The Omen Machine (Sword Of Truth) [Kindle Edition]

Terry Goodkind (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Goodkind’s greatest triumph: the ability to introduce immediately identifiable characters. His heroes, like us, are not perfect. Instead, each is flawed in ways that strengthen, rather than weaken their impact. You’ll find no two-dimensional oafs here. In fact, at times you’ll think you’re looking at your own reflection.” --SFX on Blood of the Fold

 

“Few writers have Goodkind’s power of creation—phenomenal piece of imaginative writing, exhaustive in its scope and riveting in its detail.” --Publishing News on Temple of the Winds

 

“Mr. Goodkind’s compelling prose weaves a magic spell over readers.” --RT Book Reviews on Faith of the Fallen

“Outstanding…. Highly recommended.” --San Diego Union Tribune on Temple of the Winds

 

“Makes an indelible impact.” --Publishers Weekly on Faith of the Fallen

Product Description

Hannis Arc, working on the tapestry of lines linking constellations of elements that constituted the language of Creation recorded on the ancient Cerulean scroll spread out among the clutter on his desk, was not surprised to see the seven etherial forms billow into the room like acrid smoke driven on a breath of bitter breeze. Like an otherworldly collection of spectral shapes seemingly carried on random eddies of air, they wandered in a loose clutch among the still and silent mounted bears and beasts rising up on their stands, the small forest of stone pedestals holding massive books of recorded prophecy, and the evenly spaced display cases of oddities, their glass reflecting the firelight from the massive hearth at the side of the room.

Since the seven rarely used doors, the shutters on the windows down on the ground level several stories below stood open as a fearless show of invitation. Though they frequently chose to use windows, they didn’t actually need the windows any more than they needed the doors. They could seep through any opening, any crack, like vapor rising in the early morning from the stretches of stagnant water that lay in dark swaths through the peat barrens.

The open shutters were meant to be a declaration for all to see, including the seven, that Hannis Arc feared nothing.

#1 New York Times-bestselling author Terry Goodkind returns to the lives of Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell—in a compelling tale of a new and sinister threat to their world.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 580 KB
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1 edition (November 15, 2011)
• Sold by: Macmillan
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004DNW65W
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (272 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,299 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #64 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Fantasy > Epic
  • #86 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Epic

More About the Author

Terry Goodkind is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sword of Truth series, Richard and Kahlan stories, author of The Law of Nines, and writer of Legend of the Seeker, the Sam Raimi produced, ABC television series based on The Sword of Truth books.

Goodkind was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, where he also attended art school, one of his many interests on the way to becoming a writer. Besides a career in wildlife art, he has been a cabinet maker and violin maker, and he has done restoration work on rare and exotic artifacts from around the world -- each with its own story to tell, he says.

While continuing to maintain the northeastern home he built with his own hands, in recent years he and his wife, Jeri, have created a second home in the desert Southwest, where he now spends the majority of his time.

Join the fan community at TerryGoodkind.com for all of the latest.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

121 of 137 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Disappointed, September 1, 2011

By 

Ser Reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Omen Machine (Sword Of Truth) (Hardcover)

First off, I am (was?) a huge SoT fan and like most everyone else, enjoyed the earlier books and tolerated the last few. I just finished The Omen Machine and quite frankly, I think I'm done with Richard and Kahlan (and TG as well). Don't get me wrong, I loved these characters early on, but with every installment, they get weaker and more one dimensional.

But even so, this one surprised me. A couple of the reviews already posted hit it on the head. ALL the characters are mere shadows of what they used to be. The dialogue is very weak, stunted and repetitive, and absolutely nothing exciting happens in the whole book. Seriously, not one thing.

What happened to the awesome power of Richard Rahl, when in a rage looses his power to blast through massive doors, blowing them from the hinges and reducing them to splinters skittering across the floor? What happened to 'calling the target' and 'dancing with death'? Now Richard just steps aside, "raking his fingers through his hair", wondering what to do. In this book, Richard's power and presence as a War Wizard and The Seeker of Truth is gone, and he comes off as just a guy with a cool sword.

The rest of the characters come across the same. Bewildered and ineffectual. It's a shame because there used to be so much depth to these individuals, but in this book they are just taking up space. They're just not the awesome characters we've come to love from 'Stone of Tears', 'Blood of The Fold' and 'Faith of the Fallen'. Those books are among the best Richard and Kahlan novels. I'm afraid this one falls far short.

71 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars meh, August 29, 2011

By 

Json - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Omen Machine (Sword Of Truth) (Hardcover)

TG doesn't have the story anymore. He's just filling pages with tired rhetoric playing off the fact we all used to love his characters.... hell I still love his characters and wish he would go ahead and write a book about them. You know.. the witty ones that invoked reactions from me while I read the the books.. the ones that made my eyes water and my chest heave, the ones that made me literally throw back my head and laugh. The ommmminous knowledge of a mord-sith and that if there are magics like that in this world WHAT ELSE WILL MR GOODKING HAVE IN STORE FOR US! or OMG the mud people, I laughed so hard when Richard slugged one of them. Just so many great memories from the series.


Apparently he has crap in store for us though. I used to be a really big fan, I've recommended and got numerous friends to start/buy this series.. Then I read the last 3 books, and was terribly underwhelmed. But hey, I finished the series, I was mostly content, and had every intention of reading any book Mr. Goodkind put out. I'd enjoyed huge swaths of the SoT series and felt prepared to give him a chance in any universe. Seems fair? I thought so.

Anyway, one of the 5 star reviews hit it on the head. It's like TG has turned this into Harry Potter. Lamest War Wizard EVER. Richard never does anything even moderately interesting with his almighty powers. I don't want to read Harry Potter or anything remotely like it, I don't want things spelled out for me to the point a moderately intelligent 6 year old could puzzle it out..

AND SOME WIT? Can we have some wit? ...

I'd still recommend you checkout the series, the first half of it is amazing (And Faith of the Fallen was a real gem)... but I wouldn't bother reading anything after Chainfire. All it does is make me angry. </10cents>

59 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Goodkind Fails to Engage, August 25, 2011

By 

Reathen - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Omen Machine (Sword Of Truth) (Hardcover)

As a strong fan of the Fantasy Genre, and an avid supporter of the Sword of Truth series, I found this book vastly disappointing. There are a great number of reasons not to read this book. A few of such are as follows-


1 - The Circus of Stupidity
The whole short book comes off as a carnival show meant to display how everyone in the whole world who isn't Richard's close friend is an absolute moron. Every character that they encounter is viciously, unforgivably unintelligent. But it doesn't stop there; even the characters that we have grown to love (Nathan, Zedd, etc) have lost their edge, wit, and depth. These characters have suddenly lost the ability to grasp complicated concepts, and it is just sad.

2 - The Televised Evangelist
I am among the few who actually enjoyed some of the heavy preaching in the SoT series, but this book takes it over the top with endless snippets of proselytism that somehow completely lack the substance to actually engage, amuse, or teach anything at all. It is as Terry Goodkind is trying to hammer us over the head with his philosophy, but doesn't seem to have the time or inclination to follow his preaching through to conclusion. It only serves to cause frustration.

3 - The Ink is Fading
The text of this book has no impact. It has none of Terry Goodkind's usual depth or tension, and feels as if it had been written by someone completely different. It doesn't pack a punch. There is no spark. The writing is repetitive. The dialogue is boring. The words fall flat. No matter how much I tried, I just couldn't get myself to care about anything that happened.