Customer Reviews

The Sword of Truth, Box Set II, Books 4-6: Temple of the Winds; Soul of the Fire; Faith of the Fallen

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I believe that judging this series as a whole will favorably argue that Goodkind is every bit the equal to Tolkien -- even though Terry Goodkind himself would probably balk at such a comparison. I have it on good authority a very large chunk of Sword of Truth fans are not even typical Fantasy readers in general (or at all). The social & political upheaval that is covered within the entire storyline is truly epic in scope. The first three books (Wizards First Rule, Stone of Tears & Blood of the Fold) are easily my all-time favorite Fantasy novels. Not an easy place to be in my opinion writing in the shadows of Terry Brooks, J.K. Rowling, George R.R. Martin and the mighty Tolkien (to name a few). While I believe books 1 & 2 are STILL the best, in this boxed set, two remarkable stories stand out.

First...Temple of the Winds is simply AWESOME. While after initially finishing Blood of the Fold I was slightly disappointed, after re-reading it several years later, I decided that it was actually very good...but Temple of the Winds surpasses it in every way (IMHO). The struggles against Emperor Jagang and his evil plots to conquer the world as he sees it is amazing. Just the very idea of the Temple I found to be incredibly original all the way around. The eventual outcome and how Richard had to lower himself in order to save his people -- and his beloved Kahlan -- was nothing short of compelling.

Second...Soul of the Fire was my first (and only) serious disappointment in this entire series to date. While I wasn't very pleased with 'Pillars of Creation' and how Goodkind totally changed gears on his faithful readers by shuffling his main characters into microscopic roles (they only appeared in the final 40 pages or so), in SotF he did a very similar act. He created the brand new city of Anderith and immersed us head-first into this entirely new plot-line and kept Richard & Kahlan to nearly secondary characters altogether. Even though Pillars almost eliminated Richard & Kahlan, I STILL found the overall storyline to be quite entertaining...but with SotF it just fell flat for me. At least half of the novel kept me interested, but every time we went back to the problems in Anderith, MY interest virtually died.

Third...Faith of the Fallen really IS long on commentary by Richard, almost as though he were running for office. What I found to be utterly compelling however is that to the people Richard is virtually preaching to, what he is saying actually FITS 100%. The worth of souls ARE great, and Richard sees this, and has this monumental struggle to prove it to those in bondage to the Order. The pacifists of this world will never really fully understand what this means, because they are so busy trying to iron over any so-called problems and shelter their families from the real-world consequences that almost ALWAYS happen when you take a back seat to the oppression that threatens to consume the world as we know it. In short, I loved this book. If you put aside your political beliefs, and the outright incorrect way in which many attempt to connect FotF to Atlas Shrugged, LOOK at the situation that Richard finds himself forcibly immersed into...how ELSE can he express himself and talk sense into those who passively sit by while the evil-doers of the Order slaughter innocent lives all in the name of the Maker? Goodkind got it totally right here and I wouldn't change a word.

All in all I would rate the series 5-stars.

Wizards First Rule 5 Stars
Stone of Tears 5 Stars
Blood of the Fold 5 Stars
Temple of the Wind 5 Stars
Soul of the Fire 3 Stars
Faith of the Fallen 5 Stars
Pillars of Creation 4 Stars
Naked Empire 5 Stars
Chainfire 5 Stars
Phantom 5 Stars

I just wish that Terry could write faster...but if it in any way compromised the quality of the stories, I am perfectly happy waiting however long it takes to read whatever he writes.

I want to start with how happy i was that i did not read this popular series when i was younger. Just finishing up college and have not been able to relate to fantasy novels for a a couple of years tell i read these books.

What makes it different?

Well the world he creates is brilliant in its originality, the characters have a beautiful development (sound cheesy but extremely true), plot is phenomenal in each book, and i can keep going.

The greatest feature of the series is Goodkind's philosophy. Its beautiful in how real it is. I think the best way to describe it without giving anything away away is polarity between Wizards Rule's/ stupidity of man and the message of Faith of the Fallen/ beauty of man. For those who have not read the book, the characters act like people would in normal life- the good,the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful.

Advice- The last 300 pages of faith of the fallen need to be read in 2-3 days. Trust me make sure when you get to the last 300 pages that you have time to read it because you will end up not sleeping and skipping errands so you wont have to put the book down.

Book 4 is awesome and I couldn't put it down. However, things start going south when you hit Book 5. The only thing that has kept me reading are the characters, whom I have already fallen in love with. I'm not sure what's happened with the stories...either Goodkind got lazy or ran out of ideas OR his editors got lazy not caring about what they put on the shelves. As a writer, I know the editors are key in helping the writer shape the story into something consistent, but I think they may have taken a back seat because Goodkind's books got so popular. It's almost as if they said, "We don't have to edit these books as tightly as we did before. Goodkind's fans will buy it up anyway."

"Soul of the Fire" starts out with Richard and the Birdman pursuing the "chicken that's not a chicken", and though Kahlan thinks they're both crazy, she ends up being terrorized by this monster chicken as well, her life in danger. I couldn't stop laughing, and not in a good way. Then they leave the village to set out on this quest that Zedd urges them to pursue, with such urgency to the task...and they stop and contemplate what they're going to do next for a couple of CHAPTERS. So much for urgency. I really read the 5th book thinking, "I sure hope this all has a point," and thankfully, the fabulous ending of the book saved it, leaving me feeling 85% satisfied with the resolution, which is what kept me moving on to the next book.

Book 6 left me completely frustrated through the whole story, wondering where the hell it was going with Nikki's crazy quest of "Richard has the answer, but I don't know what the question is." She puts EVERYONE'S life in danger for this personal quest where she doesn't even know what she's looking for. Again, the ending redeemed the story, but this time I left feeling about 65% satisfied. Unfortunately, it just keeps getting worse after that.

Books 1-4 of Goodkind's stories are really good, but I would highly recommend NOT buying the entire series. Read them one at a time if you can get through them. I bought the entire series and just because I didn't want to have wasted my money, I'm TRUDGING through the remaining books. I've been on "Chainfire" (Book 9) for about 8 months, the book on my nightstand, waiting to be read. I just can't seem to get through more than 10 pages before I put it down disgusted saying, "Get to the freakin' point!" It has NOT given me any desire to read Goodkind's latest book.

I highly recommend books 1-4. GREAT stories, wonderful characters you fall in love with, and a world alive and full of magic. Just don't spoil it by reading the others.

That's my two pence...
Arial

Okay so, you just finished book 3. You've had an intro to what all the rest of the books will be about. If you didn't mind the themes of rape, maltreatment, torture and kidnapping, then you'll probably do okay with the mutilation that is added to Temple of the Winds and on out through the series. Temple of the Winds is possibly the 3rd best book. There are websites that try to rank the books and you can find those. The constant separation of the two main characters gets annoying, as obviously the universe will end if they get to be together for more than a few minutes.

After reading the first boxed set, I eagerly read through the second boxed set. Each novel follows the same structure as the first 3 books, introducing new realms and new characters. The only problem I have with these books is that a good 1/4 of each novel is spent delving into the new realm or environment in which Richard and Kahlan are thrown into. It's a great backstory, but it is too much backstory. It's a little frustrating because I want to read more of the main characters, and it seems like some of the original minor characters like Verna and Ann get set aside in this set.

This is one of the first fantasy series that I've read that is really gritty, so there are lots of bad things happening throughout the novels (just like in the first boxed set).

Overall, I'm very eager to continue with the 3rd boxed set!

This author rocks...you will not be able to put these books down. Don't be intimated by the thick books...you will finish them in no time and will start the next one. Best books I've ever read. I introduced my teenage son to the first book (he never reads) and he could not put it down. A must read even if your not typically a fantasy book reader.

Books were received in a timely manner..I was very impressed with the shape these used books arrived in. For less than $15 dollars they were in perfect shape and arrived in time for my sons birthday..I would highly recommend buying all your used books through Amazon.com....For christmas we purchased several Kindle Fires and will now be able to purchase our books directly to our Kindles...Amazon has always been a favorite web site of mine to purchase many items..I will enjoy their loyal service for many years to come...

Completely satisfied. In perfect condition, no bent pages. The three book box set was exactly what I wanted and it arrived before the scheduled date.

I won't go into a long review on the Sword of Truth books. The story is fantastic as are the characters. I'm currently reading the fifth book. I just read (on page 583) how Jangang's troops were visiting cities, giving speeches on "piece and prosperity". Really? Piece? The other books (1-4) all had typos too and the print was running off the pages cutting words off. How does the author write such a fantastic story and have his work go out to the public this way? I think he needs a new editor! If you can look past all the typos you will love the story!

Fast service, quality science fiction, came in excellent condition. Very enjoyable reading, difficult to put down at bed time. I will get the entire series before I am throughThe Sword of Truth, Box Set II, Books 4-6: Temple of the Winds; Soul of the Fire; Faith of the Fallen