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indyrey's review against another edition
Just not good writing. Didn’t feel connected to Nicki or Nathan the way I wanted to.
willowwraithpress's review against another edition
2.0
I am going to change my normal format for this review because this was hard for me. I am a major Terry Goodkind fan, have been reading every new book of his since Soul of the Fire came out in 1999. I have read the original Sword of Truth arc multiple times over the years (every new book required a new read through!). Faith of the Fallen is my second favorite book of all time, there is just so much in that book that makes it perfection to me. Nicci, Death's Mistress, is one of the most interesting characters in the entire SoT series.
But that said, Goodkind has lost it for me. Ever since the main arc of SoT ended (which was amazing!), his books have become something altogether different, lackluster and boring. And, the writing aside - which I will get to later, the main reason why I think these last handful of books are so disappointing is that Goodkind is trying too hard to stay within the world that made him successful.
The Richard and Kahlan four book series was a complete and utter joke. Goodkind introduced a worthy plot of a second series, but failed miserably on all levels with it. And the characters suffered, became shells of who they were in the original arc. Even the deaths of some characters felt like an attempt to push the boundary like Game of Thrones, but instead of the magnitude of their deaths, they were handled poorly and with little fanfare.
To me, a diehard SoT fan, it just seems like Goodkind is fearful of stepping away from the world he created to create a new fantasy realm and that is where Death's Mistress failed.
Like I said, Nicci is an amazing character. I think she is the epitome of a redemption character, but in this new series - which is focused on her - she is not as interesting or worthy as a protagonist. Nathan, the cheery, fun-loving, jokester prophet joins her and they set off on their own journey to save the world - as they find out from a witch woman. Three different times in this novel - three! It was like Goodkind wanted to put three separate plots into one book, all under the banner of Nicci has to save the world.
Now this is where Goodkind loses me in this book. I loved these two characters, but they fall incredibly flat. All Nicci does is try to do things for Richard Rahl and her love for him, but it is her choice -or so she says. In SoT, Nicci is conflicted about her beliefs, going from darkness to the light, all because Richard showed her the way. And in this book, she harps upon her leaving Richard, her mission for him and all the things in her past. It bogs her down and makes her boring, makes her a husk of who she became after Faith of the Fallen. It was like Goodkind made a puppet of who Nicci was and then focused on her past as Death's Mistress. She becomes just another boring female character pining after a man, which she wasn't in the original arc. There was only one single moment in this book where I felt the old Nicci and that was toward the very end.
Nathan also became frustrating. He always was a fun character to read, but in this story he was too focused on his clothing and his sword. With prophecy gone from the R & K arc, he is useless with magic and this hurts his character. His humor was not strong enough in this story to offset this change in him.
My main flaw with this book is the world and the writing of the world. What I mean is this: if this was a brand new story in a brand new world, I would have thought this a better story.
But its not, it is firmly planted in SoT, which was the wrong choice. There are so many times throughout the novel where the backstory of the previous two arcs are defined. Repetitively too, I might add (like literally the same exact things explained multiple times, this is what also drove down the second arc). If Goodkind had spared those words for building a brand new world, it might have made this story so much more stronger and engaging. The idea behind the plot is intriguing, but it doesn't fit into the SoT world. It was almost like a buddy cop movie with multiple episodes and that doesn't work in the world Goodkind created.
And then comes the writing itself. While it is much better written than the R & K arc (which was atrocious) there is much to be desired. This book teeters back and forth between adult and young adult, where I think Goodkind wanted to write a simpler story like young adult, but couldn't let go of the adult themes that were present in SoT (another reason to ditch that world for a new one!)
One thing that really bugged me was that he had to color code every description every time he wrote about something. For example, Nicci wears a black dress, we all know that from the previous arcs. Every time her dress is mentioned, the words black dress are on the page. Same with a new character's ginger hair. It really bogged the reading down because, as a reader, you only need to tell me once that her dress is black or his hair is red. I don't need to see it 100 times. Again, use those extra words to world-build.
