Rating: 
Summary: Another fantastic read....
Review: I read some of the other reviews and found several of them to be very disappointing and disingenous...inserting "over the top" political insecurities and agendas into their so-called book reviews. Mr. Goodkind has consistently delivered storylines and characters that put forth strict moral principles and sensibilites in his philosophy of "the Truth" from Wizard's First Rule through Naked Empire, which can be applied in the world of his novels as well as our own.For those of you who are fans of excellent writing like I am, regardless of the genre or your political sensibilities, you will find the new characters and storylines in the Naked Empire to be very engaging. I quite honestly, couldn't put it down. I find Mr. Goodkind to be a fantastic writer and in the Naked Empire he has again spun a wonderful tale that will certainly keep you coming back for more!
Rating: 
Summary: End the series...PLEASE!
Review: Goodkind's excellent, multi-faceted and stunning book, "Wizard's First Rule," hooked me into the "Sword of Truth" series. However, "Naked Empire" stank. Political and philosophical views aside, I got plain tired of reading the author's painfully repetitive and boring descriptions, narratives and philosophies. "Let's read several MORE pages about how Richard feels about this subject...AGAIN" It's as if Goodkind had to quickly fill a quota of required pages to meet a deadline. He did this by desperately stretching out the the story thin with a lot of repetitive and bland drivel. Goodkind has run out of ideas and needs to end this series quickly (PLEASE!). Otherwise, it's like beating a dead gar. Which this book has already done - over, and over, and over again...
Rating:
Summary: Goodkind at his bed
Review: I started reading Goodkind when I was 14, I'm 20 now and still a huge fan of the series. This book IS preachy, and it IS philosiphical. But it is not a about Iraq, dispite what You've read. Yes there are things that are quite similar. But only the aspects that all invasions share. The message wasn't that the people who protested Iraq were blind to evil but rather, that people are blind to many of the evils they commit by the beliefs they share. All said, the story was profound and heart-felt. A definite must read.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Book So Go Read It
Review: Hmmm . . . never saw it as a modern day parable for the war. Read it for what it was --- science fiction. Does it get a littly preachy at times? Yes. But overall a good book and much better than "Pillars of Creation". Gives me hope that Goodkind has his creative juices flowing again and will deliver even better in the future. I also urge people that whether a review is good or bad only you can decide for yourself. If you want to read it then read it. But just because a bunch of people bad mouth or sing a million praises for a book doesn't make it any better or worse than what it is.
Rating: 
Summary: politics
Review: Please keep your political paranoia out of this book. If you want to read the father of preemptive strikes read Modesitt. He thoroughly explores the pros and cons, while Goodkind coats it over in simplistic fashion.
Rating:
Summary: Disgrace
Review: After reading this book i felt very down hearted. I can do nothing but totally agree with reviewer no.1. This book has so much philosophical or political arguments of Mr Goodkinds. That i take it as a insult that he believes his readers to be so blind to today realities. He has let all Fantasy writers down, not too mention the fact that he has let down his fellow amercians by stooping to so such a low base. It is plain for all to see that his last 2 books went from adequate to poor. This is just a pathetic atempt to gain money by playing on the sympethetic attitude of his american readers, which i am glad to see from reviwer no.1 has had no success. As for the Book itself i can only agree with the reviwer titled "Ponderous, Preacy, Pointless". This book if you can call it that, is so thin that you could fit on a sheet of A4. THE HORSE IS LONG DEAD SO YOU CAN STOP FLOGGING IT. Some people in USA may feel that the world is against THEM and that everyone is Anti-America. This is not the case most people like americans and i for one think most of them are nice people :). But when i read political trash like this ,which is not even close to what today situation is like, i feel totally downheartened. :( I will say that most of you will buy this book simply to see what is so "political" about it or to simply continue on from a series of books that started with good style and imagination, which cleary shows that the author has talent. I can only urge you not too and this will only line the pockets of a man who has stooped to a very low level. This review will probably go blind to Mr Goodkind as it is totally clear that he is blind to his own ignorance. I only hope that those editors greedy enough to allow this book to print might take note :) AS for Mr Goodkin himself, SHAME ON YOU SIR, SHAME ON YOU. You have let yourself down, you have also let down your fellow Fantasy writers as well, but most of all you have let down your fellow americans.
