The defenition of boredom, 08 Jan 2009
The last book of the Sword of Truth series, Confessor, is the most boring annoying and presumptuous book of fantasy I have ever read and I have read a lot. Terry Goodkind REALLY had a good story in the first four books and if he would stop running into absurd dia-monologues in the last three books of which Confessor is defenitely the worse he could have gotten away with it.
As it stands I finished reading Confessor because as a rule I always finish a book once started but it was really, really hard.
I am not sure I will buy another book from this author in the future... As one of the reviewer-readers stated when did he stop knowing what and how to write?

should have been fewer books, 29 Dec 2008
this was a poor end to a promising series of books the last 5 books could have been written as one if mr goodkind had not written the same moralising text again & again & again & again,the ending was so bad a 5 year must have written it

Soooo disappointing, 28 Dec 2008
What a huge disappointment. Terry Goodkind was obviously bored before writing this book and definitely during....what a shame. Don't buy....you know who wins in the end....

Over at last!, 12 Dec 2008
What would I have wanted to know before I purchased this product? That is is the last in the series, thankfully. The same horrified compulsion that brings me to read the Daily Mail has kept me comping back the Sword of Truth series long after I began to hate the central characters and the interminable, rambling and incoherent moralising that Terry Goodkind is insistent on force feeding his readers.

Even the proof readers gave up on this book, as evidenced by the numerous typos littering the text. It would appear that even Goodkind gives up halfway through, as one character sees a "wingman" scoring a point in a pseudo American Football game only to remark to herself two pages later when another wingman scores a similar point that she has never seen such a thing.

Spotting such inconsistencies is much more entertaining than reading swathes of moralising speeches cut and pasted from books 4-9, although to give the book its due there are a couple of good action sequences. There then follows a hurried tidying of loose ends, more deus ex machinas than Mona Lisa Overdrive and a reasonably satisfying conclusion to the Book of Counted Shadows riddle, before Goodkind loses the plot once more.

If it was so easy to get rid of all the main villlains, why not do it before?

Why do several main characters cheerily condemn themselves and their children to a souless existence, forever giving up a chance at the afterlife, with a slight shrug and brief farewell?

What went wrong with such a promising fantasy series? I have to say, I don't really care. I will never have to read another Goodkind book again, and can carry on with much more intelligent fantasy fare. Malazan, here I come...

Oh dear, 28 Oct 2008
"The final book in one of the greatest epic series of all time" - aye right. I read the first few and gave up when the plot was lost early on. Epic series? No, just like the Shannara books latter days, it has is going for the buck.

Naked Empire is book eight of Terry Goodkind's bestselling "Sword of Truth" fantasy series, following on directly from the events of the previous instalment The Pillars of Creation.

Richard, one of various gifted children of this world's former dark lord Darken Rahl, continues his journeying with the Sword of Truth and his wife Kahlan. Seven volumes of magical and military upheaval, and all too many desperate last-ditch measures, have left their scars: "The world was unravelling, in more ways than one. But there had been no choice".

Ancient sorcerous barriers have been accidentally toppled, freeing the unpleasant "Imperial Order" to rape, loot and pillage the rest of the world. The Emperor and his chief minion are revolting creatures whose sadism begins where Vlad the Impaler left off. Bandakar, a land of pacifists, has little chance of survival until someone gets the bright idea of giving the admired liberator Lord Rahl--that is, Richard--a dose of slow-acting poison. There is no antidote until he, personally and more or less single-handedly, frees Bandakar from the invading horde while, as pacifists, the natives will stand clear and disapprove of the slaughter. Some lessons in ethics and realism need to be learned here...

Goodkind deals in tougher issues and greater moral complexities than the typical blockbuster fantasy series, and underlines the dreadfulness of his characters' choices with unsparing descriptions of Imperial atrocity. Big trouble is also spreading elsewhere, with the Rahl homeland under siege and the fabled Wizard's Keep--a bastion that is actually the home of just two elderly magicians--threatened by magic-immune infiltrators.

Meanwhile in Bandakar, Richard and friends have greater problems than overwhelming opposition and useless allies. His personal magic "gift" is failing, he gets terrible headaches, his relationship with the Sword of Truth is in trouble, poison symptoms worsen, and the three vials of antidote are hidden in widely separated places. Worse, the local boss of Imperial forces is a soul-stealer who rides the minds of birds and beasts, watches Richard's progress through their eyes, and can gloatingly anticipate his plans. No-one said this was going to be easy.

A violent finale sees some good surprises and ingenuity, plus one cheeky deus ex machina, bringing this adventure to a neat conclusion. The greater war continues, though, and further sequels must follow. Newcomers to "Sword of Truth" may be dizzied by the number of back-story references, but the saga's legions of admirers will welcome this slickly crafted and compulsively readable episode. --David Langford

The defenition of boredom, 08 Jan 2009
The last book of the Sword of Truth series, Confessor, is the most boring annoying and presumptuous book of fantasy I have ever read and I have read a lot. Terry Goodkind REALLY had a good story in the first four books and if he would stop running into absurd dia-monologues in the last three books of which Confessor is defenitely the worse he could have gotten away with it.
As it stands I finished reading Confessor because as a rule I always finish a book once started but it was really, really hard.
I am not sure I will buy another book from this author in the future... As one of the reviewer-readers stated when did he stop knowing what and how to write?

should have been fewer books, 29 Dec 2008
this was a poor end to a promising series of books the last 5 books could have been written as one if mr goodkind had not written the same moralising text again & again & again & again,the ending was so bad a 5 year must have written it

Soooo disappointing, 28 Dec 2008
What a huge disappointment. Terry Goodkind was obviously bored before writing this book and definitely during....what a shame. Don't buy....you know who wins in the end....

Over at last!, 12 Dec 2008
What would I have wanted to know before I purchased this product? That is is the last in the series, thankfully. The same horrified compulsion that brings me to read the Daily Mail has kept me comping back the Sword of Truth series long after I began to hate the central characters and the interminable, rambling and incoherent moralising that Terry Goodkind is insistent on force feeding his readers.

Even the proof readers gave up on this book, as evidenced by the numerous typos littering the text. It would appear that even Goodkind gives up halfway through, as one character sees a "wingman" scoring a point in a pseudo American Football game only to remark to herself two pages later when another wingman scores a similar point that she has never seen such a thing.

Spotting such inconsistencies is much more entertaining than reading swathes of moralising speeches cut and pasted from books 4-9, although to give the book its due there are a couple of good action sequences. There then follows a hurried tidying of loose ends, more deus ex machinas than Mona Lisa Overdrive and a reasonably satisfying conclusion to the Book of Counted Shadows riddle, before Goodkind loses the plot once more.

If it was so easy to get rid of all the main villlains, why not do it before?

Why do several main characters cheerily condemn themselves and their children to a souless existence, forever giving up a chance at the afterlife, with a slight shrug and brief farewell?

What went wrong with such a promising fantasy series? I have to say, I don't really care. I will never have to read another Goodkind book again, and can carry on with much more intelligent fantasy fare. Malazan, here I come...

Oh dear, 28 Oct 2008
"The final book in one of the greatest epic series of all time" - aye right. I read the first few and gave up when the plot was lost early on. Epic series? No, just like the Shannara books latter days, it has is going for the buck.

Dreadful, 08 Aug 2008
Appalling, dreadful rubbish. I've never liked Goodkind's work, finding it preachy and whiny with very little 'world-buidling' and characterisation. I picked this up very cheap at boot-sale and thought I would dip in to see if the writting has improved. It hasn't. I struggled through a few hundred pages and thought 'there are better things to do'. In comparison with George R R Martin, Tad Williams, even the later Robert Jordan, he is very low on the skill scale. Not many main-stream book shops stock his books now as they sell poorly. Hopefully we will see his publisher drop this soon to give new authors a chance.

What Happened?, 19 Jun 2008
In the preceding book "Chainfire", Richard Rahl is the only person who remembers Kahlan existed. He spent the whole book trying to find proof to convince everyone that he wasn't insane and that something was dreadfully wrong.

Phantom carries on this story. Richard, after having proved that Kahlan is not a figment of his imagination, that she is his wife and also the Mother Confessor, to certain of his friends and family, now has to figure out a way of getting her back. At the same time he has to find a way of dealing with the evil Sisters of the Dark, stopping The Imperial Order from sweeping through the Midlands and destroying civilization, learning how to finally use his magical powers as the only War Wizard to have been born in living memory, and finding a way to replace everyone's lost memories.

I had been waiting for this book after having read all of the previous 9 plus the prequel novella and enjoying them, some more than others. When I began to read I was so disappointed, where was the humour, the fast paced adventure, the wonderful characters that I remembered. The book rambled on with long passages of political invective, magical formulas and spell forms, even algebra was mentioned at one point.

Characters came and went and I found myself wondering why on earth the author had bothered to bring them back if they were not going to be allowed, at the very least, to show their personalities. I can only imagine that the memories lost to the people of the Midlands and D'Hara had also been lost to Mr Goodkind himself.

Then at the end of the book the story still isn't finished. Now we have to look forward to another whole book to finish off the things that quite possibly could have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion in this one.

I was not impressed at all.

