The Stone of Tears

After finishing the first book in the Sword of Truth series, I had to continue reading. Terry Goodkind is becoming one of my favorite authors. They way he crafts plot twists is intriguing. Either he will make it so that you know it's coming, and something totally unexpected happens, or he will make it so that you don't know it's coming but you knew that the event would have happened sometime in the book.

The book that I am reading right now is The Stone of Tears. Like the previous book, this story follows the lives of Richard Cyper and Kahlan Amnell. It picks up almost exactly to the minute where the last book stopped. This book follows the events of what happens after the antagonist is stopped in the last book. Even thought that character isn't in the book directly for some parts of it, his lasting effects are still seen throughout the book. It becomes bigger than Richard and the antagonist and comes to include the destruction of the whole world.

Since I am still reading it, (about halfway through) I have no spoilers for this book. Out of about 900 or so pages, I am around the three-hundred to three-fifty mark. Already the plot is heating up and the characters have me hooked to this book. I can't wait to continue reading and find out what else Terry Goodkind has cooked up to shock me out of my shoes.

The Wizard's First Rule

I just finished the first novel in The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. It was titled The Wizard's First Rule. This book is an excellent blend of fantasy and romance. It follows the story of a man named Richard Cypher, as well as his main two counterparts, Kahlan and Zedd. It takes place in an almost Middle-Earth sort of world that is divided into three main sections. The Westland, The Midlands and D'Hara are the three main sections of the book, but inside of them are many other little sections just like states that we have today. Richard Cypher grew up in the Westland, a land of no magic. At the beginning of his quest he begins to move into the Midlands, with the help of Kahlan, to defeat Darken Rahl, a man threatening to take over the whole world. Richard is in for a huge shock when he adventures into unexpected and confusing territory that is the Midlands. This series is titled The Sword of Truth because that is what is bestowed upon him by his friend Zedd. It is what allows him to become The Seeker, who is on the search of the ultimate truth.

This book is a classic fantasy novel, which contains magic, love, action and different beasts along the way. Terry Goodkind masterfully crafts the characters and the plot into a huge mountain that is always going up and down. Sometimes a difficult charge uphill into battle, or maybe a jump off of a cliff into the unknown. I love Richard as a character because he is very witty and well-rounded, but if it comes to fighting, he will do what needs to be done. He is also funny in the fact that he doesn't take it from anyone.

The first two books in the fourteen book series have been adapted into television shows. Richard (middle), Zedd (left), and Kahlan (right), are all pictured above. The last episode of the second season aired in 2010.