Naked Empire

Rating:
Summary: Uninspiring...if not downright pathetic
Review: I have read all 8 installments of the Sword of Truth, and I am not prepared to read a 9th, even if I go against my principle of finishing what I have started. This book picks up right where the last one left off, and so Richard becomes the wise, strong, burden-bearing ruler who gives rant after rant or analogy-full philosophical/social issues that are essential for all of us to know. The tiresome theme of the series has also not changed: A new threat suddenly appears combined with an old threat, Richard's headaches, which have an added twist...since his Sword no longer works as it should...C'mon, this is really childish stuff. All in all the book like a few of its predecessors is too heavy on the philosophical side. This makes the characters appear unreal, even for a fantasy series, since they are all so impossibly wise and intelligent, especially Richard whose dialogue is so unlike that of an unschooled, warrior/woodsguide and more like that of an highly educated Ph.D. with degrees in sociology and philosophy. So much of the book could be skipped over since it says the same thing over and over and over...until it almost sounds like some sort of propaganda...until I am looking with yearning to the few but entertaining chapters dealing with Ann and Nathan or even Zedd and Adie. I think, the most irritating thing about the book is its predictability...it all resembles a badly presented case of deja vu: Richard is hurting, Kahlan is worried, Richard is worried that Kahlan is worried...one of the two gets kidnapped...but once again comes out unscathed. Seriously, for an author who places so much emphasis on the harsh realities of life such as "rape, torture, murder" isn't it a bit strange how poor Kahlan always manages to escape the first one of these EVERY SINGLE TIME, although if I count right, she has been captured and helpless for what seems like countless time during the series. By now I am starting to root for Jagang...I want something humiliating and truly painful to happen to one or the other. In short, I just want to be surprised. Is that too much to ask for?

Rating:
Summary: Goodkind
Review: Great book. I would have given it 5 stars but that gones to only the most engrossing of tales. The story is new and refreshing. My only complaint is the ending, which is only a person preference. I didn't think that a certain villan should have died as easily has Terry put it. This book is very much an improvement over the his last book, Pillars of Creation.

Rating:
Summary: Writing and Editing terrible...
Review: I felt like I was reading an unedited rough draft written by a high school student. The writing is totally unfocused and his grammar is terrible! (He should fire his editor!) Im not usually a stickler for these things, but the writing is so terrible this time that I felt it was my moral obligation to write an online review. Book 1 - 4 was fun to read and the story was interesting. What happened to book 8???!!!!

The story starts out with no compelling mystery. Goodkind doesn't reiterate previous events in an interesting manner (he sort of inserts past events here and there, but the way he does it is confusing. And I've READ all the other 7 books.) The way he describes the characters and scenary is boring at best. Things that could have been said in one paragraph is stretched into an entire chapter. It was like reading a repetitive science textbook. BLAH!

Don't buy this book, just borrow it from the library and see for yourself. If you still really like it, then buy a used copy.

Rating:
Summary: Not This Time. I Quit.
Review: After reading about two or three reviews for this book I made a very easy decision. I will not invest any more money or time into this series. I started to struggle with this series somewhere around book four. The series has gotten progressively worse. I fear that a trend (yes...Jordan too) may be developing to stretch a series out to maximize the economic benefits. If enough people refuse to finish a substandard series maybe the consumers can send their own potent message.

Rating:
Summary: Readable
Review: ...but only just. It's very rare for me to find a book so bad that I can't finish it, and this book isn't THAT bad. Hence, two stars.

Visit the official website, terrygoodkind dot com, and read the Philosophy and About Terry sections, including all the letters and interviews, to learn about why the Sword of Truth books are the way they are.

Other reviewers have pointed out the particular flaws in this book very well. I'll just add this: Reading "Naked Empire" will make you feel like you've just been chewed-out by your dad for mischief you didn't commit.

Rating:
Summary: Worst book ever?
Review: A horrible book that did nothing to advance the story in the series. By the end of he book the characters are at the exact same spot they were at in the beginning. If you are reading the series, feel free to skip this book and you won't miss anything.