Crushed beneath didactic drivel, 05 Mar 2008
Once upon a time there was a superb author of a great series. Phantom is actually two books. One an imaginative story, building on previous episodes, but crushed. The other, a didactic, patronising drivel of a lecture. Just when the story begins to flow the author stops. . . so the main character can yet again patiently explain to anyone nearby in patronising and repetive ways for page after page how social equality is bad and an everybody should focus on bettering themselves (capitalism good, communism bad ugh). The tone talks down to the reader "well you see little Johny, its like this. . . ". ignore or skip the lectures and flashes of why the earlier books were so popular become apparent

superb, 02 Jan 2008
I absolutely fail to understand why all the people who have previously reviewed and appeared to hate this book bothered to buy it in the first place. I don't doubt many of them if not all have read all of the series so far and have been similarly disappointed - so why perpetuate your own misery??
I for one have read all the books in the series and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. Yes, he is guilty of telling you a bit too much about what happened in previous installments but I guess if you were to pick up the books out of sequence it may help to fill in some gaps. I love the way he tells his story and I love the characters and have been eagerly anticipating every installment.
My opinion? If you're fed up getting burnt don't keep putting your hand in the flame.

Remarkable..., 12 Dec 2007
I personally have nothing against a good old speech, and I think that Richard Rahl has pulled off some fairly impressive ones in his time. However, *A* speech is what I like. He had his nice little anti-pacifism lark at the beginning with Owen, and that was wonderful. Then, he went and gave the same speech to the villagers. Then he went and gave the speech to the high council. Then he gave it to the respected elder. Then, once he'd run out of people, he gave the same speech to himself! Frankly, that is just absurd. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough for Mr. Rahl. He thought these people hadn't yet been given enough of the wisdom of a Rahl, so he decided that they, along with the reader, needed to know all about the evils of communism as well! So we received the communism lecture just a few times...

Frankly, at this rate, I find it astounding that his friends can cope with him. I already hate the man! They actually have to spend day after day wandering along drinking in the speeches that are revolutionary despite the fact they have watched him give them to five different groups of people already.

And, of course, everyone's viewpoint but his is wrong, and people know it! I would be impressed at the debating power of any man, were he able to take a group of religious fanatics and convince them of their incorrectness within the span of a single novel - it simply cannot be done.

This book is absurd in every possible way. The only reason it recieved two stars was that it was (thank God) better than the one that wasn't related at all to him (I can't remember the name - my, what an impact it made on me!). I didn't finish that one.

The defenition of boredom, 08 Jan 2009
The last book of the Sword of Truth series, Confessor, is the most boring annoying and presumptuous book of fantasy I have ever read and I have read a lot. Terry Goodkind REALLY had a good story in the first four books and if he would stop running into absurd dia-monologues in the last three books of which Confessor is defenitely the worse he could have gotten away with it.
As it stands I finished reading Confessor because as a rule I always finish a book once started but it was really, really hard.
I am not sure I will buy another book from this author in the future... As one of the reviewer-readers stated when did he stop knowing what and how to write?

should have been fewer books, 29 Dec 2008
this was a poor end to a promising series of books the last 5 books could have been written as one if mr goodkind had not written the same moralising text again & again & again & again,the ending was so bad a 5 year must have written it

Soooo disappointing, 28 Dec 2008
What a huge disappointment. Terry Goodkind was obviously bored before writing this book and definitely during....what a shame. Don't buy....you know who wins in the end....

Over at last!, 12 Dec 2008
What would I have wanted to know before I purchased this product? That is is the last in the series, thankfully. The same horrified compulsion that brings me to read the Daily Mail has kept me comping back the Sword of Truth series long after I began to hate the central characters and the interminable, rambling and incoherent moralising that Terry Goodkind is insistent on force feeding his readers.

Even the proof readers gave up on this book, as evidenced by the numerous typos littering the text. It would appear that even Goodkind gives up halfway through, as one character sees a "wingman" scoring a point in a pseudo American Football game only to remark to herself two pages later when another wingman scores a similar point that she has never seen such a thing.

Spotting such inconsistencies is much more entertaining than reading swathes of moralising speeches cut and pasted from books 4-9, although to give the book its due there are a couple of good action sequences. There then follows a hurried tidying of loose ends, more deus ex machinas than Mona Lisa Overdrive and a reasonably satisfying conclusion to the Book of Counted Shadows riddle, before Goodkind loses the plot once more.

If it was so easy to get rid of all the main villlains, why not do it before?

Why do several main characters cheerily condemn themselves and their children to a souless existence, forever giving up a chance at the afterlife, with a slight shrug and brief farewell?

What went wrong with such a promising fantasy series? I have to say, I don't really care. I will never have to read another Goodkind book again, and can carry on with much more intelligent fantasy fare. Malazan, here I come...

Oh dear, 28 Oct 2008
"The final book in one of the greatest epic series of all time" - aye right. I read the first few and gave up when the plot was lost early on. Epic series? No, just like the Shannara books latter days, it has is going for the buck.

Dreadful, 08 Aug 2008
Appalling, dreadful rubbish. I've never liked Goodkind's work, finding it preachy and whiny with very little 'world-buidling' and characterisation. I picked this up very cheap at boot-sale and thought I would dip in to see if the writting has improved. It hasn't. I struggled through a few hundred pages and thought 'there are better things to do'. In comparison with George R R Martin, Tad Williams, even the later Robert Jordan, he is very low on the skill scale. Not many main-stream book shops stock his books now as they sell poorly. Hopefully we will see his publisher drop this soon to give new authors a chance.

What Happened?, 19 Jun 2008
In the preceding book "Chainfire", Richard Rahl is the only person who remembers Kahlan existed. He spent the whole book trying to find proof to convince everyone that he wasn't insane and that something was dreadfully wrong.

Phantom carries on this story. Richard, after having proved that Kahlan is not a figment of his imagination, that she is his wife and also the Mother Confessor, to certain of his friends and family, now has to figure out a way of getting her back. At the same time he has to find a way of dealing with the evil Sisters of the Dark, stopping The Imperial Order from sweeping through the Midlands and destroying civilization, learning how to finally use his magical powers as the only War Wizard to have been born in living memory, and finding a way to replace everyone's lost memories.

I had been waiting for this book after having read all of the previous 9 plus the prequel novella and enjoying them, some more than others. When I began to read I was so disappointed, where was the humour, the fast paced adventure, the wonderful characters that I remembered. The book rambled on with long passages of political invective, magical formulas and spell forms, even algebra was mentioned at one point.

Characters came and went and I found myself wondering why on earth the author had bothered to bring them back if they were not going to be allowed, at the very least, to show their personalities. I can only imagine that the memories lost to the people of the Midlands and D'Hara had also been lost to Mr Goodkind himself.

Then at the end of the book the story still isn't finished. Now we have to look forward to another whole book to finish off the things that quite possibly could have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion in this one.

I was not impressed at all.

Crushed beneath didactic drivel, 05 Mar 2008
Once upon a time there was a superb author of a great series. Phantom is actually two books. One an imaginative story, building on previous episodes, but crushed. The other, a didactic, patronising drivel of a lecture. Just when the story begins to flow the author stops. . . so the main character can yet again patiently explain to anyone nearby in patronising and repetive ways for page after page how social equality is bad and an everybody should focus on bettering themselves (capitalism good, communism bad ugh). The tone talks down to the reader "well you see little Johny, its like this. . . ". ignore or skip the lectures and flashes of why the earlier books were so popular become apparent

superb, 02 Jan 2008
I absolutely fail to understand why all the people who have previously reviewed and appeared to hate this book bothered to buy it in the first place. I don't doubt many of them if not all have read all of the series so far and have been similarly disappointed - so why perpetuate your own misery??
I for one have read all the books in the series and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. Yes, he is guilty of telling you a bit too much about what happened in previous installments but I guess if you were to pick up the books out of sequence it may help to fill in some gaps. I love the way he tells his story and I love the characters and have been eagerly anticipating every installment.
My opinion? If you're fed up getting burnt don't keep putting your hand in the flame.

Remarkable..., 12 Dec 2007
I personally have nothing against a good old speech, and I think that Richard Rahl has pulled off some fairly impressive ones in his time. However, *A* speech is what I like. He had his nice little anti-pacifism lark at the beginning with Owen, and that was wonderful. Then, he went and gave the same speech to the villagers. Then he went and gave the speech to the high council. Then he gave it to the respected elder. Then, once he'd run out of people, he gave the same speech to himself! Frankly, that is just absurd. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough for Mr. Rahl. He thought these people hadn't yet been given enough of the wisdom of a Rahl, so he decided that they, along with the reader, needed to know all about the evils of communism as well! So we received the communism lecture just a few times...

Frankly, at this rate, I find it astounding that his friends can cope with him. I already hate the man! They actually have to spend day after day wandering along drinking in the speeches that are revolutionary despite the fact they have watched him give them to five different groups of people already.

And, of course, everyone's viewpoint but his is wrong, and people know it! I would be impressed at the debating power of any man, were he able to take a group of religious fanatics and convince them of their incorrectness within the span of a single novel - it simply cannot be done.

This book is absurd in every possible way. The only reason it recieved two stars was that it was (thank God) better than the one that wasn't related at all to him (I can't remember the name - my, what an impact it made on me!). I didn't finish that one.

