Rating: Summary: Spellbinding! Review: This is a fantastic book! I was drawn into the story from page one. I have read all of the books so far (Faith of the Fallen) and this is a wonderful start to a good series. The Wizard's First Rule is by far one of the best books in this group. The other great one, would be The Stone of Tears. In his first book, Goodkind introduces Richard, a simple woods-guide who's life is irrevocably changed when he meets a young woman in trouble. There is danger, magic, romance, monsters, dragons, war and just about anything else that the reader could ask for. The characters are flawed (at least in the beginning) and as a result, interesting. This book is definitely worth the investment of time it will take to read it. This is one of my all time favorite books.
Rating: Summary: Not as good as I expected Review: Well, I read this book as a result of the reviews for Robert Jordan's "Winter's Heart", many of which claimed Goodkind's writing to be far superior to Jordan's. I would have to say after reading the book that I was very dissapointed, the level of writing, characterisation and the scope of the world were but a pale shadow next to many other series. Whilst there were elements of darkness (betrayal, torture, echoes of Communist China's Cultural revolution) I found Goodkind's writing very difficult to get into. The main flaw of the book in my opinion was the incredibly inept way in which the world of Richard Cypher was exposed to the reader. Long, tiresome explainations of the lands beyond Westland, a great contrast to the seemless weaving of plot and exposition as exhibited in Tolkien, Fiest and Jordan, for example. For such a long book, with so many long explanatory sections, I came out the other end with little empathy for the main characters and very little concept of what Goodkind's world was like, he failed to create the same kind of emersive experience many of his contemporaries have. That said, I read the book to the end, to get my money's worth, but I don't think I'll go out an buy the subsequent books in the series, a pity really as I needed something to tide me over until the next Jordan book comes out, next millenium. I would recommend anyone reads or re-reads Lord of the Rings, to see just how much subsequent writers owe to the greatest exponent of fantasy to date, roll on Christmas and the first film :)
Rating: Summary: I must admit..... Review: I have NEVER been a big fan of long fantasy novels. One day, a friend loaned me this book telling to read it. The plot was wonderful for a fantasy book. I used to read the old Anne McCaffery books and I was surprised at how exciting this book became! I expected to see the obvious maiden, hero, and wizard. But, thisbook described them in such a way that, it didn't bug so much as opposed to other books. I really enjoyed this book and I reccommend this book to anyone regardless of taste in genre.
Rating: Summary: Good writing, but extremely perverse Review: The story and the writing style are excellent. The problem is that Mr. Goodkind likes to wallow in depravity. While many other modern authors (eg, Robert Jordon, Guy Gavriel Kay) also deal with cruelty, torture, sexual perversions and the like, they use it to show evil for what it is and "go on." Goodkind, however, writes continually about it, focusing on it like some extremely unhealthy obsession with a death camp and its methods.Again, the story is good and the writing is lucid, but he leaves you feeling very dirty afterwords.
Rating: Summary: Awesome...purely awesome Review: I have no idea why I bought this book....I had just finished another series and needed something new to read, I just picked this almost randomly off the bookshelf. It is probably the best book I have ever read. I read it in one sitting, because I couldn't stop. Then at 4:30 the next morning when I finished, I anxiously awaited 8am to come so I could go out and purchase the sequel, Stone of Tears. It is enthralling how Mr. Goodkind brings you in and keeps you there, he is especially talented at ending chapters so that you can't stop reading. Definitely go out and buy this book if you haven't read it, although make sure that the next day is a weekend...just in case you are anything like me...
Rating: Summary: Excellent Review: This series truly stretches the mind. Terry Goodkind has an amazing imagination. He created an alternate world, filled with magic, dragons, and much much more. Wizards First Rule is great. I recommend it to anybody.
Rating: Summary: An excellent, but sometimes predictable book. Review: This is a great book. It is true that it follows the same kind of plot that has been founded by Tolkien and other fantasy writers. Terry Goodkind is so skilled in his writing that you can past the flaws in his books. You become attached to the characters and find yourself reading for hours just to find out what happens next. Also, while the main plot may be predictable, the finer points of the story is anything but. Overall, I cannot wait to read the second book in the series.
Rating: Summary: My 4-year-old could write better Review: I stuck with the book till I couldn't any longer...at which point it became the first book I have ever thrown across the room. The plot was interesting, the characters were interesting, but the writing was so horribly done I could not stomach it anymore.
Rating: Summary: My First Fantasy Book.. Great Book & Great Fantasy Review: First Introduce to me by my husband. Now I can't help myself to his next book.. It is great story, which have lot of plot, medival background plus magical and fantasy in throw into the plot too. Great BOok.
Rating: Summary: Definately the best book I have read in years Review: At 9:30 the night before leaving for a trip to Florida I found this book on the bottom shelf at Wal-mart. Desprate for something to read during the ten hour car ride I bought it , though I was not very optimistic. This book however pulled me in from the very first page. I have read hundreds of fantasy books from well known authors like Piers Anthony to not so well known authors like Lynn Abbey, but none of them could possibly compare to the books by Terry Goodkind. This was one of those rare books where I found myself crying with the characters when things seemed like they where never going to get better, and smiling like an idiot when things seemed they could never get worse. Goodkind rarely takes the easy way out such as with the Mordsith, you want to hate her, but instead grow to understand and love her. My only true complaint with Goodkind is that he can't write faster. I've been done with his last book, Faith of the Fallen, for almost four months now which seems like an eternity.Hopefully Goodkind will continue to write about Kahlan and Richard for many years to come, but for now I would settle for just one more book.
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