Rating: 
Summary: Interesting themes, but this is getting way too dragged out
Review: I started reading this book a short while after finishing Robin Hobb's excellent Liveship Traders series, and I must say the contrast was striking. A few pages into Faith of the Fallen I started asking myself, "Why am I reading this?" For people that haven't read truly GOOD fantasy lately, this book may come off as at least a very good, if not stellar book. But coming off of Hobb's beautiful writing, this was downright drivel.Now, this isn't to say that Goodkind has nothing going for him - each author is good in their own respective right. Jordan is the overall storytelling master in terms of creating a believable world. Hobb's skill lies in creating believable characters and in general descriptive skill, and Martin excels with plot lines. Goodkind, I have come to learn, is not the best in any of those areas. The phrase "Jack of all trades, master of none" applies perfectly to him. As many have said before, the plot is old and predictable, and it is becoming painfully obvious that Mr. Goodkind is running out of things to say and is dragging this series out longer than it needs to be. If this series is not concluded within 1, at most 2, books, I will completely lose interest in it. Granted, Jordan's Wheel of Time is even more drawn out, but I never really felt like I was reading the same story over and over again with different words. I did with this book. And, as I hinted at earlier, in my opinion Goodkind does not nearly have the skill with language I once thought he did. His sentences are short and boringly constructed, and his lack of a varied vocabulary makes me want to send him a thesaurus. I also found the page-long speeches made by characters in the middle of conversations most annoying and distracting. As I read more and more of this book, at times I thought I was reading Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, which was basically 50 pages of her personal philosophy with a 650 page story as a wrapper. While I don't think Goodkind is necessarily spouting his personal philosophy for all to see, I do think those speeches become much to preachy to be palatable to the average reader. As far as characterization goes, I think his character interactions are adequate, but what I find annoying are the actual personalities of the characters. Richard and Kahlan are almost perfect people in every way imaginable. Miracles seem to abound all around them, and they can do no wrong. The only times Richard and Kahlan are believable characters for me is when they succumb to such basic human emotions such as rage and hatred. I get tired of reading about the endless good that Richard brings people or the love that everyone feels for him and Kahlan. It serves a purpose to a point, but after a while it becomes rather sickening. **spoiler** I could have almost felt something about Nicci's change at the end of the book had the same thing not happened with Denna. Once against Mr. Goodkind falls back on old plot themes **end spoiler** The only real strong points of the book were the ideas tossed around about freedom and what "living" really is. While I think Mr. Goodkind may have been trying to be a little too philosophical for his own good, I do believe he makes some valid points. But as I said earlier, speeches are not the way to get your point across, but rather the way to bore readers. Was this a decent addition to the series? Yes. The series is finally rushing towards the climax as I see it, but only time will tell how much longer Mr. Goodkind decides to drag the series out for. Was this a decent overall fantasy book? No. If you haven't, read either of Robin Hobb's series - the Liveship Traders or the Assassin books. After reading them and getting a taste of what a true master of the English language can do, it's hard to look at the Sword of Truth series in the same light. If you haven't started the series yet and are deciding whether to or not - don't. Wait and see how it turns out. For those of us who have already invested time and energy into reading this series, we must keep reading and hope the books get better, which seems to be the latest trend. Maybe the authors will finally take the hint and start writing true fantasy once again.
Rating: 
Summary: parable, sword and sorcery, or both?
Review: I love this series. Faith of the Fallen highlights Kahlen, showing her a strong character in her own right. I was sort of disappointed that magic played such a small part this time, with exception of the spelling and despelling of Kahlan, but we found more of the strength of both Richard and Kahlan as they both fought against impossible odds. What amazes me most about the series, especially the last two novels, is Goodkind's social commentary. The whole idea of Jagang's empire is the lack of importance of the individual and the deification of the Order. It seems to me, (and I admit to being prejudiced) that he not only describes a nation such as the former Soviet Union, but also a warning to our nation, as we seem to be more and more dependent on the government. Whether Mr Goodkind has this in mind or not is irrelevant, as the story stands on its own as a great fantasy novel, and the characterizations of Richard, Kahlan, Zedd, Cara, etc. I feel that I now all of these people, and care about them.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Book. Heavy-handed politics.
Review: The previous reviews have summed this book up well. While it's a much better offering than 'Soul of the Fire' (which I didn't much like) the politics invested in the plot line really spoilt it for me. I haven't read such simplistic interpretations of communism (BAD!) and capitalism (GOOD!) since the McCarthy trials in the 50's. Shades of Grey! Didn't see any at all. All the bad guys have now turned out to be communists (of all things - I was SO disappointed), until they see the light of the American ideal of capitalism. I say American because in most of the rest of the world's capitalist countries we incorporate a big chunk of communism thinking. Its not evil, just very expensive. It's called the well fare state! Despite all the criticism the book was a good read, which is praise indeed. All the characters I enjoy reading about were present. However I'm not sure I will buy the next instalment in hardback.
