Rating: 
Summary: Agreed....Not what was expected, but this book is great
Review: Anyone out there who is a Die-hard Goodkind fan will know that this book was not what was expected considering the end of his sixth book. After getting over the initial shock that Richard and Kahlan were indeed not going to be written about, I became immersed in Jennsen's story and went on to enjoy the book very much. Now lets take a step back here and think about what it is about Goodkinds books that make them truly better than the rest. Each book has a specific moral lesson to be learned in the form of a Wizard's Rule, and if you think on it, you'll know that in everybook preceding this one, the rule plays an integral part of the book to almost every single character in it. this book is no exception. The lesson learned in the seventh installment could not have been learned by richard because he already knows it. It took a flawed character with a lot of fear like Jennsen to learn it and ultimately teach the lesson to us the readers. The rules of these books and Mr. Goodkinds writing are what make them the best, with or without Richard. And besides, i'm sure he's got a lot to write about for the next book. We're left hanging in this one moreso than in the last one... if that is even possible. This was a really good book.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but could have been better
Review: A summary look at the reviews shows how many readers liked the book less than the others due to the fact that Richard and Kahlan did not appear until near the end. I tend to agree with that, although the new perspective did have its merits. As used as we are to reading about Richard, mover of worlds, it is refreshing to see a new person on stage who is in a similar position as Richard was in Wizard's First Rule.
A growing problem I have with the series is that the last two volumes concentrated largely on the Imperial Order's philosophy. Especially after Faith of the Fallen, it is starting to wear thin. The basic story of the Pillars of Creation in that sense is: girl start believing in obviously wrong philosophy but sees the light at the end and starts reasoning like Richard.
Do not get me wrong, it was an enjoyable book, although the cover did suggest a more central role for Richard and Kahlan, but I think Terry Goodkind convinced everybody how wrong and cruel the Imperial Order is.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Interesting New Style
Review: I love The Sword of Truth Series! My favorite two books in it are books one and six(though I can't decide which is the better of the two). When I first started this book, I was eager to jump back into the lives of Richard and Kahlan. I wanted to see where they went from the amazing end of book six. As I read about Jennsen, Sebastian, and Oba, I found myself continually flipping ahead and reading the first few lines of the next chapter to see where Richard came into the picture. It disappointed me at first to see that the main characters were only mentioned or referenced until the very end of the book. I did enjoy the story, but I felt like it dragged a little compared to the other books. One of the best parts of this book was the way Terry Goodkind showed his readers what it was like from the other side, the enemies views. He touched on that subject with Nicci in book six, but in book seven, he showed the Order and the fear of Lord Rahl in depth. I always thought about watching a story unfold from the other vantage-point. Terry Goodkind achieved that in this book. In the end, it turned out be a good story, even though it didn't leave me in a state of wonder like any of the other books in this series.
Rating: 
Summary: Huge Disappointment
Review: There are few books that I've anticipated as eagerly as I did this one. As others have said before me, I wanted to find out what happened with Richard, Kahlan, Zedd, Cara, all the familiar characters I've felt myself grow close to in reading this series. The synopsis on the side jacket of this book left me no reason to think that it would be otherwise, that I'd open up this book and for the majority of it, not even get a glimpse of the characters I've been waiting to rejoin all this time. That's what gets to me most of all. Not only did this book introduce some very uninspiring, bland characters I simply could not get into who utterly dominated the book, but the synopsis was completely misleading! It made me think I was buying a Richard & Kahlan book, referred to them as if they were a large chunk of the content, and then, surprise, didn't bother to include them except for a few paltry pages. Had this book made it clear that this was a new thread, following new characters, I might not have felt so cheated and angry, as I'm sure others did. As it was, I was shocked page after page, when there was still no trace of all the characters I'd come to expect. Then I logged onto Amazon.com, read some reviews, and found out the truth of the matter, that I wouldn't be seeing them anytime soon. Overall, big disappointment from one of my favorite authors. All I can do is hope for the best with the next book.
Rating: 
Summary: What the...?
Review: We wait all this time to find out what happens to Zedd and Richard and Kahlan and Cara, one of my personal favorites, and what do we get? A completely new story with all of our favorite heroes as afterthoughts! I was looking forward to this book with vigor; after all, "Faith of the Fallen" was a beautiful and stunning work written by a true writer. I cared deeply about Richard and Kahlan and Nicci, and wondered what would happen to them. And what do we get? A completely off-kelter story about people I don't even care about and undoubtedly never will! They would be great as a sub-plot, but really! You can't write 6 books about characters that your readers learn to care deeply about and then write a book about some other chick and her problems and sell it in the same series! Frankly, I don't really care to know about Jennsen and Oba and Sebastian and the sorceress dames. I eagerly await Terry Goodkind's next book, and hope its a hell of a lot better than this one.
Rating:
Summary: not recomended
Review: This book reminds me nothing of Terry Goodkinds earlier work. I was very dissappointed by every aspect of the book and only finished reading it out of disbelief that it could be so bad. I am a big fan of the sword of truth series, but the book bears no resemblance. Although it seems the novel is supposed to part of the series, I still dont know if it is even the same story. I almost feel bad writing this review because I liked his other books so much, but dont read this book! it will seriously disapoint you
Rating:
Summary: Where's Ulic and Egan?
