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neilsef's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very enjoyable read, being a nicely paced, action packed adventure story of Nicci (Deaths Mistress) together with Nathan Rahl, Richard Rahl's ancestral Grandfather, setting out to the old word to spread the word about Richard's reign.
There are several new characters introduced along the way which are very likeable and well portraited as is Nathan Rahl. The character of Nicci though is a bit lacking in depth, though I think this is deliberate to emphasise that she has still not fully embraced her humanity and is still closed off due to her past actions and abuses.
This is a compelling start to a new series and one I look forward to reading.
There are several new characters introduced along the way which are very likeable and well portraited as is Nathan Rahl. The character of Nicci though is a bit lacking in depth, though I think this is deliberate to emphasise that she has still not fully embraced her humanity and is still closed off due to her past actions and abuses.
This is a compelling start to a new series and one I look forward to reading.
katemiller41's review against another edition
2.0
Such a disappointment.
I am a sucker for Goodkind books. I read every single Sword of Truth book and fell in love with the characters, the faraway feel of the setting, and the intense action scenes.
This one however, was just disgusting. I had really high hopes, because I like Nicci. I thought it would be refreshing to get a story from her point of view, but the entire book just felt like a mess. The story was scattered and too long. The journey itself could have filled at least two books with more detail and time spent instead of being forced and rushed into one book. These people traveled by foot over their entire world, essentially, and it appeared as if they never broke a sweat, never encountered a struggle, or found any discomfort in the situation.
On top of the sloppy story line, there was a serious lack of respect for women. I have always really enjoyed Goodkinds books because he very rarely portrayed women as being in need of a man. In fact, most of the strongest characters (both mentally and magically) were women in the Sword of Truth books. While Nicci was her normally strong and kick-butt self, the men saw her as nothing more than a sexual figure. I came to expect some sexuality in Goodkind's books; that doesn't bother me. But, this book was...different. There were far too many references to the female anatomy than I felt was necessary. Breasts are a part of a woman's body, but why on earth did Goodkind feel the need to go into detail about their nipples?!?!
I guess I just felt like Goodkind didn't plan the plot out very well to begin with. And maybe he was playing to a certain demographic with the detailed descriptions of the women, and I just didn't fall into that demographic. This book was a total fail for me. I would consider trying a second book in this series because I've enjoyed his work before, but it would have to be exponentially better than this one; if not, I quit!
I am a sucker for Goodkind books. I read every single Sword of Truth book and fell in love with the characters, the faraway feel of the setting, and the intense action scenes.
This one however, was just disgusting. I had really high hopes, because I like Nicci. I thought it would be refreshing to get a story from her point of view, but the entire book just felt like a mess. The story was scattered and too long. The journey itself could have filled at least two books with more detail and time spent instead of being forced and rushed into one book. These people traveled by foot over their entire world, essentially, and it appeared as if they never broke a sweat, never encountered a struggle, or found any discomfort in the situation.
On top of the sloppy story line, there was a serious lack of respect for women. I have always really enjoyed Goodkinds books because he very rarely portrayed women as being in need of a man. In fact, most of the strongest characters (both mentally and magically) were women in the Sword of Truth books. While Nicci was her normally strong and kick-butt self, the men saw her as nothing more than a sexual figure. I came to expect some sexuality in Goodkind's books; that doesn't bother me. But, this book was...different. There were far too many references to the female anatomy than I felt was necessary. Breasts are a part of a woman's body, but why on earth did Goodkind feel the need to go into detail about their nipples?!?!
I guess I just felt like Goodkind didn't plan the plot out very well to begin with. And maybe he was playing to a certain demographic with the detailed descriptions of the women, and I just didn't fall into that demographic. This book was a total fail for me. I would consider trying a second book in this series because I've enjoyed his work before, but it would have to be exponentially better than this one; if not, I quit!
ocean_the_reader's review against another edition
4.0
I thought the book was good, however I feel like Nicci is majorly different compared to how she is the last time you see her in the other books.
olsenc's review against another edition
3.0
While I love these characters, I felt the book to be a bit wordy/long. Many chapters felt like filler and there was a lot going on that seemed unnecessary. Nevertheless, I did enjoy returning to the world of the Sword of Truth series and felt the last 100 pages of the book definitely held my interest.
bequibuho's review against another edition
4.0
Now that the war is over Nicci and Nathan have set out to spread awareness of Emperor Jagang’s death. Early on in their journey, Nathan discovers a way to regain his prophet abilities which leads them on an epic adventure where we meet new characters, find mermaids, and lost libraries.
