Rating: 
Summary: This books makes me wonder
Review: How many people in this world actually jump into a fantasy series midway? I am sure someone studied this sometime and found out that new readers don't always begin with Book One and work their way into the most recent title. That is the ONLY way I can reason out why this book begins the way it does. Hundreds of pages are spent reminding us of all the things that Richard and Kahlan have been through. It REALLY felt like a series of ads intended for new readers. "See what you have missed? Go back and buy the others now."I am not thrilled with this book but it isn't the lowest Goodkind has gone. I wish he would just take a couple of years off and produce something that reawakens that passion he once had for writing.
Rating: 
Summary: Who wrote this book?
Review: Wasn't the same person who wrote the first five books. Terry Goodkind needs a un-reality check. I read fantasy for a reason and that is to be entertained. Not to be bored to death with constant philosophical preaching of what is easily seen as the writers current views of todays problems. If he wants to lecture go on tour or teach at a college but save his book characters from permanent damage of being so very boring. If you take out the constant lectures of current morality and the 300 pages of plot review that you already know if your a fan; you get about 150 pages of good reading out of 600. I say shame on Terry's publisher for letting him publish this horrible book; when Mr Goodkind is such a good writer as we've seen from his earlier novels. I just hope he gets it together for the next book, but I won't be buying hardback.
Rating:
Summary: Proselytizing masking itself as Fantasy
Review: The sword of truth series has become a poorly masked political vehicle for the author to espouse his libertarian anti-government point of view. If this philosophy added to the story as in "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Heinlein, then I would praise it. However, it is overbearing and interferes with the plot. Richard is a wonderful character, as are Kahlan, Zedd, the Mord Siths, and many of the peripheral people who come and go. I have continued reading the series only because the characters are interesting, the basic premise is good, and the world Goodkind created is rich in possibility. However, I am giving the series one more chance. If the next book is as bad as the previous two, I am done. I would only recommend reading this book for continuity's sake as part of the series. If you are new to the series, you should realize that only the first four books are truly worth reading, meaning you might consider spending your valuable reading time on another author.
Rating:
Summary: Skip this one - It's a sermon disguised as a book
Review: I really loved the first books in this series. Completely blown away.
Pillars of Creation and now Naked Empire were a complete disappointment. After reading POC I was sorely tempted to skip Naked Empire. I wish now that I had. The repetitive thumping the reader over the head with the sermons is beyond excuse. There is a good story in there somewhere. Every so often I would see flashes of the old brilliance. Too few to save the book.
Rating: 
Summary: not as good a FOTF, but WAY better then POC
Review: Thank goodness! After Pillars of Creation, I thought maybe we were going to have to endure another book about finding more of Richards long lost relatives. (they seem to be all over the dang place) But Mr. Goodkind comes up big for his faithful readers in this one. It has alot of action, alot of thrills, and all the main characters are back. We get to see Richard and Kahlan struggle against the Imperial order, and free a whole civilization of misguided zealots. pretty cool huh? The only thing I didn't like, is it seemed his main characters seemed to repeat themselves alot, which is a drag, I mean the book is 600 pages and I think if Goodkind wouldn't have made Richard and Kahlan make the same speeches over and over and (i'm sorry to say) over, it probably could have been under 500. But all in all it was an excellent read, as we got to see Zedd get into and out of trouble, with the help of Chase and Rachel of all people, and we finally get to see the prophet Nathan kick some fanny! So I highly suggest if your a fan of the Sword of Truth, to pick this one up, you won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Work
Review: Contrary to most of the other reviews, I found Naked Empire to be a superb book. Although not quite on par with FOTF, the main characters are back with vengeance and the philosophical messages espoused are hardly random. The whole point of Richard as a character is to embody the evolutionary process inherent in coming to learn certain values, values which are obviously of great importance to Goodkind. What makes this series so fantastic is that philosophical component. It is true, that there is a touch of formula here, but only in the sense that every car with wheels is a car. Richard and Kahlan are phenomenal characters and Naked Empire is another great book from one of the genre's finest authors.
Rating:
Summary: Slow start, great finish
Review: Yeah, the book definitely starts out slow. It seems like "blah, blah, blah", switch to someone else, then back to "blah, blah, blah". I personally found that there was too much going over of the basic principles of the series (shields, chimes, the link between worlds)...we've heard it before, we don't need the two-by-four. However, once everything gets going, the book definitely pleases. The hallmarks of his earlier works are there...an act of desperation bringing victory (or at least snatching them from the jaws of defeat), the need for creative methods of solving their problems when "traditional" solutions fail, and of course Richard using his charisma and conviction to open the eyes of those blind to their own problems. Far, far better than Pillars...but not nearly as good as Faith of the Fallen.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointed
Review: The first four books of the series were the best. They have gotten worse with each one since. Goodkind has taken the annoying habit of repeating everything three, sometimes four times within a few pages, sometimes the same paragraph. The book was also very preachy. He's past books have been preachy, but nothing compared to this one. He has Richard pulling out the soapbox at every chance and giving his philosophy on life and anything else he feels like. Naked empire could have been cut to a 350 or 400-page book. It hardly progressed the series. It read like a first draft. The dialogue was stilted, almost robotic. If you have been following the series and have to read this book, wait until it comes out in paperback or better yet, borrow it from a friend.
Rating:
Summary: Honest review from a Fan...
Review: Before I tell whoever reads this what I thought of this book I would just like to say that when I first started reading the series I was captivated to say the least. I had never read a fantasy book in my life but two people from where I worked highly recommended it to me (Wizard's first Rule). I ABSOLUTELY LOVED this book and the 2nd and 4th books. The others I found a bit boring and lacking a good plot. Honestly, the plots of the last 4 books have been extremely disappointing. I HATE how Richard is this perfect goodie-goodie guy who gives these cheesy and boring speeches to people about freedom and tyranny and all that stuff. I find that his attack on Communism is really starting to annoy me and I feel that my original affectation towards Richard is turning to the dark side so to speak. I am beginning to hate him because he is too good and perfect in his motivations and actions. He just lacks interest for me now. Anyways, this book pretty much topped it off with how much my animosity I felt towards the previous books after reading them. I hated this book to say the least. NOTHING INTERESTING HAPPENS! Goodkind has just lost the creative juices or he is just popping them out for the money. I might do the same thing in his situation but I think I could still come up with a better storyline than him. I read 3/4 of this book, skimmed to the action parts and GUESS WHAT, I hate to say this online and I really hate to pooh on books but I returned this book to the store because I hated it so much and got my money back. I have never done that so that might tell you something. If you are thinking of reading it because you are a fan, forget it, don't even bother. The dialogue is terrible, the goodie-goodie speeches are terrible, Richard's lines are terrible, this new character, his half-sister is ditzy to say the least, and the new invention of a "SLIPH" was the stupidest and most unoriginal thing I've heard. He sucks out your soul? Come on man, thats so dumb. If Mr. Goodkind ever reads this review, I say "PLEASE! make something happen! Make Richard learn about his powers! Have the final war or battle happen already! (its been talked about too much in previous books!) [Destroy] more major characters that the fans feel attached to. Maybe [destroy] Zedd, Adie, Jennsen, or even Richard (that would be interesting). What makes a great novel is when you are never sure whats going to happen next, people suffer great loss, there is intense emotion that is real to the situation, and sometimes, even making the good guy get his ass kicked hard and maybe even losing. For anyone who reads my review, I have to honestly recommend a book that is by far my favourite fantasy book ever (I haven't read that many, but I gotta say, this one was a league ahead of everything else that I've read) and it's called "BLADE OF TYSHALLE" by Matthew Woodring Stover. It is the second book of two, the first one titled "HEROES DIE". I read the second book first but I was so into the book I just couldn't put it down. I just thought the cover looked cool and I was pretty damned impressed. The only nitpicky thing was the overkill on the cosmic philosophy at the end, but thats being really picky. SO... honestly if you're a fan forget about this book it .., try out the book I mentioned, it has everything you want in a book and not everything happens like you would think and the good guys and bad guys are not so clear cut. Oh yeah, and the action is totally AWESOME!! Sorry to to say negative things about this book, but it is true. I would pay $6 for this book, but nothing more. It came to.. and thats like a week of groceries for me, so, it definetely was not worth it. If you doubt me because you're a diehard fan, then at least borrow it off of a friend after they've read it or go to the bookstore and read a chapter to see what I mean.
Rating:
Summary: Another great piece of writing
Review: Didn't you just love the way Richard took care of the dumb peacenicks? 5 stars just for that. Keep them comming Mr. Goodkind.
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