Chainfire: Chainfire Trilogy, Part 1 (Sword of Truth, Book 9) (Hardcover)

by Terry Goodkind (Author)
Key Phrases: Lord Rahl, Sister Ulicia, Imperial Order (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
A weak, repetitive plot mars the ninth novel in bestseller Goodkind's Sword of Truth fantasy series (after 2003's Naked Empire). The story opens promisingly enough. Richard, Lord Rahl, ruler of D'Hara, seeker and bearer of the Sword of Truth, is sorely wounded in battle. Healed by the sorceress Nicci, he regains consciousness only to discover his wife, Kahlan, is missing-and no one believes she exists. Meanwhile, the armies of Emperor Jagang, leader of the brutal Imperial Order, threaten D'Hara. Distracted by Kahlan's disappearance, Richard refuses to lead troops against Jagang's forces, insisting his people must stand up for themselves. Bargaining with the witch woman Shota, he trades the Sword of Truth for information on Kahlan and learns of "chainfire," hidden in "the place of the bones in the Deep Nothing." Journeying there, Richard discovers chainfire is a spell capable of unraveling existence. Meanwhile, the Sisters of the Dark have stolen two of the three boxes of Orden, seeking to call the Keeper of the Dead to life. Even fans will be disappointed by the minimal action and lengthy speeches that slow this juggernaut of a novel to a tedious crawl. Hopefully, Goodkind has positioned all his pieces and the pace will pick up in the next installment.
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Review
Praise for Terry Goodkind: 'A real born storyteller' Anne McCaffrey 'Everything one could ask for in an epic fantasy' Publishers Weekly --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 672 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (January 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765305232
• ISBN-13: 978-0765305237
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (394 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #128,741 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 9 in The Sword of Truth Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It's a wonderful life, Kahlan? [no spoilers], March 9, 2005

By	Oscar "DaRK KNighT" (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

"Chainfire" is the ninth novel in the "Sword of Truth" series revisiting a prevalent theme in prior volumes. The preachy writing has brief moments of interest. Other than Richard, Kahlan has been entirely erased from history, memory, and prophecy as having ever been alive. Below is my synopsis of the recurring trials of love involving Kahlan and Richard Rahl in the previous novels.

Book 1: Richard taken by Mord-Sith
Book 2: Richard taken by Sisters of the Light
Book 3: adventuring separately, doubts of love
Book 4: adventuring separately, doubts of love
Book 5: Richard and Kahlan together for first time, try to save pacifist culture
Book 6: Richard taken by Nicci
Book 8: adventuring separately, Richard poisoned by different pacifist culture

Throughout the novel, Richard behaves as a selfish lovesick bully, rudely demanding answers, constantly thinks life is meaningless without Kahlan, and contemplates suicide. A young girl begs him to save her grandfather but Richard refuses because his search for information regarding Kahlan is more important, making the girl assist him while someone else volunteers to separately help her grandfather. He is a disturbing hypocrite, preaching about living your life how you wish yet demands others help. Richard forces them to choose his bidding, indirectly removing free will with the threat of violence (not really a choice for the child). Richard constantly states the evil Imperial Order must be eradicated for wanting to destroy free will but obsesses over Kahlan and leaves others to battle Jagang's forces. He chooses to deny a leadership role, potentially sacrificing the world, for Kahlan. As a result, the author failed to create a romantic quest while trying to have her disappearance a mystery amidst a fantasy story.

Richard verbally oppresses people, not allowing explanations whereas his remarks must be fully heard. He even yelled at and disrespected his grandfather. Furthermore, he doesn't explain essential details nor give details of important events because his time is crucial for lecturing. The reader encounters pages of unbearably long-winded sermons that slowly illustrate a concept. The second consecutive chapter of an argument about Kahlan's existence had nonstop speech (hardback - Chapter 14 from bottom page 153 to middle page 156) with 4 short actions (lifting an arm or jabbing finger) and 1 small out of place paragraph describing a character outfit and environment. Richard preaches the importance of fighting the Imperial Order for freedom in solid dialogue (Chapter 15 from page 165 to middle page 170) with five 2-line comments from a crowd and couple minor actions. That is a five and a half page mind-numbing speech. I haven't read every novel let alone every fantasy novel, but that is a staggering lecture. Constantly a solid page of a repeated speech hammers a Goodkind concept into the readers. Combined with Nathan, Nicci, Shota, and Zedd speaking the same teaching manner, the lengthy dialogue becomes exceedingly boring and neglects to distinguish the characters as separate individuals. Characters behave lovesick the same, cannot live or exist without their love and will die without the person, a morbid manner.

