One of his best sci-fi books. The thematic plot can be difficult to follow at first until you catch on to the fact he is writing two stories from either end that will eventually collide in one moment which both explains one story and throws the other into a whole new light. The conclusion is devastating and easily transcends the idea that this is just "sci-fi". A very good novel of human passion.
If you're into delivering pain, the pleasure of pain, or witnessing pain, this is certainly your fantasy novel. It sure ain't mine. The characterizations are thin, and, as noted by others, the basic plot line tread (unexceptional boy in lowly location discovers he's special, saves the world/gets the girl) is exceedingly well-worn and so Mr Goodkind decides to spice it up with a sadly sick sequence of pain-infliction, absorption of the enjoyment of pain, and baseline sadism which is pathetically distasteful. It barely reaches the level of being sufficiently disgusting to throw the book away, but leaves a sufficiently dirty taste in the mouth for me to never wish to read another word he… Read more
Easily my favourite Iain Banks book. It layers in a murder-mystery, coming-of-age, an unexpected love, the growth of a town (even a country?), and tangled themes of religion, drink, family, and friends without ever missing a beat, without unintentionally confusing the reader, and without once treating its characters with anything less than the highest respect (I mean here that every one of them is utterly true to themselves even to the end of the book without ever being distorted to meet the ends of the plot). Exceptionally good and thoroughly worth its place on any reader's shelf.