Rating:
Summary: Faith of the Fallen rises to a new level
Review: The Order presses its advantage in ever-burgeoning waves of soldiers and the Gifted striking hopelessness, fear, and despair into the hearts, minds and souls of its chosen enemies. The reluctant yet resolved heroes of the Midlands stand against the tide as they must. This is the action-packed backdrop for the story, which to me, is more about the evolution of individuals and the choices that they make as they evolve and learn more about themselves, the world around them, and life in general. Very little is black and white. Hard choices must be made. Individuals take surprising directions in their internal development and thus their outward choices. The love between individuals, love of community, love of nature, and more (agape, eros, and philios) are all explored and illustrated beautifully. Goodkind manages all of this with excitement and beautiful writing. Goodkind now joins my small pantheon of writers in this genre who have earned automatic respect. I despair of waiting how many ever months I must wait for the sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Two Thumbs Up!
Review: I have been in love with the Sword of Truth series since I picked up "Wizards First Rule" a few years back, this book just reaffirmed my belief that Terry Goodkind is one of the best authors I've read. I honestly don't understand how someone can criticize this book. Granted it did have a few dry spells, and on the surface the basic outline did seem trite but the reader merely had to look a little deeper to the flesh of the story to realize how unique it is. I loved the fact that previous characters were brought back into the story. I loved that Kahlan and Richard were such vivid characters. I loved the people in Altur Rang's acceptance of Richard's ideals. I loved everything about it, even the way Nicci irritated me so much I wanted to skip to the end just to see how they were going to get rid of her. Somehow I managed to restrain myself and I enjoyed the book even more for that. I would definitely recommend it, and I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: I love this series every book has been wonderful, and this one of the best ones yet. I can't wait for the next book to come out!
Rating:
Summary: Sorry, but even though I'm a fan, I'm disappointed...
Review: First, let me say that I almost didn't write this review because the reader from Willow Grove, PA almost said it all for me. (That person enjoyed the storyline a little more than I did.) In any case, don't miss that review. I have thoroughly enjoyed the Sword of Truth series. I even liked the last book, even though I first had to get used to it and that reader. This book however, was a little hard to get into. Basically, I found it to be a little too preachy. Not only that, it seems geared towards preteens and teenagers since it's basically a dissertation on values and principles barely hidden under the guise of fiction. In addition, the story seems to be getting a little stale. Some of the plots and subplots from preceding books are repeated here. I s'pose I expected something more. The book did have it's good points though. But, I almost didn't discover those because I had to struggle my way through it because of the reader. If I might now quote the reviewer from Willow Grove who so superbly captured my thoughts... As the Willow Grove reader states: "The audio version however greatly diappoints in it's delivery. The excellence found in [the] reader of the first two books and the fourth books are gone. It's as if the reader of this book did not listen to the prior audio versions at all to get a sense of the personalities and vocal traits of the characters. Zed has completely lost his thin and engaging voice and the way he seemed still full of life ,vitality and mischief are gone completely. He now sounds like some senior citizen who has lost most of his teeth and is about to suffer a stroke at any moment." To that precise, on-point, accurate (you get my drift) summation, I'll say, "Amen." The reader has Zed sounding so "old" that I almost did expect him to slip on the banana peel and keel over at any minute. I too listen to books to lessen the frustration of rush-hour traffic, but this book didn't help at all. I had to force myself to put it in the cassette player. Granted, Dick Hill is a VERY hard act to follow as a reader, but this reader does absolutely NO justice to the story. To sum up though, disappointed or not, I'll still read the next installment of this series. In hopes that (1) the story line has improved somewhat and doesn't seem geared towards teens only, and (2) they find another, more engaging reader.
Rating:
Summary: master story weaving by Terry Goodkind
Review: i read some reviews of the last book saying how Richard was not quite him self and that the whole thing was gone about in a different way than the other books. well this was first, i think moor like he would like to go about all things "moor brain, less blood." and besides, if your looking for a 2D hero who goes strait for his sword and doesn't stop till he is the only one breathing, then you are reading the wrong books! This new book as all the others is very well thought out and written and you get to see even deeper in to the soul of Richard "THE SEEKER OF TRUTH".
Rating: 
Summary: Fairly Good
Review: I have been a fan of Goodkind since for awhile, and when the sixth installment of the sword of truth series came out, I jumped at the chance to get it. This book has several disappoinments in store though. First, Goodkind repeats the same plot over again with Kahlan and Richard getting seperated, Richard getting captured by an evil woman,who ends up turning out good, and Kahlan leading a small army against impossible numbers. Then, their are also many grammatical mistakes,with many words suspiciously missing in the middle of the sentence,but that can be ignored. The thing that I was impressed with, although many people disagree, was Goodkind's philosophical view of things. His view of right and wrong inspired me and kept interested in the book. Although not as good Wizards first Rule and the previous installments, this book is definitely better than Soul of the Fire, and I believe that if you liked Goodkind's other books, than you will definitely like this one.
Rating:
Summary: GOODKIND RENEWS FAITH IN ALL OF US
Review: Terry Goodkind does it again........but this time its the best. Terry Goodkind dazzels us all with a richly developed and intricatly twined novel filled with everything one could hope for in a story as lush and beutiful as this and with an ending the will leave you panting for more.............this has got the be the best book in the sword of truth collection.
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