Rating: 
Summary: More of the same
Review: I started out really enjoying the world that Terry Goodkind was setting before me. I enjoyed the first 4 books of the series, forgiving some of the plot and writing.Goodkind spends too much time developing characters that you wind up not caring about. The political intrigue is nice, but the book is very slow moving. The ending is anti-climatic. The Kahlan and Richard theme is still there and quite frankly is getting overdone. How many times will they have to sacrifice their love and life for the world? The end story is always the same with promise of more of the same to come. The focus is too narrow and the characters are lacking in scope and depth (aside from Richard and Kahlan, Zedd is borderline). The story is very linear and Goodkind borrows heavily from other novels. It is starting to feel like I read this before and that is a bad sign. The book was ok, but was a tough read. I can't bring myself to read the next in the series after asking several of my friends the basic plot and hearing the same thing.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as the others...
Review: The book is well written, as Goodkind's books always are, but I missed the main characters. We have to wait so long between books that I get excited to meet up with the main players again, but this book doesn't use them much. Only at the very end do we get to see everyone again. Good new characters, though.
Rating:
Summary: Not that bad not that good
Review: While I throughly enjoyed the first 4 books this one started out on a disappointing note. I felt like the endless pages of the life of newly introduced characters took away some of the appeal as you were left wondering what do they have to do with anything? But as said before once you are past the first 200 or so pages (which I recommend skimming to just get the gist of what is happening) the story picks up and brings Kahlan and Richard back into the scene. I do wish they had spent more time on the resolution to this part of the story but the ending does leave you wanting to find out how the saga continues.
Rating:
Summary: The silence before the storm
Review: I love the 'Sword of Truth' series. Up untill this book the series was getting better and better."Soul Of the Fire" though was rather disappointing. Too little events of real importance and too much attention is given to rather dull characters like Fitch. It took me more than the first half of the book to get suckered in by the story. The book itself may be worth 3 or maybe even 4 stars, but in comparison to its precedants it's just plain boring.
HOWEVER, I would urge everyone to read this book, because it provides the setup for the sixth book of the series, 'Faith of the Fallen', which is, in my opinion, the very best book of the entire series.
Rating:
Summary: New Direction
Review: I LOVE this series!! That said this book was a tremendous dissappointment. It seemed like the whole writing style changed, and the way the plot layed out was predictable and boring. While the other books in this series were just as long or longer, I considered them quick reads. I had to struggle with this one. I hope he goes back to the style that got him here. A mixture of extreme action and interesting character development.
I will look forward to reading the next book in the series knowing what Goodkind is capable of producing. If not he might want to consider wrapping this storyline up!!!
Rating:
Summary: This book stinks
Review: This book, even with the progressivly worse 3rd and 4th books, was very disapointing. The plot diverts early in the book, and at the end it seems like Richard is exactly where he was at the beggining. I was looking forward to events hinted at in Temple of the Winds, and they didn't happen. Also, I feel the events have disapointing effects on future books about the Midlands. If you have to read it,(book 6 is really good), get it from a library, don't waste money on it.
Rating: 
Summary: Certainly not for everyone
Review: This book might have worked better as a stand-alone. It is by far the most dark of the Sword of Truth books. A little into this book you realize that it is not quite about the main characters anymore. Many people attack this book for the fact that it seems the plot, this new country, and its characters have nothing to do with the series. I believe that this book reinforces how badly the world needs Richard Rahl to protect it from Jagang. Perhaps it takes a while to get this simple point across, and maybe it is not necessary, but I am glad that I have read this book, even though it is a rather depressing tragedy of a nation. The main characters are overshadowed by the politics of the nation (its name escapes me). The plot is more subtle and smaller-scaled than previous book, at least in the beginning, but the plot developments are still interesting and there seems to be a shroud of mystery over the future. The characters, no matter how small, are real and you empathize with their emotions. It is these small parts of the book which draw you in, if you choose to let them. This book can be described as slow-moving, but it is in no way boring or dull, and it doesn't drag. I believe this story has more to do with universal truths of patriotism, nationalism, politics, courage, bravery, and character than is typical of Mr. Goodkind. It is a very good book, albeit depressing, and is not for those who are impatient, who want glorious, heroic battles, who are squeamish, or who just want a good old-fashioned sword 'n sorcery tale. So just use your best judgement if this book will suit your fancy, or just go ahead and give it a try anyway. You may be surprised.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than I expected, given some reviews.
Review: Terry Goodkind, Soul of the Fire (Tor, 1999) ... As we left Richard and Kahlan last time, the two were girding the lions of the D'Haran Empire against the Emperor Jagang and his Imperial Order, getting ready for the all-out war sure to come. In book five, Jagang's army makes their first move, attempting to annex the Midlands province of Anderith, a minor strategic gem. Richard and Kahlan happen to be in a good position to stop them, but there's a slight complication in the mix; creatures of magic called the Chimes are loose in the world, thanks to the events at the end of book four (not mentioned here for plot-spoiler reasons). Richard's job is twofold; get rid of the Chimes while stopping Jagang from taking Anderith, which would give his army a solid base in the Midlands. It would take a half-blind five-year-old not to figure out by page 100 of this eight-hundred-page novel not to make the right connections to figure out the bulk of what's going to happen by the end. There are still a few twists and turns to be had, but by this time the reader who's gone through the last few thousand pages with Richard and co. is probably less concerned with plot twists than he is with seeing what's going to happen next in the grand scale of things. And Goodkind gives us the grand scale here. He keeps the narrative just as readable while turning his attention to various contemporary political issues more than he has previously. The book does have a more nakedly political bent to it than the series has previously shown, and I think that's where a lot of the denigration comes from. Admittedly, it's a judgment call. I don't think it detracts from the book at all (and I'm one who usually sees alarm bells going off the second politics-as-message rears its ugly head in fiction); others feel otherwise. The writing, the characterization, and the readability haven't gone downhill a bit. If you've read the first four, it's definitely worth going at least this far to see if things will turn sour for you. ****
Rating:
Summary: horrible!
Review: The first novel, Wizards first rule, was an awsome book packed with everything anyone could ask for in a book. As i read on throughout the series...well it seemed the books kept preaching and sometimes goodkind would explain things that went on for pages at a time. And Richards abilities just started to seem a little too much. He seemed to gain a whole lot of abilities like the whole additive subtractive magic a little too fast. I just have plain stopped reading the books it might sound strange but i have lost interest in them. Its the same plot over and over and over. It really let me down.
Rating:
Summary: Where is this going?
Review: Hands down, Soul of the Fire is the most disappointing book in the Sword of Truth series. The storyline features the land of Anderith. The Chimes have come back into the world and are now sapping all magic from the land. It's up to Richard and Kahlan to put and end to this. Terry Goodkind branches the story of in many directions, but most fail to have a real meaning. Those that do have a purpose could have been trimmed a lot. The new side characters make up half the story. That means you have to trudge through these boring side stories to get to the parts featuring the protagonists. Less time could have been spent in the land of Anderith and been spent following Richard, Kahlan, Zedd, Cara, ect. There were some interesting parts in the plot towards the end though.
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