Wizard's First Rule: Sword of Truth, Book 1
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars | 14,758 ratings
Price: 30
Last update: 08-27-2024
About this item
In the aftermath of the brutal murder of his father, Richard Cypher encounters a mysterious woman, Kahlan Amnell, in his forest sanctuary. She seeks his help...and more. His world, his very beliefs, are shattered when ancient debts come due with thundering violence. In their darkest hour, Kahlan calls upon Richard to reach beyond his sword—to invoke within himself something more noble. Neither knows that the rules of battle have just changed...or that their time has run out. This is the beginning. One book. One rule. Witness the birth of a legend. “Wonderfully creative, seamless, and stirring.” – Kirkus Review
Top reviews from the United States
Kindle Customer5.0 out of 5 stars
If you watch the show....
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2024
If you watched the show, the book is so amazing there is so much more and details that weren't in the show. It'll take some time to adjust my feelings about the differences but it was still an amazing journey to take. And on to the next one!
Chance5.0 out of 5 stars
Couldn't let this book out of my sight.
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2013
I'll try to avoid spoilers since some reviews really ruined a part of the book for me.
For background on the book, it's as medieval fantasy as you can get. It is definitely not a children's book, it has quite a bit of adult content. Not recommended to anyone who would freak out at a scene of child violence and perverted characters (and no it's not a common theme don't worry much). If you have read George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books you will be familiar with the dark settings. If you have gone through other reviews, you might think the book is terribly graphic and horrifying, but it is by no means a monster. I saw the dark chapters as a trial for the protagonists to overcome and become stronger because of it, I was not turned down by those chapters.
Even though the outline of the plot is pretty typical for fantasy, with your nobody 18 year oldish woodsman finding love and becoming the white knight in shining armor to fight evil; the story and the world its based in is very unique in my opinion. Especially the magic has an interesting and deep mystery to it. If you're into romance that's a little sappy and has drama you'll love the story even more. Romance was one of the core things I enjoyed. Above all, the characters were fantastic and memorable, Terry Goodkind really nails down personality well. You should be able to feel and understand the characters on a deep level.
I burned through this book in a couple of days and hated that I could have gotten some work done instead of reading. All though I don't regret that.From other reviews I've read, I have never been a picky critic, I enjoy a story for what it is despite any errors on how it is written. Other reviewers may say they were irritated by the writing style and grammar, but I did not notice anything bad. I was able to understand the story and message pretty clear, I was too engrossed with my love for the characters to notice. There was not much I disliked about the book except for the lengthy dialogue when it came to the main character learning important life lessons. A thing that I both liked and disliked was that there was always something interesting happening, if you wanted to stop reading it would undoubtedly be on a cliffhanger.
I'd give this book 4 and a half stars in the end.
By the way if you were like me and read the latest book "The Third Kingdom" of this series first unknowingly like I have, this is still worth the read. There is so much to know.
For background on the book, it's as medieval fantasy as you can get. It is definitely not a children's book, it has quite a bit of adult content. Not recommended to anyone who would freak out at a scene of child violence and perverted characters (and no it's not a common theme don't worry much). If you have read George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books you will be familiar with the dark settings. If you have gone through other reviews, you might think the book is terribly graphic and horrifying, but it is by no means a monster. I saw the dark chapters as a trial for the protagonists to overcome and become stronger because of it, I was not turned down by those chapters.
Even though the outline of the plot is pretty typical for fantasy, with your nobody 18 year oldish woodsman finding love and becoming the white knight in shining armor to fight evil; the story and the world its based in is very unique in my opinion. Especially the magic has an interesting and deep mystery to it. If you're into romance that's a little sappy and has drama you'll love the story even more. Romance was one of the core things I enjoyed. Above all, the characters were fantastic and memorable, Terry Goodkind really nails down personality well. You should be able to feel and understand the characters on a deep level.
I burned through this book in a couple of days and hated that I could have gotten some work done instead of reading. All though I don't regret that.From other reviews I've read, I have never been a picky critic, I enjoy a story for what it is despite any errors on how it is written. Other reviewers may say they were irritated by the writing style and grammar, but I did not notice anything bad. I was able to understand the story and message pretty clear, I was too engrossed with my love for the characters to notice. There was not much I disliked about the book except for the lengthy dialogue when it came to the main character learning important life lessons. A thing that I both liked and disliked was that there was always something interesting happening, if you wanted to stop reading it would undoubtedly be on a cliffhanger.
