Rating: 
Summary: A Shame...
Review: A great storyteller. Great characters. Good plot. When the series began that is.
From Soul of the Fire onwards, everything has gone downhill.
Whatever happened to the Terry who wrote the first few Sword of Truth novels. This is a sorry excuse of a story and even worse is the constant preaching that goes on and on and on. Richard is not the likeable hero he once was. Terry has tunred him into a poor man's version of John Galt. He used to borrow plot lines and ideas from Robert Jordan but now he has decided to rip off Ayn Rand. It's a shame all good authors who show such promise stoop to this level. The only saving grace for the fantasy genre seems to be George R. R. Martin and his A Song of Ice and Fire series...
Rating:
Summary: Just my .02
Review: After having read the book I came to the conclusion that this particular series is already one book too many for my interest.
Mr. Goodkind is a writer and a good one, but the progress and substance of the series at this point in time no longer provide the appeal that I found within the first few books.
I do however recommend buying at least the first four volumes of the "Sword of Truth" series since they introduce a fantastic, original and creative setting full of rich characters and problems.
Rating: 
Summary: Goodkind
Review: Great book. I would have given it 5 stars but that gones to only the most engrossing of tales. The story is new and refreshing. My only complaint is the ending, which is only a person preference. I didn't think that a certain villan should have died as easily has Terry put it. This book is very much an improvement over the his last book, Pillars of Creation.
Rating: 
Summary: Hmmmm...a Robert Jordan repeat
Review: I used to read the Sword of Truth till my eyes started to bleed...but that was when I was ten, and had not quite discovered the world of truly awesome literature. Honestly, I haven't touched the stuff since I heard that there was a 6th or 7th book out. I went down that road with Robert Jordan, and...well...thanks but no thanks. There is only so much I can take, and anyone writing beyond five or six books needs to do us a favor and just cut it out, or divide it up into different series, as David Eddings did in the Belgariad and Mallorean. Eddings, while not an overly sophisticated writer, at least figured out how not to bore his readers to tears.
I agree with earlier reviewers: Read George R. R. Martin. Although the series is a long time in completion, it is totally worth it. Can anyone say amazing?
Rating:
Summary: Uninspiring...if not downright pathetic
Review: I have read all 8 installments of the Sword of Truth, and I am not prepared to read a 9th, even if I go against my principle of finishing what I have started. This book picks up right where the last one left off, and so Richard becomes the wise, strong, burden-bearing ruler who gives rant after rant or analogy-full philosophical/social issues that are essential for all of us to know. The tiresome theme of the series has also not changed: A new threat suddenly appears combined with an old threat, Richard's headaches, which have an added twist...since his Sword no longer works as it should...C'mon, this is really childish stuff. All in all the book like a few of its predecessors is too heavy on the philosophical side. This makes the characters appear unreal, even for a fantasy series, since they are all so impossibly wise and intelligent, especially Richard whose dialogue is so unlike that of an unschooled, warrior/woodsguide and more like that of an highly educated Ph.D. with degrees in sociology and philosophy. So much of the book could be skipped over since it says the same thing over and over and over...until it almost sounds like some sort of propaganda...until I am looking with yearning to the few but entertaining chapters dealing with Ann and Nathan or even Zedd and Adie. I think, the most irritating thing about the book is its predictability...it all resembles a badly presented case of deja vu: Richard is hurting, Kahlan is worried, Richard is worried that Kahlan is worried...one of the two gets kidnapped...but once again comes out unscathed. Seriously, for an author who places so much emphasis on the harsh realities of life such as "rape, torture, murder" isn't it a bit strange how poor Kahlan always manages to escape the first one of these EVERY SINGLE TIME, although if I count right, she has been captured and helpless for what seems like countless time during the series. By now I am starting to root for Jagang...I want something humiliating and truly painful to happen to one or the other. In short, I just want to be surprised. Is that too much to ask for?
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: I think I am an atypical reader as it seems, after reading others' reviews, that many think the series is worsening as it progresses. On the contrary, my favorites are those later in the series; this one is no exception. I quite enjoyed this book, and thought it had some interesting plot twists. But again, I appear to be an exception to the rule.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh my lord.....
