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What's New
Review Features
S - Science Fiction
F - Fantasy
H - Horror
Complete Listing
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Adams, Douglas (S)
Asher, Neal (S)
Aylett, Steve (S)
Banks, Iain M (S)
Barclay, James (F)
Barker, Clive (H)
Baxter, Stephen (S)
Brin, David (S)
Bury, Stephen (S)
Card, Orson Scott (S)
Cherryh, CJ (S/F)
Clute, John (S)
Cockayne, Steve (F)
Cook, Glen (F)
Danielewski, Mark (H)
Dick, Philip K (S)
Egan, Greg (S)
Feist, Raymond (F)
Gaiman, Neil (F)
Gibson, William (S)
Goodkind, Terry (F)
Grimwood, Jon C (S)
Hamilton, Peter (S)
Jeter, K.W. (S)
Jordan, Robert (F)
Lethem, Jonathan (S)
McAuley, Paul (S)
MacLeod, Ken (S)
Martin, George RR (F)
McMullen, Sean (S)
Miéville, China (S)
Moran, Daniel K (S)
Morgan, Richard K (S)
Nagata, Linda (S)
Niven, Larry (S)
Noon, Jeff (S)
Robinson, Kim S. (S)
Rucker, Rudy (S)
Simmons, Dan (S)
Smith, Michael Marshall (S)
Stephenson, Neal (S)
Sterling, Bruce (S)
Vinge, Vernor (S)
Westerfeld, Scott (S)
Williams, Sean (S)
Williams, Tad (S/F)
Collections (S/F)
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| The Classics |
Bradbury, Ray (S/H)
Burgess, Anthony (S)
Tolkien, JRR (F) |
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| Terry Goodkind |
| Author Information |
Reviewed Books |
Other Books |
| Notes: (S) - Sword of Truth Series |
Wizard's
First Rule (S) |
Stone of Tears (S)
Blood of the Fold(S)
Temple of the Winds (S)
Soul of the Fire (S)
Faith of the Fallen (S)
The Pillars of Creation (S)
Debt of Bones |
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 Our
Ranking Wizard's First Rule is the first of
so far 5 books in the series for Goodkind. The book is actually quite huge, but
don't get intimidated by the size, for the most part this is a solid fantasy read.
The book displays some very creative writing. From the creatures that Goodkind
creates, to the actual structure of the world itself (a world divided by three
magic walls) and even to an extent to the political system with the Wizards and
the Confessors. His basis for the magic and the rules that govern the wizards
are also fairly unique, he leans more towards additive and subtractive magic (which
is a bit like Mondesett's Recluce series) but the rules in which the Wizards can
use this add some nice twists to the plot. The book is mainly about Richard Cypher's
quest to destroy and evil wizard who is threatening to take over all three of
the divided parts of the known world. Richard finds himself thrust into the role
as the only one who can stand up to the wizard, Darken Rahl. With the help of
a few friends, one of which is a wizard himself (and probably the best character
in the book) he travels from his own sphere of the world and heads out to get
Darken Rahl. The characters are done pretty well in this book, but some of the
interaction between them is a bit cheesy, especially the interaction between Richard
and the Mother Confessor. At points you feel as if you are reading a bit of a
soap opera and it is fairly obvious that the female point of view may be a bit
beyond Goodkind. (not to be too harsh, but her behavior is the stereotypical male
perception of how women would respond) For the most part the writing is very good
and the action is solid enough to make the book very interesting. My one real
complaint/warning is some of the level of violence that just seemed incredibly
unnecessary. There are some scenes involving graphic torture of children, as well
as one very long chunk of the book involving what I can only describe as Goodkind's
personal Dominatrix fantasy. It's not that I was offended by the scenes but to
be blunt they added more or less nothing to the plot. In fact, as Goodkind tried
to twist them somehow into a meaningful scene it really started to hurt the book.
For the most part this is a good fantasy story, a bit different and modern, but
still pretty good. |
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