The three main characters were all denoted by titles, not their names when talking to one another. Nicci = Sorceress, Nathan = Wizard, Bannon = my boy. It was so frustrating to see Nathan call Nicci Sorceress every time he spoke to her (like it was literally every time for these characters) and vice-versa. It made no sense that none of the characters could use a name. And then Nathan calling Bannon "my boy" was a glaring misstep. Zedd used to call Richard "my boy" not Nathan. It was almost like Goodkind making up for mishandling Zedd in the previous arc. This using titles thing was so frustrating to read and made me roll my eyes more times than not.
The biggest misstep of the writing is the focus on sex and rape. Goodkind used to struggle with this in the original arc, but it was better done. Jagang and his forcing the Sisters of the Dark -like Nicci - to undergo force of rape made him altogether more evil, it made him a force to be fearful of. The aftereffects of the rape shaped the characters, influenced their decisions, was haunting. In this new series, there are scenes of potential rape that bring nothing to the story, in fact, it made me angry they were there. Rape is nothing to be happy about reading, but when it is done properly to show how there is evil people in this world and the crushing affect it has on the victims, then I can see it has merits in a story. But this story didn't have that. The readers are reminded of Nicci's past with Jagang, but the new would-be-rapists don't serve the story, and this angered me to have read it.
And the sex thing was also poorly done. Too many times the readers are reminded of this woman's breasts, or that woman's curves, the color of her nipples. It was unnecessary and out of place. The whole second half of the book focused on these four strange women who thought of nothing but sex and fertility. It was just odd choices and decisions.
But those aspects were mashed together with a young adult story. The writing is fast-paced, the journey quick, the chapters very short (some only two pages), the overcoming of obstacles way too easy for adults. It all felt pushed together without much thought. Pick one or the other and stick with it. Make it great, not bland.
As I said, this was hard for me. I will still read the original SoT arc with great joy, but these new books are a slog to get through. I wish Goodkind would leave this world for a new one, I know he has it in him. I will read his new ones after this, still, even though it pains me, he bought my loyalty with Faith of the Fallen. I just hope he returns to form.
Rating:
2 out of 5
But that said, Goodkind has lost it for me. Ever since the main arc of SoT ended (which was amazing!), his books have become something altogether different, lackluster and boring. And, the writing aside - which I will get to later, the main reason why I think these last handful of books are so disappointing is that Goodkind is trying too hard to stay within the world that made him successful.
The Richard and Kahlan four book series was a complete and utter joke. Goodkind introduced a worthy plot of a second series, but failed miserably on all levels with it. And the characters suffered, became shells of who they were in the original arc. Even the deaths of some characters felt like an attempt to push the boundary like Game of Thrones, but instead of the magnitude of their deaths, they were handled poorly and with little fanfare.
To me, a diehard SoT fan, it just seems like Goodkind is fearful of stepping away from the world he created to create a new fantasy realm and that is where Death's Mistress failed.
Like I said, Nicci is an amazing character. I think she is the epitome of a redemption character, but in this new series - which is focused on her - she is not as interesting or worthy as a protagonist. Nathan, the cheery, fun-loving, jokester prophet joins her and they set off on their own journey to save the world - as they find out from a witch woman. Three different times in this novel - three! It was like Goodkind wanted to put three separate plots into one book, all under the banner of Nicci has to save the world.
Now this is where Goodkind loses me in this book. I loved these two characters, but they fall incredibly flat. All Nicci does is try to do things for Richard Rahl and her love for him, but it is her choice -or so she says. In SoT, Nicci is conflicted about her beliefs, going from darkness to the light, all because Richard showed her the way. And in this book, she harps upon her leaving Richard, her mission for him and all the things in her past. It bogs her down and makes her boring, makes her a husk of who she became after Faith of the Fallen. It was like Goodkind made a puppet of who Nicci was and then focused on her past as Death's Mistress. She becomes just another boring female character pining after a man, which she wasn't in the original arc. There was only one single moment in this book where I felt the old Nicci and that was toward the very end.
