Rating: 
Summary: What are you talking about???
Review: What are you talking about? OK I can't take this after reading a bunch of the reviews I feel myself driven to respond. To all those people who seem to think this is just a re-hash or rip off of some other book. Well of course it is doen't you know THERE ARE NO NEW STORIES ONLY BETTER STORY TELLERS!!! And Terry Goodkind is one of those. Now for all you long winded loving Robert Jordan fans all I can say is if you want page after page of of what colour someones dress is and where exactly the lace is than by all means enjoy the Wheel of Time series.
Now for you out there who enjoyes page after page of charactor developement please pick up a Terry Goodkind book. He can tell a story and get you involved with the charactors in the story and have you turning the next page with a willing grin.
Rating: 
Summary: Stupid, copy-cat, and contrived.
Review: To call this book low-grade would be a compilment; to call itcontrived would be an even bigger one. Buying this bookis a waste of money.
Rating:
Summary: The audio version cuts WAY too much out of the story
Review: I took audio version out of the library, and it was enough to get me to buy the book, but alone it was awful. There were gaps in the story which left the characters' motivations extremely unclear. Read the novel, but forget the tape
Rating: 
Summary: Average reading... and can be disturbing
Review: I found the book to be just about average. The story in the first part of the book was actually more interesting and intriguing, but as it neared the end, it quickly became disturbing and detestable. I found the torture scenes and the illogical amount of detail put into those scenes annoying and somewhat comparable to the movie Rambo II, where it's there, but really doesn't have to be. I mean... what's the deal with that? Richard is treated like an animal and there's no 'real' moral to that lesson. Come 'on, someting that gruesome deserves a real 'reason' either than "if you get treated badly, you have the right to treat others the same way too" idiocy that is the impression I got
Rating:
Summary: This is the greatest book in the history of fantasy.
Review: This book comes out hitting and never lets up. All through the book readers are held spell bound as the great Richard Cyfers battles the forces of Rahl. The story deatail is captivating and you feel as if you are there, wittnessing every hardship and triumph. This book makes you feel as though there is still good in the world as long as people have a bit of Richard in them. You feel as if you have known the characters all your life, and you pray that they shall triumph. Goodkind is a master of the genre of fiction. And this is just his first book. This is a work of art not to be missed. Submitted by: Michael Conley
Rating:
Summary: A well written piece without a lot of lag in the story
Review: Terry Goodkind is certainly no Tolkien when it come to originality and sheer genius. But neither is he a Jordan who bogs us down in endless details with an anticlimactic non-resolution. Goodkind develops the characters well and does a good job with the relationships. And the story is well paced. A book this size without a lot of deadspace is quite an accomplishment. Did the author give us used characters and a plot as old as Socrates or even older? Sure. But then again, the folks at Rolls Royce and Ferrari spend alot of time improving on another used idea: the automobile
Rating:
Summary: Great listening to while working out
Review: This book was full of describtive details, so it was easy to imagine the charactors. I thought this was a book that got
my mind off my excersices and made it so I worked out longer.
I wish that they would put the "Stone of Tears" and "Sword
of Stone" on Audio Cassette UNABRIDGED, so we hear the hole
book and not a portion
Rating:
Summary: Goodkind is a brilliant plagiarizer.
Review:
I guarantee you. If Goodkind is the first fantasy author you read, you will be amazed by his skill. Goodkind was the first good fantasy author I read,with the exception of Tolkien. I have since read all of Jordan's and Edding's works. I now realize that Goodkind did steal many of ideas I thought so brilliant at the time. I sincerely wish that Goodkind had not included the Sisters of Light/Dark. They are a good bit like the Aes Sedai, but yet they are very different too. They are simply sorcerers who are very religious. They do not meddle in the affairs of queens, like Aes Sedai. They teach wizards instead of gentling them, like the Aes Sedai do. You must admit they are different. Can you help me? I don't remember. Was Obi Wan Lukes grandfather, because it seems to me that Goodkind was simply paying homage to the greatest world builder of the Sci/Fi genre, Lucas. Ok, so he did copy some ideas, but I still love his writing style though. There is something about it that just draws you into the story. I understand his lack of originality (in his world building), but I can't help but love this book. The characters are too well developed for me not to like them. I am sorry, but none of Jordan's or Terry Brooks' books come close in releasing in me feelings of love and emotion I felt for Richard, Kahlan, Zedd, or even Chase. Maybe Goodkind can't create his own world (though it does have many original parts), he can develop characters and develop a plot better than most, in fact all but a few. I would say Jordan's first 5 books are as good (overall, characters aren't as strong) and Tolkien's Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are as good. But not much else is up to par with Goodkind.
What else can I say? I liked the book very much and would recommend it to anyone. Although if you have already experienced Jordan and Eddings, you might not enjoy him as much as others will.
Sincerely
Alberticus
Try not.
Do;
Or do not.
There is not try.
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___________\/The Jedi Master Yoda\/_________________________
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Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good, very copycat
Review: I liked the story--the characters are rich and the plot rather involved, but it's very like SW or something Eddings wrote.
The kid gets a magic sword...sounds like Garion. The ol' wizard turns out to be related to the kid...."Luke, I am your father"
Good vs. Evil...Easy to write about. Hard to write originally about. Everything seems like other books.
Rating:
Summary: 2 Types of Books
Review: IMO there are 2 kinds of books: intelligent books and dumbbooks. Intelligent books open the boundaries of whatevergenres they are in, but dumb books stay within the ready- made bounds. Dumb books entertain and stupify us, but intelligent books entertain while they make us think or see the world in a different way. Wizard's First Rule is undeniably a dumb book, and if you like settling for that, fine. If you want something more, it's always out there.
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