions) are no exception. Richard struggles with his anger and rage, and only by learning to control his emotions can he be victorious, and be with the woman he loves.
As other reviewers have mentioned, the book is sometimes reminiscent of a Dungeons & Dragons game, with multiple quests within quests, and still others who will only help our heroes if they complete even more quests. And yes, from time to time, one can almost hear the Dungeon Master telling Richard's player to roll a D20 to see if his actions succeed or fail. That may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I loved it. It felt familiar to me, and gave me a feeling of suspense when I often couldn't quite predict what was going to happen next.
Should you read this book? Well, if you like classic fantasy, then I don't know. I never got through [b:The Fellowship of the Ring|34|The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)|J.R.R. Tolkien|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298411339s/34.jpg|3204327], so I don't know if it's anything like that. I read [b:The Hobbit|5907|The Hobbit|J.R.R. Tolkien|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328953407s/5907.jpg|1540236] when I was in High School, and thoroughly enjoyed it... but this book is nothing like that!
If you're a fan of a good old fashioned epic story, where love and forgiveness triumph over evil, this book is for you!
P.S. A lot of people also bemoaned the so-called 100-page torture scene. I had enjoyed that scene in the television series, and so I was looking forward to it. It takes place a little later in the book's storyline, but it was amazing! 100-pages is a bit of an exaggeration, but it is long, and much better than it was on screen! It was quite easily the best erotica I've ever read, and there was actually very little overtly erotic about it. This man's got talent!
Utter crap.
I loved it. I bought it because it looked decent and was 5 bucks, boy, did I make a good decision! I can understand some of the lower starred reviews on the site but do not agree. This book does explore issues of good and evil and overcoming extreme odds (something that is highly prevalent through out the whole series). I have always been a sucker for the strong integration of swords and magic and this hits that spot! It does get a little weak here and there because Richard (the main character) seems to be above all which is something that i didn't like all that much.
This book started my reading fascination up again and it hasn't stopped yet! Read this book!
This is a very long book, but it managed to hold my interest all of the way through...This is a similar genre to The Lord of the Rings, but MUCH darker.
Apparently, many people enjoy shitty writing and incessant, boring, gross rape.
I am not one of them.
[Why on Earth did I give this four stars the first time?]
Everyone in this book has the emotional depth and maturity of a thirteen-year-old, and Goodkind rivals Piers Anthony for exhaustively documenting every thought in his characters' heads as they struggle to reason their way out of every difficulty.
