Rating: 
Summary: Wizard's First Rule
Review: Wizard's First Rule is a spectacular fantasy novel. The book had me hooked at the start, action-packed with supprises. The sense of humor contained throughout the book also added to it's charm, creating a book truely unique in scope and majesty. Starting a forester of humble means, Richard undergoes many trials in a journey where he finds love, courage, and a power he never knew he posessed. You will enjoy this book. Trust me.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: Just to be blunt, this is one of the greatest books I've ever read. I own all 7 of the Sword of Truth books. I am in the process of reading his latest, The Pillars of Creation. Wizard's First Rule is amazing. It's pace never slows and it has so many surprises that keep you going. If you've read the book I don't need to go into detail about it's good points and the like. If you haven't, however, I highly recommend it. It'll definately keep you on your toes.
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre fantasy fiction...
Review: I did not think much of this book in comparison to the other two sagas of the day (Wheel of Time and Song of Ice and Fire).
Goodkind's writing is not as fluid as either Jordan or Martin, nor is his story as inventive. "Wizard's First Rule" is interesting and fairly enjoyable, but it is simply not up to the standard of most fantasy fiction. If anything, it seems a little drawn out and a tad juvenile in writing.
Somewhat reccommended, particularly to the mid-teenagers.
Rating:
Summary: How to get a Teenager reading
Review: Yup, I've a 15 year old who's chomping at the bit for the next book. He even likes it better then Harry Potter! I read the first of the series and gave it to him, hoping to ignite a spark that existed only when reading Harry P. It worked! He couldn't put the series down. We had to go in to his room at night and INSIST he put out the light and get some sleep. This book, and those that follow, are extrordinary. Goodkind is articulate with his characters and events. Truly a book that is most difficult to put down, not one of those easy reads for an airplane ride. Beware, if you read the first book be prepared to spend most of your free time finding and reading the next in the series. I'd love to meet Goodkind in person and thank him for his imagination and ability to put his story into words that puts a teenager's eyes back in a book, rather than the computer or video games!
Rating:
Summary: Best damn book I've read to date.
Review: (...) When I finished this book, I sat back and just thought, wow. If you have the intelligence higher than boiled cabbage, then you must read this book, if you don't, you won't know what you're missing, but you definately will be missing out on probably one of the best works literature has to offer.
Rating: 
Summary: A Review (Sorry, couldn't think of a better title)
Review: It's always so much easier to talk about a books flaws, so before I get swept up in criticism I'll tell you what's good first. There are some origional ideas (Gars, boundaries), even if they do get lost in the mire of horrid rip-offs. The action is usually enough to keep you interested. The flow and pacing are fairly consistant. Now on to the fun part: Criticism! Firstly, let's take the plot. It's somewhat below the standard of the average RPG. It follows the way you would expect an RPG to progress: characters must talk to Aide to get through the boundary, to see the mud people, to find out where to go next, and so forth. Sadly, there is not a single surprise that I didn't see coming a mile away. Much of the plot is uterly arbitrary. However, Wizzards First Rule isn't even fit for an RPG due to the utter lack of world building. Goodkind doesn't give us any history behind the world. Even the map is uninformative. Now, I know Goodkind's fans will tell me that Goodkind cares about the characters, not the world. Then why does Richard fail to have one realistic emotional response to ANYTHING! In the book Richard goes through daunting changes and horrible torture, and yet comes out relatively unchanged. Of course it would help if he had a personality to begin with. His character is utterly monotone. Kalahn is slightly more interesting, due to the question of whether or not to give in to her feelings for Richard. But onece we discover what Kalahns power is, it's horrible to think that Kalahn would even think of doing such a thing to Richard. After that it's impossible to sympathyze with her. Zedd is the only character I enjoyed reading about, but only because he had some funny lines, despite being a dull character. Chase seemed utterly arbitrary. Darken Rahl doesn't have any discernable motivation for being evil, he just is. The books ending is mostly nonsensical, making a tie-in to the wizzards first rule that doesn't really work when you think aboout it (Yes, Darken Rahl wanted to believe, but there wasn't really any reason not to), and a resolution to Richard and Kalahn's tortured romance that doesn't really work either. But perhaps the most annoying thing about the books is Goodkind's insistance on hammering us over the head with "philosophy" that would be common sense to anyone over the age of six. I'm almost insulted that Goodkind thought I couldn't figure it out on my own, and almost sympathetic that Goodkind thought such things were revalations.(...)
