In the mid-90′s Terry Goodkind appeared as a new author in the Fantasy genre with an epic tale of adventure and good versus evil in the tradition of Robert Jordan and Terry Brooks. The Sword of Truth series begins with the murder of Richard Cypher’s father and the sudden appearance of a mysterious woman, Kahlan Amnel, who is pursued and violently attacked while Richard makes his way through the woods. He doesn’t think, he just acts on instinct, and saves the woman’s life – not knowing who is she or why she’s here – just that she needs help and she’s in “his woods.” Richard is a woods guide in the usually peaceful Westland, and while coming to terms with his father’s recent death, he pledges to help Kahlan find a nameless wizard in hiding and escort her back across the impassable boundaries to the Midlands. Soon, he is caught up in her quest and must help defeat the evil sorcerer and would-be world conqueror, Darken Rahl.
If any of this sounds familiar, it’s probably because these books are the basis for the syndicated TV series Legend of the Seeker (but, as with most TV and movie adaptations, there are significant differences.) Goodkind’s world is richly detailed with many magical creatures and unique details, one of the most interesting being that the “world” was divided into three distinct areas at the end of the last war by placing the magical and nearly impassible boundaries between them. To the West are the Westlands, a place where magic does not exist, as all things and people magical were removed before the boundary was put up; in the middle is the Midlands, where magic exists and people are more or less free to live their lives; but, to the East is D’Hara, where the despotic Darken Rahl rules and all are subject to him.
I won’t spoil the details of exactly how Richard comes to help in this desperate fight to defeat evil or how it might (or might not) be related to his father’s death. And I especially won’t spoil the best thing in the whole book – what the wizard’s first rule actually is. This is a magnificent first novel filled with great action & adventure, and compelling characters set in a wonderfully developed fantasy realm. The Sword of Truth is a very good series that has become part of the modern Fantasy cannon. At least, most of the series is good. Some writers, like Jim Butcher for example, get better with each subsequent book, while other writers start out strong and after the first few books, tend to go downhill. Unfortunately for us, Mr. Goodkind is one of the latter. Don’t get me wrong, I loved this book and at least the next four or so in the series. But, after book five Goodkind, through Richard, begins to assert his political and moral agenda and the books do become a bit “preachy.” However, the last three books make up for this a bit as there is a bit less preaching (or maybe I just got used to it) and a more compelling story. Despite the fact that I don’t care for some books in the middle of the series, The Sword of Truth is still one of my favorite Fantasy series, and Wizard’s First Rule (which can be read as a stand alone story, by the way) is one of my favorite stories period.
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Tags: Dan B.'s Picks, Epic, Fantasy
