Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind

Fantasy. 836 Pages. 4 Stars

Synopsis:

Millions of readers the world over have been held spellbound by this valiant tale vividly told.

Now, enter Terry Goodkind’s world, the world of the Sword of Truth.

In the aftermath of the brutal murder of his father, a mysterious woman, Kahlan Amnell, appears in Richard Cypher’s forest sanctuary seeking help … and more. His world, his very beliefs, are shattered when ancient debts come due with thundering violence.

In their darkest hour, hunted relentlessly, tormented by treachery and loss, Kahlan calls upon Richard to reach beyond his sword– to invoke within himself something more noble. Neither knows that the rules of battle have just changed … or that their time has run out.

This is the beginning. One book. One Rule. Witness the birth of a legend.

My Review:

From the first page, I knew I liked Mr. Goodkind’s writing style. It drew me in and made me want more. I fell completely in love with his characters. They were witty and compelling. His heroes were characters I could root for, his villains entirely despicable, and then there were characters not so easily judged. The more I read of them, the more I adored them. The plot was intriguing and kept me curious even until the last page. Secrets were woven into the very fabric of the story and when one was finally revealed, what seemed like answers only served to create more mysteries. Mr. Goodkind has created a very rich world for us to travel within, and, I believe, he successfully writes so that the reader lives and breathes in his magical world. His imagery is imaginative and yet not overbearing. The writing was thorough enough to make the world come alive, but not so thorough as to bog me down. His attention to detail typically furthered the plot in ways I didn’t understand until far down the road. The creatures are original, the setting is phenomenal, the plot beyond intriguing, and the characters to die for…literally. There was more mystery, adventure, and action packed into this story than I could ever have imagined.

Despite Mr. Goodkind’s quite admirable qualities in this book, there did come a point in which I almost didn’t want to continue the story. The beginning of the story shone brightly and it was a joy to read, but in the middle the story revealed just how dark it truly was. To be honest, it was a little depressing to read. There were some quite unexpected graphic scenes, both of violence and romance. There were no explicit sex scenes, but a few implied. Somethings are better left unsaid and sometimes less gets your point across even more clearly. And though it was evident from the beginning that this was not a shallow tale, as well it was made clear that the main villain was no force to be reckoned with, I did not expect the dark side of the story to be so vivid. For instance, I didn’t need the details of vile rituals, and I didn’t want them.

My biggest issue with the story was the underlying fascination with sexually related things that I found completely unnecessary. There were romantic scenes that went too far for my taste, a multitude of rape references, as well as a few things that in no way furthered the plot. But between Zedd and the Mud People (Though I must honestly say I absolutely adored the rest of the cultural world and character building of the Mud People.), I just didn’t find it necessary at all. The plot could just as easily have been exactly the same without the nudity and nude references, desires, etc. Though mild references and allusions to some things were important to character development and did further the plot, such as the thoroughly despicable Demmin, Mr. Goodkind could easily have avoided such a recurring emphasis. Demmin certainly made my nose wrinkle in disgust, as intended. Darken Rahl was a violent man and he took pleasure in his violence and cruelty. Again, I understand completely that it is important for the reader to truly understand this, but some descriptions only need written once. Multiple references do not make the deed any worse and they don’t further the plot by any means; they only get the mental images stuck in my head without reason. I wanted the story to be genuine and realistic, and it was. The villains were certainly pure evil, but I suppose I wasn’t prepared for that. I think they could have retained their vileness and their evil deeds could easily show their characters, but at a certain point, it just became too much for me. Perhaps if I had different expectations going into it, I wouldn’t have this feedback. This is not a child’s tale, nor even a teen’s tale. This story is much darker than I expected it to be, so I hope to let others know that. So, maybe if they know it beforehand, they will be better prepared than I was.

And somewhat unrelated to the issues with story elements, there were more typos than I would have expected. I found it disruptive to my reading. Even for 800 some odd pages, I wish someone had more carefully proofed this before publishing it. Thankfully, there was very little foul language and it was non-disruptive to the reading for the most part.

Lastly, I found that after trudging through some of the darker points in the story, the beautiful elements returned and I truly did enjoy the story. The ending redeemed the story for me and made me remember why I started it in the first place. I would probably pick up the second book to follow the characters and set out on a new adventure, but not anytime soon. At least this time, I can know to expect exactly how foul it may become.

More:

Sword of Truth Book 2 is Stone of Tears

Book 3 is Blood of the Fold

Book 4 is Temple of the Winds

Book 5 is Soul of the Fire

Book 6 is Faith of the Fallen

Book 7 is The Pillars of Creation

Book 8 is Naked Empire 

Book 9 is Chainfire

Book 10 is Phantom

Book 11 is Confessor

Book 12 is The Omen Machine

Book 13 is The Third Kingdom

Book 14 is Severed Souls

Book 15 is Warheart

I think that’s all of them…Anywho, at this point in time, I have not read any of the sequels and thus have not rated or reviewed them; however, I am considering picking up book two since it’s been two years since I read book one. I remember enjoying the story, loving the characters, and being intrigued by the plot potential, so I think I’m finally ready to give the series another go. As far as I am aware, the series needs to be read in order.