Rating: 
Summary: I've come to expect SO much more from Terry Goodkind.
Review: Okay... Does someone wanna tell me what the hell happened here? Either Terry Goodkind got a *little* too much pressure from his publisher, or from himself. Either way, compared to what else is out there, this book was crap. Don't get me wrong, I love Richard, Kaylan and the Sword of Truth Series just as much as the next maniac, but there is just so much a person can be expected to swallow. I choked on this one. First of all, he spends the first 100 pages of the book looking for a damned chicken! A CHICKEN! Even I can come up with about 10,000 better ideas than that one was. Plus, if no one has the guts to point it out, I sure as hell will; Come on, by a show of hands, how many of you are sick of this damned journal? Come on, it's getting a bit convinent that EVERY problem Richard is begining to face is convinently spelled out in Kolo's Journal, and I remind you, even more conveniently committed to Richards memory. Don't get me wrong, memarizing an entire book alone is no easy task(Book of Counted Shadows), but to memorize two(The Legend of Jane Farstrider or whatever the name of that book with the horses he read)and now to be commiting THREE books to memory...DAMN! I'm having trouble with StarWars Episode IV! Sorry, about that, I got off on kind of a rant... Back to the topic at hand, the dreaded journal. Seriosly isn't this getting old? In this entire book, he didn't have to search for a damned thing, either he found it in Kolo's Journal or he pulled it right out of his ass and said "Well, that must be it then." Even in the first book, Darken Rahl had to tell him "No magic is one dimensional" Then from there, being the Seeker, he figured out Kahlan's magic wouldn't work on him. Fine. Great. Neat. Wonderful. There wasn't anything like that in this book. He's begun to just kinda KNOW a little too much without having to lift a finger. Then what the F--..umm sorry, What's with this whole other level of magic crap? Sounds kinda lame... I just... I'm at a loss for words *smile* But what really takes the cake/gets my rocker/(insert annoying cleche' here)is how it only took him a page and a half to set everything to hunky-dory and put the chimes back in the underword. *sigh* Think I'll go wait in line for StarWars Episode I(oughta be more interesting than re-reading that waste of paper). I think I about hit my 1000 word limit, so if you entertain the idea of discussing this any further, feel free to email me.Later, James
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent writing, and waiting for the next
Review: Goodkind still keeps up his amazing story, with his impossible-odds ideas, which all fall together. I read the book in 3 days (I tried to slow down, but it was too good), and I am going to be one of the first to get his next book, if he (hopefully) writes another.
Rating: 
Summary: No Comparison to book one and two, two being my favorite.
Review: From the very beginning this book dragged. why did it take the first 200 pages of the book for Richard and Kahlan to figure out the Chimes were loose. The whole next 100 pages about the political activitites of Anderith were even more boring and to end it with so many un-answered questions was extremely Jordan style writting. I have come to know Goodkind is a much better writter than this. It is so obvious were this story line is going. I don't know what Jagang will do to Zedd but it will be extreme to get Richard to return from Westland to finally battle and triumph over him. Whatever was done to Cara while there was no magic will be Richards weekness. After such a long absence from Adyndril, the newly arrived Mordsith will seek him out in Westland to assist him in his battle with the Sisters of the Dark. Come on Terry you can do better than this.
Rating: 
Summary: I enjoyed the book but was a little disappointed.
Review: I am an avid Terry Goodkind fan and have loved all of his previous works. I really enjoyed this book. It did deviate from the general plot line quite a bit, but that's okay. The story lines were all interesting and kept me entertained. I didn't like the fact that there was no magic in most of the book. I keep waiting for Richard to learn how to use his magic, but this book didn't deal with the topic at all!! Looks like I'll have to wait for the next book... Also, I agree that the ending was very rushed. Suddenly Richard just knows how to banish the Chimes. It was all very confusing and didn't make a lot of sense to me. Goodkind doesn't explain how any of it came to be. Suddenly the book just ends. Personally, I feel like Goodkind should start a new series, with all new characters and a new story line. I love his writing, but this story line is becoming a little stale.
Rating:
Summary: as a writer....
Review: In comparison to the rest of Terry's series, this rates a three. I could elaborate on that, but I won't -- anything I could say about its merits and shortcomings has already been said by others. However, as a writer, I would like to defend Terry against those who claim he has written Soul of the Fire "just for the money." It takes a lot of work to write a book -- more than I could ever have imagined when I began writing. Let me elaborate briefly: any manuscript is written at least three times, probably more, so right away that's about 1500 pages devoted to each novel. Then it must be proofread. Usually a writer enlists the help of a trusted friend before the editor even sees the manuscript. Questioning every word on every page is a laborious process, and writers do not produce thousands of pages of airy nothing just to subject it to such a complex and helpful process. One does not simply write a five hundred page novel as a filler. Terry has written this book for a purpose - maybe only he knows exactly what that is - but undoubtedly he would not waste his time on creating an "in the meantime" novel, nor would any writer. Only a writer can be fully aware of the work that goes into the writing process, but it is always our sincere hope that our readers understand our efforts.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to the standard set by previous books
Review: I was disappointed in the Soul of the Fire. I very much enjoyed the first two books in this series (Wizard's First Rule and Stone of Tears), which were characterized by imagination, interesting plots, and attention to detail. The second two books, while very entertaining, seemed hurried and lacked the depth and level of detail that I found appealing in the first two books. Unfortunately, the Soul of the Fire continues this downward tend. The book seems hurried and superficial. Aside from an amusing (though obvious) parallel with recent political scandals and trendy notions, this book just goes through the motions. The ending is particularly dissatisfying, arriving at a momentous change of attitude with insufficient provocation. In summary, fans would be interested, but I would not recommend the book to first time readers.
Rating:
Summary: Goodkind doesn't dissapointe
Review: I have eagerly been anticipating this book for a year. I ordered it a month before it even came out, so you can imagine how exited I was when I received it. I'm glad to say the Terry Goodkind has been able to keep this series interestig. I would have liked to have seen Richard do more with his new found power. I know the story line was about magic failing, but Richard didn't get the Sword of Truth in his hands until the last paragraph. Oh well, I'll impatiently wait for the next book!
Rating: 
Summary: What a disappointment!
Review: I was really looking forward to THE SOUL OF THE FIRE, especially after TEMPLE OF THE WINDS. At least TEMPLE had some of the magic of the first books. Why would anyone write a book about wizards and sorcerers, then eliminate magic from its world? These last two books seem to have been written just for the money. It is disrespectful to readers to continue a very good series just for profit, and I've noticed so many doing so lately (e.g., Ann Rice, David Eddings, Terry Brooks). SOUL lost my attention as soon as it began its political harangue in Anderith. The whole section was boring, although I might have missed something interesting while skimming this part. Writing Zedd out of the story so early was unfortunate as he is one of the best things in the series. Also, the timeline seemed strange -- was Richard a prisoner of Darken Rahl only seven months ago? I just didn't care about any of the new characters and had little interest in their stories. The writing itself was not as good, either. I had to re-read some sentences just to be sure of their meaning. There was too much repetition, e.g., Kahlan pinching the bridge of her nose, ladies straightening the back of their skirt/dress before sitting down. Why was it necessary to have Kahlan beaten almost to death? Only to lose her baby? Why have her get pregnant in the first place! How did Zedd's soul get into the raven? The cleverest of the book was the deaths of Duncan, Teresa, Chanboor, and his wife. Duncan was, indeed, a very clever man and found a fitting revenge. I hope that if there is another book in the series (which is inevitable since nothing was done about Jagang and his army in this one) Goodkind will return to what made the first books so good -- characters you can care about doing things that hold the reader's interest with large doses of Magic -- something lost literally and figuratively in SOUL OF THE FIRE.
Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed it, just not what I expected out of him
Review: As I read through the other books in the sword of truth series my mind was captivated by all the different twists and stories which brought me to love the characters and what they stood for. The first two books were some of the best I have ever read and urged me to keep reading. Blood of the Fold was a little bit of a let down but wasn't all that bad and I stuck with the series. When TotW came out I was glad I did, the best book or at least tied for best with WFR of the series. The prophecy was exciting especially to see how it was all going to end. The last week or so I picked up book 5, Soul of the Fire, expecting no less then I had seen in his previous books. For one, Goodking really doens't spend that much time on his previously developed characters, Richard, Kahlan, but definately needed more of Zedd. :) Half the book was him just developing the whole situation in Ander and rushed the ending where Richard all of a sudden knows how to rid the world of the chimes. I really think that the book could have been another 200 pages easily, I think that Goodkind was kinda rushed into finishing it because it's date being pushed back so much and wanting to get it out so that we wouldn't have to wait any longer. Ok, though it did have it's bad points, it also did have it's good. For example, the whole dominie dirtch thing was just funny, especially how dumb the Anders were to leave their whole border defense to some untrained soldiers. Bertraand Chanboor played the typical role of a sleezeball, along with his wife. Dalton Campbell I actually came to respect in the end and admire his intelligence. Although his wife in the end turned out to be nothing more than a common harlot. If I had to rank this book in comparison with his others, I would rank it in between Soul of Tears and Blood of the Fold. BotF being the worst of the series
Rating:
Summary: A little off
Review: Quite good, but it does tend to deviate from the main plotline. And my biggest complaint is that the main characters always seem to create their own problems, often through stupid mistakes. Judgement isn't their strong suit shall we say. And as for Jordan vs Goodkind, everything has been said., but personally I'll put my money on Jordan. Really people, its not that hard to keep track of his characters provided you have an I.Q. over 90.
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