Rating: 
Summary: A pretty interesting piece of fantasy trash
Review: I have a very literate friend that always berated sci-fi fantasy books as trash literature. Until I read this book I never really quite understood what it was that she saw in them that she found so offensive. This book is quite literally trash. Characters constantly burst into cliched conversations about love and friendship, and they continuously act and react in ways that fit the plot but are totally out of character and or without sufficient motivation. The writing is horrendous. Never have I cringed so much at poor writing than I did when I read this book. I know of course that it must take a lot of talent to be able to fill 800+ pages, but still the writing stinks.With that said, this is however actually a pretty interesting book. It starts off incredibly slow; I think that Goodkind must have assumed that readers would be so immediately enchanted by his main characters that they wouldn't notice the lack of plot in the first half of the book. It does, however, really start to pick up the pace towards the middle of the book, and by the end you won't be able to put it down. The story is typical fantasy; a back woods guy has a chance meeting with a mysterious woman that results in a series of events that will determine the fate of the world. Nothing really new here. If you can get over the aforementioned cliched dialogue and completely unmotivated actions, the characters are pretty interesting and likeable. I have read a couple of the books that follow in this series and while they suffer from the same aforementioned problems they are more interesting than this first novel and thus make reading the series worthwhile. All in all, I would have to say that if you are interested in reading a long series, and don't really care if your brain will turn into mush, then the Sword of Truth novels are not a bad choice. I would however recommend Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Beginning of a fantastic fantasy saga...
Review: This book sets the ground for the rest of the series or it could be read alone (but beware, once you've finished, you want more! Once you've started on the second book, you'll want to finish the series!). This book is a great novel. Period. It has shown that Terry Goodkind really gave his ALL in writing this classic story of Good versus Evil. The villian, Darken Rahl, is someone who most upon most people will really want to beat the crap out of (Terry makes sure that everyone hates him). The characters may seem a little of the 'same old thing', but they're not. Richard and Kahlan develop quite a bit over their adventures, and there is a lot of action in this book. This book deserves a read from all you fantasy/science fiction readers, and Goodkind deserves our gratitude for writing a fantastic first novel in his Sword of Truth saga.
Rating: 
Summary: These books are close to horrendous
Review: I read the first three books of this series about 2 years ago and seriously regret the wasted time. The writing is low quality for the most part but totally breaks down in some sections making you cringe as you read it. The plot is predictable ie. hero always miracously escapes all danger, you know from the first chapter how everything is going to end. Really, these books have some major flaws. Please do yourself a favor and read these instead: George R.R. Martin's a Song of Fire and Ice series, Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series, or Stephen King's the Dark Tower series (which is unbelievably incredible). Or take a break from fantasy and check out some Charles Bukowski, Hunter S. Thompson, or Brett Easton Ellis. I really hate to give something only one star but in this case it was well deserved.
Rating: 
Summary: People aren't always so stupid..
Review: Well..at least in the aspect of writing a book of this caliber. I was given this book as a gift and actually put the task of reading it off until I had nothing else to read...not wanting to plunge myself into another series, but I'm glad I did. The storyline was different than I had expected, it seemed almost like a puzzle, which was enjoyable up to a point...then it got a little annoying. I understand why Goodkind wanted to leave things vague, like Kahlan's title of Mother Confessor..but after a point he really should've just dropped it and explained a few things. Goodkind did redeem himself with his rich environmental descriptions, and his use of words to convey the anguish that Richard and Kahlan both felt about not being able to be with each other. The anguish seemed to seep out of the book and into my own mind, which made it really easy for me to become elated with the ending. Goodkind is really good at depressing the reader before he indicates he has any intention of making things better...but hey, it's his style. Anyway, this was a pretty decent book, and I'd recommend it to any fantasy fan..^.^
Rating: 
Summary: It's not awful, but it's not worth it
Review: I am currently reading this book and would recommend to anyone considering its purchase to look for something more worthwhile. Although it is not an awful book, in that in can be read and you wouldn't throw it in the trash after the first few chapters, I will most certainly not buy any of the sequels. If you are looking for the same old conventional small party quest type fantasy with dialogue that makes you cringe in vicarious shame by all means read it. However, if you desire much better work for true intellectuals who love fantasy try George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series.
Rating:
Summary: Dark. Painful. Beautiful.
Review: I found this book to truly capture my imagination and attention every second it was in my hand, which I can say, wasn't for too long! The strongest effect of this book, I think, would have to be of how addicting it is! I started reading three or four chapters in a row, then closed it for maybe 5 minutes, only to open it back up and continue on, despertly needing closure. Incredible really, I couldn't pull away! My next opinion lies in the descriptions. Sometimes I found myself skipping words only to hurry descriptions of scenery, but when I had stopped, and re-read what I missed, my mind shut out every sound and sight of my surroundings, and all I could do was imagine the book happening as if I were watching it in real life. There were parts I nearly wanted to drop the book and never pick it up again because of the challenge and danger that loomed over their heads! Sitting there I just pondered over and over, 'how the hell will they make it out of this one!...' Terry Goodkind has made himself my new favorite author, as I suggest anyone who reads this post, to find him or herself a copy no matter where your interests lie. Thank you T.G. for making this wonderous epic come to life.
Rating:
Summary: why no zero star rating?
Review: I am just glad that I read Robert Jordan first. Me and my friend found this series and gave it a shot. Both being Wheel of Time fans, we started reading these books with fairly open minds and high expectations. Then we discovered that most of Goodkind's ideas were less-creative versions of something RJ had already developed in this series years before. It got to be almost comical to us how many things he had stolen and given a new name to, sometimes barely even changing it that much. Jordan has a tendancy to make women more annoying than they really usually are, but Goodkind made everyone in his books abnormally stupid. It makes them more instantly likeable, yes, but it also makes them less interesting after 2 or 3 books. The plot is OK in the first novel, but progressively gets worse and worse as you get further into it. We started to wonder if Robert Jordan would have a winable case for copyright infrengement with some of the stuff Goodkind "invented." The ripping-off is that blatant. I'd like to represent RJ.
Save your money and read WoT first. Trust me
Rating:
Summary: not bad, not great
Review: While the book provided an interesting story for escapists, critical readers will not be thrilled.
Rating:
Summary: It's Practically Mediocre in Every Way!
Review: At first glance this may appear to be yet another cookie cutter fantasy story with archtypical heroes and a predictable plot. And that's exactly what it is. But something sets this book apart from the crowd: There is nothing in here that stikes me as espescially good, or, amazingly, especially bad. The book treads a thin line of almost perfect mediocrity. ... It's history described in this book only goes back a generation. Though there are some interesting creatures and ideas, you have to wait until book three to find out where they come from. Many ideas, such as the Boxes of Orden and the Book of Counted Shadows are left unexplained. I would have given this book three stars, but for (ironically) three things. The first is Goodkinds tendancy to over-explain everything. Pages are spent explaining the magic system with no important occurrences. Most of these passages of explaining could have been cut down vastly. Worse, the structure of these is almost like a lecture. One character will explain the basics of something, then others will ask questions about the nuances and reasons. I had this mental picture of Zedd saying "well, that's how a wizard's power works. Now are there any questions before we move on?" The second major flaw is not so much with this book, but with the series as a whole. Goodkind seems to add and subtract elements from his world at will. In this book we meet a wisp-creature that isn't seen again through the whole series. Gars, one of the major monsters in Goodkinds world aren't mentioned after book three. The Domenae Dirch are a weapon of mass destruction, but aren't seen until book five. You'd think everyone would be trying to use these to their advantage. Goodkind's world lacks any form of internal continuity or logic. The third and most serious flaw deals with Goodkind's morals. He seems to believe that anything done by a good guy is good, and anything done by a bad guy is bad. In this book Darken Rahl must eat a young boys genitals in order to visit the underworld. And this is bad. Later in the book Kahlan force feeds a villain his own genitals. This is good. At one point Richard is captured, tortured and broken by a Mord-Sith (another emotional and physical trauma from which he recovers remarkably quickly). This is bad. Later in the series Richard uses Mord-Sith to torture and break his enemies. This is good. I like grey characters as much as (or even more than) the next guy, but villainous acts should be portrayed as such, even when done by heroic characters. I wouldn't say that this book could have been great, but it could have been reasonably entertaining, if not for twisted morals, explainations that border on disertations and a poorly defined world. ...But the book is popular enough that you might be better off reading it and deciding for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: BEWARE!
Review: This book isn't BAD, but as the series goes on, it gets steadily worse. A 3 star rating (for this book, which is an okay read, about neutral) going to a 0 star rating (don't waste your time, really..you'll be disappointed). I would suggest not wasting any money on this book, or any in the series. Goodkind has continued to be a disappointment, and I have decided to never support his writing again. Extreme, but it's THAT bad!
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