Blood of the Fold

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

This review refers to the SOT series through book 9.

Terry Goodkind???s first book Wizard???s First Rule was great! Except for the actual First Rule (“People are Stupid”), which was...stupid. The story had so many unique and fascinating characters (especially the secondary ones). I was in love with Richard; I wanted to be a Mord-Sith. The next couple of books of The Sword of Truth were pretty good, too.

Then...I don???t know what happened...it just TOTALLY lost it. The writing style became incredibly annoying and Richard was getting WAY too preachy (constant Ayn Rand-ish humanistic ranting). But, I kept going because I was really invested by this time. And each time I bought one of his $25 hardback books, I found myself rolling my eyes at every passive sentence and starting to fall asleep during the sermons (when did Richard hire a speech writer??).

And the plot really got ssslllllloooowwww (just look at the book covers for Chainfire and Phantom ??? you can tell we're not going anywhere). But the weirdest thing is that I kept buying these 1 star books! I can???t explain my behavior, except to say that Terry Goodkind is (was) a master at plot and characterization (truly, his secondary characters are so well done). So I kept thinking that things would get better, but they did not. How did he pull off that excellent first booK?? I've learned from this experience that I can put down a book if it's not good. There's too much good literature to read.

According to Mr Goodkind, those of us who have bailed out are ignorant and uneducated. Wow. That is something I have never been called before. I should have realized right from the start (“Wizard's First Rule: People are stupid”) what kind of fellow Terry Goodkind is. Here is a quote from a chat session conducted with Mr Goodkind (this used to be on his website, but has now been removed. It is well-documented on the internet, however.):

“Why would they continue to read books they claim are bad? Because they hate that my novels exists. Values arouse hatred in these people. Their goal is not to enjoy life, but to destroy that which is good ??? much like a school child who does not wish to study for a test and instead beats up a classmate who does well. These people hate what is good because it is good. Their lives are limited to loathing and indifference. It isn't that they want to read a good book, what they want is to make sure that you do not. Ignore them.” ???Terry Goodkind

I say Terry Goodkind is the one acting like a school child having a tantrum. I regret that he got so much of my money. I hope you won't give him any of yours. If you really want to try a Goodkind book, I would recommend that you go to the library and check out the first few, and then trust me that you don't need to read any further. I will not read the last book. I'm not even tempted. What an ass.

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Surprise through and through. I love how Goodkind keeps it interesting. The characters are engaging and different. The world is believable but mysterious. A bit more exposition than I wanted, but most of the plot is driven by action.

This is the 3rd book in the Terry Goodkinds sword of truth series.

The storyline revolves aroud a group called the blood of the fold and the continued conflict between our main characters Richard, Kahlan and Zed and the Imperial order that is hellbent on taking over the world.

The blood of the fold is a extremist group that wants to abolish magic in the world and thus poses a threat to Dhara, and all those like Richard, Kahlan and Zed that use magic, Meanhile the Imperial Order lead by Emperor Jagang is determiend to dominate the world.

Jagang is a dreamwalker able to take control of your mind in your dreams and bend you to his will

Overall I did enjoy this book, but there were some drawbacks, specifically in one part where we see some anti LGBTQ ideology present. The character involved tries to rationlize but does not work very well.

With regard to overall story line and plot I did enjoy seeing continue world building and introduction of new characters and magics to the world that has been built and created. I like how Terry Goodkind has arranged for the Prophecies to be fulfilled and using plot or narratives to make it appear as if the prophecies will be fullfilled by means other than how they are done.

good read overall, not great but not terrible 3.5 stars for me