Rating:
Summary: Just a plain wonderful story!
Review: I didn't expect to like this book. My husband got me to read it, and I'm glad he did. It is inventive, lushly descriptive, and the characters are wonderful. It's a beautiful novel. It has incredible intracicies. The story twists and turns. Goodkind is a master of description, drawing the reader into this fantastic world. When you learn what the Wizard's First Rule is, you'll be surprised. In many ways, it's a story of romance and Goodkind's interesting, individualistic philosophy of the world. It's truly a great story, one of the best I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it..... Very refreshing!
Review: This is the most original and refreshing fantasy work I have picked up in a long time - since I discovered Thomas Covenant in the 1980's, in fact. At its most basic, this is your fairly standard "small company goes on a dangerous quest to stop the bad guy and save the world" story that is fairly common in the Fantasy genre. But, Terry Goodkind stands out in two major respects: (1) his excellent characterizations, and (2) his unique take on the nature of magic. Goodkind has drawn a number of rich, powerful characters: Richard Cypher, the book's hero, who suddenly finds himself drawn into the battle to stop the evil Darken Rahl and his minions from taking over the world; Kahlan, a young woman at the heart of the struggle, but is a LOT more than she seems at first; and Richard's old friend Zedd, a likable old man who is also more than he seems, though his role in the story is fairly obvious from the start. The antagonists are also well drawn out. The main villan, Darken Rahl, is a unique take on fantasy villans. Although none of the story is told directly from his point of view, he spends enough time talking about his thoughts and feelings to make him very interesting. Most fantasy villans (even a master like Tolkein is guilty of this) are simply mysterious presences, with no insight into their characters. Goodkind breaks with this tradition, and his work is richer for it. Another very interesting antagonist is the Mord Sith Denna, though she does not show up until fairly late in the book. Denna at first seems to be nothing more than a sadistic witch who lives for causing pain, but again, Goodkind does such a great job of drawing her that I almost cried along with Richard when Denna met her fate. There are many other characters, both good and evil, that populate this 820 page novel. While there are a few "cutout" types, most notably Demmin Nass and Princess Violet, most of the characters are effective and believeable. Now for the warning: this book is NOT for children. There is one chapter where Rahl brainwashes and uses an innocent child that will make your blood run cold, and yet have you turning pages one after another, eager for the resolution. The scenes between Prnicess Violet and her "playmate", Rachel, are also very disturbing for a child to read, but they will make you appreciate it more when Violet meets up with Richard. There is also a long bit late in the novel that is concerned chiefly with graphic descriptions of torture and mental cruelty. Finally, the book is liberally sprinkled with sexual and romantic tension between Richard and Kahlan. This tension is obvious from almost the moment they meet. I thought that, overall, this is a GREAT novel, and I am eager to read the next one in the series. Although this novel leaves quite a few plot threads hanging out there for the next book to pick up, this book has a definite resolution and can be read as a stand-alone work. The first part of the book is very fast-paced, then the book slows down quite a bit through the mid-section, especially the part with the Mud People. However, the last three hundred pages or so of the book will go by almost in a blur. The climax and final confrontation with Rahl will keep you guessing until the very end. We know that the heroes will outfox Rahl, but it's unclear until almost the past page of the book as to exactly how they are going to do it. I've tried to reveal as little of the plot of this book as I can. I could say a lot more about the complex characters of Richard, Kahlan, and Zedd, but you'll appreciate them a lot more if you pick up a copy and read it for yourself. Happy reading!
Rating: 
Summary: Addictive and Well-Written.
