Stone of Tears (Sword of Truth, Book 2)

Rating:
Summary: A worthy sequel
Review: The second book in the Sword of Truth series has pretty much the same strengths and weaknesses as its predecessor, so if you liked 'Wizard`s First Rule', you should enjoy this one.

The story starts within days of Richard's victory over Darken Rahl, when monsters from the underworld attack in the People's Palace in D'Hara and the Mud People village where Richard and Kahlan have gone. It's soon discovered that Darken Rahl's use of the magic of Orden in Book 1 has weakened the Veil between the worlds of the living and the dead, and Richard and Kahlan are off once again to prevent apocalypse. The angle this time is that prophecy shows that the apocalypse can be prevented only if Kahlan dies.

This time they are mostly separated, Kahlan traveling through the Midlands while Richard leaves with the Sisters of Light to seek to learn mastery over his powers. Once again, there is no shortage of action, but the writing isn't the best, too many fantasy cliches are invoked, and the characters don't show any further development. New characters and locations are introduced, especially in Richard's travels.

Once again, there is a somewhat morbid element running through the book. Along with the battles, there is a good deal of rape, torture, and mutilation. Unlike the prior book, it takes place mostly offstage and we generally get elaborate and excessive desriptions of the results more than the acts.

Rating:
Summary: Worth proceeding
Review: After reading the first book, I didn't know if I should invest the time and keep reading this series or stop right then and there. I couldn't stand all the cheesey dialogue and childish romance between Richard and Kahlan.

Althought Stone of Tears still has that underlying love story, this tale has now matured. Plot developments are more enriched, and Richard and Kahlan keep the cliche out of their love.

I liked this book 10 times more than the first and am excited to start Blood of the Fold.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read
Review: I'm not big on writing lengthy reviews when I like a book compared to when I dislike it. The character developement, the world and the plot are all totally gripping. Excellent book!

Rating:
Summary: I fear for the authors state of mind
Review: I have read fantasy with descriptive acts of torture before but I don't think this descriptive. As much as I wanted to enjoy the book and pay attention to it I couldn't get past the torture parts

These included(but were not limited too)

Torture
Gang Rapes
Beheadings
Skinning people alive but not before the people had their tongues ripped out usually with bare hands or a dull knife

I normally wouldn't mind but most of the time this stuff is carried out with a sort of glee that I would expect from someone who was into bondage or S&M

Another problem I had aside from the torture was that as with most pieces of epic fantasy I could skip whole pages and the plot had not advanced at all. This is not an isolated incident a lot of fantasy authors have this problem.

Overall-When the plot finally rolled around it was a good plot it managed to suck me in and keep my attention. I am not saying that the book was bad. I will probably read other books in this series but not before I have a nice stiff drink to keep me loose.


Rating:
Summary: Beat The Editor!!!
Review: I'm less than halfway through the book, and already I want to choke the editor for leaving out commas, periods, and closing quotation marks all over the place. It is driving me insane!!

Rating:
Summary: Good (but throughtless) action
Review: WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS:

If you're looking for a breather from important stuff and just want something "fun" to read, look no further. No reason that you must read Wizard's First Rule first, just buy this one and dive right in. It's quite self-contained. It has the advantage over the Wheel of Time books in that it is self-contained and does not take hundreds of pages reiterating prior events. For those people who delight in reading action-oriented tales in the vein of Dragonlance, early Shannara works, and others then this is a book in which you will delight.

WHY YOU SHOULD PASS:

There is quite a bit of violence here as well as a bit of sex. Nothing that kids won't find on the sci-fi channel, but the descriptions are rather more brutal than customary and give a flavor of realism that will give people pause. Maybe keep away from soft-hearted or very young children (maybe also away from children you've noticed tormenting small animals). If you are looking to read a book that will seriously change how you look at the world, pass. You will not find that kind of writing here. This is, as sfreviews.com pointed out, pure (but good) escapism.

READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW AT INCHOATUS.COM