Customer Reviews

The Sword of Truth, Boxed Set I, Books 1-3: Wizard's First Rule, Stone of Tears, Blood of the Fold

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

While many readers of non-fantasy usually scoff at books like these and shrug them off, the series that Goodkind has created is pure genius. If you haven't tried a fantasy book you like - I urge you to try this one which changes your world. I remeber exactly how I felt, the smells and sounds when I read this book. It gets into you and makes you feel differently and see things in a new light. Absolutely incredible.

This is of course three separate books, and I think each is independent enough to be read separately. I've decided to break this review up as it should be.

Overall these should be valued for their entertainment value, and the "escape from the everyday world" value. I don't see as much value in the scope of "artistic merit". However here you shall read a tale of High Adventure! Swords and Sorcery! It does not have a lot of character depth as far as I remember. Keep in context I'm writing this review some time after reading all three books. Therefore take what I say with a grain of salt!

Book one: I'd give 3 stars. It was very entertaining, Action adventure, a whole new world to explore! The hero might have lacked depth but he was admirable and I felt empathy for him, which is important in a hero. The plot seemed kinda witty to me. Good stuff.

Book two: I'd give it 1 and a half stars. I liked it a whole lot less, and almost stopped reading it. I bore through probably because I didn't have anything else to read at the time. It's darker for sure, maybe too dark for my tastes. I didn't especially like reading about some of the bad guys, I think there was one scene in particular that bothered me. I also started to like the hero less, I don't remember why.

Book three: I'll give 2 stars. I almost didn't read it, after the disappointment of the second book. However since I owned it and got a favorable indication from my brother opened it up after it sat on the book shelf for some time. I was mildly relieved. It wasn't as much fun as the first book, but better than the second. I might not have really liked it but it was good enough reading for a boring subway ride or to while away the time in a waiting room.

In the end I've never read any of them a second time, though I might consider picking up the first one again to try. I have not gone ahead and sought out the fourth book either, but if I was really hungry for some escapist sword and sorcery fantasy I might.

These books are easy to read while being long and having a strong plot. A VERY strong plot. The summary itself might not be that good (An evil man who seeks 3 boxes in order to rule the world), but how it's developed, explained and written simply blew me away. The characters actually behave like adults and are easy to refer to as an average human being

20$ for 3 huge novels... It's hours and hours of entertainment for the price of two movie tickets...

If you enjoyed the Lord of the Rings, there is ABSOLUTELY no reason you won't love The Sword Of Truth.

Well, this is disappointing. I unfortunately bought all three of the boxed sets without having ever read any works by the author. I simply went on reader reviews.

Honestly Terry Goodkind just isn't that good of a writer. He has some great ideas and the story is pretty good, but man, the writing is poor. He uses the same descriptions over and over and over. Repeated phrases used for describing emotional and physical characteristics as well as movement drove me nuts. I found the repetition to stand out so much that it seriously reduced my enjoyment of the first three books.

Not only that, however the editing is really poor. I'm not sure if it's just the re-release for the box set, but there are a lot of spelling mistakes. It looks like somebody edited with Word spell check. There are quite a few instances where, for example, 'real' is written when it should be 'read'.

meh. I just finished reading the first four books of George RR Martins series and was hoping for some more well-written fantasy. Very disappointed. Like I said, the story is pretty good... the writing, not so much.

great price in group sets rather than buyng individual books, for those who still need to hold a book to read

I love these books. I hadn't read any fantasy books since the Lord of the Rings but this series has me hooked.

A friend of mine told me to read that book series if I liked fantasy. This is a shame I didn't know this author before. I definitely recommend it to any fantasy/mystery novel fan.

If you like Epic adventures you will like this series. There is non-stop action, there is almost never a dull moment. Just when you think you can predict the way things will go, everything gets turned upside down.

I would also like to comment about the person who said it was to graphic. Yes I agree sometimes it can be quite graphic, but isn't the world? As much as I don't agree with the things that happen, they do happen in our world as well. Terry is simply balancing out the world he has created, just like ours is today. Good doesn't exist without evil - the land of the living cannot exist without the underworld. You could chose to ignore it and read the books where only happy things happen, but then I don't think you'd appreciate it as much. Terry has an amazing imagination and I enjoy so much reading every book, he's created a well balanced realistic world. Thanks Terry!

Boundaries of imagination, mystery & adventure are broached in a new & captivating personality, woods guide, Richard Cypher. Reality & reason battle with forces that would see the Keeper of the Underworld set loose on mankind. Can Richard overcome betrayal to seek a solution?

I love the Wizard's first rule...I can never stop reading this book it's great...if you ever read a book it should be this one because you'll be hooked from start to finish!!!!!!