Haewon L. (nunah) reviewed on 9/12/2010 + 17 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

This book is not going to stop me from reading the rest of the books in the series, because I love the story of Richard and Kahlan's struggle, but I cannot say that this was a good book. I've come to accept that Goodkind thrives on explicit gory details of violent acts, but I cannot stomach how preachy he can get. Some times, Richard seems a little too one-sided in this book, especially in regards to the Bandakar. And the Bandakar are also another annoying group that Goodkind made up. They are simply too one-sided in their belief to be considered real or for my suspension of disbelief. I liked the Richard that was learning and was humble and was training, as was in the first books, but since he became Lord Rahl, it seems that his speeches on freedom and the need for war have gotten longer and more self-righteous. His ideas are too solidified too solidified in this book, and it seems that he is no longer consulting Kahlan for decisions. This does not make for me a redeeming nor admirable hero. I feel that in book 8, more than ever, Richard has become a walking ideal that everyone must protect a little too much, and a hero who wags his tongue with lengthy speeches a little too much, which makes him almost seem as though he had no compassion. And I believe in terms of writing, this was the most repetitive book yet. One thing is to mention things of the past to remind readers of events in previous books, another is to remind the reader of what happened in the previous chapter. There's A LOT of useless repetition that does that contribute to the plot, nor the style of the book.

In book 9, I'm hoping that with the focus away from Richard and more on Kahlan, that book 9 will be less like an arena for Goodkind to express long "inspiring" speeches on freedom, politics, absolute evil, and the necessity of war, and more like another great installment of Richard and Kahlan's story, like book 6, Faith of the Fallen, was, which was surprisingly, my favorite of all the 8 I've read so far.

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