Rating: Summary: How The Mighty Have Fallen Review: Lets face it, Goodkind i getting wors. When i first picked up Wizard's First Rule and saw numerous flaws, I let them slide because Tery Goodkind was a new and inexperienced writer. On would think hewould improve. All the characters, especially Kahlan are easy to hate, with the exception of Nathan(and ntl this book Zedd)What a bunmch of loosers nd hypocrits. Kahlan is as coldblooded as Jagang, yet is made out by all the other characters as wise and benevolent. She let her own half-brother get murdered (she was in the room for godssake)why? because he didnt believe in her cause. Whats worse is that Zedd most likely did it! Zedd! The wise old man who seems to me would try to be wise and sensible instead of frying his brains. I apologize if im spoiling the book in some ways, but i think everyone should be warned.Also whats with this "communism is wrong" crap? surely Goodkind could have done better then that, pointing out obvious arguements EVERYONE has heard before. And where is Nathan in all of this? Hes been missing two novels, and damnit hes the only reasion ill read them anymore. Im for strapping Kahlan to the domminie dirtch and RING RING RING!!! Let the punishment fit the crime. And whats worse is her and Verna torturing some bastard to deah in Warren's name!Warren! Who would not wish that evil on anyone. Kill off he follwoing characters: Kahlan, Verna, Zedd, Adie (sorry, she aids and avets) Nicci (brainless) Anne, Cara Bring back: Nathan, Dalton, Warren, he old Zedd,Drefan (who i felt had potential to be a good and interesting character) Might need to be killed off soon: Richard (hes becoming a total looser, a "i feel sorry for myself pansy, has been since the stne of tears" Berdine, Jagang (why give him the visionary dreamwalking Stalin persona?) Also the similiarities to the wheel of time is getting o my nerves. Only the last two books (nd the worse two) have been original. Shape up Goodkind, you still have potential!
Rating: Summary: A real disappointment Review: I read the last Terry Goodkind novel and was bitterly disappointed - a tiresome Ayn Rand rant, with such poor characters it makes me wonder if his mind has gone soft. I quite enjoyed the previous novels, but the graphic violence had struck me as somewhat overdone. This, as well as the many many free enterprise anti socialist tirades, were the only items left at the end of this novel. Along with many torture scenes - did you know it was OK to torture if the other person was bad? - almost all carried out by the 'good side' and a general view that all is fair in war, a disregard for even basic common sense seems to pervade the entire novel. By a strange coincidence, the bad guys are now good, and the new bad guys are an ideologically driven totalitarian disaster. Not that the good guys seem to have much of choice. Their only protection comes if they believe in their hearts that their hereditary ruler is their true protector (much better than totalitarianism). Only the bad guys with the poor economy seem to be able to build roads to move armies quickly to the front. Charity is also frowned upon, as it leads to people whom you tried to kill finding you later on in the novel.What a mess.
Rating: Summary: Faith of the Fallen Review: After 15+ years of reading fantasy tales, Goodkind has been a pleasure to read. One reason being is that I didnt find him until he had 5 books in print and not having to wait for YEARS, as I have had to with other fantasy writers to continue their tales. I enjoyed this book alot, more because I read the reviews that didnt like it and forced myself not to allow their views to jade my reading. The tale of love between Kahlan and Richard makes my heart break that they have such a hard time being together. Richards beliefs in love and loyalty to Kahlan and his people touches me. I felt Nicci's character was well developed in her "search", with enough background to make her changes believable, just wish she had a chance to tell her mom off. Richards ability to find good hearted people within the Old World that he hates, I am hoping will bond the two worlds even tighter for the final battle. I feel that the Brother N died just a bit to easy for being such a strong figure in the book. Hoping for the next book in the fall.
Rating: Summary: Setting the stage for further books Review: It is to be expected that no book in this series will match "Wizard's First Rule" and "Faith of the Fallen" is no exception. Although I am inclined to agree with previous critics that this book contains a strong political message, it does not seem out of place with Richard and Kahlan's tale. The fight for Truth and the fight for freedom continues. More unforgivable is the lack of editing in this text. Many passages containing thoughts of the characters are repeated several times over. Richard's arguments with common people in the Order become repetitive and uninteresting to read. Nonetheless, this book has strength. We finally see Richard and Kahlan spending a little time together - their perfect happiness in each others company is something yearned for by readers in earlier books. Cara demonstrates her soft side in company of the happy couple. Richard's "fish-in-a-jar" are but one of the little points of humour woven into the story. It makes Nicci's capture of Richard and his subsequent separation to Kahlan all the more painful to the reader. Nicci's conversion at the end makes for a nice change to the traditional gruesome finish for the baddy in fantasy books. Richard's carving talent plays an enormous role in the book - something only hinted at previously. Having read "The Agony and the Ecstacy", it is easy to see that Goodkind either has artistic tendencies himself or is simply very good at doing his research on carving. Kahlan also shows her talents and lives up to her military training and takes on the Order's enormous forces. She proves herself as a capable leader and general; yet smart enough to know when time is running out. Many issues have been hinted at in this book, and many remain outstanding: the Order has invaded the Midlands, Ann has not found Nathan the Prophet but managed to get her journey book "healed" by some strange magical beings, Zedd has gone off with Adie to protect the Keep. All these are lined up for future books in the series. I hope this time, Goodkind can find it in his heart to keep Richard and Kahlan fighting side by side.
Rating: Summary: Still hooked... Review: Richard Rahl is a John Carter of modern times. A super-hero as unbelievable as Superman, almost silly by adult standards. The writing style is light-hearted. The lectures are too long and repetitive, and too many times throughout the whole series I say 'just get on with it!'. But it's easy reading, and it's strangely addicting. In my opinion, this is the weakest book so far. It wouldn't even have rated my 3-stars except that the ending is just as riveting as I have come to expect from the series. If you're looking for a new series to get into, I recommend that you pick up the first two books and read them straight through, and go from there. If you've read the first five books and are wondering if it's worth hanging around, it's probably time to quit. I won't be quitting anytime soon, though!
Rating: Summary: Another good twist by Mr. Goodkind Review: In Faith of the Fallen, we see Richard captured (yet again), and this time taken to Jajang's home of Altur'rang. He learns more and more about the Imperial Order, and what makes them tick, also Richard being Richard, begins making friends quite impossibly, while reminding the people of the Old World on an individual basis, what makes them great is themselves, and their belief in good, and right. Meanwhile Kahlan is off fighting against the Order in the New World, and having marginal success. This book is interspiced with the usual standard of triumph and tragedy I've come to expect from this series, and toward the end of the book was bringing things closer and closer to our climax. I know that personally, I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
Rating: Summary: Good Book but ... Review: It is a good Terry Goodkind book, but my only disappointment is that the author use again the same pattern. The main character get capture and escape through logic. It was great but I want something more inovative. The guy is a wizard but you wouldn't know. We want some magic, spells of great power, spells of legends. Richard is suppose to be the first in a long time to be born with both side of magic. Please let us know want it means.
Rating: Summary: A Flawed Fantasy Review: I feel as others do that Goodkind's best work is in his first two Sword of Truth novels. The rest seem to slowly decline. While Faith of the Fallen is, on the whole, more interesting to me than the fifth book in the series, it still suffers somewhat from a few problems. First of all, it seems to me that Mr. Goodkind often repeats himself to get a point across. You may read about a certain character's motives four or five times in the same page. For me this got old very quickly. I felt myself saying, "I KNOW why she is doing this, enough already!" Secondly, this book really pushes a political agenda. On the whole this is not necessarily a bad thing, but for me it ended up taking away too much from the story. Those who proposed a socialist/communist system of government were so villified that one could not help but hate the system as a whole. It would seem that Richard is a libertarian, and while I have nothing against libertarians in general the dogma got old very fast. Again, the attacks against socialism were repeated so often that I wanted to yell out, "I've GOT IT! Communism is bad!" Thirdly, I didn't care for the truly manipulative touch Goodkind seemed to have in this novel. While I expect characters to suffer, and perhaps even die, it seemed almost gratuitous to kill off all the characters that did pass on in this novel. And finally, I found the passage of time very distracting in this book. From one chapter to the next months pass, and the entire novel encompasses more than a year's length. This is longer than the previous five books COMBINED. You feel there are many stories that are never fleshed out, and time seems to conveniently skip in places. Furthermore, you can literally go for half a year's time before the story returns to one set of characters. Most of these points are all based on my own personal preferences, so many may find this review superfluous. That's fine. I just wanted to express my own opinion.
Rating: Summary: An unexpected turn of events Review: Richard is hauled away by the sister of the dark Nicci. Nicci who wants an answer to a question deep inside of her, thinks Richard will provide that answer. She takes him to Jagangs homeland of Alter'Rang to show how hard common people have to work. Instead Richard does very well. While all this is going on Kahlan takes control of the D'haran army and engages in battle with the Imperial order. This book spins two story lines into an eventual cataclysmic end.
Rating: Summary: Awsome Book Review: I feel that this book is the best book I have ever read and can't wait for the next one. How do I know there will be a next one? The emporor lives so the saga must continue. This book truely moved me and left me with a satisfying feeling when I was through. Please take my advice and read this book.
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