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A review by weaselweader
The Omen Machine by Terry Goodkind
3.0
Overwritten, overwrought, under-thought, and under-edited …
… and noticeably weaker than elder siblings in the long-running Sword of Truth series!
The Omen Machine opens improbably with a D’Haran populace suddenly and inexplicably angry and dissatisfied with the leadership of Richard and Kahlan, the day after a riotous and joyful celebration of their stunning defeat of the evil forces of Darkness and the ending of the story in Confessor. The dialogue, the narrative descriptions of settings and the sketches of the dramatis personae, both good and evil, are strained and repetitive. The problems and their solutions appear as deus ex machina constructions as opposed to evolving naturally out of a well-crafted plot. The lead nasties, Hannis Arc and his “companions”, the Hedge Maids are cartoonish and too hastily created without any meaningful depth or motivation beyond an overwhelming, simple drive for power and the consuming need to kill their enemies. All of that, of course, would leave any reader of this review reasonably convinced that I would part with at most one or two stars for the novel … and, grudgingly, at that!
But to do that would also leave the impression that The Omen Machine was unenjoyable or without merits and that would, simply put, be wrong and unfair! While I acknowledge that the foundations for the plot were poorly laid and some plot resolutions came out of left field, it was actually pretty gripping stuff and I’ll readily admit that I read the novel quite quickly. My hope is that the nature, the history, the meaning and the motivation (given its obvious description as a sentient entity, albeit whirring metal cogs and gears) of the Omen Machine, Hannis Arc and the Hedge Maids will be more completely developed and meaningfully explored in the second installment of the new Richard and Kahlan trilogy, The Third Kingdom. I would also hope that patient readers and long-time fans can look forward to a face-off between the Mord-Sith who have sworn allegiance to Richard Rahl and those who have chosen to remain as “Sisters of the Dark”!
So … the solution? A three-star rating and a provisional recommendation contingent on reading The Third Kingdom.
Paul Weiss
… and noticeably weaker than elder siblings in the long-running Sword of Truth series!
The Omen Machine opens improbably with a D’Haran populace suddenly and inexplicably angry and dissatisfied with the leadership of Richard and Kahlan, the day after a riotous and joyful celebration of their stunning defeat of the evil forces of Darkness and the ending of the story in Confessor. The dialogue, the narrative descriptions of settings and the sketches of the dramatis personae, both good and evil, are strained and repetitive. The problems and their solutions appear as deus ex machina constructions as opposed to evolving naturally out of a well-crafted plot. The lead nasties, Hannis Arc and his “companions”, the Hedge Maids are cartoonish and too hastily created without any meaningful depth or motivation beyond an overwhelming, simple drive for power and the consuming need to kill their enemies. All of that, of course, would leave any reader of this review reasonably convinced that I would part with at most one or two stars for the novel … and, grudgingly, at that!
But to do that would also leave the impression that The Omen Machine was unenjoyable or without merits and that would, simply put, be wrong and unfair! While I acknowledge that the foundations for the plot were poorly laid and some plot resolutions came out of left field, it was actually pretty gripping stuff and I’ll readily admit that I read the novel quite quickly. My hope is that the nature, the history, the meaning and the motivation (given its obvious description as a sentient entity, albeit whirring metal cogs and gears) of the Omen Machine, Hannis Arc and the Hedge Maids will be more completely developed and meaningfully explored in the second installment of the new Richard and Kahlan trilogy, The Third Kingdom. I would also hope that patient readers and long-time fans can look forward to a face-off between the Mord-Sith who have sworn allegiance to Richard Rahl and those who have chosen to remain as “Sisters of the Dark”!
So … the solution? A three-star rating and a provisional recommendation contingent on reading The Third Kingdom.
Paul Weiss