Customer Reviews

Soul Of The Fire (Gollancz S.F.)

5 star:		(237)
4 star:		(115)
3 star:		(131)
2 star:		(103)
1 star:		(81)

 

 

I can remember when I read "Wizard's First Rule" I was impressed. Not only because it renewed my faith in the fantasy genre, but also because it was fun, hard to put down and -albeit a few cliches here and there- well written. I can remember forsaking many a night of going out just to stay in and reading about Richard, Kahlan and all of the other characters from this series that intrigued me so. The strongest point of the books was that: character development and the consistency these characters maintained throughout the story.

Unfortunately all that appears to have been lost in "Soul of the Fire". An avid reader of the series, I must say this last book was not up to par with the first four (although there has been a visible decadence since "Blood of the Fold"). Firstly, I was shocked to see that almost half of this book is dedicated not to the characters we know and love, but to Anderith and its people. I would be all well and good if they played a major role in what we are told is the story's epicentre (namely, the chimes), but unfortunately, they serve no higher good than providing constant anticlimaxes. Perhaps it is not just that, but rather that the characters are so badly created that no-one except for Fitch (and to an extent, Beata and Dalton) gets a reasonable development. Even so, Fitch is utterly inconsistent, sometimes showing incredible stupidity and sometimes the cold-heartedness of a mass murderer. When I started reading this book I thought Fitch would mimic characters such as Steerpike in "Gormenghast", slowly rising to power and corruption, perhaps not the freshest option but the most viable. He does not. Or rather, he half-does it. What is worse, he disappears for most of the second-half and comes back suddenly just to be cut off the story in a most casual fashion, again, something that shows another of the book's weaknesses.

It seems that the author tried to tell too many stories at a time, but couldn't finish them off properly (we know authors have deadlines too!). My hunch is that he had so many plotholes by the second half that he decided to write off many of the side stories (Beata, Fitch) to carry on with the main theme (the chimes). The last quarter of the book seems hurried and the conclusions are too abrupt for the reader to digest. Out of the blue, Richard comes up with the solution for beating the chimes, as abstract and underexplained as it is. The chimes, supposedly central to the story become just feeble reasons to innocuously explain the rest of the plots. The storytelling is shallow and incongruent, and after jumping from plot to plot, reading over unnecessarily dull chapters (most of them involving less than masterfully portrayed political scheming in Anderith) the reader becomes confused and frustrated.

There is some merit to this book, though. The simpering and almost sickeningly melose realtionship between Richard and Kahlan has been, fortunately, toned down. Furthermore, the book does off with much of the homoerotic porn novel eroticism that its predecessors contained, making it less "trashy" than before (reading about Richard's "manly chest" and "bulging, powerful arms" can get tiring after a while). Also, the narrative takes on a different style in "Soul of Fire", being concise and assertive rather than the more lyrical approach given to the other books. This neither enhances nor hinders the reading, but it does make the experience feel fresh.

I understand that authors cannot always write about the same things; clearly, in this book the author tried to stray from the traditional and create a different type of novel in his series. While I would not say that he has completely failed, it is far fom being a job well done. Moreover, this book has left me indifferent as to what may come next in the series. It feels like this was not a proper "Sword of Truth" book, but two books in one, one about Anderith and one about Richard and the chimes, both failing to converge in the end and leaving the novel it as it is: two unfinished, rushed parallel stories that hold little relation between one another.

I've been hearing negative things about this book for the last year. So when I picked it up, I expected it to be slow, boring, overwritten, and completely pointless. It's none of those things.

I'm the first to admit Goodkind doesn't have a good command of the language. His writing is, at times, simplistic. But it doesn't really matter, because the man is a storyteller. He is deeply passionate about the stories and characters in his books, and it shows. This guy can keep me up all night reading his stuff, because I have a need to know what happens next.

Fact is, there are a great many people who have more words, and a greater command of English, than Goodkind. And most of those people couldn't tell a story if their lives depended on it. Goodkind has dyslexia, and the fact he's read so much, and is able to produce a novel annually, despite his disability, is astounding to me. How many people could write a 1 000 page novel in less than a year? How many could do it when the words they write appear nearly incomprehensible to them?