Review: Wizard's First Rule was a compelling fantasy book that keeps you coming back for more. Terry Goodkind has achieved a perfect balance of action, adventure, suspense, and romance to create a worthy Fantasy achievement, however it has almost as many good points as it does bad. Although you might shun me for it, I will compare this to George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, and Jordan's wheel of time. First off, this book isn't for the squemish. This is far more violent than Jordan's series, with plenty of adult situations. It's not as graphic as Song of I and F, but totally blows away WoT in the mature themes. I like the battle scenes in SoT a lot better than the ones in WoT. For Example, this is how the battle scenes are done in WoT(these are not an actual scenes from the books) "Rand gripped the Heron-marked sword and performed "Swan Wading in the Pond" while his opponet parried with "Moon Rising on the Willows". "Wolf on the Plains" went to "Horse on the Prairie" to "Lighting in the Twilight" as Rand deperately tried to disarm the man... This is what they are like in SoT: "With a hard vertical strike Richard took off the man's arm at the shoulder. He gritted his teeth as he cleaved the man's head neatly in two..." As you can see they are done far differently. Jordan uses wierd, almost corny attack names to depict his battle, while Goodkind uses a more straight-forward approach. Goodkind makes it a lot easier to envision the battle in your mind while Jordan just makes you think, "Swan Wading in the Pond? What the hell is that??" Unfortunately, the battles are just about the only thing that Goodkind does better than Jordan, although his books are still very entertaining to read. Jordan's magic system is much better than Goodkind's, and Goodkind only manages to rip off Jordan with the base of his magic, Han. "Han" is a blatant rip off of "The True Source" in WoT. However, I still think that a ripped off magic system is better than no magic system at all, a'la Song of I and F. But wait, Goodkind's rip offs of Jordan don't stop there. There are plenty of "similarities" that get more numerous as the series goes on, so be prepared. However, there is still plenty of original aspects in WFR, and this book would have recieved a 5 if the stuff that he ripped off wasn't there. Goodkind's world is one of the more intriguing that I have ever read about. The three magical boundaries are really cool, and the way that the world is broken is up(Westland, Midlands, D'Hara)is very original. The Quads are one of the cooler inventions I have read about in a while. If one is killed the three others become stronger, and if all but one die that one will be extremely powerful. The Gar's are intriguing, and the Night Wisps, although they are gone after this book. The Confessors are an interesting idea as well, making for the Richard and Kahlan relationship to have a seemingly impassable boundary. The way that this boundary is eventually past however, is pretty stupid. Actually Richard handles romance far better than WoT(I was wrong, he does one more thing that is better than Jordan.) Jordan's romantic matters are really juvenile, almost junior highish("Hey do you want to be boyfriend/girlfriend??" "Okay, lets hold hands and walk down the hall! Later we can pass notes in English class!") Goodkind develops the relationship with Richard and Kahlan, making it a lot more satisfying when they finally get together. Unfortunately, I can't compare Song of Ice and Fire to this one because there is hardly any romance. I have one final gripe about this otherwise great book: The Star Wars-like Ending. That was pretty stupid, and is a laughable excuse for a twist. I almost expected Richard and Kahlan to turn out to be Brother and Sister...which would be rather incestual after the "apple scene". (At least Goodkind doesn't go there, like in Song of I and F) Bottom Line: Very good, with almost as much originality as there is rip offs. This series still has a chance to shine bright.
Rating:
Summary: KUDOS
Review: Goodkind did an exceptional job w/ his debut book. He started on the right foot for a great series. Based on other reviews some may be skeptical as if Goodkind is some kind of boring or social reduntand optimist bent on diluting us with his friendship pyscho babble. But, in all honesty, this is not the case. Goodkind does well in his portrayal of someone who is ostrascized from a community for unfair reasons. He writes from a perspective than anyone can identify with. His focus on "friends" or "being a friend" that some people find annoying and unconvincing shows the understanding and respect he has for the power of friendship. The first novel hinges on the friendship that two people have for one another, albeit sometimes "corny" and unrealistic, you can definitely identify and understand the necessity...all in all it is an extremely well done book with SOME flaws that in the end the reader can easily oblige the author.....
|