Nathan also became frustrating. He always was a fun character to read, but in this story he was too focused on his clothing and his sword. With prophecy gone from the R & K arc, he is useless with magic and this hurts his character. His humor was not strong enough in this story to offset this change in him.
My main flaw with this book is the world and the writing of the world. What I mean is this: if this was a brand new story in a brand new world, I would have thought this a better story.
But its not, it is firmly planted in SoT, which was the wrong choice. There are so many times throughout the novel where the backstory of the previous two arcs are defined. Repetitively too, I might add (like literally the same exact things explained multiple times, this is what also drove down the second arc). If Goodkind had spared those words for building a brand new world, it might have made this story so much more stronger and engaging. The idea behind the plot is intriguing, but it doesn't fit into the SoT world. It was almost like a buddy cop movie with multiple episodes and that doesn't work in the world Goodkind created.
And then comes the writing itself. While it is much better written than the R & K arc (which was atrocious) there is much to be desired. This book teeters back and forth between adult and young adult, where I think Goodkind wanted to write a simpler story like young adult, but couldn't let go of the adult themes that were present in SoT (another reason to ditch that world for a new one!)
One thing that really bugged me was that he had to color code every description every time he wrote about something. For example, Nicci wears a black dress, we all know that from the previous arcs. Every time her dress is mentioned, the words black dress are on the page. Same with a new character's ginger hair. It really bogged the reading down because, as a reader, you only need to tell me once that her dress is black or his hair is red. I don't need to see it 100 times. Again, use those extra words to world-build.
The three main characters were all denoted by titles, not their names when talking to one another. Nicci = Sorceress, Nathan = Wizard, Bannon = my boy. It was so frustrating to see Nathan call Nicci Sorceress every time he spoke to her (like it was literally every time for these characters) and vice-versa. It made no sense that none of the characters could use a name. And then Nathan calling Bannon "my boy" was a glaring misstep. Zedd used to call Richard "my boy" not Nathan. It was almost like Goodkind making up for mishandling Zedd in the previous arc. This using titles thing was so frustrating to read and made me roll my eyes more times than not.
The biggest misstep of the writing is the focus on sex and rape. Goodkind used to struggle with this in the original arc, but it was better done. Jagang and his forcing the Sisters of the Dark -like Nicci - to undergo force of rape made him altogether more evil, it made him a force to be fearful of. The aftereffects of the rape shaped the characters, influenced their decisions, was haunting. In this new series, there are scenes of potential rape that bring nothing to the story, in fact, it made me angry they were there. Rape is nothing to be happy about reading, but when it is done properly to show how there is evil people in this world and the crushing affect it has on the victims, then I can see it has merits in a story. But this story didn't have that. The readers are reminded of Nicci's past with Jagang, but the new would-be-rapists don't serve the story, and this angered me to have read it.
And the sex thing was also poorly done. Too many times the readers are reminded of this woman's breasts, or that woman's curves, the color of her nipples. It was unnecessary and out of place. The whole second half of the book focused on these four strange women who thought of nothing but sex and fertility. It was just odd choices and decisions.
But those aspects were mashed together with a young adult story. The writing is fast-paced, the journey quick, the chapters very short (some only two pages), the overcoming of obstacles way too easy for adults. It all felt pushed together without much thought. Pick one or the other and stick with it. Make it great, not bland.
As I said, this was hard for me. I will still read the original SoT arc with great joy, but these new books are a slog to get through. I wish Goodkind would leave this world for a new one, I know he has it in him. I will read his new ones after this, still, even though it pains me, he bought my loyalty with Faith of the Fallen. I just hope he returns to form.
Rating:
2 out of 5
itsfreelancer's review against another edition
3.0
Goodness! Was Goodkind always this boring? Or preachy? Or so annoying? I mean I grew up reading about the Seeker and those were some of the best days of my life. I'm scared to go back and read those all over again.