Review: I'm starting to think that Terry Goodkind thinks that his readers are idiots!! I mean REALLY!! I know a lot of Liberals are complaining about the preaching, but I'm a Liberal, and I think the messages are great...but do we need to hear it, again and again and again and again.....well you get my point :)Does he really think we won't understand the point unless it's drilled into us for 500 pages.When I first started to read this series I hated it because I thought it was fluff, then by the the 3rd or 4th book I thought it was great and I started to see that there was actually a subtle message behind the fluff. THEN THIS HAPPENED!!!!!!! Talk about one extreme to the other! Still, I've read a couple of thousand pages on Richard, so it's too late now......gotta finish it....just out of principle :( Great characters........it's a shame.
Rating:
Summary: George the Just...
Review: I've been an avid reader and fan of the 'Sword of Truth'-series for a long, long time, and for that matter, many other fantasy series as well. But, with Goodkind's latest, 'Naked Empire', I can't remember reading a book that gave me such disappointment, especially regarding its ending. There once was a time when I compared SoT with George R R Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire'-series, but, since 'Blood of the Fold', Goodkind has gradually drifted lightyears away from that kind of quality. I have the strong impression that the last 10 chapters of the story in NE were hurried away, while the storyline still invited for many an intricate story detail, able to create at least some 10-20 additional chapters. For example (I'll do my best not to give away spoilers): 1. Nicholas the Slide could have done to Richard what he also was able to do to Kahlan; or:
2. What would have happened if Kahlan/Nicholas had come back to Richard? or:
3. What would have happened if Jenssen had interacted with Nicholas? or:
4. How about a fight between Nicholas and Jagang over who rules the Empire? etc. So, all in all I think Goodkind just failed to create a truly satisfying read, and he or his publisher have limited the length and possibly the scope of the story, especially towards its ending. Another thing: there was much ado about Goodkind's co-called pro-war ramblings as he told them in this book via Richard. Well, for whatever they were worth, I must say I much agree with Richard's line of reasoning: brutal oppression must not be won by appeasement but by vengeance and obliteration of the enemy, see Germany, WWII. But one thing it failed to identify: who then is the enemy in our modern, real world? In SoT, it's easy: the Imperial Order, led by emperor Jagang the Just. But in our real world? In the real world we have to do with terrorism, not bound to states. That reminds me of the following: war is done by nations, but it is the people that are the victims. The same accounts for terrorism, however, terrorism is not bound to nations. So, if Goodkind indeed tried to show some of his modern war-philosophies via this book, I think it's just been a very outdated show how he has handled this theme in the book -- There is a lot in it about the brutal oppression by the Imperial Order (i.e. Germany, WWII), but there is /nothing/ in it about the current problems regarding terrorism and/or its implications, let alone solutions, of how to fight such a 'war'. That makes me wonder why so many people were offended by the war-theme of this book. Unless of course Jagang the Just's Imperial Order Empire should be compared to George the Just's neo-conservative economic-oppression 'Empire'? Now, then /that/ makes for truly interesting reading... Two stars, is all I am willing to give. And that has more to do with good memories of earlier books of the series than with the actual quality of this latest incarnation. /And/ it has to do with the /very/ interesting 'Empire' comparison...
Rating:
Summary: I really like this series, but.......
Review: I've had trouble actually getting through book #8.
Normally I stay fairly interested the entire book through, as things continue to happen, and the storyline progresses. But this book has just been about walking, and more walking, and even MORE walking. Then, a talk about philosophy, and being good or bad to people for pages on end. PLEASE just make the constant rambling stop and continue on with the story.
I probably could have skipped this entire book & not really missed anything. About halfway through the book, I almost couldn't stand it and actually just skipped several pages at a time. I just don't understand how this really relates to the story & plot as a whole. it's just talking about the same thing over and over.
I'm hoping Chainfire is better than Naked Empire.... I'm still waiting for the paperback version... Hardcover is too much to spend on a book. But that's another matter.
Rating:
Summary: A good book
Review: Okay, I understand why some people do not like this book, yes the conversations between the charactures are predictable, and a little unbelievable, BUT, I really liked this book! It is what I want in a paper back, fantasy book, a GOOD STORY. I liked that Richard was again featured in this book, I like him. And what is so wrong with the goat? I dont understand what the rest of these reviewers have against her, do none of them have pets? Anyway, I think that it was at least as good as the first book, and far better than a few of the ones in between!
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