Richard doesn't fully understand his abilities, casting spontaneous magic. While Emperor Jagang travels with an entire army, his counterpart Lord Rahl recklessly and unrealistically travels with few companions through enemy territory. Samuel, the previous owner of the Sword of Truth, is as physically twisted and mentally obsessed as Gollum (an exact clone of a short, dark form with a pallid head, gray skin, bulging yellow eyes like twin lanterns) of "Lord of the Rings" is with a magical item.

The writing has degraded through the series. I no longer collect them in hardback and read the newer books from the library having to forego paying even though time is money. As with many readers, I will see how characters I once greatly enjoyed retire.

The book isn't without redeeming qualities. Nathan and Zedd when not teaching philosophy are engaging individuals. Nicci has become a much-needed person in the war against the Imperial Order with her expertise. Even though she is not a war wizard, why not try teaching Richard magical skills. The final 100 pages raise the rating with creativity in characterization and magical reasoning.

Thank you.

44 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An honest review, for once, January 5, 2005

By	Adam (Stockbridge, GA) - See all my reviews

I'm going to be honest. I like Terry Goodkind's work, even if some elements do play off of another fantasy series. But the characters have sprung into a life of their own, and Goodkind has managed to weave the story into something fully original.

I won't be one of the ones to say that this is his best work, because it honestly isn't. I enjoyed Wizard's First Rule and Faith of the Fallen much more than I did this book. But it is a good book. Goodkind has managed to take an idea seldom heard, if ever, and work it into the fabric of the reality that he has spun for all of his loyal readers. What's more, he has managed to keep the interactions between the characters believable, even taking into account the many different plot twists.

The only downside I found to this book is that there were a few instances where I could not believe what was going on. There was also one or two instances where concepts involving prophecy left me befuddled. But despite the few bad points, it still does not diminish from the effort he has put into this. I literally read it from cover to cover in six straight hours, and was enchanted the entire time.

In short, people want to whine because it doesn't have the few elements they've become accustomed to. And people want to heap praise and adulation upon a new book simply because of who wrote it. I hope I do neither. I like this book, and hope that this review will help someone enjoy it as much as I did.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An Epic that could have been..., May 2, 2005

By	S. P. Javier (Highland Mills, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have always been an avid fan of the "High" Fantasy genre, which I've typically associated with the exceptional works of Melanie Rawn, Robert Jordan, Stephen Donaldson, Kate Elliot, Tad Williams and their contemporaries. High Fantasy incorporates art with complicated and enriched story lines, vision and characters that hold form and personality outside of the text. An author capable of this is a rare commodity and so when they are discovered, I hold dearly to their works and diligently read and collect every volume. When Terry Goodkind came to my attention with "Wizards First Rule", I was intrigued and thankful to add another author to my collection. He was talented and able to develop characters with a depth and substance that connected them to the reader.

I followed the story of Richard and Kahlan through their many disappointments and victories, enjoying the ever evolving relationship and the roles they each played in the government/leadership of a fractured nation. Even as the storyline began to over-run, threatening to become stagnant and bland, I stayed loyal and true. With his 9th work in this series the story, however, has evolved into something worse than bland, it has become mediocre. The story is a diatribe of philosophical gibberish that exudes existentialism with careless abandon making the volume, ironically, appear more prosaic rather than meaningful. It leaves the reader's thirst for development/progression, un-sated with characters reduced to flat and formless entities, interchangeable and amorphous.

I have never, in all my years, ever put a book down unfinished once I've begun...until now. Less than one third of the way to completion, I decided that I had read enough, and decided to waste my time no more. Mr. Goodkind, in his attempts to appease the public's thirst for more, has given them, instead, far less.