Rating: 
Summary: very disappointing
Review: This was one of the best series of books I have ever read. . .except for this book. It seemed like about a third of this 700+ page book was taken up with the two "main" characters bickering in a meadow (and i quote main because i'm not really sure who the main characters were in this book). The plot was pointless, I (and all my friends) could care less about Fitch or Beata. They were irrelevant. Terry, where were all the characters we all wanted to read about? I hope you are not simply filling space with "braid tugging" as the not so great Robert Jordan is doing in his "Wheel of Time" series. I see this book as a very poor edition to a very remarkable series. Hope the next one is better, if not he has lost a very avid fan!
Rating: 
Summary: Change of PACE...Still Terry GOODkind.
Review: Before I purchased the Soul of the Fire. I read a lot of the reviews of the book here on Amazon.com. I was surprised to find that the majority of the reviews panned the book. I, like most of the other reviewers have read the previous books in the series and have been looking forward to this one. So when I finally picked up the book to read it, I knew that it was going to be entertaining....I wasn't disappointed, It was a exceptionally entertaining and well written...What I've come to expect from a Terry Goodkind Novel. The biggest complaint I saw in the negative reviews I read was that the other readers didn't like the fact that some of the old tried and true characters from previous novels weren't a major fixture in Soul of the Fire. The change of pace was refreshing though...not that I don't like some of the older characters..The new ones are fun. I was particularly taken by Dalton.....He is a character that a lot of us can Identify with but I won't give any of the story away. Read it yourself and I highly recommend it. Don't be discouraged by the negative reviews associated with this book. If you like Terry Goodkind..you won't be disappointed with The Soul of the Fire. For all you critics out there who panned the book.........I don't see any of your names on the bestsellers list because I'm SO SURE you could have done a better job writing it...Chill out and enjoy the book.
Rating: 
Summary: good but not as good as the others
Review: The book to me was a very good book. The only thing I did not like was the ending. I am glad that he now knows how to use his powers but just leaving it hanging at that made me disappionted b/c i thought there wasn't going to be another book. But since there is I am dieing to read it.
Rating:
Summary: FORGIVE them Mr.GOODKIND
Review: Dear Mr. Goodkind and others, I wanted to write you an email, but I don't know your adress so, I hope that you read this. I wrote a review for this sight before this book came out, and I have returned to find all these negative comments, and what I found even more sad was the fact that you are changing your story because of 2 or three peoples opinions. Personelly, I have never known the meaning of a good book before reading your series, now because of your spectacular talent, I read all sorts of Science Fiction and Fantasy. And Richard Rahl is perfect, he has a good heart to fight a bad situation, well, thanks for your time, a good fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing, and expectedly so
Review: I've been looking forward to tSotF, since I loved WFR and read the other 3 volumes that followed. The quality of the plots, character development, suspense and the emotional response the text elicited in me declined more or less steadily with each successive book in the series. I hoped that the new book, tSotF, would break that trend and become another Goodkind's masterpiece. Alas, that was not to be. I made a mistake of asking a friend to get me a copy for my birthday. A mistake because I felt obligated to finish the book, even though, as Mark Twain once put it, "Madam, if the egg they serve me for breakfast isn't fresh, I don't need to eat it all to know it". I've read Wizard's First Rule several years ago. Yet, if you ask me, I'd be able to talk for hours about the story plot, the characters, and the emotions I felt. But, even though I've read the Soul of the Fire only two weeks ago, 5 minutes would probably the most I could muster to talk about this 700+ page book. If you are new to the series, your time and money would be much better spent if you buy Wizard's First Rule. If you are a fan, just wait for the next one. Or email me, and I'll send you my copy [unless one of my friends wants to read it first]. If there is a next book, and if I'd come across it in the future, I'll spend a bit of time reading the first 15-20 pages. Definitely try it before you buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Terry Forever
Review: When I read this book it was good, but I don't think Terry Goodkind could or will ever out do the first book, Wizards First Rule. If you have read anything science fiction, you will LOVE this book. Also in my opinion, yes Terrys' books can stand by themselves, read them all. I have read the first 5 books, 6 times each, except Wizards First Rule which was 11 times.
