Wizard's First Rule (Sword of Truth) (Paperback)

This is your typical swords and sorcery sorta fantasy story, which basically involves a quest to stop evil and the end of the world.

I didn't too much mind the "simpler" writing style. It made me grimmace in places, because it was - at times - almost childlike, but overall, it made such an epic (900+ pages) a lot more comfortable to read. Despite its simplicity, Goodkind has a wonderful style of writing that keeps me wanting to read more. There were some extremely tense parts, and the characters were crafted well enough to make me laugh out loud in places. There were also quite some interesting moral dilema's, and I did quite enjoy the slightly "philosophical" feel that some parts of the book had.

I'll note the fact that Richard seems to befriend Kahlan rather too quickly, and I did notice the characters repeating some rather cliche lines more than a few times. I rather liked the bad guy, because I found his personality fascinating. But he didn't really frighten me or make me too scared for the characters. Even though Goodkind is willing to do unpleasantly horrible things to his characters, I found that by the end, I wasn't too much afraid for their safety.

Overall, Richard (the main character) was a likeable hero. I admit that I expected not to really like him much at the beginning, but my opinion of him warmed quite quickly. Kahlan, Zed, and a few other characters were also very interesting to read about, but there were some important people whom just didn't invoke any feeling from me - Richard's brother and Chase are just two examples.

It was a bit cliche in places, but fortunately for me, I don't read too many of these "quest" type of fantasy series', so they're always new enough for me to keep interested. Having only read book one of the series, I don't know how well the whole thing is going to keep my interest. I heard good things about the later books, so I'm going to hope for the best. Until then, I can't say whether the series as a whole is worth it - and there are at least 8 books, so it's a fair investment of time - but the first book was worth the read, at the least. Didn't like me a major lasting impression, but it has kept me quite happy and interested over the past week or so.

The first 300 pages. Careful and sensitive location and environment descriptions, primarily in the woodland areas. It's worth also mentioning the spine-chilling chapter where Richard & Kahlan are in the middle of the boundary crossing, which is written brilliantly - It'll make your hair stand on end! At this point I thought I was in for a cracking read.

The bad:

Almost the whole of the rest of the book, starting with the mind-numbing stay with the mud-people. The uninteresting sections of this book go on for just far too long. The last 100 pages descend into soap-operatic farce, with almost any improbable scenario being made up in a rush to get to the excedingly disappointing climax.

The Unnecessarily perverse:

I do not want to read 75 repetitive pages detailing torture and horrendous cruelty if it does little in terms of developing the plot. I do not want to read descriptions of children being raped, molested and killed, even if it does help develop the plot. I understand the need for mature content, but this type of subject matter pops up far too often to make reading this book an enjoyable experience for any decent person.

I was ready to love this book after I read some great sequences near the beginning - to be fair there are some original ideas, and Goodkind's writing style has a soft sensitive warmth at times that I haven't come across elsewhere. However, ultimately as time wore on it wasn't enough to stop my mind wandering, and when the end arrived I found myself breathing an apathetic sigh of relief.

This series has quite simply raised my expectations for all future reads of the fantasy genre. The first book I picked up was 'Faith of the Fallen' (6th in the Series), which lasted a matter of days, and left me compelled to hunt down the first book in the series, namely 'Wizard's First Rule'.

Several aspects of Goodkind's writing in this series makes his books stand out from other examples of the genre. Stylistically, his portrayal of both the characters and the world in which they exist is achieved without becoming bogged down in overly-verbose description. The result is a fast-moving story that fights off tiredness at times of night when other books would fail to keep the reader from drifting into sleep.

The series must also be complimented for offering a welcome flavour of adult fantasy, and readers should be aware of the somewhat explicit nature of the content in terms of both sex and violence. However, as an adult reader I found the candidity and realism within which Goodkind address aspects of human behaviour as throughly refreshing. As a result he achieves strong character development and subsequent reader empathy.

The characters themselves, while bearing typically heroic traits, also have their flaws, which definitely add to the range of reader emotions which their actions are capable of provoking. There are inevitably ocaasions where the reader is caught reflecting with admiration upon one of the protagonist's latest amazing feats, but there is also scope for becoming both angry and frustrated with the characters in situations when the trappings of their human nature manage to get the better of them, leading them to make questionable decisions.

Other reviewers have commented on the similarities between the Sword of Truth series and some of Robert Jordan's work. Admittedly, I am not in a position to comment on this as I have only just started 'The Eye of the World' recently. However, what I can say is how impressed I have been in particular with the depth and clarity with which Goodkind addresses the role of magic within his fantasy world. Instead of presenting the reader with a basic, stock-in-trade approach, Goodkind delivers his portrayal of magic with an engaging intricacy, and at least in my opinion also a considerable degree of originality; although Jordan fans may choose to direct some of this credit elsewhere.

Goodkind has also been criticised for his tendency to 'preach', on both a social and political level, throughout the course of his story-telling. However, this issue is definitely a question of taste. Personally speaking, I actually found myself revelling in the ways in which these books enouraged me to think about aspects of human nature and society in general. As an author, Goodkind is clearly a man who spends a considerable amount of time reflecting upon the world as we know it outside of his storytelling, and as a result offers some interesting insights.

In summary, I am struck in writing this review by the fact that I could literally carry on all day; an obvious reflection on the impact that the 'Sword of Truth' series has had on me. The series, although perhaps past its best by the time you reach 'Pillars of Creation' (Book 7) has certainly provided me with a trully spellbinding reading experience. It offers stimuli to the reader on so many different levels that even those who are not fans of the fantasy genre have the potential to find it incredibly enjoyable. Speaking personally, I have never read a more rewarding series of books, within the fantasy or indeed any other genre, and would urge anyone to give them a go.