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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
I listened to the audio version of this book while waiting for the next Robert Jordan audio book to arrive from the library. Do not compare these two writers. They are nothing alike! I really enjoy Robert Jordan's books, which are complex and comprehensive. I really disliked this mish-mash of mediocre writing that seemed scripted from a "How to Write a Fantasy Novel" instructional manual.
The narrator for the audio version of this book gives the evil vegetarians a Russian/Eastern European accent. The cannibalistic natives get Chinese accents. The cooks are French. The local villagers sound like they are from Texas.
The story itself seemed very familiar to me, and then I realized that the TV show, Legend of the Seeker is based on it. I've only seen a couple of episodes, so I don't know how close it is to the book or how much of the series the show covers.
This book was kind of awful. It's very typical of what you'd think of the fantasy genre, in the sense that it includes dragons and wizards and magic. Atypically, it includes evil characters who are just absurd. First there's the uber-evil guy, named Darken Rahl of all things, who is blond and handsome and doesn't eat meat, except for when he eats the organs of a human child. His best friend likes to rape little boys, and is eventually forced to cut off and eat his own testicles. And there is a dominatrix dressed in blood red leather who loves to inflict pain, but only because she has been brainwashed all her life.
The plot meanders from mini-adventure to mini-adventure, and nothing is well-developed. There's a long section where the main characters have to spend time with the mud people, natives who can't seem to figure out how to build a roof that won't leak water. Another significant section is written from a young girl's point of view, with repeated descriptions like "the bestest ever". There is a truly awful erotic scene in which the author practices his less than stellar writing skills, using words like "moist" and "wet" and "hard" and "juices" to describe the eating of an apple.
It sounds like it could be funny, but it's not. Stay away!
The narrator for the audio version of this book gives the evil vegetarians a Russian/Eastern European accent. The cannibalistic natives get Chinese accents. The cooks are French. The local villagers sound like they are from Texas.
The story itself seemed very familiar to me, and then I realized that the TV show, Legend of the Seeker is based on it. I've only seen a couple of episodes, so I don't know how close it is to the book or how much of the series the show covers.
This book was kind of awful. It's very typical of what you'd think of the fantasy genre, in the sense that it includes dragons and wizards and magic. Atypically, it includes evil characters who are just absurd. First there's the uber-evil guy, named Darken Rahl of all things, who is blond and handsome and doesn't eat meat, except for when he eats the organs of a human child. His best friend likes to rape little boys, and is eventually forced to cut off and eat his own testicles. And there is a dominatrix dressed in blood red leather who loves to inflict pain, but only because she has been brainwashed all her life.
The plot meanders from mini-adventure to mini-adventure, and nothing is well-developed. There's a long section where the main characters have to spend time with the mud people, natives who can't seem to figure out how to build a roof that won't leak water. Another significant section is written from a young girl's point of view, with repeated descriptions like "the bestest ever". There is a truly awful erotic scene in which the author practices his less than stellar writing skills, using words like "moist" and "wet" and "hard" and "juices" to describe the eating of an apple.
It sounds like it could be funny, but it's not. Stay away!
It's got its flaws, but it's a decent story and overall I liked it.
Oh, Mr. Goodkind.
Why do you disappoint me so?
You should have made me giddily happy. After all, your book involves gorgeous heroes, knowledgeable wizards, a legend, a magic sword, etc. I'm enough of a geek that this all appeals to me.
But you, Mr. Goodkind, you absolutely, dismally failed me.
You took an original concept, one that I liked, and then you completely polluted it with plagarized plot lines.
Really? You think I didn't notice when the main character --- who just happens to have the burden of bearing a magical object with historical products --- is followed by a non-human creature who desires said object.
Hmmmm.... can anybody else say "Lord of the Rings?"
Come on, buddy. You didn't have to stoop that low. But ya did. And I'm mad at you for it.
Why do you disappoint me so?
You should have made me giddily happy. After all, your book involves gorgeous heroes, knowledgeable wizards, a legend, a magic sword, etc. I'm enough of a geek that this all appeals to me.
But you, Mr. Goodkind, you absolutely, dismally failed me.
You took an original concept, one that I liked, and then you completely polluted it with plagarized plot lines.
Really? You think I didn't notice when the main character --- who just happens to have the burden of bearing a magical object with historical products --- is followed by a non-human creature who desires said object.
Hmmmm.... can anybody else say "Lord of the Rings?"
Come on, buddy. You didn't have to stoop that low. But ya did. And I'm mad at you for it.
Was it perfect? No. Did I love it? Yes.