I'd give this book 4 and a half stars in the end.
By the way if you were like me and read the latest book "The Third Kingdom" of this series first unknowingly like I have, this is still worth the read. There is so much to know.
High Fantasy Reader4.0 out of 5 stars
Epic characters and story, average writer
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2009
Though personally, I found this book to be to my liking, especially compared to the rest of the series, I will be the first fan of Wizard's First Rule to admit that Terry Goodkind is not a good writer, only a competent one with a gift for creating characters that I care about and enjoy following. If you're thinking of buying it, there are strengths and weaknesses you'll want to keep in mind before you decide whether this is the type of book you'd love or hate. Most people who read Wizard's First Rule tend to fall into one of those two categories. In this book, there is an intense load of good stuff, but also enough bad stuff to give anyone grounds to declare it terrible.
I'll start with the cons. Firstly, this story is not really original, and "borrows" quite a few things from other stories. The plot and some of the revelations are somewhat similar to Star Wars at some points, and Lord of the Rings is all over. For example, there is a deformed creature who was once a man, but after possessing a magical item of great power that the protagonist later comes to posses, he becomes stunted, vicious, greedy, and obsessed with getting the item back. If you've ever read Tolkien's work, you'll know exactly who Terry Goodkind ripped off here.
Another thing that might turn off some potential readers is the heavy degree of violence, torture, and gore. This is one scene in which one of the protagonists slices an enemy's head in half, and the author vividly describes every single bit of blood and brain and skull fragment that flies through the air. In another, a character is brutally tortured and abused for several chapters, and Goodkind doesn't shy away from any of the more gruesome details.
Then there's the worldbuilding. I've read quite a bit of epic fantasy, and I believe that the maps of the world the story is based in are a crucial part of the novel. This is one area where Wizard's First Rule falls flat on its face, with only some excusableness. The names of the major lands are unimaginative and mostly based on cardinal directions--three of the four lands are called "Westland", "The Midlands," and "The Old World." I'm surprised Goodkind didn't call D'Hara(the one imaginatively named place), "The Easternlands"! It would have fitted in better with the others.
The map is empty and barren, with only one or two major towns or cities in each land. Rivers run south to north, parallel to each other, with no exceptions, and long, thin chains of mountains dominate the landscape. There weren't nearly enough physical features or names marked.
Still, this would be excusable if the author continues to expand and detail his world further in later books, because he does a pretty good job showing the landscape as his characters travel through it, and especially in building culture and history of the different lands. These two areas are top notch. Another definite good point to be said about the worldbuilding is that his world actually seems like a medieval place, unlike most fantasy worlds, which are comprised of modern people running around castles and forts with swords in their hands.
The dialogue is also thoroughly terrible, and loaded with cringe-inducing lines. At times, it sounds like the characters are trying very hard to read an abysmal script that was written by someone who'd never heard real people talk, before.
Yet despite those problems, the novel impressed me by the strength of the characterization if nothing else. Though the dialogue was really bad, the characters acted, reacted, and communicated very well, and it isn't difficult to become attached to them. By "characters" I of course mean the three main ones: Richard, Kahlan, and Zedd. They were the best developed and most interesting characters in the novel, and I suspect I would have overlooked far larger flaws so long as I was reading about those three people. As the plot moved along, the interactions between them seemed more genuinely the natural actions between a bunch of allies working to the same end than simply a string of plot contrivances. The only two-dimensional character was probably Darken Rahl, the villain, a person who is painted as so purely evil as to be ridiculous at times. Spending several chapters in his POV and watching him commit depravity after depravity was hamfisted on Goodkind's part, at best.
Though the plot is your standard, "young hero gets a powerful magic sword and sets out to kill the Dark Lord", it's surprisingly well constructed. Many hidden character interactions and subtle plot movements, plenty of POV characters, suspense, and other good stuff.
Terry Goodkind seems to have a particular talent for creating hopeless, hell-on-earth situations for his protagonist. This contributes a lot to suspense and tension, if you have the rigor to stand it.
Probably what made me like the plot so much was how developed it felt, like it was compressing an entire trilogy into one book. As such, WFR makes an excellent standalone, especially considering how wrong the plot goes in the later books. You may want to consider reading just this one and pretending that everyone just lives happily ever after.
In conclusion, Wizard's First Rule is a very good book, albeit one with some definite flaws. If you can get past the author's less-than-impressive degree of skill and just focus on the characters and plot, it won't be a disappointing read.
I'll start with the cons. Firstly, this story is not really original, and "borrows" quite a few things from other stories. The plot and some of the revelations are somewhat similar to Star Wars at some points, and Lord of the Rings is all over. For example, there is a deformed creature who was once a man, but after possessing a magical item of great power that the protagonist later comes to posses, he becomes stunted, vicious, greedy, and obsessed with getting the item back. If you've ever read Tolkien's work, you'll know exactly who Terry Goodkind ripped off here.
Another thing that might turn off some potential readers is the heavy degree of violence, torture, and gore. This is one scene in which one of the protagonists slices an enemy's head in half, and the author vividly describes every single bit of blood and brain and skull fragment that flies through the air. In another, a character is brutally tortured and abused for several chapters, and Goodkind doesn't shy away from any of the more gruesome details.
Then there's the worldbuilding. I've read quite a bit of epic fantasy, and I believe that the maps of the world the story is based in are a crucial part of the novel. This is one area where Wizard's First Rule falls flat on its face, with only some excusableness. The names of the major lands are unimaginative and mostly based on cardinal directions--three of the four lands are called "Westland", "The Midlands," and "The Old World." I'm surprised Goodkind didn't call D'Hara(the one imaginatively named place), "The Easternlands"! It would have fitted in better with the others.
The map is empty and barren, with only one or two major towns or cities in each land. Rivers run south to north, parallel to each other, with no exceptions, and long, thin chains of mountains dominate the landscape. There weren't nearly enough physical features or names marked.
Still, this would be excusable if the author continues to expand and detail his world further in later books, because he does a pretty good job showing the landscape as his characters travel through it, and especially in building culture and history of the different lands. These two areas are top notch. Another definite good point to be said about the worldbuilding is that his world actually seems like a medieval place, unlike most fantasy worlds, which are comprised of modern people running around castles and forts with swords in their hands.
The dialogue is also thoroughly terrible, and loaded with cringe-inducing lines. At times, it sounds like the characters are trying very hard to read an abysmal script that was written by someone who'd never heard real people talk, before.
Yet despite those problems, the novel impressed me by the strength of the characterization if nothing else. Though the dialogue was really bad, the characters acted, reacted, and communicated very well, and it isn't difficult to become attached to them. By "characters" I of course mean the three main ones: Richard, Kahlan, and Zedd. They were the best developed and most interesting characters in the novel, and I suspect I would have overlooked far larger flaws so long as I was reading about those three people. As the plot moved along, the interactions between them seemed more genuinely the natural actions between a bunch of allies working to the same end than simply a string of plot contrivances. The only two-dimensional character was probably Darken Rahl, the villain, a person who is painted as so purely evil as to be ridiculous at times. Spending several chapters in his POV and watching him commit depravity after depravity was hamfisted on Goodkind's part, at best.
Though the plot is your standard, "young hero gets a powerful magic sword and sets out to kill the Dark Lord", it's surprisingly well constructed. Many hidden character interactions and subtle plot movements, plenty of POV characters, suspense, and other good stuff.
Terry Goodkind seems to have a particular talent for creating hopeless, hell-on-earth situations for his protagonist. This contributes a lot to suspense and tension, if you have the rigor to stand it.
Probably what made me like the plot so much was how developed it felt, like it was compressing an entire trilogy into one book. As such, WFR makes an excellent standalone, especially considering how wrong the plot goes in the later books. You may want to consider reading just this one and pretending that everyone just lives happily ever after.
In conclusion, Wizard's First Rule is a very good book, albeit one with some definite flaws. If you can get past the author's less-than-impressive degree of skill and just focus on the characters and plot, it won't be a disappointing read.
JamesLuma5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best fantasy epics
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2024
This truly was an incredible journey. So many ups and downs, twists and turns. Goodkind has a way with words that I can't even begin to describe. I can't wait to read what more he has to offer!
George Slack5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Fantasy Adventure Series
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2024
I cannot recommend this series any higher. Love, Tolkien, Amber, White Gold Wielder, but Goodkind has written the best story ever. I am in the process of getting this in hardcover now, as this is a family treasure now.