Epic shock, 16 Mar 2008
Terry is very close to the knuckle. His books are almost shock fantasy with spriklings of Ayn Rand. Inparts the book can be brutal, it doesn't skim over rape or slaughter. It forces you to confront it, and makes you hate who ever did it, which then make the act of vengence so just. I've never been a fantasy fan. I love The Iliad, and Palahnuik books, but this this is just fantastic. I had no time for Atlas Shrugged but this slowly injects Rand's ideas of Objectivism with sweet lashing of violence. Yo don't even bother looking at the needle in your arm because your distracted by Terry lopping your arm of with a battle axe.

Boring, 27 Oct 2007
I was bored. I skipped several long passages, simply because they were so tremendously boring. I found that there were many sections in which absolutely nothing at all happened, and by the end I was mentally begging the book just to finish so I could read something else.

Another stunning book, 10 Sep 2007
This is now my second favorite book after the sword of truth 1 (wizards first rule). It is one of the most exciting books I have ever read!!!
I never had any interest in reading but these books have turned that around!

Utter garbage., 18 Aug 2006
Terry Goodkind is a complete hack. His writing is heavily derivative of real fantasy writers, who are able to sell books based on their creative merit, instead of just plagiarising good authors and then making outrageous and derogitory claims about the genre that puts food on his table. His stories lack any sort of decent flow. Nick of time, unforeshadowed resolutions abound. "Oh, this is getting long! Better finish it up!" Nice try, Terry, but your self-gratifying pseudo-philisophical tripe didn't impress me. My copy of this book has a date with the fireplace.

The Biggest Letdown EVER!, 13 Aug 2004
This book is dreadful! I read the start of this series and I thought it was really great. I was looking forward to this part as well, but I never even finished it. I struggled on till about half way through and then felt if I continued I may have been putting my mental health at risk.

The book is violent and graphic.....fair enough, but good grief, the level in this book is way beyond what was necessary and in fact it just detracted from the story completely as it was continual and in a lot of cases pointless and unjustified. This was a HUGE letdown and I doubt I will ever read anything by this author again.

Naked Empire is book eight of Terry Goodkind's bestselling "Sword of Truth" fantasy series, following on directly from the events of the previous instalment The Pillars of Creation.

Richard, one of various gifted children of this world's former dark lord Darken Rahl, continues his journeying with the Sword of Truth and his wife Kahlan. Seven volumes of magical and military upheaval, and all too many desperate last-ditch measures, have left their scars: "The world was unravelling, in more ways than one. But there had been no choice".

Ancient sorcerous barriers have been accidentally toppled, freeing the unpleasant "Imperial Order" to rape, loot and pillage the rest of the world. The Emperor and his chief minion are revolting creatures whose sadism begins where Vlad the Impaler left off. Bandakar, a land of pacifists, has little chance of survival until someone gets the bright idea of giving the admired liberator Lord Rahl--that is, Richard--a dose of slow-acting poison. There is no antidote until he, personally and more or less single-handedly, frees Bandakar from the invading horde while, as pacifists, the natives will stand clear and disapprove of the slaughter. Some lessons in ethics and realism need to be learned here...

Goodkind deals in tougher issues and greater moral complexities than the typical blockbuster fantasy series, and underlines the dreadfulness of his characters' choices with unsparing descriptions of Imperial atrocity. Big trouble is also spreading elsewhere, with the Rahl homeland under siege and the fabled Wizard's Keep--a bastion that is actually the home of just two elderly magicians--threatened by magic-immune infiltrators.

Meanwhile in Bandakar, Richard and friends have greater problems than overwhelming opposition and useless allies. His personal magic "gift" is failing, he gets terrible headaches, his relationship with the Sword of Truth is in trouble, poison symptoms worsen, and the three vials of antidote are hidden in widely separated places. Worse, the local boss of Imperial forces is a soul-stealer who rides the minds of birds and beasts, watches Richard's progress through their eyes, and can gloatingly anticipate his plans. No-one said this was going to be easy.

A violent finale sees some good surprises and ingenuity, plus one cheeky deus ex machina, bringing this adventure to a neat conclusion. The greater war continues, though, and further sequels must follow. Newcomers to "Sword of Truth" may be dizzied by the number of back-story references, but the saga's legions of admirers will welcome this slickly crafted and compulsively readable episode. --David Langford

The defenition of boredom, 08 Jan 2009
The last book of the Sword of Truth series, Confessor, is the most boring annoying and presumptuous book of fantasy I have ever read and I have read a lot. Terry Goodkind REALLY had a good story in the first four books and if he would stop running into absurd dia-monologues in the last three books of which Confessor is defenitely the worse he could have gotten away with it.
As it stands I finished reading Confessor because as a rule I always finish a book once started but it was really, really hard.
I am not sure I will buy another book from this author in the future... As one of the reviewer-readers stated when did he stop knowing what and how to write?

should have been fewer books, 29 Dec 2008
this was a poor end to a promising series of books the last 5 books could have been written as one if mr goodkind had not written the same moralising text again & again & again & again,the ending was so bad a 5 year must have written it

Soooo disappointing, 28 Dec 2008
What a huge disappointment. Terry Goodkind was obviously bored before writing this book and definitely during....what a shame. Don't buy....you know who wins in the end....

Over at last!, 12 Dec 2008
What would I have wanted to know before I purchased this product? That is is the last in the series, thankfully. The same horrified compulsion that brings me to read the Daily Mail has kept me comping back the Sword of Truth series long after I began to hate the central characters and the interminable, rambling and incoherent moralising that Terry Goodkind is insistent on force feeding his readers.

Even the proof readers gave up on this book, as evidenced by the numerous typos littering the text. It would appear that even Goodkind gives up halfway through, as one character sees a "wingman" scoring a point in a pseudo American Football game only to remark to herself two pages later when another wingman scores a similar point that she has never seen such a thing.

Spotting such inconsistencies is much more entertaining than reading swathes of moralising speeches cut and pasted from books 4-9, although to give the book its due there are a couple of good action sequences. There then follows a hurried tidying of loose ends, more deus ex machinas than Mona Lisa Overdrive and a reasonably satisfying conclusion to the Book of Counted Shadows riddle, before Goodkind loses the plot once more.

If it was so easy to get rid of all the main villlains, why not do it before?

Why do several main characters cheerily condemn themselves and their children to a souless existence, forever giving up a chance at the afterlife, with a slight shrug and brief farewell?

What went wrong with such a promising fantasy series? I have to say, I don't really care. I will never have to read another Goodkind book again, and can carry on with much more intelligent fantasy fare. Malazan, here I come...

Oh dear, 28 Oct 2008
"The final book in one of the greatest epic series of all time" - aye right. I read the first few and gave up when the plot was lost early on. Epic series? No, just like the Shannara books latter days, it has is going for the buck.

Dreadful, 08 Aug 2008
Appalling, dreadful rubbish. I've never liked Goodkind's work, finding it preachy and whiny with very little 'world-buidling' and characterisation. I picked this up very cheap at boot-sale and thought I would dip in to see if the writting has improved. It hasn't. I struggled through a few hundred pages and thought 'there are better things to do'. In comparison with George R R Martin, Tad Williams, even the later Robert Jordan, he is very low on the skill scale. Not many main-stream book shops stock his books now as they sell poorly. Hopefully we will see his publisher drop this soon to give new authors a chance.

What Happened?, 19 Jun 2008
In the preceding book "Chainfire", Richard Rahl is the only person who remembers Kahlan existed. He spent the whole book trying to find proof to convince everyone that he wasn't insane and that something was dreadfully wrong.

Phantom carries on this story. Richard, after having proved that Kahlan is not a figment of his imagination, that she is his wife and also the Mother Confessor, to certain of his friends and family, now has to figure out a way of getting her back. At the same time he has to find a way of dealing with the evil Sisters of the Dark, stopping The Imperial Order from sweeping through the Midlands and destroying civilization, learning how to finally use his magical powers as the only War Wizard to have been born in living memory, and finding a way to replace everyone's lost memories.

I had been waiting for this book after having read all of the previous 9 plus the prequel novella and enjoying them, some more than others. When I began to read I was so disappointed, where was the humour, the fast paced adventure, the wonderful characters that I remembered. The book rambled on with long passages of political invective, magical formulas and spell forms, even algebra was mentioned at one point.

Characters came and went and I found myself wondering why on earth the author had bothered to bring them back if they were not going to be allowed, at the very least, to show their personalities. I can only imagine that the memories lost to the people of the Midlands and D'Hara had also been lost to Mr Goodkind himself.

Then at the end of the book the story still isn't finished. Now we have to look forward to another whole book to finish off the things that quite possibly could have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion in this one.

I was not impressed at all.

Crushed beneath didactic drivel, 05 Mar 2008
Once upon a time there was a superb author of a great series. Phantom is actually two books. One an imaginative story, building on previous episodes, but crushed. The other, a didactic, patronising drivel of a lecture. Just when the story begins to flow the author stops. . . so the main character can yet again patiently explain to anyone nearby in patronising and repetive ways for page after page how social equality is bad and an everybody should focus on bettering themselves (capitalism good, communism bad ugh). The tone talks down to the reader "well you see little Johny, its like this. . . ". ignore or skip the lectures and flashes of why the earlier books were so popular become apparent

superb, 02 Jan 2008
I absolutely fail to understand why all the people who have previously reviewed and appeared to hate this book bothered to buy it in the first place. I don't doubt many of them if not all have read all of the series so far and have been similarly disappointed - so why perpetuate your own misery??
I for one have read all the books in the series and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. Yes, he is guilty of telling you a bit too much about what happened in previous installments but I guess if you were to pick up the books out of sequence it may help to fill in some gaps. I love the way he tells his story and I love the characters and have been eagerly anticipating every installment.
My opinion? If you're fed up getting burnt don't keep putting your hand in the flame.

Remarkable..., 12 Dec 2007
I personally have nothing against a good old speech, and I think that Richard Rahl has pulled off some fairly impressive ones in his time. However, *A* speech is what I like. He had his nice little anti-pacifism lark at the beginning with Owen, and that was wonderful. Then, he went and gave the same speech to the villagers. Then he went and gave the speech to the high council. Then he gave it to the respected elder. Then, once he'd run out of people, he gave the same speech to himself! Frankly, that is just absurd. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough for Mr. Rahl. He thought these people hadn't yet been given enough of the wisdom of a Rahl, so he decided that they, along with the reader, needed to know all about the evils of communism as well! So we received the communism lecture just a few times...

Frankly, at this rate, I find it astounding that his friends can cope with him. I already hate the man! They actually have to spend day after day wandering along drinking in the speeches that are revolutionary despite the fact they have watched him give them to five different groups of people already.

And, of course, everyone's viewpoint but his is wrong, and people know it! I would be impressed at the debating power of any man, were he able to take a group of religious fanatics and convince them of their incorrectness within the span of a single novel - it simply cannot be done.

This book is absurd in every possible way. The only reason it recieved two stars was that it was (thank God) better than the one that wasn't related at all to him (I can't remember the name - my, what an impact it made on me!). I didn't finish that one.

Epic shock, 16 Mar 2008
Terry is very close to the knuckle. His books are almost shock fantasy with spriklings of Ayn Rand. Inparts the book can be brutal, it doesn't skim over rape or slaughter. It forces you to confront it, and makes you hate who ever did it, which then make the act of vengence so just. I've never been a fantasy fan. I love The Iliad, and Palahnuik books, but this this is just fantastic. I had no time for Atlas Shrugged but this slowly injects Rand's ideas of Objectivism with sweet lashing of violence. Yo don't even bother looking at the needle in your arm because your distracted by Terry lopping your arm of with a battle axe.

Boring, 27 Oct 2007
I was bored. I skipped several long passages, simply because they were so tremendously boring. I found that there were many sections in which absolutely nothing at all happened, and by the end I was mentally begging the book just to finish so I could read something else.

Another stunning book, 10 Sep 2007
This is now my second favorite book after the sword of truth 1 (wizards first rule). It is one of the most exciting books I have ever read!!!
I never had any interest in reading but these books have turned that around!

Utter garbage., 18 Aug 2006
Terry Goodkind is a complete hack. His writing is heavily derivative of real fantasy writers, who are able to sell books based on their creative merit, instead of just plagiarising good authors and then making outrageous and derogitory claims about the genre that puts food on his table. His stories lack any sort of decent flow. Nick of time, unforeshadowed resolutions abound. "Oh, this is getting long! Better finish it up!" Nice try, Terry, but your self-gratifying pseudo-philisophical tripe didn't impress me. My copy of this book has a date with the fireplace.

The Biggest Letdown EVER!, 13 Aug 2004
This book is dreadful! I read the start of this series and I thought it was really great. I was looking forward to this part as well, but I never even finished it. I struggled on till about half way through and then felt if I continued I may have been putting my mental health at risk.

The book is violent and graphic.....fair enough, but good grief, the level in this book is way beyond what was necessary and in fact it just detracted from the story completely as it was continual and in a lot of cases pointless and unjustified. This was a HUGE letdown and I doubt I will ever read anything by this author again.

Dreadful, 08 Aug 2008
Appalling, dreadful rubbish. I've never liked Goodkind's work, finding it preachy and whiny with very little 'world-buidling' and characterisation. I picked this up very cheap at boot-sale and thought I would dip in to see if the writting has improved. It hasn't. I struggled through a few hundred pages and thought 'there are better things to do'. In comparison with George R R Martin, Tad Williams, even the later Robert Jordan, he is very low on the skill scale. Not many main-stream book shops stock his books now as they sell poorly. Hopefully we will see his publisher drop this soon to give new authors a chance.

What Happened?, 19 Jun 2008
In the preceding book "Chainfire", Richard Rahl is the only person who remembers Kahlan existed. He spent the whole book trying to find proof to convince everyone that he wasn't insane and that something was dreadfully wrong.

Phantom carries on this story. Richard, after having proved that Kahlan is not a figment of his imagination, that she is his wife and also the Mother Confessor, to certain of his friends and family, now has to figure out a way of getting her back. At the same time he has to find a way of dealing with the evil Sisters of the Dark, stopping The Imperial Order from sweeping through the Midlands and destroying civilization, learning how to finally use his magical powers as the only War Wizard to have been born in living memory, and finding a way to replace everyone's lost memories.

I had been waiting for this book after having read all of the previous 9 plus the prequel novella and enjoying them, some more than others. When I began to read I was so disappointed, where was the humour, the fast paced adventure, the wonderful characters that I remembered. The book rambled on with long passages of political invective, magical formulas and spell forms, even algebra was mentioned at one point.

Characters came and went and I found myself wondering why on earth the author had bothered to bring them back if they were not going to be allowed, at the very least, to show their personalities. I can only imagine that the memories lost to the people of the Midlands and D'Hara had also been lost to Mr Goodkind himself.

Then at the end of the book the story still isn't finished. Now we have to look forward to another whole book to finish off the things that quite possibly could have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion in this one.

I was not impressed at all.

Crushed beneath didactic drivel, 05 Mar 2008
Once upon a time there was a superb author of a great series. Phantom is actually two books. One an imaginative story, building on previous episodes, but crushed. The other, a didactic, patronising drivel of a lecture. Just when the story begins to flow the author stops. . . so the main character can yet again patiently explain to anyone nearby in patronising and repetive ways for page after page how social equality is bad and an everybody should focus on bettering themselves (capitalism good, communism bad ugh). The tone talks down to the reader "well you see little Johny, its like this. . . ". ignore or skip the lectures and flashes of why the earlier books were so popular become apparent

superb, 02 Jan 2008
I absolutely fail to understand why all the people who have previously reviewed and appeared to hate this book bothered to buy it in the first place. I don't doubt many of them if not all have read all of the series so far and have been similarly disappointed - so why perpetuate your own misery??
I for one have read all the books in the series and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. Yes, he is guilty of telling you a bit too much about what happened in previous installments but I guess if you were to pick up the books out of sequence it may help to fill in some gaps. I love the way he tells his story and I love the characters and have been eagerly anticipating every installment.
My opinion? If you're fed up getting burnt don't keep putting your hand in the flame.

Remarkable..., 12 Dec 2007
I personally have nothing against a good old speech, and I think that Richard Rahl has pulled off some fairly impressive ones in his time. However, *A* speech is what I like. He had his nice little anti-pacifism lark at the beginning with Owen, and that was wonderful. Then, he went and gave the same speech to the villagers. Then he went and gave the speech to the high council. Then he gave it to the respected elder. Then, once he'd run out of people, he gave the same speech to himself! Frankly, that is just absurd. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough for Mr. Rahl. He thought these people hadn't yet been given enough of the wisdom of a Rahl, so he decided that they, along with the reader, needed to know all about the evils of communism as well! So we received the communism lecture just a few times...

Frankly, at this rate, I find it astounding that his friends can cope with him. I already hate the man! They actually have to spend day after day wandering along drinking in the speeches that are revolutionary despite the fact they have watched him give them to five different groups of people already.

And, of course, everyone's viewpoint but his is wrong, and people know it! I would be impressed at the debating power of any man, were he able to take a group of religious fanatics and convince them of their incorrectness within the span of a single novel - it simply cannot be done.

This book is absurd in every possible way. The only reason it recieved two stars was that it was (thank God) better than the one that wasn't related at all to him (I can't remember the name - my, what an impact it made on me!). I didn't finish that one.

The defenition of boredom, 08 Jan 2009
The last book of the Sword of Truth series, Confessor, is the most boring annoying and presumptuous book of fantasy I have ever read and I have read a lot. Terry Goodkind REALLY had a good story in the first four books and if he would stop running into absurd dia-monologues in the last three books of which Confessor is defenitely the worse he could have gotten away with it.
As it stands I finished reading Confessor because as a rule I always finish a book once started but it was really, really hard.
I am not sure I will buy another book from this author in the future... As one of the reviewer-readers stated when did he stop knowing what and how to write?

should have been fewer books, 29 Dec 2008
this was a poor end to a promising series of books the last 5 books could have been written as one if mr goodkind had not written the same moralising text again & again & again & again,the ending was so bad a 5 year must have written it

Soooo disappointing, 28 Dec 2008
What a huge disappointment. Terry Goodkind was obviously bored before writing this book and definitely during....what a shame. Don't buy....you know who wins in the end....

Over at last!, 12 Dec 2008
What would I have wanted to know before I purchased this product? That is is the last in the series, thankfully. The same horrified compulsion that brings me to read the Daily Mail has kept me comping back the Sword of Truth series long after I began to hate the central characters and the interminable, rambling and incoherent moralising that Terry Goodkind is insistent on force feeding his readers.

Even the proof readers gave up on this book, as evidenced by the numerous typos littering the text. It would appear that even Goodkind gives up halfway through, as one character sees a "wingman" scoring a point in a pseudo American Football game only to remark to herself two pages later when another wingman scores a similar point that she has never seen such a thing.

Spotting such inconsistencies is much more entertaining than reading swathes of moralising speeches cut and pasted from books 4-9, although to give the book its due there are a couple of good action sequences. There then follows a hurried tidying of loose ends, more deus ex machinas than Mona Lisa Overdrive and a reasonably satisfying conclusion to the Book of Counted Shadows riddle, before Goodkind loses the plot once more.

If it was so easy to get rid of all the main villlains, why not do it before?

Why do several main characters cheerily condemn themselves and their children to a souless existence, forever giving up a chance at the afterlife, with a slight shrug and brief farewell?

What went wrong with such a promising fantasy series? I have to say, I don't really care. I will never have to read another Goodkind book again, and can carry on with much more intelligent fantasy fare. Malazan, here I come...

Oh dear, 28 Oct 2008
"The final book in one of the greatest epic series of all time" - aye right. I read the first few and gave up when the plot was lost early on. Epic series? No, just like the Shannara books latter days, it has is going for the buck.

Dreadful, 08 Aug 2008
Appalling, dreadful rubbish. I've never liked Goodkind's work, finding it preachy and whiny with very little 'world-buidling' and characterisation. I picked this up very cheap at boot-sale and thought I would dip in to see if the writting has improved. It hasn't. I struggled through a few hundred pages and thought 'there are better things to do'. In comparison with George R R Martin, Tad Williams, even the later Robert Jordan, he is very low on the skill scale. Not many main-stream book shops stock his books now as they sell poorly. Hopefully we will see his publisher drop this soon to give new authors a chance.

What Happened?, 19 Jun 2008
In the preceding book "Chainfire", Richard Rahl is the only person who remembers Kahlan existed. He spent the whole book trying to find proof to convince everyone that he wasn't insane and that something was dreadfully wrong.

Phantom carries on this story. Richard, after having proved that Kahlan is not a figment of his imagination, that she is his wife and also the Mother Confessor, to certain of his friends and family, now has to figure out a way of getting her back. At the same time he has to find a way of dealing with the evil Sisters of the Dark, stopping The Imperial Order from sweeping through the Midlands and destroying civilization, learning how to finally use his magical powers as the only War Wizard to have been born in living memory, and finding a way to replace everyone's lost memories.

I had been waiting for this book after having read all of the previous 9 plus the prequel novella and enjoying them, some more than others. When I began to read I was so disappointed, where was the humour, the fast paced adventure, the wonderful characters that I remembered. The book rambled on with long passages of political invective, magical formulas and spell forms, even algebra was mentioned at one point.

Characters came and went and I found myself wondering why on earth the author had bothered to bring them back if they were not going to be allowed, at the very least, to show their personalities. I can only imagine that the memories lost to the people of the Midlands and D'Hara had also been lost to Mr Goodkind himself.

Then at the end of the book the story still isn't finished. Now we have to look forward to another whole book to finish off the things that quite possibly could have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion in this one.

I was not impressed at all.

Crushed beneath didactic drivel, 05 Mar 2008
Once upon a time there was a superb author of a great series. Phantom is actually two books. One an imaginative story, building on previous episodes, but crushed. The other, a didactic, patronising drivel of a lecture. Just when the story begins to flow the author stops. . . so the main character can yet again patiently explain to anyone nearby in patronising and repetive ways for page after page how social equality is bad and an everybody should focus on bettering themselves (capitalism good, communism bad ugh). The tone talks down to the reader "well you see little Johny, its like this. . . ". ignore or skip the lectures and flashes of why the earlier books were so popular become apparent

superb, 02 Jan 2008
I absolutely fail to understand why all the people who have previously reviewed and appeared to hate this book bothered to buy it in the first place. I don't doubt many of them if not all have read all of the series so far and have been similarly disappointed - so why perpetuate your own misery??
I for one have read all the books in the series and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. Yes, he is guilty of telling you a bit too much about what happened in previous installments but I guess if you were to pick up the books out of sequence it may help to fill in some gaps. I love the way he tells his story and I love the characters and have been eagerly anticipating every installment.
My opinion? If you're fed up getting burnt don't keep putting your hand in the flame.

Remarkable..., 12 Dec 2007
I personally have nothing against a good old speech, and I think that Richard Rahl has pulled off some fairly impressive ones in his time. However, *A* speech is what I like. He had his nice little anti-pacifism lark at the beginning with Owen, and that was wonderful. Then, he went and gave the same speech to the villagers. Then he went and gave the speech to the high council. Then he gave it to the respected elder. Then, once he'd run out of people, he gave the same speech to himself! Frankly, that is just absurd. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough for Mr. Rahl. He thought these people hadn't yet been given enough of the wisdom of a Rahl, so he decided that they, along with the reader, needed to know all about the evils of communism as well! So we received the communism lecture just a few times...

Frankly, at this rate, I find it astounding that his friends can cope with him. I already hate the man! They actually have to spend day after day wandering along drinking in the speeches that are revolutionary despite the fact they have watched him give them to five different groups of people already.

And, of course, everyone's viewpoint but his is wrong, and people know it! I would be impressed at the debating power of any man, were he able to take a group of religious fanatics and convince them of their incorrectness within the span of a single novel - it simply cannot be done.

This book is absurd in every possible way. The only reason it recieved two stars was that it was (thank God) better than the one that wasn't related at all to him (I can't remember the name - my, what an impact it made on me!). I didn't finish that one.

Epic shock, 16 Mar 2008
Terry is very close to the knuckle. His books are almost shock fantasy with spriklings of Ayn Rand. Inparts the book can be brutal, it doesn't skim over rape or slaughter. It forces you to confront it, and makes you hate who ever did it, which then make the act of vengence so just. I've never been a fantasy fan. I love The Iliad, and Palahnuik books, but this this is just fantastic. I had no time for Atlas Shrugged but this slowly injects Rand's ideas of Objectivism with sweet lashing of violence. Yo don't even bother looking at the needle in your arm because your distracted by Terry lopping your arm of with a battle axe.

Boring, 27 Oct 2007
I was bored. I skipped several long passages, simply because they were so tremendously boring. I found that there were many sections in which absolutely nothing at all happened, and by the end I was mentally begging the book just to finish so I could read something else.

Another stunning book, 10 Sep 2007
This is now my second favorite book after the sword of truth 1 (wizards first rule). It is one of the most exciting books I have ever read!!!
I never had any interest in reading but these books have turned that around!

Utter garbage., 18 Aug 2006
Terry Goodkind is a complete hack. His writing is heavily derivative of real fantasy writers, who are able to sell books based on their creative merit, instead of just plagiarising good authors and then making outrageous and derogitory claims about the genre that puts food on his table. His stories lack any sort of decent flow. Nick of time, unforeshadowed resolutions abound. "Oh, this is getting long! Better finish it up!" Nice try, Terry, but your self-gratifying pseudo-philisophical tripe didn't impress me. My copy of this book has a date with the fireplace.

The Biggest Letdown EVER!, 13 Aug 2004
This book is dreadful! I read the start of this series and I thought it was really great. I was looking forward to this part as well, but I never even finished it. I struggled on till about half way through and then felt if I continued I may have been putting my mental health at risk.

The book is violent and graphic.....fair enough, but good grief, the level in this book is way beyond what was necessary and in fact it just detracted from the story completely as it was continual and in a lot of cases pointless and unjustified. This was a HUGE letdown and I doubt I will ever read anything by this author again.

Dreadful, 08 Aug 2008
Appalling, dreadful rubbish. I've never liked Goodkind's work, finding it preachy and whiny with very little 'world-buidling' and characterisation. I picked this up very cheap at boot-sale and thought I would dip in to see if the writting has improved. It hasn't. I struggled through a few hundred pages and thought 'there are better things to do'. In comparison with George R R Martin, Tad Williams, even the later Robert Jordan, he is very low on the skill scale. Not many main-stream book shops stock his books now as they sell poorly. Hopefully we will see his publisher drop this soon to give new authors a chance.

What Happened?, 19 Jun 2008
In the preceding book "Chainfire", Richard Rahl is the only person who remembers Kahlan existed. He spent the whole book trying to find proof to convince everyone that he wasn't insane and that something was dreadfully wrong.

Phantom carries on this story. Richard, after having proved that Kahlan is not a figment of his imagination, that she is his wife and also the Mother Confessor, to certain of his friends and family, now has to figure out a way of getting her back. At the same time he has to find a way of dealing with the evil Sisters of the Dark, stopping The Imperial Order from sweeping through the Midlands and destroying civilization, learning how to finally use his magical powers as the only War Wizard to have been born in living memory, and finding a way to replace everyone's lost memories.

I had been waiting for this book after having read all of the previous 9 plus the prequel novella and enjoying them, some more than others. When I began to read I was so disappointed, where was the humour, the fast paced adventure, the wonderful characters that I remembered. The book rambled on with long passages of political invective, magical formulas and spell forms, even algebra was mentioned at one point.

Characters came and went and I found myself wondering why on earth the author had bothered to bring them back if they were not going to be allowed, at the very least, to show their personalities. I can only imagine that the memories lost to the people of the Midlands and D'Hara had also been lost to Mr Goodkind himself.

Then at the end of the book the story still isn't finished. Now we have to look forward to another whole book to finish off the things that quite possibly could have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion in this one.