Death's Mistress is obviously Nicki. That sister of the dark who captured Richard almost 10-12 books ago. Yes, this is the first of her series and God damn it's annoying to read "I'll do it for Richard. Richard is the best. You are my savior Lord Rahl, I love you Richard Rahl. Uwu"
And who is this book written for? Definitely not adults. Or wait, it also has instances of rape and whatnot so definitely not children. But the language and prose, oh god, it's terrible. It's like you're 35 and you've picked up your favourite Famous Five novel once more. I mean you loved it, still do maybe, but you just really want to skim it through. Yes, it feels like that. Except this one has too many instances of how curvy Nicki's boobs and hips are.
I don't want to talk about the plot. Ooh, the answer to the mysteries of the world lies in place Z. So they start from A and goes through every other place in between and just fuck shit up. Or shit finds them and these intrepid heroes of ours have epiphanies and we start the whole process of "ooh I'd kill them for you Lord Rahl, you are the best ruler, Lord Rahl".
Did I also mention that there's a wizard who doesn't have magic? His best weapon? Crying about how he misses the magic.
Despite all of this, I'm going to pick up the next book. Maybe not too soon. I need to rinse my brain. But the last 50 pages were actually fun to read. And I mean, Death Mistress finally being the vengeful sorceress that she is.
All in all, 2.5 stars rounding up.
Death's Mistress is obviously Nicki. That sister of the dark who captured Richard almost 10-12 books ago. Yes, this is the first of her series and God damn it's annoying to read "I'll do it for Richard. Richard is the best. You are my savior Lord Rahl, I love you Richard Rahl. Uwu"
And who is this book written for? Definitely not adults. Or wait, it also has instances of rape and whatnot so definitely not children. But the language and prose, oh god, it's terrible. It's like you're 35 and you've picked up your favourite Famous Five novel once more. I mean you loved it, still do maybe, but you just really want to skim it through. Yes, it feels like that. Except this one has too many instances of how curvy Nicki's boobs and hips are.
I don't want to talk about the plot. Ooh, the answer to the mysteries of the world lies in place Z. So they start from A and goes through every other place in between and just fuck shit up. Or shit finds them and these intrepid heroes of ours have epiphanies and we start the whole process of "ooh I'd kill them for you Lord Rahl, you are the best ruler, Lord Rahl".
Did I also mention that there's a wizard who doesn't have magic? His best weapon? Crying about how he misses the magic.
Despite all of this, I'm going to pick up the next book. Maybe not too soon. I need to rinse my brain. But the last 50 pages were actually fun to read. And I mean, Death Mistress finally being the vengeful sorceress that she is.
All in all, 2.5 stars rounding up.
drewsbookreviews's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
wingover's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book but it wasn't as good as Goodkind's previous books. At one point a villain is defeated only to immediately be replaced by another very similar villain. I'm sure there was supposed to be some sort of message about balance but it just seemed repetitive. And both villains could only be defeated with a magic talisman which Goodkind has never really used before so that seemed incongruous with the rest of his world.
chill01469's review against another edition
4.0
I almost didn't read this, thinking it was some kind of rehash of Nicci's life. I'm so glad I read anyway as this continuing journey was a great read and I can't wait for the next installment!
mxsallybend's review against another edition
4.0
Let me be honest here. I've always had something of an awkward relationship with Terry Goodkind. I loved the first 3 Sword of Truth novels, and still count them among my favorite epic fantasy reads of all time. Sadly, I found the middle novels (with one notable exception) to be rather weak, increasingly repetitive, and weighed down with heavy-handed philosophy. While I did find that he redeemed himself exceptionally well with the final 2 books, I also found he got tirelessly repetitive again with the opening installment of the Richard and Kahlan series that followed.
That one notable exception I mentioned was The Pillars of Creation, a book that pushed Richard, Kahlan, and the Sword to the margins. It actually turned out to be one of my favorite books in the series, so when I heard Death's Mistress would do the same, telling a new story unencumbered by that core legacy, I was cautiously optimistic. Tentatively excited, even.
