Now that the Sword of Truth series has ended, we have all waited impatiently for what Terry calls his Richard and Kahlan novel……The Omen Machine begins what we hope will be more then just one book, perhaps another trilogy or more. On to The Omen Machine……
The Omen Machine by Terry Goodkind
The Omen Machine is not a sequel to Sword of Truth. Terry Goodkind calls it a Richard and Kahlan novel. From the start, we got to see Richard and Kahlan together walking around meeting people outside of the Palace. The mystery begins immediately. It was wonderful to see them, Cara, Zedd, Nathan, Nicci and Benjamin again. It was like a family reunion and this to me is what makes this book an enjoyable read. It was great for a change that Richard and Kahlan were together for most of the book.
The Omen Machine was fast paced, moves quickly into the plot, though a bit redundant at times (prophecy..prophecy), but it was a dark, and mysterious plot. The two main villains (though other villainous sub characters/creatures), both sort of creepy, but you don’t really get to see them too much. One mostly at the end, and the other a bit throughout, but he will most certainly be the main villain in the next book.
Though I really enjoyed reading the book, and it was well written, it did have a different feel then most of the Sword of Truth novels. Not sure exactly what it was, something seemed to be missing, as it reminded me more of Law of Nines, then the wonderful final book (Confessor) in SOT. Do not get me wrong, it was still an excellent book, and it was a joy to be with my favorites again. Perhaps because it was a shorter book, with less detail, it did seem a little rushed towards the end.
There were lots of things I thoroughly enjoyed, besides Richard & Kahlan together; Cara & Benjamin, Kahlan standing up to the Midland & D’haran leaders, Nicci being called in to stand by Kahlan and reading out of the rules how they would have to sacrifice their lives, was funny, as the page was blank, but it did work; the strange evil thing that was watching them; not one but two evil people that match some of Terry’s previous villians.
Another key point in this book, and I can be happy about that, is the torture element was used sparingly and not to main characters, so you did not get to see much of that. It was an exciting ending, but again seemed rushed. I kept looking at how many pages that were left when it was near the end, wondering how the hell was Terry going to complete this. The ending was sort of a cliffhanger, but not in a way that I hated in other cliffhangers. Though it wasn’t set, you knew it would be ok. But it was this ending that ensures another book, and shows how it seemed cut off. It shows that Terry has much more in store for us, especially with one of the villains still to be met and dealt with, as well as the Omen Machine. Again, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, but for me it did have something missing from the at least the last three books in Sword of Truth. But I cannot wait for the next book for more on Richard and Kahlan.
Reviewed by Barb