I was not impressed at all.

Crushed beneath didactic drivel, 05 Mar 2008
Once upon a time there was a superb author of a great series. Phantom is actually two books. One an imaginative story, building on previous episodes, but crushed. The other, a didactic, patronising drivel of a lecture. Just when the story begins to flow the author stops. . . so the main character can yet again patiently explain to anyone nearby in patronising and repetive ways for page after page how social equality is bad and an everybody should focus on bettering themselves (capitalism good, communism bad ugh). The tone talks down to the reader "well you see little Johny, its like this. . . ". ignore or skip the lectures and flashes of why the earlier books were so popular become apparent

superb, 02 Jan 2008
I absolutely fail to understand why all the people who have previously reviewed and appeared to hate this book bothered to buy it in the first place. I don't doubt many of them if not all have read all of the series so far and have been similarly disappointed - so why perpetuate your own misery??
I for one have read all the books in the series and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. Yes, he is guilty of telling you a bit too much about what happened in previous installments but I guess if you were to pick up the books out of sequence it may help to fill in some gaps. I love the way he tells his story and I love the characters and have been eagerly anticipating every installment.
My opinion? If you're fed up getting burnt don't keep putting your hand in the flame.

Remarkable..., 12 Dec 2007
I personally have nothing against a good old speech, and I think that Richard Rahl has pulled off some fairly impressive ones in his time. However, *A* speech is what I like. He had his nice little anti-pacifism lark at the beginning with Owen, and that was wonderful. Then, he went and gave the same speech to the villagers. Then he went and gave the speech to the high council. Then he gave it to the respected elder. Then, once he'd run out of people, he gave the same speech to himself! Frankly, that is just absurd. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough for Mr. Rahl. He thought these people hadn't yet been given enough of the wisdom of a Rahl, so he decided that they, along with the reader, needed to know all about the evils of communism as well! So we received the communism lecture just a few times...

Frankly, at this rate, I find it astounding that his friends can cope with him. I already hate the man! They actually have to spend day after day wandering along drinking in the speeches that are revolutionary despite the fact they have watched him give them to five different groups of people already.

And, of course, everyone's viewpoint but his is wrong, and people know it! I would be impressed at the debating power of any man, were he able to take a group of religious fanatics and convince them of their incorrectness within the span of a single novel - it simply cannot be done.

This book is absurd in every possible way. The only reason it recieved two stars was that it was (thank God) better than the one that wasn't related at all to him (I can't remember the name - my, what an impact it made on me!). I didn't finish that one.

Great Fun - even if it's not original, 20 Jun 2002
Having read Wizards First Rule and Stone of Tears in a week-end I was eager to continue the saga, and was not disappointed. The story carries on well from Stone of Tears and quickly your in the thick of the action. One thing I like about the Sword of Truth series is that each book stands well on its own. True, you ought to read them in order, but you don't have to pick up the next one to see what happens, each is a complete story. I also found the ending exciting and well written (unlike other authors where the ending seems to 'go off on one' so to speak) matching the pace of the book.

My only grumble about the series is that almost all of the ideas are ripped off from Robert Jordans 'Wheel of Time'. Which if you have the time to wade through (nine books with ten on the way) is the best thing I've read. Each of Goodkinds books seem to introduce new Jordan concepts, so much so I found myself trying to predict the next one.

If you've not read Jordan your in for a treat, if you have then it will make your laugh ... but no matter what your in for a great ride.

The best so far, 20 Oct 2001
I was recommended Wizards First Rule a few years ago but found it a pure rip off of other fantasy series, most notably RJ's Wheel of Time series.

In between other books I did squeeze in book 2 - Stone of Tears ? - but again was not particurlarly impressed. However I have recently read Blood of the Fold and for me it was the best in the series so far. It has probably been 2 years or so since I read S of T, so any rehash of previous storylines probably enhanced the enjoyment of the current instalment rather than hindered it as other readers have complained of.

I will probably wait a while before buying the 4th book in the series but I am looking forward to reading this one rather than reading it because, well I've read the others....

Never start in the middle, 13 Dec 2000
I discoved this book on holiday in France. (It was in the house where I was staying.) I really enjoyed it though I would have understood it more if I had read the other 2 books first, but they were not anywhere to be seen inside the house!!! Inspired by this novel I have decided to buy the rest of the series and maybe, if i get enough money after Christmas, then I will buy the 5th and 6th Goodkind books. The only bad thing about the book is that if u try to read it more than once to fully understand it then it just gets boring! But it still deserves 5 stars whatever n e one else says!

Very good, but......, 11 Oct 2000
I started this book straight after I had finished the brilliant Stone of Tears.

The book takes too long to get into. Terry Goodkind seems to think that the readers of this book have never read the previous two. Who would be stupid enough to start a series halfway through? The beginning of the book is just an endless list of reminders about the previous books that are linked together with very weak excuses to include them.

When this eventually subsides, the book still takes a while to get going. When it does eventually live up to expectaton, it really is a very god book.

Series going downhill, 05 Sep 2000
The books in this series seem to be gradually getting worse.. This book is readable, but no where near as good as the first two books. The characters seem very wooden and two dimensional. The amount of power they have seems to be only that required by the plot. The "most powerful wizard in the world" seems to vary between just that and the meanest apprentice.

To put it simply this book is readable but hardly exeptional. I would recomend unless you are desperate for something to read that you go and buy something else.

Naked Empire is book eight of Terry Goodkind's bestselling "Sword of Truth" fantasy series, following on directly from the events of the previous instalment The Pillars of Creation.

Richard, one of various gifted children of this world's former dark lord Darken Rahl, continues his journeying with the Sword of Truth and his wife Kahlan. Seven volumes of magical and military upheaval, and all too many desperate last-ditch measures, have left their scars: "The world was unravelling, in more ways than one. But there had been no choice".

Ancient sorcerous barriers have been accidentally toppled, freeing the unpleasant "Imperial Order" to rape, loot and pillage the rest of the world. The Emperor and his chief minion are revolting creatures whose sadism begins where Vlad the Impaler left off. Bandakar, a land of pacifists, has little chance of survival until someone gets the bright idea of giving the admired liberator Lord Rahl--that is, Richard--a dose of slow-acting poison. There is no antidote until he, personally and more or less single-handedly, frees Bandakar from the invading horde while, as pacifists, the natives will stand clear and disapprove of the slaughter. Some lessons in ethics and realism need to be learned here...

Goodkind deals in tougher issues and greater moral complexities than the typical blockbuster fantasy series, and underlines the dreadfulness of his characters' choices with unsparing descriptions of Imperial atrocity. Big trouble is also spreading elsewhere, with the Rahl homeland under siege and the fabled Wizard's Keep--a bastion that is actually the home of just two elderly magicians--threatened by magic-immune infiltrators.

Meanwhile in Bandakar, Richard and friends have greater problems than overwhelming opposition and useless allies. His personal magic "gift" is failing, he gets terrible headaches, his relationship with the Sword of Truth is in trouble, poison symptoms worsen, and the three vials of antidote are hidden in widely separated places. Worse, the local boss of Imperial forces is a soul-stealer who rides the minds of birds and beasts, watches Richard's progress through their eyes, and can gloatingly anticipate his plans. No-one said this was going to be easy.

A violent finale sees some good surprises and ingenuity, plus one cheeky deus ex machina, bringing this adventure to a neat conclusion. The greater war continues, though, and further sequels must follow. Newcomers to "Sword of Truth" may be dizzied by the number of back-story references, but the saga's legions of admirers will welcome this slickly crafted and compulsively readable episode. --David Langford

The defenition of boredom, 08 Jan 2009
The last book of the Sword of Truth series, Confessor, is the most boring annoying and presumptuous book of fantasy I have ever read and I have read a lot. Terry Goodkind REALLY had a good story in the first four books and if he would stop running into absurd dia-monologues in the last three books of which Confessor is defenitely the worse he could have gotten away with it.
As it stands I finished reading Confessor because as a rule I always finish a book once started but it was really, really hard.
I am not sure I will buy another book from this author in the future... As one of the reviewer-readers stated when did he stop knowing what and how to write?

should have been fewer books, 29 Dec 2008
this was a poor end to a promising series of books the last 5 books could have been written as one if mr goodkind had not written the same moralising text again & again & again & again,the ending was so bad a 5 year must have written it

Soooo disappointing, 28 Dec 2008
What a huge disappointment. Terry Goodkind was obviously bored before writing this book and definitely during....what a shame. Don't buy....you know who wins in the end....

Over at last!, 12 Dec 2008
What would I have wanted to know before I purchased this product? That is is the last in the series, thankfully. The same horrified compulsion that brings me to read the Daily Mail has kept me comping back the Sword of Truth series long after I began to hate the central characters and the interminable, rambling and incoherent moralising that Terry Goodkind is insistent on force feeding his readers.

Even the proof readers gave up on this book, as evidenced by the numerous typos littering the text. It would appear that even Goodkind gives up halfway through, as one character sees a "wingman" scoring a point in a pseudo American Football game only to remark to herself two pages later when another wingman scores a similar point that she has never seen such a thing.

Spotting such inconsistencies is much more entertaining than reading swathes of moralising speeches cut and pasted from books 4-9, although to give the book its due there are a couple of good action sequences. There then follows a hurried tidying of loose ends, more deus ex machinas than Mona Lisa Overdrive and a reasonably satisfying conclusion to the Book of Counted Shadows riddle, before Goodkind loses the plot once more.

