Customer Reviews

Wizard's First Rule

5 star:		(607)
4 star:		(148)
3 star:		(84)
2 star:		(104)
1 star:		(137)

 

 

This book created quite a stir in the fantasy genre. Some people loved it and some hated it. I wanted to give it a fair chance and just finished it. I can't tell you whether you'll like it or not, because this is a book where it really depends on what you want from a story. So I'll tell you what it offers and where it comes up short.

First you need to know it follows an over-used fantasy theme. An unknown man who doesn't want to be a hero, finds out he is very special and needed to save the world. He ends up being a fierce warrior who wins the heart of the beauty. The bad guy is super evil, and the good guys are super pure. There is an old man who serves as the mentor and he's wise yet spunky.

Many of you will be turned off at this point. But hold on. As formulaic as it is, Goodkind really does string together a nice adventure. Just when I would begin to think it was getting mindless, he would have a really beautiful scene.

There are torture scenes that are vivid, and I was wary of that going in. But he doesn't use them for shock value as some may think. He has a point and makes it very well. It was one of the only scenes that really gripped my emotions. It was quite inspiring.

The female roles in the book are fairly weak. The leading lady is often controlled by her emotions and love for the main character. Lots of crying.

The world Goodkind has constructed, the different creatures, and the way he uses magic are unique and creative. He often explains why magic works the way it does, and it isn't too way out there.

And while this book is one in a series, you can read just this one and it ends well enough so you don't feel you have to read the next one. So it doesn't hurt to give it a chance. If you like this kind of story, you will certainly enjoy this book. I think it is a good one. However, if you're tired of this storyline, you may want to check out something else. I hope this was helpful.

This book has seemed to have a polarizing effect on reviewers, to some it is the greatest work of fiction since Tolkein, to others this is drivel in the purest sense, the work of a pure amateur.

First things first, this is not a great novel. It is derivative, unimaginative, and full of stock heroes, stock villans, a stock quest, and every other fantasy convention you could think of. There is nothing original in the least.

However, I enjoy reading fantasy novels and do not have a problem with the fact that the story is neither original nor great. To be quite honest, the whole time I was reading this novel, I knew it was not "great" fantasy and I did not care the least.

If you are a fan of the genre, and looking for something to pass the time while waiting for the next Song of Fire and Ice novel, then this will serve. Decent, not great, but certainly not terrible.

It's as if he's slain the works of Tolkien, and placed them high upon a hill side, crucified, for all the average fantasy based consumers to feast upon.

I'm about two hundred and fifty pages into the first installment of the Sword of Truth series, and I must declare, this is by far one of the more cliche, used and abused fantasy titles I've ever come across.

It has, in fact, put a smile on my face, throughout numerous occasions, and I do believe the world he created around the characters is a beautiful, outset, and imaginative place.

The characters, however, are standard, boring, and suprisingly stupid. I couldn't believe how dull, and one sided each of the heros seemed to be, with absolutley no character development, or constructive behavior that builds personality, or attributes regarding the thickess of the plate they each hold. It's as if they hardly even realize what they're doing, and why they're doing it, the weight of the world seems to float on the finger tip of a confused boy named Richard, who fell clumsily into the posistion of the Seeker of Truth, now, it's on his shoulders, and the shoulders of a forever naive, and obnoxious girl who follows, not to mention an over-zealous and arrogant Wizard, that lacks cunning, and isn't very wise at all, but claims that he is the wisest of them all. Everything is so extreme with the characters, hot or cold, very good, or very evil. And the main character, is a bit of a push over, with his mean vixen Kahlan doing the majority of the dirty work.

This reminds me of a fantasy game, the dialogue, the story, the characters.

Pity.

.....I have three hundred and fifty pages to go.

If it gets any better, or if I even finish it, I'll come back and write another little review.

Don't hold your breath, chances are I'm only going to become more annoyed with his writings.

Sad, I was really looking forward to a good fantasy novel.

I suppose I'll stick with Robert Jordan from now on.

This author and series were recommended to me by several nerdy teenagers that hang around my local library -- i.e., the rare kind of kids that still enjoy reading old style fantasies. Although I didn't realize the magnitude of the series when I started the book, I am glad that I've discovered this author. Oh boy, what a great achievement to invent such a complex world with multiple people, so many magical creatures, such dark creepiness and obscure forces. I also like the clever way the author integrated contemporary issues into the fantastic world and cast of characters he created. My problem now is to find the time to continue to read the rest of the series. The version that I just finished was a 800-page paperback in tiny fonts and dense format. My aging eyes may never forgive me if I keep going! I give this first installment 4 stars out of 5 (very good).

Following the story of Kahlan and Richard is an amazing experience. As both a reader and writer of epic fantasy, I can truly say that this is one of the few books in the genre that I just could not put down, powering through the book in mere days, to the exclusion of all other responsibilities for that weekend. The last time a series gripped me the way Sword of Truth has would have to be as a teen in the mid 1990's with my discovery of the late Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time.

