Soul of the Fire: Sword of Truth, Book 5

I've been reading this series over and over since the first book "Wizards 1st Rule" came out, with the original cover and without the list of subsequent titles in the front. Terry writes his characters in a magical way that draws you to fall in love with each hero almost immediately. Most characters, at least all the main ones, are extremely realistic and relatable. Richard and Kahlan's struggle has always kept me plowing through new books as they come out.A lot of other reviews do mention a sizeable amount of repetition in some of these books. I have to agree and disagree at the same time. Terry seems to do a very good job of repeating a paragraph or 2 to lay sense to a newer situation, also in a later book. A little of it does get repetitious, but it's really nothing to shake a stick at.The only thing I DO have to whine about a little is (as I have all the paperbacks, kindle versions, and audiobooks) the audiobook narrators. Some are better than others, and for different reasons. Sam Tsoutsouvas did an absolutely incredible job with the first book. Jim Bond did great with Stone of Tears, but he must not have listened to the first one since he completely changed some voices to sound... off, and very out of character. Zedd definitely sounded weird. Dick Hill left a little to be desired, but did a great job. I believe he's the one that kept pronouncing Addie as "eighty". And Buck Schirner seemed to keep this pattern going in Blood of the Fold and Soul of the Fire by repetitively calling Du Chaillu "dooshaloo". Honestly, it's this dooshaloo nonsense that drew me to write this review to begin with.I'm a die-hard fan of the books, and still greatly enjoyed the TV series (despite a lot of negativity). I'd injured my eye recently at work and have been unable to focus on much and was instructed to lay around with my eyes closed during recovery. I've been chugging through all these audiobooks one after the other. The only complaint I have about ANY of it, is the mispronunciation of some things that we're all super familiar with, and possibly conflicting voice acting which sometimes confuses characters in your mind's eye. Kahlan was also voiced as a very "weak" person, despite her incredible power, tenacity, and rank, in Temple of the Winds. That may have simply been Dick Hill's perception of her or his acting range.With that being said, read all the books, and vote Gratch. <3

This book has suspense! It plays your emotions like a fine violin! I didn't want it to end! Goodkind is a very talented writer!

This book has been by far the hardest for me to read. I had read all the reviews and so was not expecting this one to be so painful. It was difficult to read because there were so many switch backs.The characters that need to be together never seem to be together. As far as I am concerned the author could have left Du Chaillu back in her homeland where she belongs. I realize that this made Kahlan Richard's 3rd wife but 'please'.I also came to dislike Kahlan through most of the book. Her treatment of Richard as some stupid child and her air of superiority really gave me heartburn. I have always been ambivalent toward's her anyway. I want him to have what he wants, but she can be a bit much at times. Of course in real life it seems that men always want the women that treat them like dirt under their feet, so what do I know? I really didn't like the way the story progressed, I hated that Richard was crushed like that by people that didn't deserve his help, but I also realized that it was trying to convey that sometimes when people have been beaten down for so long, they don't have the will or the courage to try to break their bonds. This was shown to the Prelate Annaline when the Sisters of the Light that she tried to rescue betrayed her to Jagang and then the crushing emotional defeat that Richard suffered and the terrible thing that happened to Kahlan. The woman was once again acting like a twit by not telling Richard that she was pregnant and then if she hadn't decided to abort the child she wouldn't have been out there alone. She has absolutely no respect for the man at all in spite fo the lip service she pays.Anyway I didn't think he was ever going to get the Chimes to go back to the underworld and I was really taken aback at how he accomplished it. Then Zedd was pretty much useless in this entire book. In fact he really doesn't seem to be able to help Richard all that much. He is too busy playing footsie with the ladies he encounters and playing games. I am beginning to think that he will be of no help to Richard in learning to use his magic and what was with the stupid Raven? We were left wondering what happened to Zedd after he became himself again. The one thing that I liked about this book was what Dalton did in the end. I thought that was poetic justice. A priceless way to bring an end to such depravity.I have just started the next book in the series and already I am beginning to wonder what in the heck Terry is doing this time. I wish I could just not go on to the next book when I know that I am going to be tense through the whole thing....but I have to know what happens so I guess that Terry Goodkind has accomplished what he set out to do...he has hooked this reader.

As my title says, this book is totally brilliant.Terry Goodkind has the ability to create characters that are truly believable. In this book, not only do we follow characters we know and expand upon our knowledge of them, but Terry introduces new characters and within a few paragraphs we start to understand them.The storyline is also riveting and has you not wanting to put the book down (I'm writing this at 2:30am). The plot moves along at a good pace and lulls you into thinking you know what's going to happen. Just as you get comfortable there is a twist that you didn't see coming and that turns things upside down.Despite this being the 5th book in the series there is nothing old in the story. In fact, I was shocked to find out that I've already read 5 books. The whole story is so engrossing that I didn't realise that I had bought that many.If you like fantasy novels then I urge you to read these, you will not be disappointed.

I have to say I was warned that the series took a bit of a downturn after the first 4 book. But I disagree! I really enjoyed this installment as Goodkind again draws on so many threads to weave a brilliant story. It has everything, love, violence, magic, and a few scares for me too! The 'lurk' at the beginning was quite scary, though believe me, everyone will laugh if you try to explain that to them.My usual criticism is that the stories are often quite slow in the beginning until you hit the turning point and can't put it down. Not so with this one, from the beginning you have an idea of the direction of the story and are drawn in. There are a few slow patches, but overall it keeps you engaged.The actual story continues immediately from the events of the previous book. Richard and Kahlan really can't seem to catch a break and separate from Zed again. In fact lots of the characters seem to branch off into their own missions and occasionally this can be a bit irritating, as the chapter finishes on a cliffhanger with one character and onto another!On the bright side, the chapters seem shorter and sharper than previous books and it doesn't take long for your character to resurface. Wonderful stuff. You won't be disappointed!

I am a huge fan of the Sword of Truth series and am avidly reading my way through having just finished Faith of the Fallen. Regrettably, the pace of this book was utterly pedestrian, the sub-plot both shallow and unnecessary and the outcome frustrating. More frustrating was the distrust by some characters, particularly Kahlan, over the Seeker's intuition, despite the fact that it had been proven to be a saviour in countless situations. This is either a blip or the start of an inexorable downward slope as the (previously fantastic) plot runs out of steam.

Overall this is a good read. It follows the pattern of what went before. But...In the middle of the book he introduces some new characters. It gets a bit bogged down at that point. There is a whole lot of story about an oppressed population. It seems he is making a political point. It rather detracts from the story.

I don't often write reviews but feel I have to with this series. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading these books and love the characters and the lands they created. Apart from a little bit of repetition of certain points they are a really good read and I could not wait to read the next book in the series each time I finished one