Rating:
Summary: par for the series
Review: this is the fifth book in the series so it's likely that you'll read it anyway. while i really enjoyed the first two books, i think the last three have all started lagging and a bit of a let down. frankly, i'm disappointed w/the Wizard's Rule in this book (fifth rule about how people judge your actions). it was mentioned in passing, i think twice, and was of minor importance to the storyline. i'm more distrubed by the violence and rape themes in this book than the others -- maybe there are just so much in the series that makes it excessive -- and i DO realize that the character are in the middle of a war but for me, the images really detract from the story. it seemed like this book was more of a side plot -- none of the characters introduced in this book will likely reappear -- and i hope not because i couldn't find one that was interesting or could be identified with. Kahlan, Cara, Zedd and Ann are in this book but just barely. Richard seemed confused and impossibly naive -- completely contrary to what i expect from the Seeker. the plot itself is a bit weak. when you get down to it, the town D'Hara and the Imperial Order fought over really didn't matter. since it's called the Soul of Fire, it might have been interesting if Goodkind better develop the role and the 'personality' of the Chimes or even have Joesph Ander figure more prominently. as it was, the banishment rite at the end held little meaning. finally, my enjoyment of this series stems from the Seeker's ability that makes him a fantasy-sleuth. the logic used in this book, however, was a bit obvious -- except for the very end where it didn't make sense. i'd really hoped this book would be a '5' but in all honesty i could only recommend it out of inertia for the series.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best Sword of Truth book, but still good.
Review: This book is somewhat different than the other books in the series, but that isn't a bad thing. The ending of this installment makes way for a very interesting sequel. I think the people that were unhappy with this book will be pleased with the next. This one had to be a little slow to make way for the next book, which is going to be entitled Faith of the Fallen. I would say give the next one a chance and hold your concerns until then. I have high hopes for it.
Rating:
Summary: What on Earth is wrong with Goodkind?
Review: The first book was absolutely awesome. The second book was good. The third and fourth books were OK, but still worth reading. But Soul of the Fire is just plain bad. Each book is worse than the one before. Hopefully this trend does not continue. The main characters were almost non-existant in this book. Isn't this series supposed to ABOUT them! 3/4 of the story were Fitch, Beata, and Dalton. They were OK characters, but they have nothing to do with the rest of the series. Not to mention that after spending tons of book space on these three, (...) Richard and Kahlan did just about nothing and the story had almost nothing to do with the solution to the whole Chimes problem. And that bit about giving up on the Midlands is just a bad excuse to get Richard back to Westland. The only reason I even bothered to finish the story is because I liked the rest of the series. The sixth book had better stick to the main characters and actually be interesting or I just may quit reading the series. We DON'T CARE about the politics of Anderith! Terry Goodkind, get on with the story you started writing with Wizard's First Rule. Soul of the Fire was a chore to read. Book six had better be a LOT better.
Rating:
Summary: Not horrible, but...
Review: I really liked Wizard's First Rule. Stone of Tears was nearly as good. Blood of the Fold was a disappointment, and after Temple of the Winds I had given up on Goodkind entirely. The good news is that Soul of the Fire is a bit of an improvement over "Temple", in which Richard spent the whole book grousing around like a jealous idiot because he and Kahlan had been forced to marry other people by the evil Goodkind for no reason other than to create a "situation". At least Richard is generally likeable here. TG is still able to come up with some interesting and non-cliche'd magic elements, and still describes Evil deeds (capital E) as unblinkingly as anyone in the business. And he even has a little fun with his own unorthodox but generally effective names for magical entities. (Nothing could REALLY be called a "Lurk"... could it?) Unfortunately there are flaws. It is a big flaw when the author's barely disguised political agenda for the US in the year 2000 peeks through from under the paint in a swords-and-magic series. Thus, the willfully ignorant dupes of the evil Order chant "Give peace a chance" in undiluted 1970 fashion. We also are given an extended allegory and cautionary tale of what will happen if PC non-Eurocentric education runs amok, and why we should just let our "fair laws" operate in a color-blind way. Goodkind is also against right-to-work laws (me too) and the decline of the peacetime military (count me out here), but even if you share TG's whole belief system, isn't the fantasy genre supposed to be an escape rather than a political thriller? There are other problems with the story - just irritating displays of carelessness. There are problems with space and time. Why bother to put a map in the book if none of the locations in the story are labelled on the map? (Except the Mud People.) However, without a useful map, it is harder to ask or answer certain questions about whether a given journey is 10 miles or 300 miles, and whether it can really be made in the time it takes in the story. But even without the map, I refuse to believe that an untrained servant-turned-bully boy on horseback, fleeing from a trained Mord-Sith, and having a head start of a couple minutes, can maintain this lead over a journey of (many) miles, maybe a couple hundred, probably taking several days, and arrive at his destination with the same couple-minute lead that he started with. And this is just one example. Here's another one: if an invading army discovers a cheap, effective, and obvious means of subverting a defensive weapons system, it is implausible that the system is still effective hundreds of years later because everyone in the world has forgotten the secret. There are more. Things like this are as much the fault of his editor as of TG himself, BTW. I would prefer to give this 2.5 stars, but I have to give it 2 because I can't in good conscience go as high as 3.
| 
