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Title: Soul of the Fire (Sword of Truth, Book 5) by Terry Goodkind ISBN: 0-8125-5149-4 Publisher: Tor Fantasy Pub. Date: 15 March, 2000 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.56 (595 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: In one word: shallow.
Comment: I can remember when I read "Wizard's First Rule" I was impressed. Not only because it renewed my faith in the fantasy genre, but also because it was fun, hard to put down and -albeit a few cliches here and there- well written. I can remember forsaking many a night of going out just to stay in and reading about Richard, Kahlan and all of the other characters from this series that intrigued me so. The strongest point of the books was that: character development and the consistency these characters maintained throughout the story.
Unfortunately all that appears to have been lost in "Soul of the Fire". An avid reader of the series, I must say this last book was not up to par with the first four (although there has been a visible decadence since "Blood of the Fold"). Firstly, I was shocked to see that almost half of this book is dedicated not to the characters we know and love, but to Anderith and its people. I would be all well and good if they played a major role in what we are told is the story's epicentre (namely, the chimes), but unfortunately, they serve no higher good than providing constant anticlimaxes. Perhaps it is not just that, but rather that the characters are so badly created that no-one except for Fitch (and to an extent, Beata and Dalton) gets a reasonable development. Even so, Fitch is utterly inconsistent, sometimes showing incredible stupidity and sometimes the cold-heartedness of a mass murderer. When I started reading this book I thought Fitch would mimic characters such as Steerpike in "Gormenghast", slowly rising to power and corruption, perhaps not the freshest option but the most viable. He does not. Or rather, he half-does it. What is worse, he disappears for most of the second-half and comes back suddenly just to be cut off the story in a most casual fashion, again, something that shows another of the book's weaknesses.
It seems that the author tried to tell too many stories at a time, but couldn't finish them off properly (we know authors have deadlines too!). My hunch is that he had so many plotholes by the second half that he decided to write off many of the side stories (Beata, Fitch) to carry on with the main theme (the chimes). The last quarter of the book seems hurried and the conclusions are too abrupt for the reader to digest. Out of the blue, Richard comes up with the solution for beating the chimes, as abstract and underexplained as it is. The chimes, supposedly central to the story become just feeble reasons to innocuously explain the rest of the plots. The storytelling is shallow and incongruent, and after jumping from plot to plot, reading over unnecessarily dull chapters (most of them involving less than masterfully portrayed political scheming in Anderith) the reader becomes confused and frustrated.
There is some merit to this book, though. The simpering and almost sickeningly melose realtionship between Richard and Kahlan has been, fortunately, toned down. Furthermore, the book does off with much of the homoerotic porn novel eroticism that its predecessors contained, making it less "trashy" than before (reading about Richard's "manly chest" and "bulging, powerful arms" can get tiring after a while). Also, the narrative takes on a different style in "Soul of Fire", being concise and assertive rather than the more lyrical approach given to the other books. This neither enhances nor hinders the reading, but it does make the experience feel fresh.
I understand that authors cannot always write about the same things; clearly, in this book the author tried to stray from the traditional and create a different type of novel in his series. While I would not say that he has completely failed, it is far fom being a job well done. Moreover, this book has left me indifferent as to what may come next in the series. It feels like this was not a proper "Sword of Truth" book, but two books in one, one about Anderith and one about Richard and the chimes, both failing to converge in the end and leaving the novel it as it is: two unfinished, rushed parallel stories that hold little relation between one another.
Rating: 1
Summary: I'd give this zero stars, if I could.
Comment: I enjoyed all the Sword of Truth books prior to this one, and the Faith of the Fallen was a remarkable comeback. Soul of Fire lost me as soon as the Killer Chicken showed up. I only finished it because my sister assured me it got better after that. She lied.
Do yourself a favor, and don't waste your time. I agree with the reviewers who suggest skipping straight to Faith of the Fallen.
Rating: 5
Summary: a great book for almost all ages
Comment: this book is a breath taking book fit for every person looking for a good long intresting book fit for almost all ages this book is a great book wich i personally recommend to everyone. (if intrested you should start by reading the first book in the series the wizards first rule.)
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Title: Blood of the Fold (Sword of Truth, Book 3) by Terry Goodkind ISBN: 0812551478 Publisher: Tor Fantasy Pub. Date: 15 August, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Pillars of Creation (Sword of Truth, Book 7) by Terry Goodkind ISBN: 0765340747 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 05 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Stone of Tears (Sword of Truth, Book 2) by Terry Goodkind ISBN: 0812548094 Publisher: Tor Fantasy Pub. Date: 15 August, 1996 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Wizard's First Rule (Sword of Truth, Book 1) by Terry Goodkind ISBN: 0812548051 Publisher: Tor Fantasy Pub. Date: 15 July, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Naked Empire (Sword of Truth, Book 8) by Terry Goodkind ISBN: 0765305224 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 21 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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