Now I did receive this book in exchange for an honest review, so thank you so much @torbooks for providing me a finished copy.
I must confess I didn’t read the Sword of Truth series, but luckily I can assure you that you don’t have to finish that series to appreciate this book.
We follow Nicci who was once known as a Death Mistress. She is a very powerful sorceress, she has lived a long difficult life. Along with Nathan, a now ex-prophet but still skilled sorcerer, they aim to spread the news of Richard rising to power.
I really enjoyed the odd couple dynamic these two had. Nicci is far more reserved while Nathan has more of an playful outlook. They are joined later on by Bannon a young man who is setting out from home for the first time. Bannon is so naive about magic and the world around him. He was another great compliment to Nicci. I really enjoyed this trio of characters and I thought they offered a unique look at the world.
While I did enjoy the characters. It was the villains that really caught my interest. We had multiple bad guys throughout the book, pretty much a baddie for every leg of the journey. We had humans, creatures, and magic going askew.
This book completely captivated me. I read this 500+ page book over two days.
However, I am giving this book a B-.
There were so many graphic depictions of sexual assault, sex, and violence. I had a tough time reading some of those scenes, especially all the abuse that Nicci went through while she was in service to the old Emperor. Her sexual history both positive and negative was used to show how far she came as a character. And that really bothered me.
I am sure that Nicci had a lot of character growth over the Sword of Truth series. We catch glimpses of her darker side via flashback throughout this book. I just we could have seen more character development throughout this book. There was so much non stop action that the development took a back seat.
Now I did receive this book in exchange for an honest review, so thank you so much @torbooks for providing me a finished copy.
I must confess I didn’t read the Sword of Truth series, but luckily I can assure you that you don’t have to finish that series to appreciate this book.
We follow Nicci who was once known as a Death Mistress. She is a very powerful sorceress, she has lived a long difficult life. Along with Nathan, a now ex-prophet but still skilled sorcerer, they aim to spread the news of Richard rising to power.
I really enjoyed the odd couple dynamic these two had. Nicci is far more reserved while Nathan has more of an playful outlook. They are joined later on by Bannon a young man who is setting out from home for the first time. Bannon is so naive about magic and the world around him. He was another great compliment to Nicci. I really enjoyed this trio of characters and I thought they offered a unique look at the world.
While I did enjoy the characters. It was the villains that really caught my interest. We had multiple bad guys throughout the book, pretty much a baddie for every leg of the journey. We had humans, creatures, and magic going askew.
This book completely captivated me. I read this 500+ page book over two days.
However, I am giving this book a B-.
There were so many graphic depictions of sexual assault, sex, and violence. I had a tough time reading some of those scenes, especially all the abuse that Nicci went through while she was in service to the old Emperor. Her sexual history both positive and negative was used to show how far she came as a character. And that really bothered me.
I am sure that Nicci had a lot of character growth over the Sword of Truth series. We catch glimpses of her darker side via flashback throughout this book. I just we could have seen more character development throughout this book. There was so much non stop action that the development took a back seat.
bequibuho's review against another edition
4.0
Now that the war is over Nicci and Nathan have set out to spread awareness of Emperor Jagang’s death. Early on in their journey, Nathan discovers a way to regain his prophet abilities which leads them on an epic adventure where we meet new characters, find mermaids, and lost libraries.
Now I did receive this book in exchange for an honest review, so thank you so much @torbooks for providing me a finished copy.
I must confess I didn’t read the Sword of Truth series, but luckily I can assure you that you don’t have to finish that series to appreciate this book.
We follow Nicci who was once known as a Death Mistress. She is a very powerful sorceress, she has lived a long difficult life. Along with Nathan, a now ex-prophet but still skilled sorcerer, they aim to spread the news of Richard rising to power.
I really enjoyed the odd couple dynamic these two had. Nicci is far more reserved while Nathan has more of an playful outlook. They are joined later on by Bannon a young man who is setting out from home for the first time. Bannon is so naive about magic and the world around him. He was another great compliment to Nicci. I really enjoyed this trio of characters and I thought they offered a unique look at the world.
While I did enjoy the characters. It was the villains that really caught my interest. We had multiple bad guys throughout the book, pretty much a baddie for every leg of the journey. We had humans, creatures, and magic going askew.
This book completely captivated me. I read this 500+ page book over two days.