Terry Goodkind does a fantastic job of making us love his hero's and hate his villains. The story encompasses all of the things that make epic fantasy the lovely genre it is. Love, hate, moral dilemma's, and a fantastic plot that binds the characters together in ways that would never have been expected in the beginning of the book. The story encompasses everything readers enjoy about fantasy, without making it overly complex in the vein of 'Wheel of Time' or 'A Song of Ice and Fire', something that has turned many readers off from those series.

Without a doubt, if you enjoy fantasy you need to pick up this book. I promise that by the end of it, you will be scrambling to find Stone of Tears, the second volume of Mr. Goodkinds fantastic series of novels.

Grab a glass of wine, sit back in your most comfortable chair, and fail to notice the hours flying by. This book is a definite buy.

I am just glad that I read Robert Jordan first. Me and my friend found this series and gave it a shot. Both being Wheel of Time fans, we started reading these books with fairly open minds and high expectations. Then we discovered that most of Goodkind's ideas were less-creative versions of something RJ had already developed in this series years before. It got to be almost comical to us how many things he had stolen and given a new name to, sometimes barely even changing it that much. Jordan has a tendancy to make women more annoying than they really usually are, but Goodkind made everyone in his books abnormally stupid. It makes them more instantly likeable, yes, but it also makes them less interesting after 2 or 3 books. The plot is OK in the first novel, but progressively gets worse and worse as you get further into it. We started to wonder if Robert Jordan would have a winable case for copyright infrengement with some of the stuff Goodkind "invented." The ripping-off is that blatant. I'd like to represent RJ.
Save your money and read WoT first. Trust me

This is a horrible, god-awful book. I have no idea how it gets all these good reviews. I was only able to force myself through the first 1/3 of the book before tossing it aside in disgust. It was just bad. Everything about it was bad. Hated Richard. Hated Kahlan. All the characters were paper thin. The writing itself was ghastly...I could go on, but its just not worth my time and effort. Read George R.R. Martin if you want excellent, realistic fantasy.

I was curious to see what others thought of this book so I came here, and after reading a few, had to add my own thoughts. I'm getting back into reading and picked up this book on a recommendation of a friend. Now, it has taken me over a year to get halfway through this book and I'm not even finished. I thought it was me losing interest in fantasy, but I had just wheezed through the latest Harry Potter within a few days, I realized it wasn't me.

To be honest, I knew this book was going to be horrible, even through the first few chapters. (And despite my hiatus from literature, I used to be pretty well read in the fantasy genre). The characters are very uninteresting to me. They're not only typical, they're just boring and what others have said about not caring what happens to them, is the same as how I feel. The writing is alright, but there is nothing about the characters, the environment, the history that makes it interesting as a fantasy epic in the very least. Like one reviewer said, the good guys are Angelic and the the bad guys are purely demonic. I was actually amazed (and appalled) that one of baddies turned out to be a homosexual pederast. Haha! I mean, you know he's a bad guy when (*rolls eyes*)...

Anyway, why am I bothering? Because there are 7 more installments in these series and I'm really morbidly curious as to what's keeping it rolling, though I really doubt I'll get to the second one anytime soon, even if I get to the end of this one. The best way to manage going through this is imagining this as a bad T.V. fantasy series casting Zedd as Patrick Stewart.

I am an avid fantasy fan. All these people who say that the book is unoriginal, boring, and stupid are too thick to understand the meanings of things. I started this book, and at first it seems like any other fantasy novel. Then as you read, the plot thickens so much that it really is mind blowing. Goodkind weaves a story so deep that it is in a class all of its own. Ever get tired of not fully understanding how things work, especially magic? Well, this book completely helps you understand how the magic in this world really works. And the guy that talks about the good guys being angelic, and bad ones completely demonic didn't read the entire book, or has a 5th grade reading IQ. As you get farther into this series you come to understand that both sides are doing what they completely deem as right. I am currently on the 8th book, Naked Empire, and the books seriously just get better and the story line just becomes so deep, that you have to stop and think about the meanings of the smallest details. Ive read almost all of the Dragonlance novels, Tad Williams books, Tolkien, Robin Hobb, and the WHeel of time series. Not even Tolkien compares, who is a kindergarten writer compared to Goodkind (seriously), who was the first writer that caught my attention and kept it for more than two books (all 8 have left me wanting more) Just trust me, it is the best series on the market, contrary to popular belief.

My interest in reading was waning, finding a lot of the same stuff over and over... and then, suddenly, a few books that REALLY entertained me! Wizard's First Rule...
I sat down to continue reading WLR late one afternoon, when, like coming up for breath of air I discovered it had turned dark out and night had fallen. It had been ages since I had been so enraptured in a story, almost all the way back to reading the Edgar Rice Burrough's 'John Carter, Warlord of Mars' books when I was young. A very cool, very satisfying experience.
Reading a few of the other reviews I must agree the book is for a mature audiences. I can't comment on any simularities with 'The Wheel of Time', I am one of a few fantasy readers who just hasn't read that cycle. BUT, I expecially enjoyed this book. The characters, the storyline, the world and the writing itself. One recommendation here.