We are now on our 5th night of our Sword of Truth 13 Night Marathon. Let us begin with the next book in the series…..Soul of the Fire.
Soul of the Fire by Terry Goodkind – a Review
I enjoyed Soul of the Fire, but in my opinion I thought that this was the worst of the first 5 books of Sword of Truth. There were some good parts, some boring parts and some exciting parts. The beginning and probably much of the middle was a little slow. But the beginning was nice to see Richard & Kahlan together, seeing the mud people, Cara, Zedd, Ann, Chandelan, the Bird man. The chicken not a chicken was a bit silly, but you got the point about the chimes being loose. I understand why Zedd & Ann lied to them, but are we ever going to have them work together. They constantly say Richard knows nothing, but Richard is more powerful then any of them, and he didn’t even need the Sword of Truth in the end.
When they left the mud people, even if that was a bit slow, I thought it went more downhill after that. Too slow for them to finally agree to go to Anderith. For whatever reason, especially in this book, Richard and Kahlan seemed to be disagreeing too much.
Goodkind is great with bringing in new characters, but in this book I thought there was too many new characters, and none of them were likeable. At first I liked Fitch, but ended up not liking him later. The scene with Fitch getting the Sword so easily, it was dumb, and having Cara chase him all the way back to Anderith was a bit unrealistic. I was happy in a way that he was killed. Beata was the only one I really liked throughout. In fact, would love to see her character come back again, more with Cara to learn. Du Chailen was an extra add on, to me though she was ok throughout and helped Kahlan at the end, but it served no real purpose.
I felt too much time was spent on these secondary characters, which actually became the main story. I know Goodkind was trying to show social backgrounds, the prejudices, as well as the evil leaders. Cranboor (both husband and wife) were bad, Dalton turned out to be one of the most baffling characters. At times he seemed nice, other times he showed no remorse to kill innocent people, so that he could get ahead. He truly was shocked at Franca’s death, turned into a hero (for a moment) when he scalped & killed Stein, and gave Richard his Sword back. But redeeming him was stupid, because he was the one who caused the deaths, helped Cranboor advance, and had them try to kill Kahlan. Another part I felt was unnecessary…Kahlan being pregnant, then losing it. What was the point???
I thought Zedd’s part as the raven was pretty good. He tried to get clues to Richard, and did try to help Franca. Even his horse was cute. Ann’s part with the sisters was boring to me, and also not necessary, except to show one of the sisters finally going back to the light. I enjoyed the ending, with Richard coming through without power or his sword. Overall, though I liked many parts, I was bored in too many parts, and did not enjoy reading so much about these unlikable characters. The end with Kahlan was so depressing…a real downer. I did like the chime theme, but thought Terry could have done more with it.
What are your thoughts? We really do want to know.
Reviewed by Barb
Another excellent review Miss Barb….maybe one day, I will catch up and read just for the pleasure!!!
That chicken is not a chicken….
My favorite sentence in a book EVER!
Fantastic review once again Ms. Barb. You have such a wonderful way of balancing what you liked about the book, and what you did not….much like this series itself, has balance.
For me personally, you are completely accurate in your comment that this book was the worst out of the first five. Considering how phenomenal books 1-4 were, as well as several of the books after, I was also quite disappointed with this one, especially after such a long wait.
The ending…..words cannot describe the outrage, and dissent among the fans of this series. After all this couple has suffered…for Kahlan to be beaten within an inch of life, and left for dead on her way back to tell Richard that she was pregnant with his child. Unforgiveable. However, you did ask what was the point? Sadly, it DID have a point.
Richard has always known Kahlan, without sight, without touch. He simply knows when she walks into a room. He can instantly feel her presence like a beacon within his soul. When he learned that the body he stumbled over in the dark, the lips he had blown air into, the chest he had pressed against in order to sustain life long enough to get the poor soul to help–was Kahlan. That she had lost the child he didnt even know she was carrying, and may herself not survive. As nothing else had before, this….this broke him.
Goodkind’s purpose was to shatter our glorious Richard. To bring the Seeker to his knees, lose faith in himself, his cause, and his every belief. It is this moment that Richard denies everything he is, and just gives up. On prophecy, on destiny, on everything he has come to know. It is in this moment he decides to take his beloved family, Kahlan and Cara back to “his” woods in Westland; where they can just BE, and to hell with the rest of the world.
This is the opening for possibly the most phenomenal piece of literature ever written. A novel so inspiring with its teachings about the value of life–that people apply it to their own to this day. A novel that has inspired people all over the world, and of all walks of life. The Sword of truth installment that you will hear talked about more than any other…Faith of the Fallen.
I believe this title was chosen not only because of the happenings showcased within, but because Richard himself is Fallen in the end of Soul of the Fire, and must not only instill faith within other hearts, and souls, but in his own as well. I cannot wait to read your review on the Spectacular FotF tonight Ms. Barb. I am loving so much, reliving this journey through your eyes.
Miranda I have to agree with you on all those points. As much as I disliked the majority of this book, the ending for me was it’s saving grace, even though I was outraged by it. However, I knew it was leading into something BIG and very monumental for this series. Which it did and didn’t disappoint me in the least with Faith of the Fallen. That book has to be one of the best in the series IMO, even though I do cherish Wizard’s First Rule just because it’s the first book to lead me on this wonderful journey in literature.
Agreed Marcie Mouse. As furious as I was with Goodkind, upon completion of Faith of the Fallen, I came to realize the old adage of “what does not kill you makes you stronger” applies to Richard in this case, and that the happenings of Soul of the Fire was meant to show case this.
Goodkind broke Richard down, in order to build him back up. More confident, more powerful, and more sure of himself than ever before. We never see Richard waver in conviction again after FotF. The effect of Richard truly believing in himself, a lone man prophecied to stop an entire army…would not have been so profound without the happenings in SotF
Totally agreed Miranda and could not have said it better. Your thoughts and comments just blow me away. You have such a knack for it my friend.
Having read this a year ago, not like you did at the time of it’s release, I did not see the public outrage. I know I was depressed after reading about Kahlan, and it ending like that. I was able to go right to Faith of the Fallen, you and everyone else has to wait so long..was it a year or longer?
I have too many books on my kindle to read, not to mention my tbr. But I would love to revisit some of these books again. One Day.
It has been a long time since I read this book. Your review, Barb, brings the memories flooding back. I do agree with you, this was not one of my favorite books of SOT, and the ending ripped into us. By us I mean some of my friends who also read this series. I told them to come here, at least to review these great reviews during the marathon.
wow Barb, plenty of work writing these reviews. Keep up the great work.