Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #964 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-16
• Released on: 2002-08-29
• Format: Box set
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 3
• Binding: Paperback
• 2405 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780765344946
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
One of the most popular writers of fantasy today, Terry Goodkind divides his time between Maine and Nevada.

Customer Reviews

5 stars for TotW--3 stars for SotF--and 5 stars for FotF
I believe that judging this series as a whole will favorably argue that Goodkind is every bit the equal to Tolkien -- even though Terry Goodkind himself would probably balk at such a comparison. I have it on good authority a very large chunk of Sword of Truth fans are not even typical Fantasy readers in general (or at all). The social & political upheaval that is covered within the entire storyline is truly epic in scope. The first three books (Wizards First Rule, Stone of Tears & Blood of the Fold) are easily my all-time favorite Fantasy novels. Not an easy place to be in my opinion writing in the shadows of Terry Brooks, J.K. Rowling, George R.R. Martin and the mighty Tolkien (to name a few). While I believe books 1 & 2 are STILL the best, in this boxed set, two remarkable stories stand out.

First...Temple of the Winds is simply AWESOME. While after initially finishing Blood of the Fold I was slightly disappointed, after re-reading it several years later, I decided that it was actually very good...but Temple of the Winds surpasses it in every way (IMHO). The struggles against Emperor Jagang and his evil plots to conquer the world as he sees it is amazing. Just the very idea of the Temple I found to be incredibly original all the way around. The eventual outcome and how Richard had to lower himself in order to save his people -- and his beloved Kahlan -- was nothing short of compelling.

Second...Soul of the Fire was my first (and only) serious disappointment in this entire series to date. While I wasn't very pleased with 'Pillars of Creation' and how Goodkind totally changed gears on his faithful readers by shuffling his main characters into microscopic roles (they only appeared in the final 40 pages or so), in SotF he did a very similar act. He created the brand new city of Anderith and immersed us head-first into this entirely new plot-line and kept Richard & Kahlan to nearly secondary characters altogether. Even though Pillars almost eliminated Richard & Kahlan, I STILL found the overall storyline to be quite entertaining...but with SotF it just fell flat for me. At least half of the novel kept me interested, but every time we went back to the problems in Anderith, MY interest virtually died.

Third...Faith of the Fallen really IS long on commentary by Richard, almost as though he were running for office. What I found to be utterly compelling however is that to the people Richard is virtually preaching to, what he is saying actually FITS 100%. The worth of souls ARE great, and Richard sees this, and has this monumental struggle to prove it to those in bondage to the Order. The pacifists of this world will never really fully understand what this means, because they are so busy trying to iron over any so-called problems and shelter their families from the real-world consequences that almost ALWAYS happen when you take a back seat to the oppression that threatens to consume the world as we know it. In short, I loved this book. If you put aside your political beliefs, and the outright incorrect way in which many attempt to connect FotF to Atlas Shrugged, LOOK at the situation that Richard finds himself forcibly immersed into...how ELSE can he express himself and talk sense into those who passively sit by while the evil-doers of the Order slaughter innocent lives all in the name of the Maker? Goodkind got it totally right here and I wouldn't change a word.

All in all I would rate the series 5-stars.

Wizards First Rule 5 Stars
Stone of Tears 5 Stars
Blood of the Fold 5 Stars
Temple of the Wind 5 Stars
Soul of the Fire 3 Stars
Faith of the Fallen 5 Stars
Pillars of Creation 4 Stars
Naked Empire 5 Stars
Chainfire 5 Stars
Phantom 5 Stars

I just wish that Terry could write faster...but if it in any way compromised the quality of the stories, I am perfectly happy waiting however long it takes to read whatever he writes.

Terrifying, and not in a good way.
I'm not entirely sure what to think about this series. I liked the first book, the second was ok, but then it just went downhill from there. Why? For some reason every girl in his books is either: raped, groped or in some way sexually used/abused by 99% of his characters. His main character's talk about marriage and chastity and then completely ignore their own advice and have no morals (unless someone is watching). I was reading my book at school and actually had someone ask me "How many rapes is he up to now?", which would be in the thousands, some detailed. He seems to use shock as his main entertainment.

Great series
I first started watching the TV series which is great. The books are really good too. The TV series and the books don't follow the same sequence. The books go into way more detail, but the TV series adds stuff and takes stuff out. After you've finished the first 2 books you're already way ahead of the TV series so if you're doing both at the same time it gets less confusing.

If you just want a good read, this is it. I love the characters and I love how it is written. It isn't too flowery and there's always something going on to keep you interested.