As a female reader of high fantasy, I have resigned myself to having to read from a male POV often. I don’t love it, it just is what it is. Kahlan was a breath of fresh air in this story, and the main reason why I finally picked it up.
A lot of people are saying this is derivative of other people’s books. I don’t know about that, but it contains a lot of the usual fantasy tropes. Chosen one, beautiful sorceress, old wizard, bloodline revelations, etc. I liked the adventure, the explanation of the lands and why the boundary existed.
I also really liked the riddles and the Easter eggs. On a second read I would probably catch more things that Richard does/says. Zedd is a great character, I always love the old wizards.
There is some foreshadowing surrounding Richard’s brother, and also Zedd’s past, that is fairly easy to pick up on. But the journey from point A to point B was enjoyable.
I didn’t care much for the 2 main antagonists. They seemed tropey and honestly weren’t that scary. Darken Rahl was just kinda... lame. My opinion. Princess Violet was scarier than him.
The magic system confused me a lot. It seemed like people were able to just do things at whim, that needed to be done. Or randomly lost their magic. Some of it does get explained away, it honestly didn’t bother me enough to stop caring about the story.
There is a bit of a Mary Sue and Gary Stu element here with Kahlan and Richard. Richard’s abilities come full circle with explanations at the end of the story. I am still not sure why Kahlan is so powerful.
I’m deducting a star for that BDSM and SA stuff. It was really gratuitous and it went on wayyy too long. It was barely acknowledged as SA, and Richard bounced back (in some ways) like it was nothing. Also, it was somehow turned into a lesson on human nature, and the abuser was even thanked. I found it very strange.
Underrated GOATS: Chase, Rachel and Scarlet
As a female reader of high fantasy, I have resigned myself to having to read from a male POV often. I don’t love it, it just is what it is. Kahlan was a breath of fresh air in this story, and the main reason why I finally picked it up.
A lot of people are saying this is derivative of other people’s books. I don’t know about that, but it contains a lot of the usual fantasy tropes. Chosen one, beautiful sorceress, old wizard, bloodline revelations, etc. I liked the adventure, the explanation of the lands and why the boundary existed.
I also really liked the riddles and the Easter eggs. On a second read I would probably catch more things that Richard does/says. Zedd is a great character, I always love the old wizards.
There is some foreshadowing surrounding Richard’s brother, and also Zedd’s past, that is fairly easy to pick up on. But the journey from point A to point B was enjoyable.
I didn’t care much for the 2 main antagonists. They seemed tropey and honestly weren’t that scary. Darken Rahl was just kinda... lame. My opinion. Princess Violet was scarier than him.
The magic system confused me a lot. It seemed like people were able to just do things at whim, that needed to be done. Or randomly lost their magic. Some of it does get explained away, it honestly didn’t bother me enough to stop caring about the story.
There is a bit of a Mary Sue and Gary Stu element here with Kahlan and Richard. Richard’s abilities come full circle with explanations at the end of the story. I am still not sure why Kahlan is so powerful.
I’m deducting a star for that BDSM and SA stuff. It was really gratuitous and it went on wayyy too long. It was barely acknowledged as SA, and Richard bounced back (in some ways) like it was nothing. Also, it was somehow turned into a lesson on human nature, and the abuser was even thanked. I found it very strange.
Underrated GOATS: Chase, Rachel and Scarlet
I can't really review this book. It's my boyfriend's favourite series, so I gave it a lot of... leniency... that would not be granted to most others. Make of that what you will. People believe (tolerate) what they want to believe (focus solely on the good parts of).
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
52Books2024 Reading Challenge: November Mini-Challenge: 800-900 pages long
This is one of my favorite books, which I've read over and over again. I love the characters, especially Kahlen. The intricacy of the history and plot is well done, and keeps the reader intrigued. Having read more in this series, it's probably my favorite of them all, especially with my love of origin stories. I'll probably end up reading this again.
Interesting storyline, but the terrible writing ruined it for me. It's even worse on audio. All of the dialogue seems forced and completely unrealistic.
1.5 stars
1.5 stars
I picked this book up because I had liked the television show. This is one of those rare stories that is neither better, nor worse in print than the related movie/show. The stories were just alike enough to enhance each other, but different enough for me to be thankful that the television show had a PG rating (or at least wasn't as hard to face as parts of the book were, the book is very dark at times).
While I thought the writing in the beginning was a bit artless, the story quickly hit its stride and became a very enjoyable high fantasy story.
While I thought the writing in the beginning was a bit artless, the story quickly hit its stride and became a very enjoyable high fantasy story.
Without a doubt the worst trash I've read in a long time. Yuck.