Rating: 
Summary: good, yet pretty unoriginal
Review: I did like this book. It should actually be 3 1/2 stars cause I keep switching between 3 and 4. I picked it up at a church book sale type thing and I think it was like 75 cents. I hadn't heard anything about it and it seemed similar to many other fantasy books that I have read. I have read Tolkein, Robert Jordan, and George Martin (song of ice and fire)and while this book is not even in the same leaugue as them, it is an entertaining read. The romance story hooked me and I found the characters very believable. One thing that really really bugged me was Samuel. He was the previous "seeker" and the magic of the sword had turned him into this pitiful creature that was working for this witch woman and when he was around richard and the sword he was like "mine! mine!" I mean, okay...every fantasy epic rips off Tolkein, it's a given. But this was pathetic. I mean this was basically Gollum and Frodo, word for word. He even threatened him and made him be his guide. And then there was the scene with the Mord-Syths. She put a collar around his neck and controlled his power. And there was this scene where she puts the end of the leash on the wall and if he removes it from the peg he is in terrible pain. Does this exact scene sound familiar to anyone else? It was once again stolen word for word basically, only this time from Robert Jordon. However, in spite of these short comings, it was a good book. He did have some original ideas. And I liked the thought of the old wizard helper having a bit of a romance. You don't see that, it's usually just the young characters. I thought that was great. Some of the elements weren't explained well enough and the confessor thing seemed a bit odd. I mean, her power didn't seem all that terrible and powerful, yet she was revered above all and everyone feared her. (hmm...kind of reminds me of Aes Sedai, now that I think of it) Okay, I need to stop thinking of all the things that this book stole from others or I won't like it at all. I have the second book and plan to read it soon, hopefully it will be more original. I recommend....if you are a new fantasy reader...start with a song of ice and fire, then move into the wheel of time series. I did it the other way around, but I think that way makes more sense. Song of Ice and fire is a little less hard-core and involves slightly less thinking. Once you've read all them, and Tolkein of course, this is a good series to keep you occupied while you wait for the next book in those series to come out.
Rating: 
Summary: AWESOME
Review: My socks are off! Wizard's First Rule rocked my socks off!
Rating:
Summary: Best I have read!!!!
Review: I originally picked this book up just so i would have something new to read, and i ended up tearing right through this series, i would recommend that anyone and everyone should read this book if not the whole series, my praise and thanks to Mr. Goodkind.
Rating:
Summary: A classic from page 1!!!!
Review: The epic ride of the century. You'll know that it beats any other elves, dwarves, dragons, fantasy just by reading the first 100pgs. Richard and Kahlan are two amazing characters who come from completely different backgrounds. It is so cool to see Richard go from a plain young woods guide to this awesome swordsman who won't take any wise crack from anyone. As i am writing i just had a thought:maybe a theme like that may even inspire someone. The only let down was that the ending was pretty settled and in my opinion, rather boring.
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME book
Review: I think this book and this serie is one of the best I've ever read.. 2nd favorite of mine. This book has much action and keeps you reading. But you need to have a strong stomach for it.
Deals with very mature scenes.. I read this book within a week I could not put it down.
I highly recomend it to any open minded fantasy or fetish readers.
This rocks!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Weak Characters
Review: I love to live inside characters. But I found them so paper thin in this book, I had a hard time reading it. The overall story is good, but all the encounters by the travelers are the same: They are met with mutual distrust, but are hugging each other within a few pages. I didn't read the series any further, but perhaps Goodkind finds his stride later on.
Rating: 
Summary: traditional yet adequate fantasy reading
Review: This is certainly not the best fantasy novel I've read but it was entertaining. The draw of the story is the romance between the 2 main charcters which for unusual circumstances can't be in love. There is little consistency or ryhme/reason to the magic, a so-so plot, and few truly likeable characters. What it does have though is the great romance, wonderful action descriptions when richard uses the sword, and a very fresh sexual massicistic relation. Its a long novel and I will not read the remainder of the series but I do not rue the reading.
