Rating: 
Summary: One Word: Atrocious
Review: I have not read any of Terry Goodkind's other books, so I cannot comment on The Pillars of Creation's relative merits. On the other hand, I am blissfully unhampered by any loyalty to the series or the author. My review, therefore, judges the book as a stand-alone novel in the fantasy genre.Plainly put: the book is terrible. I have never until now finished a book feeling angry, no matter how much I disliked it. And I have never felt compelled to write a review, good or bad -- but I cannot in good conscience let unsuspecting readers begin this book without forewarning. Plot: Negligable. The heroine strives endlessly to eliminate Richard Rahl and to understand the ramifications of her own ungiftedness -- and ultimately fails to do either. There are too many convenient coincidences (meeting the mother with her sick baby; finding the fever roses in Sebastian's pack; etc) for there to be any satisfaction or surprise in the book's final denouement. The ending is totally unbelievable and too convenient, as if hastily slopped together without the least respect for character integrity or plot congruity. And any reader with half a brain -- or any reader who has read the book's back cover -- can figure out who the real villains are within mere pages of meeting them. Characters: Bland, lifeless, boring, and moronic. My sympathy for Jennsen peaked at slightly-above-indifference shortly after her mother's death. It was all downhill from there. She is utterly one-sided and uninteresting -- not to mention impossibly dumb. Oba, too, is stupid, which makes him almost totally uninteresting as an antagonist. In fact, he is such a caricature of The Bad Guy that it was impossible to feel anything at his acts of obscene brutality except disgust that Mr. Goodkind would try to manipulate his readers with such a callous treatment of sexual violence. Writing Style: Astonishingly poor. It is hard to believe that this author has written good books in the past. Is Mr. Goodkind being paid by the word? How many times do I need to hear about the reassuring click of Jennsen's knife as she compulsively checks that it still fits into its sheath? Or that forests have trees, and Jennsen is comfortable in forests, but this one makes her nervous, because there could be soldiers! but thank goodness Sebastian is around to protect her in this forest filled with trees. And have I mentioned that Oba is invincible? You might never have guessed it from the first twenty encounters with the sentence "He was invincible," but surprisingly enough, it turns out to be (almost) true. The descriptions are interminable and irrelevant. There are no surprises. Most of the characters embody well-worn cliches about the nature of good, evil, power and -- in Jennsen's case -- blithering obliviousness. And there are really no words to describe the goat fixation. Read this book if you must, but be forewarned. The Pillars of Creation does not stand alone apart from the series; it teeters, it totters, and it crumbles into a mess of disappointment and repetition. It is, if anything, a monument to everything a good fantasy book should not be. Good luck.
Rating:
Summary: Imaginative but Repetitive
Review: Goodkinds stories have great plot lines and characters, but his writing style leaves much to be desired. The books look hefty when you first see them, but if you cut out the rehashing and catching up, you're left with only a few interesting events. Goodkind's need to "remind" you of things that happened only a few chapters ago tend to drive returning readers crazy. If he shortened his books by a few chapters and cut to the chase he would probably be twice as good.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Fantasy Series Continues: The Pillars of Creation
Review: "Evil thinks not to beguile us by unveiling the terrible truth of its festering intent, but comes, instead, disguised in the diaphanous robes of virtue, whispering sweet-sounding lies intended to seduce us into the dark bed of our eternal graves.
---translated from Koloblicin's Journal" A quote that could easily apply to events in our modern world, but comes from the seventh book of this very enjoyable series. However, while the work itself is fairly good, the reader is set up for disappointment if one believes the unbelievably misleading jacket copy. Being charitable, one might consider it the honest effort of someone totally unfamiliar with the series, characters involved, and who apparently never bothered to take the simple step of actually reading the book. Or from a more cynical viewpoint, it might be stated that an assumption was made that the jacket copy should be written the way it was in order to pump up sales for those of us that actually expected to read about Lord Richard Rahl, Mother Confessor Kahlan, and their ongoing battle with the evil Keeper. They do make their appearance, but not as the jacket suggests throughout the entire novel. Instead, they arrive on page 500 of the 557-page novel. Either way it was done, the jacket copy is completely worthless so please do not be misled. After six preceding novels, the back-story is important and quite complex. Simplifying greatly, Richard Rahl is the offspring of a Lord Rahl, who was an evil ruler and a tool of the demon of the underworld, Keeper. Richard Rahl eventually followed one of the great prophecies ordained thousands of years ago and written in the great books in the Wizard's Keep and deposed his father and became Lord Richard Rahl. Against various foes and dark forces, he has tried to change things for the better for his people and to wipe out the scourge of the dream walker, also known as the Keeper. Lord Rahl is a throwback wizard to more ancient times in this land of magic. He has the power not only of the additive, but also the negative, forms of magic and in this way has become the one some of the ancient prophecies spoke of with the power to rule, or destroy, the known and unknown world. Along the way, he united with the Mother Confessor Kahlan, both in marriage as well as their peoples. Together, they have sworn to free the world from the clutches of the Keeper. As this novel opens, the battle rages on elsewhere between good and evil. But, Jennsen has her own problems. Both her mother and her are in hiding because Lord Rahl (Richard's father) sent out soldiers years ago to find all his illegitimate offspring and kill them all. He procreated madly, not only because he never met a woman he didn't like but also because he was trying to create his own true heir (that he could control according to another prophecy that may yet come true or not). Her and her mother have been on the run since she was little and Jennsen has always her voices in her head. Voices that no one else hears that tell Jennsen to surrender and give up. She does not know why she hears the voices or what to do when she finds a dead soldier near their hiding place. The dead soldier has her name on a slip of paper and it means that others looking for them must be close by. She is at a loss as to what to do and her panic is mounting by the second. She is even more confused when Sebastian steps out from behind a tree in the rain and offers his help. Soon, they hatch a plan to dispose of the body and to bring the ill Sebastian to Jennsen's home for food and shelter. Soon, events begin to spiral out of control and Jennsen is forced to flee her last home as her mother has been murdered at the hands of soldiers looking for the both. Jennsen sets out on a trail, seeking vengeance for her dead mother as well as the answers to her past. With Sebastian at her side, the trail will eventually lead them both deep in the Old World, and to where life itself began in the barren desert, at the pillars of creation. As noted above, this novel is fairly good on its own merits and is a far cry from the book described on the jacket copy. It seems to be more of a setup novel, where new characters have been added, to go forward with Lord Rahl and the Mother Confessor to correct the situation at the conclusion of the proceeding novel. Magic plays a much smaller role in this novel and there is quite a bit less action as well. Instead, it is more about the journey each character goes through, both physically and emotionally, as they follow what they believe to be the truth as opposed to the actual reality of the situation. While seventh in the series, this novel could be read as a stand alone book as there is a fairly short explanation of the preceding works in the last few pages of the novel. However, I would strongly encourage readers who are interested to go back to the beginning with the first book, Wizard's First Rule. The first book does start off slow, but really picks up about half way through and is well worth the read as are the rest of the series. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Where was Richard, Kahlan, Zedd, etc. ???
