We continue our Sword of Truth 13 Night Marathon, with Naked Empire, which is the 8th book in this series.
Naked Empire by Terry Goodkind – a Review
I went into reading Naked Empire, knowing this from all kinds of feedback I had heard that this could be the worst of the series. But surprisingly to me, I found this not to be the worst. It was not Goodkind’s best by far, but not the worst. I have mixed emotions on this book, some good and some bad, which I will note below. My personal opinion is I liked Naked Empire better then Soul of the Fire, and Pillars of Creation. At the end I will explain why I feel this way.
The beginning of this book was slow picking up pretty much right after the Pillars of Creation, as it was in actuality sort of a continuation. For a good part of the beginning of the book, Richard spent too much time explaining to Jennson his political views, and other repetitious stuff, such as the propaganda, speeches on freedom, especially to the Bandakar men. This book had the possibility of being excellent, as the earlier ones, had this not been overdone.
But there were some good parts I really enjoyed. I loved spending the entire book with Richard, Kahlan, and Cara, especially after almost nothing in Pillars. Loved spending more time with Zedd (though not good for Zedd and Adie). Thought Zedd’s rescue was super, seeing Chase, Rachel, then Rikka and Captain Zimmer, each come on their own to rescue them. That was fun. Nice to see Nathan again, even if it was for a short period. Enjoyed Richard finally breaking through to the people and get them to help him fight the enemy. Owen, Anson and the Bandakar men were good characters, and it is an excellent storyline that you do need to recognize & not blind yourself to evil, or you will lose in the end to that same evil.
Nicholas the Slide, was hideous, but an excellent villain. I do not like Jagang, and look forward to the end when Jagang the Just, gets his justice from Richard & Kahlan.
Ok, why did I rate this book better then either Soul of the Fire or the Pillars of Creation. Though it was not my favorite book, due the repetitious political speeches, it was a relaxing read. I did not like Soul of the Fire, hated the people of Anderith, and hated what they did to Kahlan. Though nice to meet Jennson in Pillars, and some of the story was ok, I missed the main ingredient of SOT, Richard and Kahlan. In Naked Empire, there were many parts I found enjoyable, and interesting. The end was very good; trying to find the antidote, winning the fight against the imperial order with the men of Bandakar, Richard finding the truth and learning to use his gift, rescuing Kahlan, and the killing of Nicholas was exciting. But most of all, I guess I am totally obsessed with Richard, Kahlan and Cara. Just seeing them, spending almost the whole book with them, and reading nothing that stressed me out, made me rate this book higher then the other two.
What did you think?
Reviewed by Barb
