Rating: 
Summary: Great book, but disappointing
Review: I too am in line with the majority of the reviews listed here. The reason I give it 3 stars is because the story is good, I enjoyed it and Terry Goodkind still remains one of my favorite authors if not favorite, however I was just disappointed that I read 500 pages of a side story and 50 pages of the actual Sword of Truth plot. I suppose if it wasn't Terry Goodkind and his previous book shadn't given me hours of enjoyment, then I would have dropped the review a little.
The book was very good and as usual, Terry Goodkind gave me insomnia for the past two days. I was, however, disappointed in a few things. First, the star characters made up only about 50 pages. Second, the story did not continue where it left off (really). Third, it was as though the Sword of Truth series ended and this was the beginning of a new series that happened to have a cameo of Khalan, Richard and Cara. I think the book should have been a side story (ie: the Dragonlance Chronicles, Legends and War of the Souls vs. the other 100 side stories centered around the main trilogies).
It was a great read, I did enjoy the end, and it even brought a tear to my eye. I feel we will all read this book and his next books. I am just hoping that the next book and those beyond stay with the main story line and characters that I have come to love!
Rating:
Summary: Not horribly impressed...
Review: The first book in this series was the best, then they started going downhill. Faith of the Fallen was better than most of the ones before it, and I had high hopes for Pillars of Creation. Alas...
The book wasn't bad. In fact, I stayed up late reading it, which I usually don't do. But, unfortunately, there were so many problems with it that I wanted to tear out my hair at the end... and I didn't mind too much that Richard and Kahlan were absent, but some sort of connection to rpevious books would have been very nice indeed. Personally, though, I think it was doing fine up until the last, say, 50 or 100 pages. Then, it rapidly became unbelieveable.
First, the string of coincidences was just unbearable. ...
I enjoyed the book for the most part, and intend to read the next ones. But it definitely had some flaws that detracted from my enjoyment.
Rating: 
Summary: Ancillary story that makes no difference in the slightest
Review: I am very disappointed in this latest work by Terry Goodkind. This book had nothing to do with the main story other than the use of the names of the "Sword of Truth" characters. To spend half the book on how Oba(?) kills people in the most gruesome way possible shows a disturbing side of Mr. Goodkind. And, the Jennsen character was a loosly reworked copy of "Death's Mistress" from Faith of the Fallen. I already read that book. I could have read that again and got more of a story than reading this book at all! Did Mr. Goodkind write this or some copy boy underling? I read the whole book though, to try and find some validity to it. But, I found none with the minimalist use of Richard and Khalan. I truly believe this was a story meant for a collection of Fantasy works by numerous authors. It has that overwhelming feel of a story that is of no consequence to the main thread. Mr. Goodkind should apologize to his faithful (& duped) readers. Trust has to be earned.
Rating: 
Summary: The Good, The Bad, and The Forgotten
Review: The Good: Jennsen's plight across D'Hara seems very real. I really enjoyed the perspective change that her character brings to life. I do have to agree with other reviewers that I kept waiting for Richard Rahl to show up. I also wanted to know more about the Pillars of Creation and their significance to the storyline. The Bad: Does anyone know what the impact of the destruction of the new temple in the old world has done to Jagang's quest for domination? It would seem that upon news of his new "palace of the prophets" would stall his advance north. The Forgotten: Nathan who? Does anyone remember Nathan Rahl? Ever since his escape in book 2(?), I have been waiting to hear from this troublemaker and then when he is reintroduced he is nothing more that a helpless, wandering, babbling, idiot who can not help out the storyline at all! Oh! and what happened to Oba the Oaf at the Pillars? I would have liked it better if the storyline was moved along instead of developing new characters. All criticisms aside, I did enjoy this book. It was a refreshing story from a different perspective than we are used to in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: like it or hate it
Review: This book was a good read and brought a new perspective to the story. However this series is becoming boring, simillar to robert jordans series that died. I loved this book, but as you can tell with the reviews, people either love the new twist or hate it. I was lokking forward to seeing what would happen to richard but then he took a new path.
Rating:
Summary: where's Richard?
Review: Great book, but it seems a little late in the series to indroduce a new major character. I kept waiting for Richard to show up. This book just made me crave the next book in the series even more.
Rating: 
Summary: Unbelievable characters mar this story
Review: I have been a fan of the Sword of Truth series since it came out even though I sometimes believe it to be a set of books which might be more aptly named "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." Therefore, I was excited to read Goodkind's most recent addition to the story-line; however, this is not to be considered an addition so much as a side trip. The story hovers in the wings of important events - only occasionally touching upon the crucial elements which make up the Sword of Truth plot. Introducing new characters and stories isn't a bad thing - just the manner in which it was done could have been better. This brings me to my biggest complaint: the two new characters presented here, Oba and Jennsen. Neither are actually believable as being thinking, young, adults but might be thought of as ignorant children within adult bodies. Yes, they are brought up in seclusion and that may have stunted their intellectual development, but in reality they see the world as a 10 year old might and that hampers the story incredibly. I never did care about whether these characters lived or died and that made this book extremely difficult to get through. On a positive note, it is refreshing to see the world which we've come to know fairly well through someone else's eyes and Goodkind does a good job here. Unfortunately, I would not recommend "The Pillars of Creation" simply because of the character development.
Rating:
Summary: Irresistable, yet disappointing overall
Review: I read this book in two sittings. I couldn't put it down, but that may have had more to do with the fact that my day was awful and I didn't want to face the real world. As always, Terry Goodkind provided an alternate world into which I could immerse myself. Unfortunately, however, when I finished this, book, I did not find myself raving about how good it had been. I did not experience the normal rush I usually receive when finishing one of his books. Instead, I cam away feeling like I had been preached to. I noticed in his last book Goodkind's open defense of capitalism as the saving god of the world. his preaching got even worse in this book. I felt that every way I turned, instead of being given a pleasurable story, i was being forced to listen to his endless preaching about one or another problem facing society today. In this book, while Goodkind does offer a fresh perspective on his world, he strays too far into the realm of proselytizer. The story is good, though I felt betrayed by the heartless abandonment of Oba at the end. Oba was an evil character, created as such (and drawing very much off the villain from Intensity by Dean Koontz), but the way he is so casually abandoned to die at the end of the book seems not to fit with the nature of Richard and Kahlan.
Terry Goodkind has sought to create fascinating characters that we can love and adore, but the oh so typical theme of ignorant lass being misled by a worldly man is so overdone that it made me sick. Goodkind has ceased to be original and has borrowed themes and even characters from other authors as well as himself. while this book was a good story, and mostly gripping, i did find it to be a very large disappointment upon completion. i am still a goodkind fan, and eagerly await his next book, but if that is the same as this one, i fear that i will have lost one of my favorite authors.
Rating:
Summary: I wonder..........
Review: As for this book, I felt the best analogy to describe it is a foundation. If the next book(s) are really good, then they will have been built upon this foundation, but if they aren't, then all we have is a lot of rubble. I have faith in Terry to build upon this foundation into a mansion. Also there are many characters I have been wondering what has happened to
-Chase (What is the most dangerous ungifted man in the New World doing now that the boundary has fallen?)
-Shota (Shota is always up to something, always)
-Prelate Annalina - (what exactly was her encounter with the Healers of Redcliffe?)
-Nathan (What is he up to at the People's Palace, and what did he do before he went there?)
-Sister Ulicia (Disappeared after swearing loyalty to Richard. I doubt the leader of the Sisters of the Dark has been sitting on her hands all this time)
-Nicci (would like to see what she's been up to since her "conversion")
-Gratch (what is that gar up to?)
Rating:
Summary: A nice addition to a wonderful series, but...
Review: My first reaction when I finish The Pillars of Creation was disappointment. After the rejuvenating plot and story of Faith of the Fallen (an excellent read, by the way) I was expecting a bit more than what was delivered. However, the book is ust as captivating and enjoyable as all of Goodkind's works in this series.
It seemed to me that this book expected reader's to be fimiliar with the Sword of Truth world and characters, and this made me feel like I was reading a straight-up sequel, which I've never fely before in the previous books. The fact that most of the story centralised around Jennsen and not the star characters of Richard and Kahlan seemed a huge let down, although I enjoyed Zedd and Adie's small but important scenes.
I also felt that the book lacked the depth and length of the previous works. Perhaps this is just my opinon, but I honestly felt let down by Mr.Goodkind by this book. However, I recommend it to every Sword of Truth reader, but everyone else should just start at Wizard's First Rule.
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