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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Minus one star for "that" arc. Minus one star for knockoff Gollum. Minus one star for (can't believe I'm saying this) ripping off Ayn Rand. Gets to keep two stars for at least being easy to read; it truly did not feel like I read 800 pages.
I suppose this was a good enough adventure story, but I think that any story that could be told just as effectively in at LEAST 300 pages less is just too darn long! I think it's time I faced the facts...this genre is just NOT MY CUP OF TEA!! I have tried with many different books within the genre and I truly have not enjoyed any of them....sorry about that. I hope others enjoy it.
Not my style at all!!:( I’m usually a go go go fantasy but I couldn’t get into this one at all! It made me cringe way to much!
Didn’t finished either.
Didn’t finished either.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
OK. I absolutely love fantasy. I was extremely excited to start this series especially after reading about the success of the novels. I was left confused and disappointed. I have only ever not finished two books in my life. Once I start a series I commit to it no matter what. It is very rare that I do not find some value in a book that I cannot continue reading. I put down a book on Beethovens biography that focused on the technical aspects of the evolution of his compositions. This was because I literally didnt understand the language of composition, nor was I familiar with the constant references to other composers work. I completed Wizards First Rule. I started the second book Stone of Tears because I was hoping, fiercly hoping, the series would improve. I was wrong.
I have never read a book that was more repetitive. How many times can a character say they hate something? Yes we know you hate magic. The same sentence over and over and over. You can show a character does or doesnt like something in more ways than just repeating it. Inappropriate repetition run rampant throughout the novel.
The book lacks the depth and complexity that allows readers to be transported to an intricate and magical new world in that it isnt fluid in its concepts. The author constantly breaks his own rules. Its one of those books where at every turn youre scratching your head thinking, what? why didnt they just do this or that? It is set up in a way where it constantly reads that something is impossible to accomplish, yet they very easily accomplish it every time. Its either that or characters are duped over and over again in the most simple of ways. There were areas of true creative ingenuity. I found myself saying ahh there it is there it is! Unfortunately, the bad outweighs the good greatly so. I really wish it would have been a different reading experience. Maybe I will try and come back to it another time..
I have never read a book that was more repetitive. How many times can a character say they hate something? Yes we know you hate magic. The same sentence over and over and over. You can show a character does or doesnt like something in more ways than just repeating it. Inappropriate repetition run rampant throughout the novel.
The book lacks the depth and complexity that allows readers to be transported to an intricate and magical new world in that it isnt fluid in its concepts. The author constantly breaks his own rules. Its one of those books where at every turn youre scratching your head thinking, what? why didnt they just do this or that? It is set up in a way where it constantly reads that something is impossible to accomplish, yet they very easily accomplish it every time. Its either that or characters are duped over and over again in the most simple of ways. There were areas of true creative ingenuity. I found myself saying ahh there it is there it is! Unfortunately, the bad outweighs the good greatly so. I really wish it would have been a different reading experience. Maybe I will try and come back to it another time..
I loved this series when I read it over 10 years ago (at least the first 5 or so in the series). Either Wizard's First Rule hasn't aged gracefully or I've become a more adept reader. While I still appreciate the inventiveness and world-building talents of Terry Goodkind, this book would've been better if it had been half as long. The dialogue is repetitive as if we've forgotten the previous chapter. It's like a constant recap before a weekly TV show. Also, the adventures, conflicts, and complications became episodic and didn't build the story...so much as delay the denouement. Goodkind, like several of the "great" authors of our time, could benefit from a stern and judicious editor.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I’m so conflicted on how to rate this book. It was truly gripping--I didn’t want to put it down. The first half of it was fabulous, five stars, apart from some of Richard’s cringey thoughts. I could move past the parts where he was acting like a “friendzoned nice guy” because the plot was interesting. I was laughing out loud by page two! The line that did it was “that’s when the vine bit him.” So good! The idea of the gars using blood flies to hunt, and Richard using spiderwebs to make conclusions about navigation… I mean, I got chills. It was very, very cool.