Review: When I read the first book in this series, I thought I would not read any more from Goodkind. I found the book to be obsessive in so many different ways. Hair seemed to be of great importance, and as it turns out in some ways it was, but this writer seems pretty obsessed with it. How a persons hair hung loosely down their back but some of it fell in front of their shoulder, or a few strands stuck to their cheek and had to be pulled away with their right hand... Brother!!! I found it irritating. Overall, it was obsessive characters, conversations, thought processes, etc. I also found Richard's first encounter with the Mord-Sith to be overly overt in Sado-Masochism. However, when I finished Wizards First Rule and tried to move on to other reading, I found myself thinking about those characters I had gotten to know, wondering what might become of them. So, to my surprise, I got the remaining books in the series. While still somewhat obsessive, the following books were not quite as bad in that way, and the story line was interesting with characters I grew to really like and care about. Other characters though are seriously demented.....Obsessively so.... I have just finished the Pillars of Creation, and was disappointed to not read more about the main and previous characters. Jennsen, Oba, and the other few personalities in this book left something to be desired. The plot and subsequent outcome of events was transparent, and the main character, Jennsen, did not earn my respect. There was little to love, and a lot to hate, and I felt as if I was reading a book that had little or nothing to do with the previous story line in the series. I derived my first and only real feeling from this book in the last few pages. I will go on to read the next book Naked Empire and am eager to get back into the story line.
Rating: 
Summary: shedding light on other characters
Review: Sure, this book might not be 100% about Richard/Kahlan, etc. like the majority of the previous books were, and though I found it odd at first, eventually I came to enjoy the book as thoroughly as I had the others. It was nice to start with "new" characters for once--getting to know new faces in the series is always interesting. Keeping so many characters balanced and well written is no easy task--yet Goodkind has done it again! ;) A superb book for any die-hard lover of this series.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome, a new protaganist....
Review: and yet the series is still horrible, what gives? I mean how can you not find a series exciting and refreshing when plotlines are rehashed and characters are interchangeable.
Rating:
Summary: Awful
Review: Goodkind has let us down in this last book. There is little or no plot -- certainly no plot developements with regard to Richard, Kahlan or the Order.
As you read the book you'll find yourself encountering the same sentences over and over (sometimes just a few pages back). The metaphors are always the same ('He was invicible.' 'She was invicible.' 'I am tired of running.' 'It felt like lightning.'). The characters are very, very naive and one-dimensional. His two new characters, Jensen and Oba contradict themselves constantly thru their actions. It is not a refreshing, entertaining or enjoyable read.
Owning this book feels like a ripoff -- first time Ive had this feeling and I've ready many many books. If you must read it, get it at the library.
Rating:
Summary: A book of nothing
Review: I was pretty dissapointed by this entry in the Sword of Truth series. The entire book seems like a throwaway, like it was a book that Goodkind had lying around and decided to slightly alter to fit into the Sword of Truth world. You can skip this entry altogether, go into book 8, and not be confused at all, nor will you have missed any essential or even interesting content.
Rating:
Summary: A fresh breath into the series.....
Review: I am not at all dissappointed with the change of characters in this book. Since I have started reading this series, Richard and Co have become like friends to me, and now, Jennsen has been has been added. Just like I felt the struggles with Richard and Kahlan, I feel the same for Jennsen. I understand this book is written how Jennsen perceives the world, and Terry Goodkind does great at giving the reader that perspective.
Overall, I enjoyed this, however, I gave this book four stars instead of 5 because of the goat, and I did not care much for Oba. Oba was twisted and evil, but very stupid. Between Oba, and the goat, I was going to give this book 3 1/2 stars, but, since Oba lost a physical confrontation to Nyda, that brought my rating up a notch. As far as the goat, if Jennsen really needed to have a pet, I believe a dog would of been more suitable. Overall, this book is a good read.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth
Review: If you've read the rest of the Sword of Truth series, this book might be a let down, that is, if you don't like new characters and if you aren't into seeing other points of view. If you're bland and boring and enjoy the same hum-drum tale all the way through a series, then this exciting book isn't for you. However, if you're a true lover of books, as I believe myself to be, you'll appreciate the interesting change of pace and the wonderful detail put into a side character that will come into the main plot. Excellent work.
|
