Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47594 in Books
• Published on: 1997-07-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 848 pages

From Library Journal
The protective barrier that separates Westland from its neighbors to the east is about to fall, letting loose a monstrous evil upon the world. Only the combined efforts of a young man dedicated to finding the truth, an enigmatic woman intent on concealing her past, and a crusty old hermit resigned to his inevitable destiny can prevent the opening of the three boxes of Orden-an event with the potential to destroy existence itself. The inclusion of graphic scenes of sado-eroticism, though integral to the story, may deter purchase by some libraries. Nevertheless, this first novel offers an intriguing variant on the standard fantasy quest. The richly detailed world and complex characters will appeal to mature fantasy aficionados.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Goodkind's first volume of an epic fantasy series relates the efforts of three friends to save the world from Darken Rahl, the sadistic ruler who seeks to control and possibly destroy the world. Dick Hill maintains pace, vocal characterization and emotional inflections throughout this long work. Accomplishing these with apparent ease, he uses voices and dialects appropriate to the characters and enables the listener to identify them easily. Graphic scenes of torture and sado-eroticism are integral to the story but may not be to some listeners' tastes. This is an engrossing saga, which leaves the listener looking forward to its sequel. M.A.M. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
In a classic fantasy world, young Richard Cypher must go on a perilous quest with the Sword of Truth in order to deal with evils that have a contemporary degree of ambiguity about them. On the way, he acquires the normal collection of wizards, dragons, and human companions as well as an equivalent roster of enemies. Both the characters and their world come to life, and Goodkind's ambitious juxtaposition of modern ambiguities and the classical fantasy setting works more often than not. Although a fairly self-contained story, the book has something of the flavor of the first volume of a saga; neither Goodkind nor his publisher will receive too many complaints if a sequel is in the works. Hardly an aspirant to Tolkien's mantle, Goodkind certainly seems, at any rate, to be working on being mentioned in the same breath as Robert Jordan. Roland Green

Customer Reviews

Amazingly awful dialog
Truly awful dialog and unbelievable character interaction. I've never met people who interact like this. I've seen amateur movies with dialog this awkward, but I've never read a novel with reviews this enthusiastic that turned out to have such amateurish writing. Seriously, the Captain Underpants books are better written than this thing is.

It's 2008 and the story is still awesome!
The Wizard's First Rule is the first novel written by Terry Goodkind in The Sword of Truth Series of books. In my opinion, it is a credit to the genre.

The story starts with Richard Cypher, a woodsguide who has no idea of how enormous the world outside of Westland (his home) really is, or what goes on out there. Though some may consider the beginnings of the story very cliche, like with the sage like friend,Zedd, and the young lady in distress; Kahlan, these are part of the overall charm of the story.

The villains in general are very villainous! Exploiting children, killing the innocent, and all out torture and violence being only some of the things they are willing to do to achieve their goals. The main villain, Darken Rahl, is an evil wizard that leads the nation of D'hara. The best way to explain the place in a nutshell is the fantasy version of Nazi Germany at the beginning of WWII.

The basics of the story are straight out of a college creative writing class. The makings of a solid hero are all here. Pick your mark, cause him family issues(kill his father, remove the mother), give him a lady to help, and show him a reason to help besides her being gorgeous. Give him a magical sword and the story takes off!

Throw in some spear throwing natives, and evil queen, a brat for a princess, and some Dominatrix super women and the story is an instant classic. Oh! did I forget a dragon? Don't forget the Dragon!

Yet, in all fairness, the straightforward way the story is presented makes it an engaging read. It's not a small book, but entertaining for sure. Its subject matter becomes very adult at times, but younger readers can easily understand the reasoning behind its details. The end is definitely worth the wait and the time involved in getting there.

A little old, a little new, but all in all a great book.

A great idea, the book just didn't deliver
Bottom line: Try before you buy
Never picked up Goodkind before, the cover gave me the impression it was going to be the fantasy genre.
The beginning seemed to flow just fine, but then it seemed to... Well, it's like this, like the author created the story on top of a poor foundation, and wrote a book, instead of building a firmer/deeper foundation.
The world building was okay, not great, but passable. The magic and the characters were a little weak, for my tastes. I wasn't a believer, and I certainly wasn't blown away, therefore never finished the book.
I'd recommend Lorna Freeman, Holly Lisle, Legacies (Corean Chronicles), or even Dragon Prince (Melanie Rawn), Greg Keyes (Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone).