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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Okay everyone. Below is my review from when I tried to read Wizard's First Rule back in 2007. I was fresh out of college. You know, back when you thought your opinion mattered. While I didn't personally like the book and couldn't get into it, I really went for it in this review. I now regret it. You don't really understand how difficult it is to write something good until you try and write a book yourself. It's taxing, time consuming, alienating. Sometimes you think you wrote something amazing, and then someone will come around and tell you they'd rather lick their own dog's teeth than read what you wrote. Ouch. It's hurtful.
I'm leaving my review up below because I think it's a good lesson. If you don't like something, cool, that's fine. But you don't have to tear it down publicly. Better yet, why not point out the good you saw in it? There will be, inevitably, some person who shows up to point out all the bad. Nobody's worried that that person won't show up, so they now must shoulder the responsibility. I'm also leaving this review up so that I don't run from it. This review has gotten a lot of likes here on Goodreads, and with each new like, I feel more and more guilty about it.
Writing is hard. My hat's off to you, Mr. Goodkind. I apologize for my distasteful and mean review. Thankfully, you have so many fans out there that love your book and will stand by it, even when little shits like me throw out a mean review.
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I'm sorry. I really did try for this one, as I love my boyfriend (very much) who loves this book. I found the writing unbearable, as I would rather smell my dog's breath and lick his teeth than have to read words written by Terry Goodkind. That being said, I was interested in the story, but it was as if the guy did not have an editor. Oh, he had spell check, don't get me wrong, but no one told him to take out the emotions and/or inner-dialogue he would repeat up to 4 times in a paragraph.
I did love reading his acknowledgements page. Does that count?
Also, just incase Terry Good and Kind is out there, I am very sorry too. I wasn't too keen on your book, and I'm sorry this attack on your book was personal to your writing style and abilities. I think you are a cool looking man - one of the best with a ponytail - and I am sure you are as your last name implies.
I'm leaving my review up below because I think it's a good lesson. If you don't like something, cool, that's fine. But you don't have to tear it down publicly. Better yet, why not point out the good you saw in it? There will be, inevitably, some person who shows up to point out all the bad. Nobody's worried that that person won't show up, so they now must shoulder the responsibility. I'm also leaving this review up so that I don't run from it. This review has gotten a lot of likes here on Goodreads, and with each new like, I feel more and more guilty about it.
Writing is hard. My hat's off to you, Mr. Goodkind. I apologize for my distasteful and mean review. Thankfully, you have so many fans out there that love your book and will stand by it, even when little shits like me throw out a mean review.
-----
I'm sorry. I really did try for this one, as I love my boyfriend (very much) who loves this book. I found the writing unbearable, as I would rather smell my dog's breath and lick his teeth than have to read words written by Terry Goodkind. That being said, I was interested in the story, but it was as if the guy did not have an editor. Oh, he had spell check, don't get me wrong, but no one told him to take out the emotions and/or inner-dialogue he would repeat up to 4 times in a paragraph.
I did love reading his acknowledgements page. Does that count?
Also, just incase Terry Good and Kind is out there, I am very sorry too. I wasn't too keen on your book, and I'm sorry this attack on your book was personal to your writing style and abilities. I think you are a cool looking man - one of the best with a ponytail - and I am sure you are as your last name implies.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Torture
2 stars: enjoyed reading it, but honestly, it was Quite Bad.
Trigger warning: this review briefly mentions violence, torture, death, pedophilia and rape.
The storyline: man from humble origins must save the world, with the help of a wise quirky wizard and a beautiful mysterious woman. Man and woman fall in love, but can't be together. Man must choose between saving the world and saving the woman. Sound familiar? This storyline is used a lot, but that doesn't matter if the book does it with a cool twist, or has redeeming qualities in other aspects. Unfortunately, this book doesn't. You think it kind of sounds like Lord of the Rings? Even Gollum makes an appearance here. (in 1994, this might have been new, but now it's just cliche)
The characters: at the beginning of the book, Richard gets a speech from Zedd, saying something like "no one is purely good or purely evil, even the bad guys believe they're doing the right thing". How ironic is it, then, that the characters from this book are either purely good or purely evil? Let's start with the main bad guy Darken Rahl. His motivations for ruling the land/world are quite weird (he wants to), but that goal and the way he goes about that don't add up. He loves to torture people by pulling out their intestines, and to rape women. The only redeeming qualities are trivial: he doesn't eat meat (except for the occasional human sacrifice), and the wears white (obviously white = good and black = bad). His right hand man Demin Nass loves to rape little boys. Even the not-so-significant evil people in power love saying "off with their heads!". And oh boy, let's talk about Mistress Denna. She used a combination of Sado Masochism and Stockholm syndrome on one of the characters that in this day and age would probably be called "manipulation" and "rape". But hey, she was raised that way, so she can't help it, and the victim actually feels sorry for her. How? (in the words of Brooklyn Nine Nine's Jake Peralta: "Cool motive. Still murder rape."
When it comes to the good guys, they seem quite stock characters. Zedd is wise, but keeps his secrets. Like a lot of magic characters in fantasy books, his magic system doesn't really add up and his powers are a bit used as a plot device, like if the writer feels stuck, he decides "well the wizard will magic us out of this situation", but at other points, it's "only the Hero can save us now, the wizard is powerless". I felt somehow sorry for Kahlan's character. She was conjured into existence by the author for the sole reason of becoming Richard love interest (before they even spoke, Richard noted that she was super beautiful and from the look in her eyes could tell she was very intelligent and so on and so on). At one time, she would be super powerful, and at other times, she would be a damsel in distress, having to be saved by Richard. The feelings of love that develop between them feel like a 1 dollar romance novel (you'll know what I mean when you get to the scene with the apple). Richard himself just feels like a very bland guy. He's supposed to be very clever but I felt like that wasn't showed anywhere, except for when it was an important plot point.
The worldbuilding: for a fantasy world, it sure has one of the most boring maps I've ever seen. Just a slab of land, with some mountain ranges, and a sea off to the south (that we don't even get to see). We hardly find out how any of the three countries work, what the government is like, what the relation is between different parts of the same country, etc. For the huge amount of travelling they do, they only visit 3 villages and 2 castles and hardly meet anyone on the road. The only thing that's really fleshed out is some fantasy creatures (the gars and dragons). For me, worldbuilding is one of the most important things in a fantasy book, and here, it just really fell short. I would have liked to know more about Michael's government position, about why all those people were at the People's Palace, or the history and relationship between dragons and people.
The atmosphere: nothing really significant. It felt like a bit basic way of writing, but there were some pretty good metaphors and descriptions.
Best part: I liked the interaction between Rachel and Giller.
Despite all these criticisms, I did really enjoy reading the book (even if I were slowly shaking my head all the while). That being said, I'm not going to invest my time into reading the next parts of the series.
Trigger warning: this review briefly mentions violence, torture, death, pedophilia and rape.
The storyline: man from humble origins must save the world, with the help of a wise quirky wizard and a beautiful mysterious woman. Man and woman fall in love, but can't be together. Man must choose between saving the world and saving the woman. Sound familiar? This storyline is used a lot, but that doesn't matter if the book does it with a cool twist, or has redeeming qualities in other aspects. Unfortunately, this book doesn't. You think it kind of sounds like Lord of the Rings? Even Gollum makes an appearance here. (in 1994, this might have been new, but now it's just cliche)
The characters: at the beginning of the book, Richard gets a speech from Zedd, saying something like "no one is purely good or purely evil, even the bad guys believe they're doing the right thing". How ironic is it, then, that the characters from this book are either purely good or purely evil? Let's start with the main bad guy Darken Rahl. His motivations for ruling the land/world are quite weird (he wants to
Spoiler
outlaw fire, since his father was killed by fireWhen it comes to the good guys, they seem quite stock characters. Zedd is wise, but keeps his secrets. Like a lot of magic characters in fantasy books, his magic system doesn't really add up and his powers are a bit used as a plot device, like if the writer feels stuck, he decides "well the wizard will magic us out of this situation", but at other points, it's "only the Hero can save us now, the wizard is powerless". I felt somehow sorry for Kahlan's character. She was conjured into existence by the author for the sole reason of becoming Richard love interest (before they even spoke, Richard noted that she was super beautiful and from the look in her eyes could tell she was very intelligent and so on and so on). At one time, she would be super powerful, and at other times, she would be a damsel in distress, having to be saved by Richard. The feelings of love that develop between them feel like a 1 dollar romance novel (you'll know what I mean when you get to the scene with the apple). Richard himself just feels like a very bland guy. He's supposed to be very clever but I felt like that wasn't showed anywhere, except for when it was an important plot point.
The worldbuilding: for a fantasy world, it sure has one of the most boring maps I've ever seen. Just a slab of land, with some mountain ranges, and a sea off to the south (that we don't even get to see). We hardly find out how any of the three countries work, what the government is like, what the relation is between different parts of the same country, etc. For the huge amount of travelling they do, they only visit 3 villages and 2 castles and hardly meet anyone on the road. The only thing that's really fleshed out is some fantasy creatures (the gars and dragons). For me, worldbuilding is one of the most important things in a fantasy book, and here, it just really fell short. I would have liked to know more about Michael's government position, about why all those people were at the People's Palace, or the history and relationship between dragons and people.
The atmosphere: nothing really significant. It felt like a bit basic way of writing, but there were some pretty good metaphors and descriptions.
Best part: I liked the interaction between Rachel and Giller.
Despite all these criticisms, I did really enjoy reading the book (even if I were slowly shaking my head all the while). That being said, I'm not going to invest my time into reading the next parts of the series.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
First, background: I watched the Legend of the Seeker tv show when it first came on. There was (and still is) precious little fantasy out there for the tv viewer, so I watched whatever I could find. I enjoyed the tv show well enough. I thought, "I should read that series at some point." I bought the first book and it's sat on my shelf until now. I finally picked it up a few days ago.
I'd heard that the tv series varied GREATLY from the books. To tell you the truth, I've forgotten most of the tv show, so I can't really speak on that. So, to the book!
For the good: I enjoyed the overall story well enough. The basic outline was good. It kept me reading.
For the bad: Torture porn is not my thing. I could have done without 95% of that Mord Sith crap. Now that's out of the way, can we talk about the writing? Until we got to the part when we first get Darken Rahl's POV, I kept thinking that this could be a story written for my 10yo. The writing level is SO very basic that it's extremely noticeable. The descriptions, whether it be of action or the surroundings were adequate, but the characters? Their dialogue and internal monologue/thought processes were incredibly child-like and awful. The characters were extremely flat and made decisions that no real person would make. They connected dots that weren't there just for the sake of the plot.
Yet still, I gave this 3 stars. I enjoyed reading it. I doubt I'll read any more in the series, but it was alright. I think that might have been more due to my watching Legend of the Seeker than it was the written story. So, yeah.
I'd heard that the tv series varied GREATLY from the books. To tell you the truth, I've forgotten most of the tv show, so I can't really speak on that. So, to the book!
For the good: I enjoyed the overall story well enough. The basic outline was good. It kept me reading.
For the bad: Torture porn is not my thing. I could have done without 95% of that Mord Sith crap. Now that's out of the way, can we talk about the writing? Until we got to the part when we first get Darken Rahl's POV, I kept thinking that this could be a story written for my 10yo. The writing level is SO very basic that it's extremely noticeable. The descriptions, whether it be of action or the surroundings were adequate, but the characters? Their dialogue and internal monologue/thought processes were incredibly child-like and awful. The characters were extremely flat and made decisions that no real person would make. They connected dots that weren't there just for the sake of the plot.
Yet still, I gave this 3 stars. I enjoyed reading it. I doubt I'll read any more in the series, but it was alright. I think that might have been more due to my watching Legend of the Seeker than it was the written story. So, yeah.
Meh. Started out promising, interesting premise and characters with just enough mystery to pull you along... And then at the end of the book everyone turns into Leeroy Jenkins and just does whatever they want. And it still works out. Will pass on the next one.
I thought this was a good story. Pretty long, but enjoyed it overall.
This book is easily my favorite. Magic, adventure, love. This is the beginning of a beautiful series that truly makes you think.
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No