If it was so easy to get rid of all the main villlains, why not do it before?

Why do several main characters cheerily condemn themselves and their children to a souless existence, forever giving up a chance at the afterlife, with a slight shrug and brief farewell?

What went wrong with such a promising fantasy series? I have to say, I don't really care. I will never have to read another Goodkind book again, and can carry on with much more intelligent fantasy fare. Malazan, here I come...

Oh dear, 28 Oct 2008
"The final book in one of the greatest epic series of all time" - aye right. I read the first few and gave up when the plot was lost early on. Epic series? No, just like the Shannara books latter days, it has is going for the buck.

Dreadful, 08 Aug 2008
Appalling, dreadful rubbish. I've never liked Goodkind's work, finding it preachy and whiny with very little 'world-buidling' and characterisation. I picked this up very cheap at boot-sale and thought I would dip in to see if the writting has improved. It hasn't. I struggled through a few hundred pages and thought 'there are better things to do'. In comparison with George R R Martin, Tad Williams, even the later Robert Jordan, he is very low on the skill scale. Not many main-stream book shops stock his books now as they sell poorly. Hopefully we will see his publisher drop this soon to give new authors a chance.

What Happened?, 19 Jun 2008
In the preceding book "Chainfire", Richard Rahl is the only person who remembers Kahlan existed. He spent the whole book trying to find proof to convince everyone that he wasn't insane and that something was dreadfully wrong.

Phantom carries on this story. Richard, after having proved that Kahlan is not a figment of his imagination, that she is his wife and also the Mother Confessor, to certain of his friends and family, now has to figure out a way of getting her back. At the same time he has to find a way of dealing with the evil Sisters of the Dark, stopping The Imperial Order from sweeping through the Midlands and destroying civilization, learning how to finally use his magical powers as the only War Wizard to have been born in living memory, and finding a way to replace everyone's lost memories.

I had been waiting for this book after having read all of the previous 9 plus the prequel novella and enjoying them, some more than others. When I began to read I was so disappointed, where was the humour, the fast paced adventure, the wonderful characters that I remembered. The book rambled on with long passages of political invective, magical formulas and spell forms, even algebra was mentioned at one point.

Characters came and went and I found myself wondering why on earth the author had bothered to bring them back if they were not going to be allowed, at the very least, to show their personalities. I can only imagine that the memories lost to the people of the Midlands and D'Hara had also been lost to Mr Goodkind himself.

Then at the end of the book the story still isn't finished. Now we have to look forward to another whole book to finish off the things that quite possibly could have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion in this one.

I was not impressed at all.

Crushed beneath didactic drivel, 05 Mar 2008
Once upon a time there was a superb author of a great series. Phantom is actually two books. One an imaginative story, building on previous episodes, but crushed. The other, a didactic, patronising drivel of a lecture. Just when the story begins to flow the author stops. . . so the main character can yet again patiently explain to anyone nearby in patronising and repetive ways for page after page how social equality is bad and an everybody should focus on bettering themselves (capitalism good, communism bad ugh). The tone talks down to the reader "well you see little Johny, its like this. . . ". ignore or skip the lectures and flashes of why the earlier books were so popular become apparent

superb, 02 Jan 2008
I absolutely fail to understand why all the people who have previously reviewed and appeared to hate this book bothered to buy it in the first place. I don't doubt many of them if not all have read all of the series so far and have been similarly disappointed - so why perpetuate your own misery??
I for one have read all the books in the series and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. Yes, he is guilty of telling you a bit too much about what happened in previous installments but I guess if you were to pick up the books out of sequence it may help to fill in some gaps. I love the way he tells his story and I love the characters and have been eagerly anticipating every installment.
My opinion? If you're fed up getting burnt don't keep putting your hand in the flame.

Remarkable..., 12 Dec 2007
I personally have nothing against a good old speech, and I think that Richard Rahl has pulled off some fairly impressive ones in his time. However, *A* speech is what I like. He had his nice little anti-pacifism lark at the beginning with Owen, and that was wonderful. Then, he went and gave the same speech to the villagers. Then he went and gave the speech to the high council. Then he gave it to the respected elder. Then, once he'd run out of people, he gave the same speech to himself! Frankly, that is just absurd. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough for Mr. Rahl. He thought these people hadn't yet been given enough of the wisdom of a Rahl, so he decided that they, along with the reader, needed to know all about the evils of communism as well! So we received the communism lecture just a few times...

Frankly, at this rate, I find it astounding that his friends can cope with him. I already hate the man! They actually have to spend day after day wandering along drinking in the speeches that are revolutionary despite the fact they have watched him give them to five different groups of people already.

And, of course, everyone's viewpoint but his is wrong, and people know it! I would be impressed at the debating power of any man, were he able to take a group of religious fanatics and convince them of their incorrectness within the span of a single novel - it simply cannot be done.

This book is absurd in every possible way. The only reason it recieved two stars was that it was (thank God) better than the one that wasn't related at all to him (I can't remember the name - my, what an impact it made on me!). I didn't finish that one.

Epic shock, 16 Mar 2008
Terry is very close to the knuckle. His books are almost shock fantasy with spriklings of Ayn Rand. Inparts the book can be brutal, it doesn't skim over rape or slaughter. It forces you to confront it, and makes you hate who ever did it, which then make the act of vengence so just. I've never been a fantasy fan. I love The Iliad, and Palahnuik books, but this this is just fantastic. I had no time for Atlas Shrugged but this slowly injects Rand's ideas of Objectivism with sweet lashing of violence. Yo don't even bother looking at the needle in your arm because your distracted by Terry lopping your arm of with a battle axe.

Boring, 27 Oct 2007
I was bored. I skipped several long passages, simply because they were so tremendously boring. I found that there were many sections in which absolutely nothing at all happened, and by the end I was mentally begging the book just to finish so I could read something else.

Another stunning book, 10 Sep 2007
This is now my second favorite book after the sword of truth 1 (wizards first rule). It is one of the most exciting books I have ever read!!!
I never had any interest in reading but these books have turned that around!

Utter garbage., 18 Aug 2006
Terry Goodkind is a complete hack. His writing is heavily derivative of real fantasy writers, who are able to sell books based on their creative merit, instead of just plagiarising good authors and then making outrageous and derogitory claims about the genre that puts food on his table. His stories lack any sort of decent flow. Nick of time, unforeshadowed resolutions abound. "Oh, this is getting long! Better finish it up!" Nice try, Terry, but your self-gratifying pseudo-philisophical tripe didn't impress me. My copy of this book has a date with the fireplace.

The Biggest Letdown EVER!, 13 Aug 2004
This book is dreadful! I read the start of this series and I thought it was really great. I was looking forward to this part as well, but I never even finished it. I struggled on till about half way through and then felt if I continued I may have been putting my mental health at risk.

The book is violent and graphic.....fair enough, but good grief, the level in this book is way beyond what was necessary and in fact it just detracted from the story completely as it was continual and in a lot of cases pointless and unjustified. This was a HUGE letdown and I doubt I will ever read anything by this author again.

Dreadful, 08 Aug 2008
Appalling, dreadful rubbish. I've never liked Goodkind's work, finding it preachy and whiny with very little 'world-buidling' and characterisation. I picked this up very cheap at boot-sale and thought I would dip in to see if the writting has improved. It hasn't. I struggled through a few hundred pages and thought 'there are better things to do'. In comparison with George R R Martin, Tad Williams, even the later Robert Jordan, he is very low on the skill scale. Not many main-stream book shops stock his books now as they sell poorly. Hopefully we will see his publisher drop this soon to give new authors a chance.

What Happened?, 19 Jun 2008
In the preceding book "Chainfire", Richard Rahl is the only person who remembers Kahlan existed. He spent the whole book trying to find proof to convince everyone that he wasn't insane and that something was dreadfully wrong.

Phantom carries on this story. Richard, after having proved that Kahlan is not a figment of his imagination, that she is his wife and also the Mother Confessor, to certain of his friends and family, now has to figure out a way of getting her back. At the same time he has to find a way of dealing with the evil Sisters of the Dark, stopping The Imperial Order from sweeping through the Midlands and destroying civilization, learning how to finally use his magical powers as the only War Wizard to have been born in living memory, and finding a way to replace everyone's lost memories.

I had been waiting for this book after having read all of the previous 9 plus the prequel novella and enjoying them, some more than others. When I began to read I was so disappointed, where was the humour, the fast paced adventure, the wonderful characters that I remembered. The book rambled on with long passages of political invective, magical formulas and spell forms, even algebra was mentioned at one point.

Characters came and went and I found myself wondering why on earth the author had bothered to bring them back if they were not going to be allowed, at the very least, to show their personalities. I can only imagine that the memories lost to the people of the Midlands and D'Hara had also been lost to Mr Goodkind himself.

Then at the end of the book the story still isn't finished. Now we have to look forward to another whole book to finish off the things that quite possibly could have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion in this one.

I was not impressed at all.