However, I am giving this book a B-.
There were so many graphic depictions of sexual assault, sex, and violence. I had a tough time reading some of those scenes, especially all the abuse that Nicci went through while she was in service to the old Emperor. Her sexual history both positive and negative was used to show how far she came as a character. And that really bothered me.
I am sure that Nicci had a lot of character growth over the Sword of Truth series. We catch glimpses of her darker side via flashback throughout this book. I just we could have seen more character development throughout this book. There was so much non stop action that the development took a back seat.
Now I did receive this book in exchange for an honest review, so thank you so much @torbooks for providing me a finished copy.
I must confess I didn’t read the Sword of Truth series, but luckily I can assure you that you don’t have to finish that series to appreciate this book.
We follow Nicci who was once known as a Death Mistress. She is a very powerful sorceress, she has lived a long difficult life. Along with Nathan, a now ex-prophet but still skilled sorcerer, they aim to spread the news of Richard rising to power.
I really enjoyed the odd couple dynamic these two had. Nicci is far more reserved while Nathan has more of an playful outlook. They are joined later on by Bannon a young man who is setting out from home for the first time. Bannon is so naive about magic and the world around him. He was another great compliment to Nicci. I really enjoyed this trio of characters and I thought they offered a unique look at the world.
While I did enjoy the characters. It was the villains that really caught my interest. We had multiple bad guys throughout the book, pretty much a baddie for every leg of the journey. We had humans, creatures, and magic going askew.
This book completely captivated me. I read this 500+ page book over two days.
However, I am giving this book a B-.
There were so many graphic depictions of sexual assault, sex, and violence. I had a tough time reading some of those scenes, especially all the abuse that Nicci went through while she was in service to the old Emperor. Her sexual history both positive and negative was used to show how far she came as a character. And that really bothered me.
I am sure that Nicci had a lot of character growth over the Sword of Truth series. We catch glimpses of her darker side via flashback throughout this book. I just we could have seen more character development throughout this book. There was so much non stop action that the development took a back seat.
ashleyk50413's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Somehow this was entertaining despite some major flaws.
There were lots of references to world details that weren’t explained, perhaps because many readers are already familiar with the world from other books. If these details were occasionally more descriptive and differed I would have enjoyed them. Instead, they are often the same detail from the same angle. It felt like if I needed to understand a character’s motivations better, that character would suddenly think, “Ah yes, tragic backstory detail” in a fairly wooden way. When I needed the same reminder again, the character would pretty much repeat the earlier tragic backstory detail, but it read more like narration than a character recalling traumatic and formative experiences.
The magic in the book didn’t really make sense. Characters at their weakest seemed to perform magic to similar effect as the same character at peak strength toward the beginning of the book. The author often gave the same minuscule glimpse into the magic system with no further explanation, and I got annoyed with seeing that same glimpse over and over, nothing new.
I did not enjoy the book’s treatment of rape.
The main character did not feel realistic. This is a powerful heroes on an adventure, plot focused fantasy.
These were my biggest complaints. If you like fantasy, you’re probably already used to wading your way through them. You probably already know if you enjoy reading Terry Goodkind or not, but I wanted to share my experience as a first time Goodkind reader starting with this book. I’m now desperate to go read some female written fantasy.
There were lots of references to world details that weren’t explained, perhaps because many readers are already familiar with the world from other books. If these details were occasionally more descriptive and differed I would have enjoyed them. Instead, they are often the same detail from the same angle. It felt like if I needed to understand a character’s motivations better, that character would suddenly think, “Ah yes, tragic backstory detail” in a fairly wooden way. When I needed the same reminder again, the character would pretty much repeat the earlier tragic backstory detail, but it read more like narration than a character recalling traumatic and formative experiences.
The magic in the book didn’t really make sense. Characters at their weakest seemed to perform magic to similar effect as the same character at peak strength toward the beginning of the book. The author often gave the same minuscule glimpse into the magic system with no further explanation, and I got annoyed with seeing that same glimpse over and over, nothing new.
I did not enjoy the book’s treatment of rape.
The main character did not feel realistic. This is a powerful heroes on an adventure, plot focused fantasy.
These were my biggest complaints. If you like fantasy, you’re probably already used to wading your way through them. You probably already know if you enjoy reading Terry Goodkind or not, but I wanted to share my experience as a first time Goodkind reader starting with this book. I’m now desperate to go read some female written fantasy.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape