Rating: 
Summary: Mark Twain would roll over in his grave.
Review: Mark Twain as we all know, was a good story teller, and yes you can be a good story teller without gory details. I found that there were very morbid parts of this book that were quite unnecessary to tell a story. Sad comment on much of our society today, instead of food for thought the media gives us moral terrorism through shocking perversions. A good story teller can tell a story that needs no shock value. Mark Twain would roll over in his grave if he read this book. The book is mostly good just needs a bar of soap put in it's mouth. Or as in the book, moltin hot burning lead.
Rating: 
Summary: Easy read but too predictable
Review: I just finished "Wizards First Rule" (Okay I thought the way Goodkind worked the title into the story was nicely done) and for the most part I was rather disappointed by the book. While I found the book to move along quickly, I also found it to be very predictable. I found the way Goodkind repeatedly had his characters ignore ALL the clues and just happily muck things up (but always recover effortlessly) rather insulting. I will not compare this book to any other, I believe that to be unfair to the ART in a book. I will say that, with the exception of the torture pages, this would have made a wonderful read for older children and young adults.In summary: This book, because of the torture and sado-erotic portion is not recommended for young readers. Further, because of the simple plot twists and writing style, this book may be too juvenile for many adult readers. However, if you simply must have something to read for that flight from NY to LA (why I grabbed it) or just want to be entertained without needing to think too much this is not a bad book.
Rating: 
Summary: Consuming journey form start to finish.
Review: Let me start by saying this is my favorite recent series, I say recent because noone will EVER be able to outdo Tolkein, it's just not possible, even within the realms of fantasy. This book contains an awesome amount of action that keeps it paced, while still maintaining a plot of relentless enjoyment. I know most critics slam Goodkind hard for his "unoriginal" ideas, and yes, some of them are, but the funny thing is, even though he did take something from Jordan and something from Brooks, and whoever, he did it with a mastery that outdid those authors. Take Jordan for example. I don't care if he took some ideas, because he made them work a heck of a lot better than Jordan. I've read Jordan's work, and I couldn't get past book 1. I finished Eye of the World (the ending is incredibly bad) and I started to read The Great Hunt, but I just couldn't do it. You know why? It's because Jordan stretches things out. He takes a fortnight and a day to say something. Goodkind pays enough attention to detail while balancing it with fast paced action. He's a great author, and noone can take that away from him. Read Wizards First Rule, you won't regret it. And it's just the beginning. All of the books in the series are incredbile, some more than others, but ALL are incredible.
Rating: 
Summary: God is this awful
Review: This series of books is even worse than Wheel of Time. Jordan is only writing for the money, which all the Lemmings (= Readers) are giving him with a big "Thank you". Goodkind is even copying Jordan. And he's copying it very bad. Story? None. Characters? Take a Superman-Comic and you get a much better Characterization. Ideas? Yeah, right... Don't bother with this piece of garbage. Read Williams, Martin, Tolkien etc. if you want good Fantasy. Read R.A. Salvatore if you want good Action-orientated Fantasy. Read He-Man. It has a better story...
Rating:
Summary: Not too bad, but it could have been a lot better
Review: This book had a pretty decent plot. Goodkind obviously knows how to keep his readers interested. There were a few things, however, that I was very disappointed about. First of all (as others have mentioned), the book was in many ways like Robert Jordan's series (more specifically the Great Hunt) and a few other fantasies I've read. I doubt that this was intentional, but the book was obviously heavily influenced by other authors. I also thought that the characters were a little too...dry. It's difficult to associate with the characters when they don't seem to have any faults. The only characters that were really interesting to me were minor characters with little stressed importance. I also like the way he depicted Darken Rahl, making him appear to be less evil than he actually is (which is more realistic than the classic "bad guy" image). This element is sadly lacking in most fanasies. So why did I give it only two stars? There were some very morbid parts of the book that were quite unnecessary. I won't go into detail, but there were enough inappropriate (mostly sexual) scenes to make me wonder why I was bothering to read the book. If it wasn't for this, I would probably give it four stars.
Rating:
Summary: Do Heroes always win in the end?
Review: If you like a well written fable of a young man who grows into his manhood with liberal sprinklings of magic, swordfights, adventures and a bit of romance then this is for you. This is a totally engrossing story which will whisk you away to a far land where you can spend many happy hours exploring and living the life of a hero. I'm not going to tell you the ending but the hero ...........
Rating:
Summary: Wizard's First Rule-Great Book
Review: I thought this book was a great Fantasy book. Goodkind thinks of many ways to present a Wizard's task, and surprises you with many outcomes. He is a little long-winded when writing of some events within the book - you want him to get to the point. Many times, however, he provides an excellent view into a fantasy world of magic, and thrilling events that keep you turning the page for more. I stayed up late nights until I had completed the book!
Rating: 
Summary: Terry Brooks, not Robert Jordan
Review: Let me say this: I loved this book. The first hundred pages were very slow, and took me several months to get through(picking up other books whenever possible), but when I ran out of other material, and got the the meat of Wizard's First Rule, I blew through the book in 3 days. Great characters, hilarious subtle dialogues, and a lack of fear to allow the main character kill with reckless abandon make this very enjoyable. As for the accusations that there are large parallel with The Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan... I didn't get the feeling, really. I DID, however, almost puke twice at the blatant ripoffs from Terry Brooks's The Sword of Shannara. Two of the relics in this book(The Sword of Truth and the NightStone) are so close to two items in Shannara, I was angry(The Sword of Shannara and the Elfstones). But I can forgive that, as it was either unintentional or a direct tribute. A great book, but my ire of the Brooks issure took it from 5 to 4 stars for me. Buy this book, you'll like it.
Rating:
Summary: Start Respecting
Review: Ok I am not going to try and compare this to the Wheel of Time series. The main reason being that I have never read the Wheel of Time series, although I plan on it. I have heard of the similarities and all I say is I don't care. This is hands down one of the best books I have ever read. I can't say it is my favorite because there are 6 books in the series and they are all equally fantastic. I have never cared about characters in a book as much as I care about these characters. I could not stop reading it. I read the last 600 pages in one day. I was hooked. As for Dragonlance, I think is is a great series, but nowhere close to SoT. This book has action galore, it is intelligent, and it never loses its focus. You find yourself rooting for the characters and holding your breath as you turn the page. You have to view this series apart from Jordan's. Even if he did borrow ideas, who cares? These books are so great I would reccomend them to anyone. Go read it, you will not regret it.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD, BUT DERIVATIVE
Review: THE GOOD: This book flows pretty fast, with only a few exceptional areas. Some of the dialogue is really witty and fun to read. Characters are very distinguished, if a bit stereotyped--the handsome hero, the beautiful heroine, the buff companion, the old but powerful wizard, etc. THE BAD: Map is NOTHING compared to Robert Jordan's map of the world. Just three rows of mountains, sprinkle some towns here and there, and call it good. Mr. Goodkind tells us how dangerous the Midlands are, then, when the characters DO get to the Midlands, he jumps them many miles ahead to the Mud People. They go all that way without meeting ANY opposition? Get real. Finally, the ending was a let-down. Not much of a reward after reading several hundred pages. THE UGLY: Comparing Eye of the World to this book, EOTW wins, hands down. What really detracted from me giving this 5 stars is that so much of it is STOLEN from Robert Jordan. The leash idea, the confrontation between the wizardly figure and the villagers, the man in the village who is the ONLY one who can save the world, etc. Then there's this 40 page torture scene that really slows the book down. I want entertainment, not torture. The part where Richard falls for the "I'm your dead mother" trick is really lame, especially when he falls for a similar trick 5 pages before! Finally, the book says that the reason why the antagonist doesn't go after the protagonist is because "he's like a fly--you don't swat it until it bothers you." Excuse me? Are all bad guys that stupid? There is one GLARING flaw with that analogy--FLIES CAN'T KILL YOU, HEROES CAN. If the fly had malaria, well, maybe, but this is a WIZARD we're dealing with. OTHER NOTES: For those of you who say this book is disgusting or gross, get real. You obviously haven't read as much as you think you have. I've read FAR worse stuff, making this only mild in comparison. Finally, if it weren't for so many spin-offs of RJ's works, then this would have been a good book. I would definitely say it's worth reading once, but I'll disagree with anyone that it's better than EYE OF THE WORLD, which was written 4 years prior.
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