Completion Date: July 2007
Pages: 848
Publication Year: 1995
Purchased in 2007
Book One in The Sword of Truth Series

In the aftermath of the brutal murder of his father, a mysterious woman, Kahlan Amnell, appears in Richard Cypher's forest sanctuary seeking help…and more. His world, his very beliefs, are shattered when ancient debts come due with thundering violence.

In a dark age when it takes courage to live, and more than mere courage to challenge those who hold dominion, Richard and Kahlan must take up that challenge or become the next victims. Beyond awaits a bewitching land where even the beat of their hearts could betray them. Yet, Richard fears nothing so much as what secrets his sword might reveal about his own soul. Falling in love would destroy them - for reasons Richard can't imagine and Kahlan dare not tell him.

In their darkest hour, hunted relentlessly, tormented by treachery and loss, Kahlan cals upon Richard to reach beyond his sword - to invoke within himself something more noble. Neither knows that the rules of battle have just changed…or that their time has run out.

This is the beginning. One book. One Rule. Witness the birth of a legend.
I had heard about this series for years, but I always have so many series on the go that I do not have a chance to read all the other series that I want to read. I probably could if I was one of those people that could read a lot of books by the same author in a row, and I used to do that when I was younger, but now I like variety. So, it takes me a while to read series. This one came out 12 years ago, and I only now finished book one. The new book comes out in November. It would be wonderful if I could have all the other books read by the time the new one comes out in paperback next year.

Anyways, I loved this book. I plan to move on to the next book very soon because I think I have encountered a new favourite author to enjoy. The two main characters in this book meet by chance, Kahlan Amnell is searching for a hero and Richard Cypher is feeling a little lost following the brutal murder of his beloved father. Kahlan is in trouble, the world she represents is in trouble, and in Richard she finds the person that will lead the world into a new era. He just does not know that yet. Richard has lived in a sheltered world where magic does not exist and the citizens live in peace. Kahlan comes from a place where magic is the norm and a violent dictator is changing life as she knows it. The only thing that separates these two worlds is a magical wall that is beginning to fail, letting the evil of Kahlan's world into Richard's and changing the life that he has always known.

There was nothing about this book that I did not really like, there were scenes that surprised me and at the time I wondered if they were necessary, but as the novel progressed they made sense to me and I sw them in a different light. That's right, there were surprises! Sometimes books follow the same pattern to such a degree that you might not know exactly what is going to happen, but when it happens you are not surprised. Surprising things happened in this book. Kahlan is worldly and is used to a life that Richard does not even understand. She is scared to reveal just who she is to Richard because she has spent her whole life being feared and hated. Richard is very naive, and he can be annoying from time to time, but it is not his fault. He has been thrown into a very different world and his life is very different now than the one that he has always known. He does very brilliant things, though, so I am sure that his character will really grow during the course of this series.

A fantastic first book to a trilogy. I look forward to the next book. There is a lot more that could be said, it was a over 800 page book, but I will leave it for anyone interested to explore.

3 comments:

Hello! The Sword of Truth series is about 10 books, the final book is being released soon. I think you may have gotten the mistaken idea of a trilogy from the last few books, which is the final story arc that progresses in sort of a trilogy.

I loved the beginning of the series too, but some of the books lose the power... and some come across as pure madness. But I love the theme through them.

It's going to take me forever to read them, so I will have to see how my feeling about the books changes. When there are so many books (with so many pages) it is hard for them to all be good.

I really hate to disappoint you, but as someone who has read all of The Sword of Truth books, I feel I should warn you that the books get terrible. I mean absolutely terrible, you want to rip your hair out and never read another book again they are so bad. I am thinking specifically of The Pillars of Creation.
In this book Mr. Goodkind introduces two new characters at the beginning. Not only does he introduce two new charcters, completely out of the blue, these characters (Jensen and Oba) are the subject of every single chapter in the book, and the first word of 90% of the chapters, is "Oba". Plus, he kills one of these characters at the end (I won't spoil the surprise in case you decide to keep reading, but it's pretty obvious by page 2 who needs to go). Richard is briefly mentioned for about 2 pages of the last chapter. Tell me, is that something you want to read, when you liked WFR because of Richard's character?
Most of the other books past book 3 are almost as bad, but they actually have some relevant plot in them, so I won't ruin it.
I have read them all to date because I liked book 1 so I went out and bought all of them at once (big mistake) and then I felt like I should keep reading so I could at least give myself some closure when the series finally ended.

It would be hard for a series of 12 or so books of 500+ pages each to all be good, but really only the first 3 are good enough for a reread (and I reread everything). They are an utter waste of paper, and I really can't remember many specific details, because they all blend together.

Save yourself the torture. May I suggest reading Jacqueline Carey's books instead, still a series, but much much better. Everyone I've lent my copy of "Kushiel's Dart" to has become hooked by the end of the first chapter.

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Since I was a little girl I have been fascinated with books. Early photos show me with a book in hand, even if it was not exactly my reading level... My first word was a made-up word meaning 'book', actually. I suppose I had my priorities at an early age... Over the years my interest in books has become one of the defining features of who I am as a person. You can probably call me a bookworm. While I have other interests, reading will always be the one I talk about the most, even if I am not focusing on it as much as I used to.

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