I only hope that they will not be judged by this book the same way standard as you have judged others. You have mixed oil with water. Water being fantasy and oil being reality
Rating: 
Summary: It is just a story, not a political treatise
Review: For those who see "right wing conspiracy" in everything they read, I thought only conservatives were supposed to be paranoid. This is an excellent book and simply continues the traditional fight between good and evil. Of course, there are those that believe that evil does not exist in this world (even after 9-11) but that discussion is best left somethere else. By the way, George W. Bush does not have the exclusive rights to pre-emptive strikes. Frankly, Israel was one of the first modern governments to believe in pre-emptive strikes. Terry Goodkind has done a wonderful job of keeping the series going and making each book a terrific read. Contrast this to Robert Jordan of the "Wheel of Time" series who is simply milking his series for the money by adding voluminous words that have little or no meaning and get you nowhere. If you have enjoyed reading Goodkind's series in the past, you will enjoy this installment as well. Don't be put off by some people's paranoia. They tend to see George Bush in everything nowadays.
Rating:
Summary: Great stuff
Review: I at first gave up on reading this book because of all the bad reviews. Now I am glad I did read it, it is not the best book of the series and yes there is lots of talking (preaching), but still a worthy read. The greatest strength of this book is the unpredictability and the fact that lord Rahl is not quite the superman he was becoming.
Rating:
Summary: Ponderous, Preacy, Pointless..
Review: I have been a huge Goodkind fan in the past, even meeting him in person once at a bookstore. So I am probably more disappointed than a casual reader in the latest (and hopefully last) installment in this series.
I can sum up up the book in three sections:
1. Beginning: PADDED
2. Middle: PREACHY
3. End: POINTLESS AND PAT 1. Beginning: PADDED:
The first portion lags horribly, as characters spend all their time in repetitive dialog, rehashing things ad nauseum that they said only a few pages earlier, for no apparent reason. It feels as though there were 10 pages that needed to expanded to 10 chapters, and the method was talk, talk, talk without actually communicating anything new.
2. Middle: PREACHY
The middle is preachy. Did I say preachy? well, it is. Richard spends all his time expounding in the most stilted and pedantic fashion a very simple concept. In order to allow the author to hammer this sermon home time and again, he has to write an enclave of characters as unreasonably obtuse, to allow Richard the opportunity to reexplain the gist over an over again with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, while at the same time portraying anyone disagreeing with the sermon as blind or idiotic.
This might have been acceptable if the sermon was something enlightening or some sort of revelation. But its fairly basic: its ok for an organism to protect itself against a threat. There, I've given you the entire sermon in one sentence, but it takes chapters and chapters of reiteration until you're mind is numb from the repetition before he ever abandons the sermon...temporarily, only to reprise it again in the last third as an "I told you so".
3. End: POINTLESS AND PAT: In possibly the worst case ever witnessed of "Magicus ex machina", four supposedly insurmountable problems are instantly solved in the last 10% of the book by devices not revealed to the reader until that moment. One particular solution simply materializes out of thin air with no explanation or logic.
Additionally, an enemy supposedly more dangerous than anything previously encountered has an achilles heel that is both incredibly obvious and too easily exploited. and did I mention preachy? ok, so I did. This series formerly was a high example of engaging characters that valued honor and sacrifice above all, and this book turns that hallmark on its head: the characters are tedious or insipid, honor is absent and the sacrifice of others in favor of yourself is championed as the highest virtue.
Rating:
Summary: The story stays alive
Review: I was a little dubious after having read some negative reviews on this book and after reading Robert Jordan's latest book which I felt was a parody on his own style. However, I quickly found myself absorbed in the book. The storyline still evolves. The writer still has a special touch which involves me in the story. The story still feels alive and touching. Richard Rahl still learns a little more even if it goes slowly and is only hinted at in the end. All in all, a good book with all the neccessary ingredients. True, I would have loved for Richard to get more powers, but that is about the only negative thing I have to say about this addition to the series. --- Mats ---
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