There are people who can use big words in fancy sentences, and there are people who can tell a damn good story. And there a rare few who can do both. Goodkind may not be the best crafter of the language in the world, but he can story-tell circles around most of his comptemporaries. Perhaps some of his detractors are bitter. Goodkind spends his time doing something he truly loves. Look at Jordan -- a far better writer, who has produced far weaker books, out of laziness and a lack of commitment to his work. That Goodkind puts so much of himself into his work is to be respected, I don't care who you are, how well you write, or what's up your bum.

Sometimes, I wish people would just lighten up and enjoy a good story. The world's too stuffy for me as it is.

I have heard and read a significant ammount of criticism of this book. While I will agree that it wasn't the usual sort of Terry Goodkind fare, I do not feel that this book was boring or plodding in any way. In the prior books in this series, the complex political climate of the Midlands was often a topic of discussion, but was never thouroughly explored (at least to my satisfaction). After all you can't possibly expect to rule the world without some occasional political maneuvering. Secondly, the tone of the ending of the book and the implied return to Westland gives Goodkind the perfect opportunity to reintroduce the character of Chase, who hasn't been seen since book #2 "The Stone of Tears", a character that I liked and have missed. My only qualm is the almost complete lack of magic in the story. While I know that that was the central point of the whole plot of the book, a Sword of Truth book without magic (to take a line directly from "Wizard's First Rule") is like meat without gravy, just plain dry. Otherwise a fantastic book, a beautifully drawn political drama which portends big things for the next installment.

I began the first book of this series with high hopes. I thought it had an interesting plot and it was fast paced and kept me interested. However, as the series progressed I found myself more and more frustrated with it. The character of Richard went from a believable everyday guy to this Uberhero who slaughters thousands of people and gets called "great" for it. The way Goodkind interacts his characters is annoying. In one of the books Khalan and a Mord-Sith patronizingly (and for 5 pages) describe their views of loyalty while a would-be assasin lays on the floor in semi-conciousness! Don't you think that conversation could have waited until afterwards? Goodkind writes as if his readers were 5 years old and slow, spending countless pages describing a miniscule point then backing it up with 3 pages of gut-wrenching and unexplainable gore. Also, NO ONE EVER CRITISIZES RICHARD, EVER. He will do something incredibly stupid and someone will say "You shouldn't have done that". Then Richard replys with a vague (yet still chapters long) and thin explanation why what he did was right, and his would-be critisizer ends up saying "Richard, you are a very special person, and what you did was absolutely right" It is very unbelievable and frankly very annoying. His world-building also leaves much to be desired. It seems as if, once Richard completely wipes out one threat to his home, Goodkind says "Oh, and there's this place that's really famous and evil even though I never mentioned it before now, and there's this guy with a big army and he's bad, and, um, he wants to take over the Midlands" And of course Richard runs in there, slaughters the evil and innocents alike, explains why that was a good thing and moves on to the next slaughter-fest. This series definately needs to be better thought out.

I love the Sword of Truth series. I have re read it several times and frequently recommend it. Unfortunately Soul of the Fire is a total dud. If you are reading the series for the first time be warned. When I do reread the series I usually just skim Soul of the Fire and sometimes skip it completely. I really wanted to see how being married would affect Richard and Kahlan. I didn't expect it to turn them into two different people. Richard goes from an intelligent man not hampered by his lack of formal education to a bumbling idiot who can barely articulate his thoughts. Kahlan (sadly Zed also)turns from a woman who has grown to love and trust Richard into someone who refuses to take him seriously and treats him like a child. In a way I was almost that glad the story turned to Anderith, until the story turned to Anderith. I have seldom read about a more shallow, venal group of people. I could almost hear Abraham bargaining with God, "will you spare them if there are 20 good, how about 10, five? Please God." The fact that all of the characters introduced in Anderith then were summarily whacked just seemed to add insult to injury. To spend almost 2/3 of a 700+ page book reading about unlikable characters and then have it be meaningless cause they're all dead? Time I'll never get back. Richard and party showing up at the end just felt contrived. It was almost like Terry suddenly remembered this was supposed to be a Sword of Truth story, so oh yeah, they should put in an appearance. The whole thing about Richard losing the Sword and Cara chasing after it was quite unbelievably dumb. Just another of several examples of a plot point looking for a story. All in all quite disappointing. Fortunately I really liked the first four books so I didn't give up on the series completely.

This book is a curiosity to me. It is a strange combination--as all of Goodkind's work seems to be--of disturbing, nihilistic ultraviolence, Ayn Rand's objectivism, and dialogue and writing style more consistent with a young adult level. This is not to say it was not a fun read. You will most likely hiss and boo the bad guys, cheer and support Richard and Kahlan and their friends, and stay interested to the last page. But before you really get yourself into the work you will have to endure seemingly endless speeches and conversations. I have to credit Goodkind for making his characters complex, with realistic motives and actions that follow from their character.

I do not know if Goodkind is a disturbed individual, or if he simply uses his ultraviolence in a cynical, manipulative way to stimulate our prurient emotions, but this book really is violent in the extreme and at times very painful to read. If you react negatively to stories of women being raped then beaten and killed by those in power; and of people being disemboweled, skewered, scalped, tortured, throttled, etc., then you might want to look elsewhere for your entertainment.

I "read" the audio version, unabridged, and have just a comment on that. The narrator sounds like he came from the neighborhood of Mister Rogers, and has none of the passion or intentsity of Ferrone, Muller, etc. He reads scenes of gore and injustice as if he is reading "Fun With Dick and Jane" and I found that distracting.

Enough of my B and M-ing. The work was engaging. I stayed up late to hear the tale, and wanted the bad guys to get theirs and the good to triumph. I enjoyed the story of Dalton Campbell and Beata and Bertrand, and found it a welcome diversion from Richard and Kahlan. The land of Anderith was a fun and fully-fleshed-out setting, and Goodkind was able--by hook or by crook--to get me emotionally involved in the story.

A well written book that does not add depth to the main characters. You can skip this book if you want to find out what Richard, Kahlan, Zed, Cara and the rest have been up to. If you just want to read Terry Goodkind, then you will enjoy it, but you will feel empty once you have finished. I may or may not buy the next book, I feel that I just paid for a sidebar in a great series. I and all the rest who enjoyed the first four parts were not given a continuaton of a great saga, just a book to fulfill a contractual obligation. After finishing, I re-read the first four to make sure I had not deluded myself into thinking that Terry Goodkind was a great writer. I only hope that, along with Robert Jordan, he doesn't extend this stroyline beyond its natural conclusion just to keep the series going.

I'm surprised that The Sword of Truth books have not yet lost my interest. The first two books (Wizard's First Rule and Stone of Tears) are the best bye far, the third...well, not so good, the fourth was great, and Soul of the Fire is wonderful! Terry Goodkind has created a wonderfully compelling and intruiging story for each book! The character development is perfect, and the stories, for the most part, have a great pace. Maybe that's why these books are so wonderful!

Now, to this novel. Soul of the Fire is wonderful! The story is complex and intruiging. To those that have read the fourth book, Temple of the Winds, Soul of the Fire is about the chimes, which were brought into their world when Kahlan had spoken the names of the chimes when she was saving Richard from the plague. Along the way are the usual unsuspected surprises that Goodkind provides us with. The only thing that personally bothered me was the new characters from Anderith. They're fine, I was just bored with their entrance into the story. But once you get past the first couple chapters with them in it, they are fine. Great book! I hope Goodkind makes more....either he finishes up the Sword of Truth books, or he start a new series! Whatever he does, I can't wait! Enjoy!

The Wizard's first and only rule should be that fantasy fiction series cannot be longer than 5 books. The leaders of the "Fantasy Fiction Writers Guild" should pass a resolution to this effect. If you have read Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time mess, or just about any other writer including Goodkind that has tried to take his/her series beyond 5 books you know that it is like a train going off the end of a broken bridge into a deep gorge.

Goodkind has obviously run out of story, so he takes this book down a side road to the psychotic world of Anderith. A whole bunch of self-serving useless characters are introduced, examined in depth, and then killed off to add absolutely nothing to the story line.

At least Goodkind keeps to his theme of rape and torture of innocent women. I was beginning to think he might be loosing his touch, but the good leaders of Anderith have redeemed him.

A hard read at best.

This book introduces a bunch of new characters with long stories which I enjoyed (but others might not) and the story still is progressing, though slowly.

If you've already read books 1 - 4 of the SOT series, and you really like them, you're stuck. The characters are lovable enough, and the story is interesting and fun enough that you're still in and you have to stay.

But, I warn that the series starts to decline after this book. If you're not totally enthralled by books 1-4, don't bother to read this one.