Rating: Summary: But what happened to the main characters? Review: This book is well-written. Were it the first book in a series about a woman named Jennsen, I would give it at least four stars, and probably five. But this is not a series about Jennsen--it's about Richard. I find it hard to believe that Terry Goodkind, of whom I am a great fan, could have forgotten that he has created a fan-following for Richard Rahl, his beloved wife Kahlan, and their various contemporaries. We never see the world from any of their view-points in this book; we don't actually meet "Lord Rahl" until page 450. Those of you who like the other Goodkind books but don't actually like Richard, I suspect that you'll enjoy this book. However, those of us who like the protagonists of this series very much and have been waiting a year to see their characters deepen and grow will be very disappointed. Also, hasn't Richard already had one insane half-brother who has made agreements with dark forces to usurp Richard's hold over D-Hara? Well, meet Oba, whose character is virtually identical to Drefan's, except that he is maybe even more power-hungry. Overall, this book was an extreme disappointment to me. I find it annoying knowing that I will faithfully wait another year for the next book to come out, and I will spend another twenty dollars on it. I just hope the Goodkind actually advances the plot in the upcoming book.
Rating: Summary: Boo! Hiss! Review: What IS this? IF Goodkind is going to abandon the story he was telling and throw a couple of chapters of Richard and Kahlan in to officially make it a SOT book, how can anyone think this is a continuing series? What a ripoff!These books have really been losing steam since STONE OF TEARS which was the apex of the series at book 2. THe worst was probably Soul of the Fire, until now. The last one, FAITH OF THE FALLEN, had some signs of redemption, though it was a lot of political ranting and raving based on Ayn Rand. I can't believe I preordered this book, and I will never do it again.
Rating: Summary: Well, its a different view for sure. Review: The latest book offers a different view entirely from Goodkind's earlier works. Instead of following the works of Khalan and Richard, the reader follows the acts of two new characters. There is nothing wrong with them, but it was irritating to know nothing of the main characters at least in the beginning. By the end, I was appreciative of this new method and actually relished the ending. If you expect to find Richard walking through with his sword, destroying the Imperial Order, then you wil be disappointed. Goodkind does deliver on his promise to deliver the nobility of man. It sparks of much the same effort that Richard faced with Nicci in the last novel. If you really liked that novel, then you will like this one. If you disliked watching Richard work, and miss the days of his rule with the sword, then you may not like it.
Rating: Summary: Declining Series Review: This is the seventh in a series of books that started with great promise in Wizards First Rule, was enhanced with Stone of Tears but only seems to be waning in quality as each subsequent installment is released. With Richard (or any other previously major character) not appearing in earnest until nearly page 500 (of 557), the plot is filled with characters that show little to no development, demonstrate no amazing insight into life and have nothing really to do with any larger story that I might have thought was being created with the series. In fact, excepting only the same names of towns and the political structure of the land, there is almost nothing linking this book to its predecessors. Why this would be considered a volume in a series is beyond me. Save for another plodding progress of a heroine that follows the standard story of hating the family Rahl to eventually supporting Richard when she learns the he is not like the others, there is really story to describe. A slow progress through uninspired conversations with only a modicum of any real link to a continuing storyline, I read though it hoping to get to an interesting section but the book ended first. There is nothing particularly interesting in or about this book, I grant the extra star because I was really looking forward to reading it and some of the residual excitement remains. This series started off well, I am quite disappointed.
Rating: Summary: I can not believe how bad this book is! Review: I am so utterly depressed about this book. After waiting so long to find out about Richard and Khalan, and how they will deal with the impending war, the out come of the rebellion, and the rest of the lose threads....we get this! This is a lame book about a lame character. I have been a devout reader of this series, but this has got to be the worst disappointment I have had since I have started reading. Richard and Khalan are only after thoughts in this book and only come into play the last few chapters. This has to be joke, this can't be the real book right? I can't say enough about how badly this book s!@#s, so I have to stop before I get really upset!
Rating: Summary: First reviewer Review: This book is very good if you enjoy childish fantasy novels that lack character depth. The plot is amusingly simple. I think its time for Goodkind to give his novels a rest. I for one am tired of the good samaritan-like characters.
Rating: Summary: Good, but not his best Review: I have anxiously been awaiting this book to hit the shelves, and I can't tell you how many times I have reread Faith of the Fallen in preparation for Pillars of Creation coming out. Faith of the fallen is one of those rare books that really stand out amongst it's peers, but in reality has no peers due to the incredible rhetoric and imaginative writing of Terry Goodkind. But I am not reviewing that book. I fell in love with the Sword of Truth series from the start. I had been reading Jordans book feverishly until they started to become boring, and dependably dull. His series started to flag (I feel) by the 6th-7th book and it has been downhill ever since. Goodkind to me took some of the same ideas as Jordan in writing a series, but I feel as though he learned from Jordan, and didn't make the same tired mistakes. Goodking constantly kept his characters moving, growing, the plot shifting, and new wonders appeared in every book. It is for this that I have revered the series up until the last book. This new book by Goodkind is a good book. I will give him that. He is a very proficient writing, and has used the land he created almost in a selfish way I feel to explore ideas beyond the regular scope of his novels. I will explain. The book is about children of Darken Rahl that were saved from summarily being killed at birth as Rahl's are wont to do. These children by the storys beginning have grown to adulthood, and have been on the run from the ruthless minions of house Rahl their entire life. Though the lifelines of these children start out simply and independant, their stories quickly link up, and crisscross each other until the end of the novel. Their adventures with the Imperial Army, and within the land of D'Hara is sprinkled with excellent writing, yet my gripe with the story is that the main protagonist: Richard Rahl and his associates are not written about until page 450. Yes you heard correctly: the main characters of this series, Richard, Kahlan, Cara, who have fueled all of the plot thus far were not written about until the book was 4/5ths done. I respect this from Goodkind, as he probably wanted to use alternative characters to explore the world he had created, and see it from a different point of view, but I feel as though he should have written more about Kahlan and Richard, just to allow them to grow that much more in this book. So that is my gripe with this book. It was a well written book, but I wish that Goodkind had written a little more about the characters I have grown to admire greatly. Incidentally Richard does learn one more Wizards Rule, and the streak is kept alive as we are now up to 7 rules of "living life as wizards do". Good book, well written, the characters were interesting, if not who I really wanted to read about. But in the process I was able to learn a little more of the mystique of the land and some of its inherent magic, and that is always a positive thing. So I would call reading this book overall a very enjoyable experience, if slightly unexpected.
Rating: Summary: Oh Terry.... Review: I have been reading Goodkind for years now, ever since "The Stone of Tears" came out. His first two books are among my top 5 fantasy. "Blood of The Fold", "Temple of The Winds", and "Soul of the Fire" are all in my top ten. Number 6, "Faith of the Fallen", is my favorite book of all time. I absolutely loved it. I think that Terry reached the perfect combination of war and philosophy in number 6, and I had extremely high hopes for "The Pillars of Creation". I even skipped school today to be one of the first people in Pennsylvania to get the book. But I have to say that I was disappointed. "The Pillars of Creation" really let me down. Richard and Kahlan only appear in the last 50 pages or so, and I was not enthralled by the 2 new characters that take up the rest of the book. To me it felt as if some other talented writer had read all of the Sword of Truth series, and then tried to write the next book to it. I didn't think that the story flowed very well, and there were more holes than in the rest of the series combined. I was very disappointed to not get to see Richard for more than a few pages. Although I recommend that everyone who has read the rest of the series read this book (just to keep up), I am depressed that this is what I have waited a year for. I suppose that now I start waiting for number #8, huh?
Rating: Summary: Based on what we have been led to believe Review: Although this is not a fanatical or religious book Terry is obviously well versed in scripture, that is what captures the reader in this one. This is since we all have a little background on the subject and when we read well written material that supports what we have experienced it becomes more than interesting to us, we become captured, we start to project, we expect what we know. Especially when the subject is the dark forces many of us have heightened interest. But Terry has originality that surprises our projections yet agrees with what could have been, in other words the write does not deviate into the unreal. This is a book all aware conscious persons will get into due to we all think of salvation, especially from...well you know. That is what makes this one great, Terry did it write right. There is nothing trashy or weak about Pillars of Creation, it is a solid book that took years (probably in Terry's mind for years to write this idea, maybe since he was a child) of education(experience)to put into a entertaining and well thought out central storyline. If you want an enjoyable book that finishes it off quite well and has this strength read Karl Mark Maddox SB 1 or God.
Rating: Summary: AWESOME!!! Review: This book was one awsome book!
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