Let me just say, right now, that Death's Mistress more than delivered on that promise. This was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed, from the first page to the last. It's hardly anything new - in fact, it feels very much like a traditional 'quest' fantasy - but it breathes fresh life and real excitement into the world that Goodkind has created. Nicci and Nathan are allowed to carry the story here, taking us far beyond the known borders of the original books, and deep into lands never before mentioned.
Like I said, this is very much a traditional quest novel, with no overarching conflict or political upheaval against which we're to struggle. Instead, it's a rather simple tale, with Nicci sent off to spread the word Richard's triumph over Emperor Jagang. There is one last prophecy to give the quest purpose, but it's more of a roadmap than a defining aspect of the story. Along the way, we get to visit new lands, meet new characters, and enjoy some fantastic battles that mix a sense of wonder with genuine danger.
At the same time, we get some real character development - both for characters old (Nicci and Nathan) and new (Bannon and Thistle). Nicci has always been cold, harsh, and somewhat one-dimensional, but here she has a chance to breathe and grow emotionally. As for Nathan, I generally loathe it when characters are stripped of their powers, but here it actually frees him to be something more than just the dangerous mouth of prophecy. Bannon is perhaps the greatest surprise in the book, a nuisance side character who develops alongside Nicci and Nathan, and who ultimately becomes a genuinely heroic character about whom we'd be happy to read more.
It genuinely feels as if Goodkind has rediscovered his love for the genre with Death's Mistress, and that bodes well for future volumes in the series.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
That one notable exception I mentioned was The Pillars of Creation, a book that pushed Richard, Kahlan, and the Sword to the margins. It actually turned out to be one of my favorite books in the series, so when I heard Death's Mistress would do the same, telling a new story unencumbered by that core legacy, I was cautiously optimistic. Tentatively excited, even.
Let me just say, right now, that Death's Mistress more than delivered on that promise. This was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed, from the first page to the last. It's hardly anything new - in fact, it feels very much like a traditional 'quest' fantasy - but it breathes fresh life and real excitement into the world that Goodkind has created. Nicci and Nathan are allowed to carry the story here, taking us far beyond the known borders of the original books, and deep into lands never before mentioned.
Like I said, this is very much a traditional quest novel, with no overarching conflict or political upheaval against which we're to struggle. Instead, it's a rather simple tale, with Nicci sent off to spread the word Richard's triumph over Emperor Jagang. There is one last prophecy to give the quest purpose, but it's more of a roadmap than a defining aspect of the story. Along the way, we get to visit new lands, meet new characters, and enjoy some fantastic battles that mix a sense of wonder with genuine danger.
At the same time, we get some real character development - both for characters old (Nicci and Nathan) and new (Bannon and Thistle). Nicci has always been cold, harsh, and somewhat one-dimensional, but here she has a chance to breathe and grow emotionally. As for Nathan, I generally loathe it when characters are stripped of their powers, but here it actually frees him to be something more than just the dangerous mouth of prophecy. Bannon is perhaps the greatest surprise in the book, a nuisance side character who develops alongside Nicci and Nathan, and who ultimately becomes a genuinely heroic character about whom we'd be happy to read more.
It genuinely feels as if Goodkind has rediscovered his love for the genre with Death's Mistress, and that bodes well for future volumes in the series.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher in exchange for review consideration. This does not in any way affect the honesty or sincerity of my review.
captnpanda's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to like this book, and to be fair the beginning was great and very interesting. I made it to about chapter 45 and the chapters between 5 and 44 were such a drag. It is a very traditional adventure quest with little of the charm. Which is disappointing since I was very excited to read this as I love 'Wizards first Rule'. If anything this made me want to revisit Sword of Truth series rather than continue the Nicci Series
pmerrison's review against another edition
1.0
I gave up 20% of the way through. I couldn’t cope with how much the author objectifies his own main female character. I figured that at some point he’d stop but nope... the story wasn’t exactly gripping either.