Death’s Mistress by Terry Goodkind – a Review
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Description:
Onetime lieutenant of the evil Emperor Jagang, known as “Death’s Mistress” and the “Slave Queen”, the deadly Nicci captured Richard Rahl in order to convince him that the Imperial Order stood for the greater good. But it was Richard who converted Nicci instead, and for years thereafter she served Richard and Kahlan as one of their closest friends–and one of their most lethal defenders.
Now, with the reign of Richard and Kahlan finally stablized, Nicci has set out on her own for new adventures. Her first job being to keep the unworldly prophet Nathan out of trouble…
Review:
Death’s Mistress by Terry Goodkind is the 1st book in his new series, Sister of Darkness: The Nicci Chronicles. I am a big fan of Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series, and was happy with the end of the arc of Richard and Kahlan. Though she was a villain early on in the series, Nicci became one of my favorites (besides Cara) later on. I was happy to see that Goodkind has started a new series that will revolve around Nicci, starting with Death’s Mistress.
At the start, our powerful sorceress Nicci and the wizard, Nathan were on a trek to visit with the witch, Red, whom Nathan had a request. Nicci and Nathan have been assigned by Richard to visit other realms and spread the word that the war and slavery is over, and everyone is free. Nicci decides to go with Nathan on his visit to the witch, protecting him since he would be entering dangerous grounds. Before they leave the witch, she will tell them of their destiny; Nathan to find the land that will restore his wizard powers, and Nicci to save the world.
What follows is an epic adventure that will bring in some new characters to join them, as they face some wild and dangerous situations that always come into play in these types of fantasy novels. At many different stops along the way, they come across dangerous and terrible situations with sea creatures or sand monsters, as well as two evil beings that lost their way from using powerful spells buried deep over the years. It will take the ultra powerful Nicci to use her magic to help save the others, as well as Nathan to help find the hidden information to stop the villains from destroying the world.
This is an exciting, non stop action filled story that has you totally engrossed in this adventure. It is difficult to tell too much more, as you need to read and visualize the action. I loved Nicci, and despite her being hard core, she has changed so much since changing her total loyalty to Richard, and in this book we begin to see a small change to her becoming emotionally attached. The two new characters who we meet early were very likeable. Bannon is a young man whom Nicci helps save, and then he joins her and Nathan on their adventure. Thistle is young girl, who loses her family in one of the horrible attacks; she too joins with them. There were many emotional moments throughout the book, which included being on the edge of your seat, fear and even tears.
Terry Goodkind has given us a new series that allows us to stay in the Sword of Truth world, with the focus on Nicci as our heroine. I for one am thrilled about this series, and will be waiting for the next one. If you are a fantasy lover, as well as Sword of Truth fan, I recommend you read Death’s Mistress.
Reviewed by Barb
