I started reading this series at the age of 18, when Wizard's First Rule was published in 1997. I thought it was wonderful; the pacing was brisk, the story was interesting, and the characters were, for the most part, likeable. The next few books were nearly as enjoyable, although Goodkind's seeming fixation on rape, torture, and domination got a little irritating after a while. Before I continue the review, I feel the need to elaborate on this point.
I am not a prude, and I don't have a problem reading things that make me feel uncomfortable, provided they have a purpose in the story. For example, rape plays a focal point in Stephen Donaldson's pioneering Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series, and it never really bothered me reading about it because it was absolutely necessary to the plot and added to the fallibility of the main character. In contrast, Goodkind uses rape to show us how "bad" the "bad guys" are. In this case, it becomes a clumsy tool, used to later justify atrocities committed in the name of liberty against these "very, very bad guys". In Goodkind's universe, if you put an attractive woman in a room (and ALL of the female protagonists in the Sword of Truth series are attractive, of course) with a man who is not working for Richard, she will be raped. To make matters worse, Goodkind will write just enough detail to make the reader feel a bit dirty, like a peeping Tom watching something he shouldn't.
In addition to constant references to rape, the violence that's been everpresent throughout the Sword of Truth novels is also here in Phantom. That is not to say that the book is overly graphic. It's just sadistic. In order to beat home the same tired point (that the bad guys in this book are bad, bad, bad!), Goodkind heaps extra helpings of abuse on Kahlan and Rachel, both of whom are in the hands of villians for most of the book. Again, I'm not opposed to violence in writing; indeed, George Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series is far more gristly than Goodkind's work, but it manages to be that way without feeling sadistic, without leaving the reader wondering whether the author tortured animals as a child. Oh, and let's not forget that most of Goodkind's anger is directed at women in this book (via rape and brutal beatings). I don't know if this is a coincidence, but it certainly is more than a little troubling.
On to the story. There actually isn't much plot movement here: as people have already stated, Richard is, once again, captured and emasculated, new plot elements are introduced seemingly at a whim (when writing himself into a corner, Mr. Goodkind need only wave his wand for solutions, as evidenced by his absurd treatment of the Book of Shadows, a plot twist that decapitates the first book of the series, rendering its events entirely without meaning), and we're served a heaping spoonful of very basic philosophy.
The philosophical component of Phantom is especially difficult to read because:
1. Goodkind rehashes what we've already read in Faith of the Fallen and Naked Empire, but does a poorer job of it. There is very little here we haven't seen before.
2. The philosphy is very, very simple, like something a high school freshman might write about after reading The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged. I'm sorry, but when you're dealing with ideas that are this simple (e.g. liberty is important!), you simply cannot sound insightful or profound. It's almost painful reading this stuff, knowing that Goodkind sees himself as some sort of visionary when he's reaching conclusions that most people reach when they're teenagers.
3. The Cold War is over. When Ayn Rand wrote her books, at least she was speaking against an ideology that she felt was threatening the fabric of individualism. Goodkind is setting out to wage war against a paper tiger. Thank you, Terry...we already know that Communism (e.g. The Imperial Order) is flawed. You're preaching to the choir.
4. It's blatantly hypocritical: the entire foundation of Goodkind's philosophy is used as justification for killing numerous innocent children in the Old World. Why is this okay? Because according to Jebra (via her description of Order soldiers teaching Dharan children to become merciless killers), The Imperial Order brainwashes people so absolutely that they become little more than animals and are unredeemable. Interestingly, the soldiers of the Dharan Empire, who were also little more than beasts/rapists before Richard became the Lord Rhal, are now paragons of virtue and liberty. For some reason, they were able to change completely after Richard gave them one speech, but the people of the Old World do not deserve the same treatment. It's baffling.
As the second book of a trilogy, Phantom closes leaving us with more questions than answers, but that's the nature of trilogies, and we can only hope that Goodkind ties things together in the final book.
Oh, and if it's possible, the protagonists of this book are less likeable than ever. Kahlan and Richard's relationship, which is so uninteresting that the author needs to constantly separate them in order to keep the book readable, continues to lack anything resembling depth (if you've watched the new Star Wars trilogy and squirmed uncomfortably through the atrociously-written dialogue between Anakin and Amidala, you'll know what I'm talking about). Furthermore (as some here have pointed out), Zedd, Cara, Nicci, Anne, etc. all now behave in one of two ways: either they question the validity of Richard's assertions, even though he has always been right and they never have, or they fawn over him tirelessly after coming to see how right he was all along. Richard is so self-confident and idealistic that he's become the archetypal "hero" figure that is indicative of derivative fantasy. Morally, he can do no wrong, which is unfortunate because it makes him far less interesting and believable than Richard the Boundary Warden from the first book in the series.
All of these problems would be a little more palatable if the book were well-written. Unfortunately, it's not. Borrowing the words of others, Goodkind has never been a great writer, only a good storyteller. Now that the story is quickly falling apart, there is little to enjoy. I guess this begs the question, have I gotten that much older and jaded, or has this series really descended so far?