Things started to go downhill about halfway through, though, and it became a very different sort of book.
What on earth did Kahlan/Zedd/Chase do while Richard was being tortured for three weeks? We know one thing: evidently they gave up the box of Orden to Michael, because that’s where they thought it’d be safe, despite Kahlan’s reservations about Michael, despite the fact that he’s got no magic power at all like Zedd does, despite the fact that the Midlands is foreign to him, despite the fact that Rahl would have no problem decimating an army what with the way he plowed through the Mud People and Horner’s Mill... Plus, the whole first half of the book was spent trying to figure out how Kahlan/Zedd/Richard would acquire the box. There was no motive to get rid of it since it was safest in their capable hands. I mean, the three of them aren’t supposed to be stupid (but I suppose that’s the Wizard’s first rule). Also, it seems like they’d have had time to do quite a bit more in three weeks considering it took mere days to get from Hartland to past Agaden Reach, and that was including a visit to the Mud People.
The ending was unrealistic, too. I didn’t really buy the whole explanation that a Confessor’s magic won’t work on someone who already completely loves them. Richard’s love is different than the brainwashed, pathetic, frenzied devotion of someone who’s been touched by a Confessor. Surely the difference is big enough that it’d matter. A more reasonable explanation would be that Rahl’s enemy web took the brunt of the power (since Richard looked like Rahl to the Confessor but it wasn’t actually Rahl confessing… I could see how that might cause some magical conflict) and ended up actually saving Richard. Rahl’s web, placed to harm his enemy, ending up being what saves him... wouldn’t that be rich? And Richard is so sure he’s figured out the magic, has somehow escaped PTSD from Denna, and is also confident in his ability to convince Rahl he’s telling the truth in the heat of the moment despite the fact that Rahl’s a madman. I just don’t buy it.. I’ll probably read the next book in the series, but I need to cleanse my palate first.
Things started to go downhill about halfway through, though, and it became a very different sort of book.
Spoiler
As many reviewers have mentioned, the torture sequence with Denna could have been half as long and still made its point. It’s like Goodkind’s editor just picked up and left and all the loose ends were sort of thrown together.What on earth did Kahlan/Zedd/Chase do while Richard was being tortured for three weeks? We know one thing: evidently they gave up the box of Orden to Michael, because that’s where they thought it’d be safe, despite Kahlan’s reservations about Michael, despite the fact that he’s got no magic power at all like Zedd does, despite the fact that the Midlands is foreign to him, despite the fact that Rahl would have no problem decimating an army what with the way he plowed through the Mud People and Horner’s Mill... Plus, the whole first half of the book was spent trying to figure out how Kahlan/Zedd/Richard would acquire the box. There was no motive to get rid of it since it was safest in their capable hands. I mean, the three of them aren’t supposed to be stupid (but I suppose that’s the Wizard’s first rule). Also, it seems like they’d have had time to do quite a bit more in three weeks considering it took mere days to get from Hartland to past Agaden Reach, and that was including a visit to the Mud People.
The ending was unrealistic, too. I didn’t really buy the whole explanation that a Confessor’s magic won’t work on someone who already completely loves them. Richard’s love is different than the brainwashed, pathetic, frenzied devotion of someone who’s been touched by a Confessor. Surely the difference is big enough that it’d matter. A more reasonable explanation would be that Rahl’s enemy web took the brunt of the power (since Richard looked like Rahl to the Confessor but it wasn’t actually Rahl confessing… I could see how that might cause some magical conflict) and ended up actually saving Richard. Rahl’s web, placed to harm his enemy, ending up being what saves him... wouldn’t that be rich? And Richard is so sure he’s figured out the magic, has somehow escaped PTSD from Denna, and is also confident in his ability to convince Rahl he’s telling the truth in the heat of the moment despite the fact that Rahl’s a madman. I just don’t buy it.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes