Rating: 
Summary: Julian May was much better
Review: Check out Julian May's 'Many Coloured Land' series. A great story with characters you can empathise with, that read well from start to finish and really ended. Goodkind started out well but has now become too confused in my mind with Robert Jordan, plus he preaches too much and too simplisticly.Very disappointing - borrow it from the library if you must read it.
Rating:
Summary: Plot or not?
Review: Did you read the inside flap and find yourself disappointed when an outtake from the book was given and not a plot summary? That's because there was no plot...well...no new plot.
Rating:
Summary: sad
Review: This series had such potential, and it is now being run into the ground with silly rambling attempts at philosophy. He did such a great job creating these characters, making you care about them, empathizing with their inner emotions and struggles, their physical danger. The first few books were so deep and cleverly written that you could feel it. Maybe I've gone cold-hearted, but I just don't care anymore and I'm not feeling it. Trying to be more than it was has diluted this series tremendously. Stick with what people liked instead of being so ambitious it comes out a convoluted disarray of pontifications.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: Short and Sweet- At least a good author keeps on writing. For his fans this will not be a let down. When's the next one coming out?
Rating:
Summary: Lost its way
Review: I don't write reviews often, but I really wanted to warn people away from the Sword of Truth series based on the last 2 volumes. It is such a shame because, like many of the reviewers here, I loved the earlier books and saw real promise to the series. Why is this one so terrible. Well, have you ever read a book where 80 pages are dedicated to one speech? I counted them. From the point Richard assembles the crowd he wants to talk to, to the point where the conversation finished - it is a staggering 80 pages! In fact, more space is given to that than is given to building to the conclusion. My Goodkind seems to be using these latest volumes to preach at people, and frankly, it makes for a very boring read. Please, please, if you are considering reading the Sword of Truth series - don't. You will only end up disappointed like so many of the other reviewers here.
Rating:
Summary: A great disappointment
Review: In general, I have found the Sword of Truth series to be very enjoyable and have recommended the books to many; however this last book has been extremely difficult to read. Frequently, Goodkind preaches to the reader for countless pages concerning issues that are clearly reflective of world politics during the last couple years (9-11, Iraq, so forth and so on). The quality and definition of his characters are frequently flushed down the toilet during his extensive babbling over the meaning and value of freedom. At times it is unbelievably hard to distinguish between the inner monologues of the main characters because they all seem to blend together in tone and singular message. At times you find yourself begging he'd just drop the issue and move on with the story. While I'm proud of my country and our way of life, I read to get away from reality and the media. I don't need my diversions to become a source of another point of view on world politics. I hope Goodkind remembers the personalities and admirable qualities he gave to each of the characters we have come to love, and reasserts them in future books. As is, I can barely recognize the characters as the same from previous books. In short, this latest book shows a complete lack of effort on Goodkind's part. It lacks the imagination and cleverness that I have come to expect. The plot fluctuates between predictable and absurd, and the actions taken by the characters seem uncharacteristic and overly simplistic. Goodkind let his personal feelings for world politics influence his writing and the result is a book that nags the reader with a singular message from the author, leaving the reader disappointed from cover to cover.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing Special
Review: I am a little over half way through this book. I have read all of his books in this series. I have not really been impressed with any of his books to begin with nor with his writing. I consider his books to be fillers between the Jordan books, even though Jordan's last was horrible and frustrating. Goodkind seems to have very little that is original, or at least he cannot present an old idea with a fresh face. Come one, Sisters of the Light? > Aes Sedai? Sisters of the Dark? > Black Ajah? Mud men? > Aiel? Sword of Truth? > Sword of Shannara? I also tend to get a little annoyed when he has the characters go round and round discussing the same thing over and over again for 40 or 50 pages. This happens a lot in this book. I really wish that he would write more about Nathan and have him do something. I also don't think he has enough Zed in the books. This book did not have enough substance and I don't really believe that he has any intention of finishing anytime soon. Once again, his books are generally decent to read, but few of them are memorable to me. I do have to admit, that his stories have definately gone down hill. His last two books have been pretty bad.
Rating: 
Summary: Do you remember?
Review: Do you remember getting getting goosebumps when Richard was named "The Seeker of Truth"? Do you remember how misty eyed you got when Gratch hugged Richard and said he "luuuuugggged" him when Richard tried to send him away? Or how you turned away from your computer at work to sneak a few pages in when Richard got captured by the Mord Sith? You ain't getting that emotion here or in the previous two books. Actually, I'm wrong, there is one point in the book where that kind of emotion did briefly make an appearance. And that is with the reintroduction of two favorite characters that we haven't seen nor heard from for several books. Mainly because it was a link to the past books. Unfortunately great characters like Scarlet and Gratch seem to have been forgotten. What I want from the next book or books is this: Richard, Kahlan, Cara, Zedd to be back together in D'Hara. I want Gratch and Scarlett to at least be mentioned (even though it was eluded to during the Pillars of Creation that Scarlet's kind may no longer exist). I want to see the Mord Sith worry the hell out of Richard by constantly protecting him. I want Chandelen and the Mud People. I want and epic battle when Jagang Order meet the D'Harans. I want more Nathan. And I want Richard to learn how to use his damn magic. I want goosebumps, misty eyes and I want to read at work when I should be working.
Rating:
Summary: the downward spiral continues
Review: This series started off so well...and has fallen so far. We watched as Richard Rahl changed from simple woods guide to war wizard. Over the last few books, especially this one, we watch as he morphs again from hero to haughty, self-righteous preacher of an ascinine belief system that only Rush Limbaugh could take seriously, much less love (when he's not stoned on painkillers, anyway). Kahlan and the other characters, so prominent in earlier novels, have become nothing more than colorless, bland blotches who bob their heads every time Richard pontificates more of his nonsense. There is virtually no action in this novel; strip it of Richard's endless sermonizing and it is perhaps a hundred or so pages. A few moments of the classic Goodkind only remind us of how very far this series has fallen. Clearly, buoyed by his early success, Goodkind now fancies himself a philosopher. Unfortunately, his philosophy is riddled with logical holes and is so unsophisticated, if now outright laughable, I'm ashamed for him. Are we really to believe that a whole nation's worth of people were banished for their political beliefs and that no one, over many thousands of years, ever once thought of those beliefs again? Can we take Richard, now the absolute dictator-for-life of an imperialist nation, seriously as he spouts off about freedom and personal choice? Bad, bad, bad. If you really want to read political philosophy in this vein, pick up one of Pat Buchanon's or Rush Limbaugh's books, they say the same things, and say it far better. If you want to read a fantasy novel, seek elsewhere. Perhaps Dave Duncan, Katherine Kurtz, or George RR Martin...Goodkind is no more.
Rating:
Summary: Hopefully awaiting the next installment
Review: I first started reading the Sword of Truth series when my fiance became obsessed and I wanted to see what all of the fuss was about. I quickly became obsessed myself. I was fascinated and captivated by the imagination of the author and his style of writing that draws readers into the book. Unfortunately, I have been less than impressed with the last two or three installments in the series. Where did the magic go? I see traces of it every once in a while, but I miss the magic and all of the magical creatures as well. I also hope that there is an end in sight to this current struggle between Richard and the emperor. It's time for a new plot twist. I am hopefully awaiting the next installment and keeping my fingers crossed that I won't be disappointed.
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