Rating:
Summary: If you like Tolkien You'll Like Goodkind
Review: This was the first fantasy book besides Tolkien that I read. Tolkien is one of the best but can get a little dry at times. Wordy I guess. I have never felt that about Goodkind's books. This is a fast-paced book that will make you regret having to get sleep. I have since read this book several times and never get tired of it. The characters seem so real and you really get immersed in the story and there lives as you read. This book is well worth your money. If you are in for high brow reading this is definitely not for you. If you are the type that like long books and hate to see a book end, this is for you. You also have several more books to look forward to in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Sloppy. Gratuitous. Self-contradictory. Lazy.
Review: Sloppy. The teaser short story prequel I read, Debt of Bones (in one of the Legends anthologies), was excellent: original ideas, grand, tight, dramatic... This, the first in a series of standard package 500 page epic fantasy (dragons, swords and cleavage on the covers), starts well, but starts to wane, then to irritate, and then you wonder whether you'll bother finishing (I'm not keeping the book, nor, obviously, going on with the series). A pity: the idea of a central character that walks in to a bad situation and changes it with insight and power into a just one is attractive (I don't think I've seen anyone do it better than Orson Scott Card in one or two chapters of Speaker for the Dead). However, Richard Cypher just walks in and randomly changes things at no personal cost. Far too many pages: the plot just becomes utterly random. Not only has he got a bad case of the David Eddings' (every key character has godlike powers), he constantly contradicts the attributed powers by suddenly making his characters inexplicably vulnerable. One minute they can casually defeat something cosmic and huge, the next one or two of them will be in dire threat from some minor, well known (within that world) character who pops in and out with no reference to a wider plot. Oh, and how often do we think we've heard about the real enemy, when out of the blue we're supposed to be terrified at some silly tangent ("Oh no, the mud people"; "Oh dear, the wicked witch,"; "Crikey, it's a gar..."). It just goes on and on, and you're supposed to be overwhelmed each time - and save yourself for a big climax. By mid way through the book it's clear that Goodkind just doesn't care. Suddenly a character has this miraculous power that we haven't heard about yet. Blimey, here's a nice dragon. It's just too easy. Nothing costs anything - very Eddings. Maybe, just maybe, you could forgive it as pulp teen thing: they can be carried along by the action, who needs a shred of coherence or character. However, he throws in gratuitous rape and torture, often of children, just as background (he's so blithe about it, and we're supposed to be too). He not so good at actually creating a threatening character, so he goes straight to melodramatic - as opposed to powerfully disturbing - mention of atrocities just as tropes. If his naivety was restricted to the absurd presentation of romantic love (he shows no insight into relationships at all: his babe 'Confessors' have the power to enslave people if they unleash it, so no-one wants to mate with them because, as we all know, any woman having sex - even purely for procreation - will be overwhelmed with ecstasy and no longer able to control their will), we could perhaps smile at the fairy tale, but when he throws in some 'hard realism' (without a shred of empathy or insight), it puts that under scrutiny too. So much the way with fantasy: everyone wants to be Tolkien (yes, of course the front cover has such an absurd comparison), so they write huge books in a series, yet no-one wants to finish the last before publishing the first, and they are so lazy about throwing in characters and locations with no coherence. And there's no cost: We know that Aragorn's love of Arwen is true and tragic. Goodkind is trying to set something up like that with Kahlan and Richard, but we all know they'll get together, because rules really mean nothing, and there is no cost (likewise Eddings blithely throws around immortality with his characters). (Did I mention that there's no cost? I thought so...)
Rating:
Summary: Average, basic, and not to exciting, True fantasy fans only.
Review: A moderately good read, I would suggest this book for true fantasy lovers only. Relatively well written and developed, these books can prove an enjoyable read if you aren't in the mood for an intellectually-involved book. Character's personalities are rather indefinite, focus areas shift with each book, and no apparent plot-direction are part of what contribute to the lessening of appeal for this series. With no end goal in sight, sticking with this series could mean hanging around for a long haul. Otherwise, these books can vary to battle, plotting, politics, humor, or romance. Plot per-book is evident, if no staying series-long plot. Characters that have outlived their value to the story seem to die, and places are not often re-mentioned. This series belongs only on the die-hard fantasy fan's shelf-not that of an occasional fantasy reader. Worth a try, but not worth dying over.
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