Review: That's what I want to know. Those guys are so awesome, I have no idea why Mr. Goodkind would purposely want to leave them out of the book. Jennesen is soooo pyscho, she doesn't even understand what is happening around her. She is so brainwashed it makes me sick to read. Oba is a sadistic little welp that should get a soldiers' pike upside the head, that'll open his eyes to what he really is. This book is missing key ingredients: ALL THE MAIN CHARACTERS FROM THE PREVIOUS SERIES. Mr. Goodkind, give the people what they want. Not some thought up on a whim stupidity that you've written.
Rating:
Summary: A real let-down
Review: I was surprised at how bad this book was. I like Goodkind and I loved the rest of the series, especially Faith of the Fallen. It was a real shock to me, therefore, how disappointing this was. Some of the other reviewers have already mentioned some of the points that the book lacked. Richard and Kahlan were not to be seen until the end, the plot had huge, gaping holes, the book did nothing to carry on the general plot line Goodkind has established in the previous books. Much as I do at the end of a bad movie, I just wanted to get the time I wasted on the book back.
Rating:
Summary: As fantasy: Good...as Sword of Truth: okay at best
Review: One reviewer claimed this novel to be a Parallel novel in the this series and not a TRUE 'Sword of Truth' novel, and I am 100% in agreement. Where 'Pillars' DOES take place in the world of Richard & Kahlan, these 'Main' characters are nowhere to be seen nor heard from until the VERY end of this story, and even THEN from the point of view of totally new characters. At first I thought I was going to have to endure another story in the vein of 'Soul of the Fire' which if you remember brought forth the city of Anderith, and Richard & Kahlan's involvement in that story was about half as much as the previous novels. I am not a huge fan of 'Soul of the Fire' if you can't tell. Also, the jacket cover for 'Pillars' misleads us into believing that our usual protagonists will be the center of this story--which they most assuredly are NOT. I also noticed that of ALL the novels in this series, this is the ONLY one that does not claim to be a 'Sword of Truth' novel on the front. With all of those complaints aside, I MUST admit, I STILL enjoyed this story--very much in fact. While it still fell short of all but 'Soul of the Fire', it was a great story well told that anyone could read whether you had finished the 1st 6 novels or not. In fact, this would have made a great first novel in the series rather than the 7th novel in this otherwise fantastic series and a pitiful follow-up to the fantastic 'Faith of the Fallen'. 'Pillars' begins with more tales of the Children of Darken Rahl, specifically Jennsen and another Drefan-like character named, Oba, who is slightly slow, but incredibly dangerous. Jennsen has a somewhat chance meeting with Emperor Jagang's Strategist, Sebastian who on the outside seems to be a genuinely good person...but as we all know, ANYONE working for Jagang can't be all that good. Jennsen has been in hiding her entire life from Quad's sent by Darken Rahl to kill his UN-Gifted seed. She is
convinced by careful prodding from Sebastian that Darken Rahl's son and heir, Richard Rahl, has continued his Father's horrific trend of killing any threats to his throne. Before long, Jennsen is on a quest to find, and kill Richard to end her suffering and to avenge the death of her Mother. Oba is a slightly dim-witted man whose life is run by his drill-sergeant like mother. She shows him very little (if any) compassion and insults him at every opportunity and Oba, like his half-sister, Jennsen, also hears voices. The difference between the two are how they react TO those voices. Once again, Terry Goodkind has constructed a great story that revolves around (mostly) Jennsen & Sebastian and their quest to destroy Richard Rahl. Aside from TOR books cheating us readers into believing this story to be a straight-forward Sword of Truth novel, I STILL have to hand it to Terry for entertaining me once again. I must admit however, that I will be more careful when book #8 hits the stores, and if it too cheats us into thinking this is a full-on novel about Richard & Kahlan and ISN'T, I will wait until it comes out in paperback, and even then I'll most likely wait until I see it at a used store before I pick it up. Cheating the people who made Terry Goodkind the New York Times Bestselling author that he has become today means that unless he (and TOR books) changes the way they market novels, his continual trips up the bestseller list may have come to an end.
Rating:
Summary: A surprising disappointment
Review: It appears the author attempted to extend the series (and his profits) by devoting an entire book to an uninteresting new character. I have never been more disappointed in Goodkind. I actually returned the book back to the store. It is not one that I even want in my Goodkind collection. On a different note: although I am a great fan of Ayn Rand I've become a bit disappointed in the direction/tone of the series which at times it seems Goodkind is lecturing Objectivism: reason, individualism, freedom, concepts as abstract ideas, rational egoism, etc. No where was this more prevalent than in Faith of the Fallen. I'm pretty surprised that it took me until Book 6 to actually notice it. But Richard is definitely Rand's "heroic being" in a fantasy context. Not that it's a bad thing only give me more action and less philosphical lecturing.
|
