Wizard's First Rule: Sword of Truth, Book 1

Lol, what a disaster of a book. the moralizing, the pedophelic gay rape, the pages and pages dedicated to the Marquis de sade. Based solely on this book, I think I will avoid any Terry Goodkind books going forward. Lol, perhaps some day anthropologists will discover the lost Tolkien books telling us all what a bad guy Sauron was. Uh mebbe not. Worst book I have read in the past decade. Interesting, but poorly developed characters, some very disjointed moments in the narrative, and TMD on how really really misunderstood the bad guys are. Lol, at least he did not get overly graphic on the rape or BDSM scenes. Definitely not recommended for teens, pre-teens, fantasy fans, people of good taste, or... okay, I can't come up with anyone to recommend the book to. What a stinker!

This book was in my TBR pile for quite a while. I finally picked it up. I have been in the mood for a good fantasy novel while waiting for Martin and Rothfuss to conclude their writings. The last book I read, Theft of Swords, wasn’t good. I had hoped this one would do the trick. Maybe give me another series to enjoy.Unfortunately it didn’t finish far ahead of Theft of Swords. There was much of this story that I wanted to enjoy. The magical world that had been created was interesting, but not held together very well. Many times it felt like I was reading a Wikipedia entry about magical world than a story. Some of the long descriptions of magic types, rituals, and creatures were uncomfortably lodged into high pressure situations. It also seemed to grow as it went, but not naturally. I would be plodding along in my reading and the author would say, “Oh, did I not tell you about this piece of magic already? It changes everything that you’ve just read”. It seemed that they were installed in areas that he couldn’t move the story along.There was also an unnecessary amount of sexual violence. It reminded me of a quote from the movie Blazing Saddles. It was used in a heavy handed way to let you know how evil the evil villains really were. I won’t even get into the Mord-Sith situation. Too much.I found myself not wanting to read this book, but wanting to finish it. Not excited about some grand ending, but wanting to be done. I doubt I’ll pick up book two. Maybe I’ll just look it up on Wikipedia.

Honestly one of the worst books I've ever read. Between unlikable characters, obvious "twists", blatant theft from other writers, mindless repetition for padding, heavy use of deus ex machina, and several awkward torture fetish sequences, one of which comes right out of nowhere and drags on for a ridiculous number of pages, I finally just gave up on this steaming pile.

This was a first attempt to read mainstream fantasy, having read so much as a child. I saw that Terry Goodkind was very successful and hoped that I would be drawn into a place where I could let go of my daily work and relax. This never happened for me. The setting was hopeful, the suggestions of a story in the first chapter also gave me images that seemed worthy of a lovely time, but no! I found the story line to be without real characters eventually. In other words, they never developed and neither did the story. I read the words and found myself skimming and wishing the story to end. I wanted so much to be caught up by the landscape or the dialogue, but I felt like I was reading an outline and the story would come later. I guess I am glad I found out before I bought another book in the series. sigh.

This is my favorite series out of the thousands of books I have read. Some quotes I like, trying to avoid spoilers:"many people must be ruled to thrive. In their selfishness and greed, they see free people as their oppressors. They wish to have a leader who will cut the taller plants so the sun will reach them. They think no plant should be allowed to grow taller than the shortest, and in that way give light to all. They would rather be provided a guiding light, regardless of the fuel, than light a candle themselves."--- It is sad to realize how applicable that concept is to our society - this series is far from pure fantasy/fiction."we will die with a sword in our hands, not chains on our wings"--- Another concept many should learn to embrace."Sense of purpose is more important by far than the truth"--- people believe what they think needs to be true or they have no purpose, this may be why you almost never change anyone's opinion on politics, religion, etc.This book, and others in the series are packed with insights into society and culture. All while maintaining a gripping sense of suspense and anticipation. I am constantly tempted to skip ahead to see what happens next in various storylines, but the current storyline is always just as captivating.Terry Goodkind is truly a master of his art.

I couldn’t get through the first book. The writing is mediocre. The characters are made to appear smart or heroic by making others dumb or unrealistically, mustache twirlingly, evil. A bunch of things happen because plot. There’s a lot of telling with little to no showing. Oh, and apparently this is series *cough* heavily borrows from many other works especially “wheel of time”. I wish I could return this book, after reading up on the author I regret giving him my money.By the middle of the book I was skimming, trying to force my way to the end because I wanted to find out what happens, what is Kahlan‘a secret. I found out and gave up not long after. I asked about the series on reddit and the general opinion is that the series just gets worse from here. No thanks. Don’t bother.

Just decided to re-read and it's as fresh as the first time round.Truly as fantasy classic, which in my opinion rivals Game of Thrones, is a must for anyone who loves the field. Heros, heroines, wizards and villains - what isn't there to like?The hero, Richard, is far from two dimensional and the love aspect is in keeping with true fantasy (not a romance), making the book relevant for both sexes.Take my advice and give the series a go.

I’d glanced over TG’s books in a book shop. Then the tv series came out. So I bought WFR. Loved it, read all the books.It’s such a great epic book, you actually are almost there in the story. It’s that good. The story, characters, the world building. It’s superb.I’m re reading the series, as I lost the books when I moved.Richard and Kahlan are great characters. Memorable, loveable. Not two dimensional like some books I’ve read.You have Lois and Superman, R2 and 3po, and then there’s Richard and Kahlan.When I started reading WFR it feels fresh again. It feels new. Exciting. Like I’ve picked it up for the first time.Love the new covers too!

A very imaginative, excellent fantasy but let down by a coupleof things which may well be ironed out in the later books. I found the torture scenes too long even though they are necessary to the plot and I got the impression that TG actually enjoys writing these scenes. But for most readers I would imagine these details are unpalatable and like myself are probably skipped over without detriment to the story line. The second thing that I found difficult to accept is the baby language and the superficial character delineation of both Rachel and the Princess and this spoilt the flow of the narrative. This is definitely for adults who love fairy tales (and I include yours truly!). But overall the book is gripping, fast-paced and leaves you wanting to know what next interesting development awaits the intrepid heroes. The characters are all certainly well conceived and apart from my two caveats above (hence the 4 stars) the book is definitely recommended for hard-line fantasy lovers. This is Mervyn Peake, J R Tolkien, George Martin, Steven King and Tad Williams presented in a single package!

Some passages in this book made me think about the philosophy this book was trying to portray. This is the main thing I love about this book. It makes you think about life, what it means to be good or evil, what meaning your actions and the reality behind the wizard's first rule. The characters are not unique; they are your stereotypical hero (complete marysue), heroine and your local helpful wizard. I liked the introduction but fell in and out of reading as it did become boring. However, as soon as they introduce the main villain, I could not put it down. Darken Rahl is also your stereotypical villain (evil for the sake of being evil) but his traits are what draws the reader to want to learn more about him and his intentions. So if you feel a bit bored reading at first, please keep at it till you get to the first scene with Darken Rahl. It becomes so much more thereafter.

At the beginning I thought I was going to really enjoy this book, but I found myself getting bored and eventually skipped forward to the closing chapters. Even then, it was too drawn out for my taste. It's a good example of the genre which many will enjoy, but for some reason it just didn't work for me. However, don't let me put others off because I'm sure that most readers will really enjoy it.