We begin the 4th night of our Sword of Truth 13 Night Marathon. Tonight’s post is Temple of the Winds.
Temple of the Winds by Terry Goodkind – a Review
Temple of the Winds is Terry Goodkind’s 4th Sword of Truth book. I absolutely loved Temple of the Winds. What made this great was that it got my attention from the beginning, which I enjoyed and continued to move forward at a rapid pace, and a humdinger of an ending. I do have to note, for those who have not read this series, there are some spoilers in this review. So if you don’t want to know, then do not read further.
I adored the beginning with Richard, Kahlan and the mord-sith girls. I loved how he was able to soften them up with feeding the chipmunks..cute. I loved their interaction with their sister of the agiel, Kahlan. I have come to love Cara, as one of the strongest female characters that I have read. In this case, Bravo to Goodkind for making such strong female leads as Kahlan, Cara, Berdine (I really like her), Raina, and even Denna (who I did not like early on).
I did not like Nadine, nor Drefan. I knew she was a bitch. On that same thought, I knew early on that he was bad. I knew when Drefan violated Cara while she was out of it, that he was another villain under the disguise of being Richard’s nice guy brother. Kahlan sensed that early, but never let herself look deeply at the real Drefan.
The plague was a good story, but I thought it was too long, with some new unnecessary characters. I guess the point was to show the devastation and grief. I loved Nathan, and Zedd as usual. Ann was ok, at times irritating. Verna too was ok, not as good as in previous. I really liked Shota in this book, and was happy Kahlan and her made peace..for now. But all, including Zedd have come realize the awesome power of Richard.
Now we come to Richard and Kahlan once again being torn apart. It is one thing when Goodkind separates them over and over again. But to force them to marry another, then have them “consummate their marriage’ immediately was a fiasco. To make Kahlan who loved Richard more then life itself..do what she did and have Richard (& fans doubt her)… I felt bad for her, as she fought her horror with her soul the first time thinking it was Drefan….she was out of her mind, thinking all was lost forever & let her screwed up emotions rule her behavior. Cara doing the switch..somehow, somewhere there should have been a warning…just me venting. Fortunately it wasn’t Drefan, so we can be happy about that.
The ending was intense, exciting, totally awesome. Though I hated the part where Drefan became the Lord Rahl. Again was thrilled when Nadine was killed after hearing her laugh and giggle thinking she was having sex with Richard. Glad Deena helped again to push Richard back, and also Richard hopefully finally eliminating Darken Rahl, and nice touch for Raina to be the light to help Richard gain his strength to fight Drefan. Kahlan suffering, yet doing everything she could to help her sister Cara. At the end, Drefan was the main villain here, a certified madman. His torture of Cara with the rats, his stabbing Kahlan…and finally Richard….our magnificent Richard coming to his full power…healing Cara with what little strength he had …then though he had nothing left…healing the love of this life, Kahlan. Then using his power to bring himself to full strength….killing the hated Drefan with raw power was great.
I adored the ending…seeing Zedd, Shota coming to wish them luck and warn them; seeing the mud people (Chandelan, the Bird Man); finally to see them get married. Also funny to ignore Zedd telling them that the mud people want their spirit house back..lol Cara making sure to close the door and push him away. Classic…. Great book, great ending.
Tell us your own thoughts of Temple of the Winds.
Reviewed by Barb