Crushed beneath didactic drivel, 05 Mar 2008
Once upon a time there was a superb author of a great series. Phantom is actually two books. One an imaginative story, building on previous episodes, but crushed. The other, a didactic, patronising drivel of a lecture. Just when the story begins to flow the author stops. . . so the main character can yet again patiently explain to anyone nearby in patronising and repetive ways for page after page how social equality is bad and an everybody should focus on bettering themselves (capitalism good, communism bad ugh). The tone talks down to the reader "well you see little Johny, its like this. . . ". ignore or skip the lectures and flashes of why the earlier books were so popular become apparent

superb, 02 Jan 2008
I absolutely fail to understand why all the people who have previously reviewed and appeared to hate this book bothered to buy it in the first place. I don't doubt many of them if not all have read all of the series so far and have been similarly disappointed - so why perpetuate your own misery??
I for one have read all the books in the series and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. Yes, he is guilty of telling you a bit too much about what happened in previous installments but I guess if you were to pick up the books out of sequence it may help to fill in some gaps. I love the way he tells his story and I love the characters and have been eagerly anticipating every installment.
My opinion? If you're fed up getting burnt don't keep putting your hand in the flame.

Remarkable..., 12 Dec 2007
I personally have nothing against a good old speech, and I think that Richard Rahl has pulled off some fairly impressive ones in his time. However, *A* speech is what I like. He had his nice little anti-pacifism lark at the beginning with Owen, and that was wonderful. Then, he went and gave the same speech to the villagers. Then he went and gave the speech to the high council. Then he gave it to the respected elder. Then, once he'd run out of people, he gave the same speech to himself! Frankly, that is just absurd. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough for Mr. Rahl. He thought these people hadn't yet been given enough of the wisdom of a Rahl, so he decided that they, along with the reader, needed to know all about the evils of communism as well! So we received the communism lecture just a few times...

Frankly, at this rate, I find it astounding that his friends can cope with him. I already hate the man! They actually have to spend day after day wandering along drinking in the speeches that are revolutionary despite the fact they have watched him give them to five different groups of people already.

And, of course, everyone's viewpoint but his is wrong, and people know it! I would be impressed at the debating power of any man, were he able to take a group of religious fanatics and convince them of their incorrectness within the span of a single novel - it simply cannot be done.

This book is absurd in every possible way. The only reason it recieved two stars was that it was (thank God) better than the one that wasn't related at all to him (I can't remember the name - my, what an impact it made on me!). I didn't finish that one.

Great Fun - even if it's not original, 20 Jun 2002
Having read Wizards First Rule and Stone of Tears in a week-end I was eager to continue the saga, and was not disappointed. The story carries on well from Stone of Tears and quickly your in the thick of the action. One thing I like about the Sword of Truth series is that each book stands well on its own. True, you ought to read them in order, but you don't have to pick up the next one to see what happens, each is a complete story. I also found the ending exciting and well written (unlike other authors where the ending seems to 'go off on one' so to speak) matching the pace of the book.

My only grumble about the series is that almost all of the ideas are ripped off from Robert Jordans 'Wheel of Time'. Which if you have the time to wade through (nine books with ten on the way) is the best thing I've read. Each of Goodkinds books seem to introduce new Jordan concepts, so much so I found myself trying to predict the next one.

If you've not read Jordan your in for a treat, if you have then it will make your laugh ... but no matter what your in for a great ride.

The best so far, 20 Oct 2001
I was recommended Wizards First Rule a few years ago but found it a pure rip off of other fantasy series, most notably RJ's Wheel of Time series.

In between other books I did squeeze in book 2 - Stone of Tears ? - but again was not particurlarly impressed. However I have recently read Blood of the Fold and for me it was the best in the series so far. It has probably been 2 years or so since I read S of T, so any rehash of previous storylines probably enhanced the enjoyment of the current instalment rather than hindered it as other readers have complained of.

I will probably wait a while before buying the 4th book in the series but I am looking forward to reading this one rather than reading it because, well I've read the others....

Never start in the middle, 13 Dec 2000
I discoved this book on holiday in France. (It was in the house where I was staying.) I really enjoyed it though I would have understood it more if I had read the other 2 books first, but they were not anywhere to be seen inside the house!!! Inspired by this novel I have decided to buy the rest of the series and maybe, if i get enough money after Christmas, then I will buy the 5th and 6th Goodkind books. The only bad thing about the book is that if u try to read it more than once to fully understand it then it just gets boring! But it still deserves 5 stars whatever n e one else says!

Very good, but......, 11 Oct 2000
I started this book straight after I had finished the brilliant Stone of Tears.

The book takes too long to get into. Terry Goodkind seems to think that the readers of this book have never read the previous two. Who would be stupid enough to start a series halfway through? The beginning of the book is just an endless list of reminders about the previous books that are linked together with very weak excuses to include them.

When this eventually subsides, the book still takes a while to get going. When it does eventually live up to expectaton, it really is a very god book.

Series going downhill, 05 Sep 2000
The books in this series seem to be gradually getting worse.. This book is readable, but no where near as good as the first two books. The characters seem very wooden and two dimensional. The amount of power they have seems to be only that required by the plot. The "most powerful wizard in the world" seems to vary between just that and the meanest apprentice.

To put it simply this book is readable but hardly exeptional. I would recomend unless you are desperate for something to read that you go and buy something else.

Dreadful, 08 Aug 2008
Appalling, dreadful rubbish. I've never liked Goodkind's work, finding it preachy and whiny with very little 'world-buidling' and characterisation. I picked this up very cheap at boot-sale and thought I would dip in to see if the writting has improved. It hasn't. I struggled through a few hundred pages and thought 'there are better things to do'. In comparison with George R R Martin, Tad Williams, even the later Robert Jordan, he is very low on the skill scale. Not many main-stream book shops stock his books now as they sell poorly. Hopefully we will see his publisher drop this soon to give new authors a chance.

What Happened?, 19 Jun 2008
In the preceding book "Chainfire", Richard Rahl is the only person who remembers Kahlan existed. He spent the whole book trying to find proof to convince everyone that he wasn't insane and that something was dreadfully wrong.

Phantom carries on this story. Richard, after having proved that Kahlan is not a figment of his imagination, that she is his wife and also the Mother Confessor, to certain of his friends and family, now has to figure out a way of getting her back. At the same time he has to find a way of dealing with the evil Sisters of the Dark, stopping The Imperial Order from sweeping through the Midlands and destroying civilization, learning how to finally use his magical powers as the only War Wizard to have been born in living memory, and finding a way to replace everyone's lost memories.

I had been waiting for this book after having read all of the previous 9 plus the prequel novella and enjoying them, some more than others. When I began to read I was so disappointed, where was the humour, the fast paced adventure, the wonderful characters that I remembered. The book rambled on with long passages of political invective, magical formulas and spell forms, even algebra was mentioned at one point.

Characters came and went and I found myself wondering why on earth the author had bothered to bring them back if they were not going to be allowed, at the very least, to show their personalities. I can only imagine that the memories lost to the people of the Midlands and D'Hara had also been lost to Mr Goodkind himself.

Then at the end of the book the story still isn't finished. Now we have to look forward to another whole book to finish off the things that quite possibly could have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion in this one.

I was not impressed at all.

Crushed beneath didactic drivel, 05 Mar 2008
Once upon a time there was a superb author of a great series. Phantom is actually two books. One an imaginative story, building on previous episodes, but crushed. The other, a didactic, patronising drivel of a lecture. Just when the story begins to flow the author stops. . . so the main character can yet again patiently explain to anyone nearby in patronising and repetive ways for page after page how social equality is bad and an everybody should focus on bettering themselves (capitalism good, communism bad ugh). The tone talks down to the reader "well you see little Johny, its like this. . . ". ignore or skip the lectures and flashes of why the earlier books were so popular become apparent

superb, 02 Jan 2008
I absolutely fail to understand why all the people who have previously reviewed and appeared to hate this book bothered to buy it in the first place. I don't doubt many of them if not all have read all of the series so far and have been similarly disappointed - so why perpetuate your own misery??
I for one have read all the books in the series and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. Yes, he is guilty of telling you a bit too much about what happened in previous installments but I guess if you were to pick up the books out of sequence it may help to fill in some gaps. I love the way he tells his story and I love the characters and have been eagerly anticipating every installment.
My opinion? If you're fed up getting burnt don't keep putting your hand in the flame.

Remarkable..., 12 Dec 2007
I personally have nothing against a good old speech, and I think that Richard Rahl has pulled off some fairly impressive ones in his time. However, *A* speech is what I like. He had his nice little anti-pacifism lark at the beginning with Owen, and that was wonderful. Then, he went and gave the same speech to the villagers. Then he went and gave the speech to the high council. Then he gave it to the respected elder. Then, once he'd run out of people, he gave the same speech to himself! Frankly, that is just absurd. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough for Mr. Rahl. He thought these people hadn't yet been given enough of the wisdom of a Rahl, so he decided that they, along with the reader, needed to know all about the evils of communism as well! So we received the communism lecture just a few times...

Frankly, at this rate, I find it astounding that his friends can cope with him. I already hate the man! They actually have to spend day after day wandering along drinking in the speeches that are revolutionary despite the fact they have watched him give them to five different groups of people already.

And, of course, everyone's viewpoint but his is wrong, and people know it! I would be impressed at the debating power of any man, were he able to take a group of religious fanatics and convince them of their incorrectness within the span of a single novel - it simply cannot be done.

This book is absurd in every possible way. The only reason it recieved two stars was that it was (thank God) better than the one that wasn't related at all to him (I can't remember the name - my, what an impact it made on me!). I didn't finish that one.