Book Review

Right, This is the first book for Terry Goodkind's The Sword of Truth Series. Well, I just finished the latest, the ninth book, 'Chainfire' so pretty much anticipating the next! Heck! He didn't finish that book! He left me dangling in midair! The suspense is just killing me!!! Anyway, I am going to review the whole book without actually trying to be a spoiler.
This, is the first book, 'The Wizard's First Rule'. Wanna know what the rule is? For fantasy lovers, buy the book, read it and you will know. Makes a lot of sense. He introduces a Wizard's Rule in every book, so the ninth book 'Chainfire' he has reached the Wizard's Ninth Rule. Find out yourself what the rules are by buying the books :P
Anyway, I am supposed to review the book. A fantasy lover as I am, "The Wizard's First Rule" was just simply excellent. It is amazing how he twists the plot and still make sense. His story began in a rather fast paced ( I think ) action, and introductions to the characters are done subtly. Let me tell you this, when you read, you think you got his stuff figured out. But when you reach the ending, he just snaps at you and catches you off guard. I was actually sure 'This guy will do this, this girl will do that' and it came out far from it. He is brilliant! He also created his own ancient D'Haran language, which makes no sense to us unless we read carefully what he mentioned about the meaning ( though most are obvious ). His following books, in order, are : Stone of Tears, Blood of The Fold, Temple of the Winds, Soul of Fire, Faith of the Fallen, Pillars of Creation, The Naked Empire and the latest Chainfire. Be warned, this is a page turner for fantasy lovers. For the first book, out of ten, i give him a 9. The following, in order, I give 7,6,7,5,8,4,5,9. Yes, the first and ninth I give 9. Book nine is heart rending, and damn good. Anyway, always realise that this is my opinion, not necessarily same with your taste. I did find the seventh book a little boring though, maybe because the main character is the main character's sister. Get it?
Anyway, a brief synopsis ( YOU NEVER CATCH ME DOING THAT FOR NILAM!!!! ): Main character is Richard, a woods guide from the Westland. He helped the Mother Confessor, Kahlan to find the great Wizard who left the Midlands because the people in the wizard's youth acted in their own self interest, thus forcing him to leave. She needed the Wizard because Darken Rahl of the most eastern land of D'Hara is slowly swallowing the alliance of Midlands one by one through all means, and Darken Rahl is the Master Rahl, a great wizard but sold his soul to the underworld. Richard found the wizard ( don't make me tell who, i won't spoil it ) , got named Seeker of Truth, given the Sword of Truth, helped defeat Darken Rahl. That's for first book. Man, i just realised I can't go on without spoiling, so i stop here. On to the next review.


This, is one of my favourites. Fantasy again! Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time! Robert Jordan is equal to Tolkien, if not better. Currently I have finished only up to the 8th book, the Path of Daggers. Fear not, I have instructed my bro in Singapore to get me book 9 and book 10.
What you see here, is the first book. The Eye of the World. Again, i won't try to include spoilers. Anyway, this is a very lenghty book =.=" Approximately 600 to 1000 pages. So those who have no patience in pursuing a story, forget this book. One interesting fact here, I love the entire series. I give a 8­­½ for all his books.
Right, I never get tired of reading this epic story here. He has a flare of writing an epic story, which I enjoyed a lot. The way he creates characters and their inevitable involvement in the issues is just flawless. They blend in well, this kind of skill in writing, I can only dream. I mean, it's almost impossible to write in such a brilliant fashion. I guess that puts him in a class high above others. He even created languages of his own! His own terms and all, and a glossary behind to explain everything! No, no synopsis for this one. I would have to take the entire night for that. Well, maybe just a bit.. Rand al'Thor, Mathrim Cauthon and Perrin Aybara are the main characters, mainly Rand, the Dragon Reborn. The three are ta'veren, meaning they are ones who change everything around them with their mere presence alone. Rand al'Thor is the Dragon Reborn, and he is to save the world from the Dark Lord in the final battle, or known as Tarmon' Gaidon. Suffice to say, he gets entangled in politics, power, magic, love, war, and plots against him by both people and Darkfriends, and the Forsaken ( my favourite Forsaken is Lanfear! She has character! ) Forsaken are powerful people who can channel, or so it's called for people who can use magic. Forsaken were people from Ages long past who has pledged their soul to the Dark Lord, and were his most powerful agents in the world. I suppose that much is enough, considering the LENGTH, CONTENT and CHARACTERS, it would really take forever to just name the characters. Again, a reminder, this is a personal opinion after reading the book, so don't curse me if you don't like it after i prompted you to try it somehow.

Anyway, just a little extra here. For Terry Goodkind, he has another book called Debt of Bones that is actually a prequel to the entire story of The Sword of Truth. It's a very thin book, much like our school's literature novel. And for Robert Jordan, he too has a prequel book, called New Spring. For those who are wondering what i mean by prequel books, well, think of it this way. Those books are like 'The Hobbit' to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the story before the actual story. Pretty confusing? Go figure.
Spoilsport : Each book is approximately 8 pounds for Robert Jordan's books, and 7 pounds for Terry Goodkind's. Either way, each book adds up to around RM35 more or less. And even worse news, they get more expensive as they become more and more popular. So, if you are hooked, get as many as possible before the publishers stop, and only hard covers are available. those don't come cheap! Hell, what a lenghty post :D Pardon me.