Terry Goodkind''s latest novel in The Sword of Truth
series is quite a bit shorter than the previous installments. Weighing in at a mere 587 pages it wouldn''t even counter-balance a single gallon of milk. On the up-side, this means that he has given us roughly the same amount of
plot as his other books (not counting Wizard''s First Rule) by merely cutting back on his infamous 10-page-at-a-time interspersions of philosophical meanderings. Actually, if you want to skip the philosophical bits entirely, they were all lumped together between pages 114 and 215. The rest of this
book is all action, and very exciting.
Let''s see... Without spoiling the plot, here''s the basics you''ll want to know about. Scenes with Jagang remain as graphic and unpleasant as ever. Rachel makes a return appearance after too long an absence, and remember wicked little Princess Violet from Wizard''s First Rule? She''s back, badder than ever, and has a new tongue in her mouth.
Very enjoyable book, but I think the last sentence might have been the most exciting: "BE SURE TO LOOK FOR THE NEXT AND
CONCLUDING BOOK IN THE SWORD OF TRUTH SERIES." I know - an 11-book series seems like a strange number to conclude on, but I need closure, so I won''t complain.
To those readers not familiar with this series, I recommend going in order starting with Wizard''s First Rule. However, Goodkind does insert enough
backstory throughout Chainfire to make it possible to understand what''s going on if you start with just the first book in this concluding trilogy. (*note* I had originally written that you could start with just this book, but on thinking about it, that would probably be a bit too confusing. The amount of backstory in this book was much less than Chainfire, and served mostly to help me remember the details I had forgotten since I last read a Sword of Truth book 1 year ago.)
In brief, the series goes as follows:
Wizard''s First Rule (first and best in the series)
Stone of Tears
Blood of The Fold (plot of the overall series is introduced)
Temple of The Winds
Soul of the Fire
Faith of the Fallen (Best book other than Wizard''s First Rule)
The Pillars of Creation (recommend skipping)
Naked Empire
Chainfire (first book in the concluding trilogy)
Phantom
Final Book (name not yet known)