Soul of the Fire (Sword of Truth, Book 5)

Rating:
Summary: A series going stale
Review: This is the fifth book in the SOT series, and Goodkind is running short of ideas. Little in this book is new, and what is, notably the Evil Chicken Monster, is downright silly.

Most of the story takes place in Anderith, a corner of the Midlands that Richard and Kahlan haven't yet encountered. Goodkind has invented an elaborate history for Anderith, which he seems to intend as a sort of attack on multiculturalism and related political trends - in general, as the series goes forward, silly political posturing seems to increasingly get in the way of the story. But Goodkind's political message falls flat. The caricatures he uses to make political points are so wildly exaggerated that the analogy becomes absurd and even calling the arguments Goodkind introduces to knock down straw men gives them excessive dignity.

An example is the social structure in this novel of Anderith. In Anderith, the dominant Anders control everything and use the Hakens as servants. The Hakens once came to the country as successful conquerors, but after they became convinced that conquest was naughty, they allowed Anders to control their education and install a curiculum that taught all Haken were evil and all Anders good. Under the influence of that teaching, they agreed to yield all economic power, political power, and basic civil rights to make up for their aggressive nature, and now work as near slaves when not attending mandatory classes about how awful Hakens are. The Haken characters introduced in this book, although portrayed as intelligent, have completely internalized this teaching and accept any stories they are told without question, however obviously absurd and inconsistent.

The main plot line is that Richard and Kahlan's mariage in the prior installment released an ancient force which threatens to eliminate magic from the world. To fight the threat, Richard must find an answer in Anderith, while surviving the treacherous maneuvers of the Anderith leadership which is secretly plotting to turn their country over to the Imperial Order. Along the way, this being a Goodkind novel, quite a few of the female characters get raped, tortured, or murdered.

It isn't awful, but it's far too similar to earlier SoT novels, and where it's different, it's worse. This book doesn't really advance the overall plot of Richard vs Jagang substantially, so if you really want to find out what happens next, feel free to just skip it and go to the next one. Or, try my approach: after this mediocre volume I'm putting this series aside until it feels fresh again: a lapse of a few years if not forever.

Rating:
Summary: A good read!
Review: While violent, certianly not unimaginative. I quite enjoyed this book. The concept was quite interesting and definately a bit different... I liked it overall.

Rating:
Summary: Get ON with it, will you?
Review: WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS:

If you're enthralled with the Truth sequence, go ahead and read this book. It satisfyingly extends some of the characters and one might find revisiting them refreshing. As scifiguys noted, though, do not expect serious advancement in the sequence. Do not go out of your way to buy this book in hardcover. Save it for some sort of "rainy day" when nothing better is going on and you're looking for reasons not to clean the house.

WHY YOU SHOULD PASS:

You want something more than a new episode in a soap opera? Then pass. If nudity, sex, violence, and Murphy's Law realized in several coincidental cruelties across hundreds of pages are not, by themselves, going to do it for you, then definitely pass. Goodkind, despite imaginitive flaws, still has plenty of that to offer.

READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW AT INCHOATUS.COM

Rating:
Summary: Very good. Some interesting creative additions.
Review: I was interested in this story from beginning to end. We get to see the inner machinations of one of the nations from which Richard has demanded surrender. Thus much of the novel deals with political intrigue and cultural conflict. I actually think that Feist & Wurtz did this better with the Daughter of the Empire series, but Goodkind does a fine job. In fairness, Goodkind has much less space than did Feist & Wurtz, being that this is only a fraction of one book.

I found the writing to be more efficient than previous books and the story to be less obvious, though I would not say that everything is unpredictable. There are certainly some things you can see coming clearly. The latter is not necessarily a bad thing and is sometimes necessary to keep the reader going.

Goodkind does seem to have a good grasp of the psychology of enslavement. People under circumstances of brutal slavery do sometimes become so hopeless and helpless, that they will fear taking clear exits because they no longer believe it will work out. Their captor begins to seem omnipotent or omniscient.

Goodkind's books have a brutal side. There is a lot of rape and torture (sometimes this seems like the only brutality he can think of), but he uses them more and more judiciously with each novel. I have given up hope that he will ever become subtle and nuanced and have decided to just see the purpose in the cruelty.

As always, this book is not for children, but by now that should be obvious.

Rating:
Summary: Very nice...
Review: I really liked this book. I liked the sudden twist of magic failing, leading to other things in future books as well. I was amazed by the twist at the end where it actually was something as simple as the travel book they were reading said. I have to give this a five star, because I'd have to say this was one of my favorite books in the Sword of Truth series. Terry Goodkind's imagination is great at thinking up perils for the main characters, and somehow getting them out of it later on. It's a very interesting book, and I'd suggest any fan of the SOT saga read it.

Rating:
Summary: another good book
Review: this is a very good SOT novel. If you read this book you will enjoy the whole thing. Though i must say the ending was not as strong as it could have been but it is still a very good book. If you have never read one of these books i urge you to start from the begining or you will be lost. All in all a very good book

Rating:
Summary: Ian's Review
Review: Okay so basicly the chimes are loosed by Kahlan in saving Richard's life and he must banish them in order to restore magic. Cara is sent to recieve Richard's sword and finds two kids, Fitch and Morley, stealing it. And Zedd is turned into a raven after his soul is stripped from his body by Reechani the queen of the fire.
This novelwas appealing to me because it had a lot of suspense in it and that kept me reading ever onward. Also some other reasons are that the characters were portrayed as real people and reacted in ways that you would expect them too...except maybe Richard, Zedd, and Fitch. Also the fact that it is book five in a series that I've grown too love and have read all along didn't hurt it at all.
This book is mainly for the sci-fi audience I believe. It is also for you if you are deep into swords and magic.

Rating:
Summary: I'd give this zero stars, if I could.
Review: I enjoyed all the Sword of Truth books prior to this one, and the Faith of the Fallen was a remarkable comeback. Soul of Fire lost me as soon as the Killer Chicken showed up. I only finished it because my sister assured me it got better after that. She lied.

Do yourself a favor, and don't waste your time. I agree with the reviewers who suggest skipping straight to Faith of the Fallen.