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.