Rating:
Summary: Ouch
Review: After being swept up, as so many of us were, by the sweeping debut of Wizard's First Rule, I could hardly wait to crack open the 8th book of the series, Naked Empire.
Naked Empire, however, was not what I was looking forward to. I was looking forward to gettting caught up in the adventure of a magical war, to seeing good overcome all odds, to meeting the new characters that come along in each installment of the Sword of Truth series and to spending more time with the established characters that make the series as memorable as it is. Boy, that would have been nice.
Instead, I was subjected to a long-winded and, quite frankly, boring kind of philosophical excercise. In the previous books, whenever Richard went off on an 'explanation' of his motives, or reasoning, or whatever- I'd gladly go along because more often than not, Richard had something illuminating to say. In this novel though, I'm not even sure if Richard is interested in what he's saying. Perhaps this is why he repeats the same points again and again and again- not only to convince his audience and the readers of his moral beliefs, but to convince himself. Besides, if it really takes four pages to convince people that vioelnce isn't always bad then maybe he should just chop off their heads and continue on his merry way. Which is what I felt like doing during mant of those horrible speeches. The main problem, I think, is that Goodkind's use of every second chapter as a place for him to hammer home his message is that it's not a new message. I mean come on, this is book eight. Those of us that are still here are pretty much the choir. Stop preaching. Or at least write a new sermon.
And this repetition isn't just limited to the worn out themes and moral diatribes. Instead of wasting the reader's time with the five paragraphs on how horrible the Imperial Army is, I think Goodkind should just insert a footnote that says

Rating:
Summary: The Sword needs sharpening....
Review: I was kind of disappointed in this book. I'm a recent reader of the SOT series, and I read the first 7 books back to back 2 b 2 b ... to back, and I loved each and every one of them. When I saw this book on the shelf, I was more than happy to resume Richard Rahl's journey. In my opinion, this is the first mis-fire in Mr. Goodkinds arsenal.

There are extrordinarily long periods where nothing at all happens other than Richard and Kahlan expressing their love for each other or trying to explain their moral outlook to a bunch or imbeciles. If I want to be exposed to a sermon I'll go to church. Since I don't like sermons, I found myself skimming large sections of dialogue.

This was an interesting story with many interesting characters. Unfortunately, many of these elements were shortchanged by the apparent effort of Richard (Mr. Goodkind??) to preach his version of morality. While it fit within the context of the story, it was dragged out way too long, and in the end, was very tedious to slog through.

To summarize, the book had a very slow beginning ( in the first 200 pages, Richard's group is attacked by birds.. that's it!), introduced an intriguing and powerful new character that in the end is too easily dispatched, devoted too little plot detail to existing characters (Zedd, Adie, Nathan... et-al) and devoted too much plot to the idiotic and moronic "Pillars of Creation" characters.

I'm hoping that Mr. Goodkind isn't resorting to using this series as a vehicle to promote his personal politics and views, rather than just entertainment.





Rating:
Summary: Naked Empire? More like Idiot Empire
Review: The main content of this book is insulting. There is no other way to put it. Over one quarter of the book is nothing but Richard lecturing idiots about what individual freedom means. And he does this over, and over, and over again. Richard and his companions are so annoying that when I got about three-quarters through the book, I was secretly hoping that their little group would just ... die. It's a sad thing when you wish the deaths of the heroes.

There are two saving graces of this book - the scenery descriptions and the secondary characters. The chapters featuring Zedd, Adie, Ann, Nathan, Nicholas the Slide, and Emperor Jagang are a million times more interesting then the rest of the book. I also enjoyed Goodkind's descriptions of Jagang and his encampment, and Ann's visit to the People's Palace.

Would I recommend this book? As a whole... the answer is no. But if you skip every chapter involving Richard and his group, I guarantee it will make for a more enjoyable read.


Rating:
Summary: Painfully tedious
Review: The author is fond of describing pain and suffering in excruciating detail. Well, that is nothing compared to what you will endure if you try to read this. It is one thing to instill moral, ethical, political, and economic beliefs and values into a story but it is unbearable and unacceptable to wade through this brutal repetition, and redundancy. I feel like the same basic concept has been rehashed half a hundred times from every possible combination of possible outcomes and perspectives.

Spare yourselves. If you want a book on ethical decision making...buy one, there are lots of good ones out there. If you want to read about what comprises a freely governed society consider reading the Federalist Papers. If you want to read good fantasy, stick with the earlier books or look elsewhere.