Pillars of creation was probably the most different of Goodkind's books that I've read. Different in this case is good, but not great. The Wizard Rule posited in this book is "Life is the Future, not the Past."

Works pretty well with the theme of this book I suppose, considering that Goodkind puts away Ubermensch Richard Rahl and UberWife Kahlen Amnell and instead focuses his pen around the relatively unremarkable, yet spunky young lass Jennsen Dagget. Seriously. We see Richard and Kahlen for approximately 40 pages in this book. Zedd for even less.

So life is the future, not the past. Meaning don't cling to old tropes. Use reason to make sound judgement. Goodkind takes this to heart and tells a new story against the backdrop we've grown accustomed to. This is pretty cool - because for once he doesn't spend every other paragraph re-explaining to us the backstory of the seven other books that came before it. For people new to the story, this is an easy book to take in. For those of us who have been here the whole time, we know how it REALLY is and we get a lot of the in-jokes.

All-in-all it's really a pretty boring book. There was no time where I was ever SO captivated that I couldn't put it down. I didn't lose 2-3 hours of sleep on any given night because I couldn't close the book and put my head on the pillow. It was OK.

The good thing about this book compared to the last is that it wasn't overly soap-boxy. There was definitely a bit of Objectivism grandstanding in it, but far, FAR, *FAR* less than the last book that may as well have been called "Faith of the Fountainhead".

That said, there was one aspect that REALLY ground my gears. We spend the whole book driving to one BIG "I WILL KILL YOU" confrontation between Jensenn and Richard and - litterally - in 3 pages, she changes her mind COMPETELY and is cool with traveling with this dude that she spent the WHOLE book plotting to kill.

REALLY?

So yeah. Good? Not particularly. But another fun read, anyway.

I have to stop with the series at this one. After reading a few chapters, it was already getting excruciatingly painful to read. The others didn't get like that until the end. The suffering makes the ending that much more exquisite, but I can't tolerate an entire book of it.

Plus--Richard and Kahlan aren't the main characters?? What's up with that. I can see wanting to get a different perspective, but not the entire book...not for me anyway.

I stopped reading after the first chapter with Oba and decided to check out what I was in for by looking it up on Wiki. That's when I decided not to read any more in the series.

He really started to lose me in Faith of the Fallen when he started to really go off on this Objectivist philosophy of reason vs faith--reason good, faith bad--and you can't have both. Up until that I loved his philosophizing and profound wisdom speeches and themes. The richness and depth is now gone. This new anemic philosophy leaves the story flat and dull.

The joy no longer outweighs the pain.

I've been enjoying my reread of the Sword of Truth series but I'll admit that I took a bit of a pause after Faith of the Fallen. I was hesitant to move onto Pillars of Creation and Naked Empire as I recall being pretty disappointed with both books during my first read. The good news was the fact that I enjoyed Pillars of Creation much better this second time around. I think it was a case of forewarned is forearmed as this time I was aware in advance that Goodkind had benched Richard and Kahlan as lead characters and replaced them with Richard's previously unknown half-sister Jennsen Rahl. The first time I read Pillars of Creation I was expecting this to be a regular SoT instalment so felt a bit cheated by the bait and switch of the characters. I was likely too annoyed to properly enjoy the story as I kept expecting Richard and Kahlan to show up and it was not for happening! This time around I knew what to expect and that definitely helped contribute to my ability to enjoy the story. The truth was that Pillars of Creation turned out to be a fairly typical SoT instalment except from the fact that Richard got replaced by Jennsen as the lead character.

The story itself was quite enjoyable. Jennsen Rahl is another offspring of the evil Darken Rahl and has spent her whole life constantly on the run and in hiding from D'Haran death squads sent by her evil father. Old Darken Rahl was keen to murder all his offspring for various reasons ranging from prophecies that one of them would kill him to prophecies that others would lead to an end to the world. Alas the fool was not keen enough to actually bother with any contraceptives and since he had a penchant for both seduction and rape bastard Rahl kids were popping up all over the place. He murdered a bunch of them but half-arsed the job so others did manage to escape into hiding. Jennson, like Richard, was one such child. We followed her story as her life in isolation with her mother was destroyed after D'Haran soldiers found her hiding place and killed her mother. She escaped with the the help of her rescuer Sebastian who was a man with his own reasons to dislike the Rahl family. The story also followed the journey of a second Rahl sibling, Oba, as he too discovered the truth of his linage.

The story was enjoyable and engaging. Jennsen was easy enough to like and root for and there was a good bit of tension to the tale as the reader, unlike Jennson herself, is aware that her hero, Sebastian, is a member of the evil Imperial Order and is manipulating her into believing that Richard, like their father Darken Rahl, wants all his siblings killed! He convinces her that she needs to strike back as her own unique skill gives her a chance that others lack. Jennson is pristinely ungifted. Which means not only that she has absolutely zero magic of her own but that magic cannot touch her at all! Prophecy is blind to her and no magical spells can sense or harm her. It puts her in a unique position to be able to sneak past the defences of the most powerful wizard alive (Richard) and to kill him. To complicate matters the Keeper has the ability to whisper to the pristinely ungifted and is playing his own game in the hopes of using Jennson and Oba to help spring him free of the Underworld! Oba himself was a delusional monster in the vein of his father and Drefan. He was on his own mission to sit upon the throne of D'Hara, which he saw as his birthright, and was easily manipulated by the whispering voices in his mind.

It was more fun than it sounds! In many ways this was a typical SoT tale with all the same strengths and weaknesses as all the other books in the series. I've mentioned them enough in my other reviews so I'll not do so again in this one. Goodkind is Goodkind so if you have made it this far in the series you are already aware of them. I think that outside of the bait and switch of lead character the biggest weakness of this seventh SoT instalment was the fact that the ending felt super rushed. That is typical for SoT but this felt more rushed than normal which is saying something considering the wrap up scenes are always a problem for Goodkind. Not necessarily the outcomes of the wrap-up scenes but more the rushed nature of the scenes themselves. He does a pretty good job with the build up but then the big final conflict all wraps up in what feels like a single chapter! It always feels so sudden and that was definitely the case again in this book.

All in all I enjoyed this seventh SoT story. SoT is super readable and engaging despite its flaws and Jennson was a fun new addition to the cast.

I'm still dreading picking up the next instalment of the series, Naked Empire, as I remember that being by far the worst of the SoT books I read during my first go around with the series!

Rating: 4.5 stars. I'm rounding down the rating to 4 stars due to the typical SoT flaws that are present in the story. I likely rated this around 3 stars during my first read but a lot of that was due to the fact I was caught by surprise at the switch of lead character. I do hate surprises lol.

Audio Note: I'm still going with the N.L.B versions of the audio which are superbly narrated by Nick Sullivan. The commercial versions are narrated by the monotonous Jim Bond.

Goodkind has surprise after surprise in this one. It takes a while to figure how everything will play out, but there are plenty of action scenes and mysteries to worry about to not get too disappointed by the long wait. Though there were a few moments that I wished I could read about my all time favorite characters, these all new characters did not disappoint at all. The villain is such a fun, Koontz-like read. The plight of the main character is even better, because she is ignorant of her circumstances. Can she reconcile this with truth in the end? It was nice having the old characters make their appearances and get judged, especially if wrongly. I was hoping the ending would have just a little more explanation for the benefit of certain new characters, but it worked just fine. The concept of the title and the greatness that is sure to lie ahead really makes the ending leave you wanting some more.

Après avoir passé plusieurs mois à dormir sur mon étagère, j'ai finalement décider de commencer à lire ce livre. Quand je l'ai acheté j'en ai profité pour vérifier les critiques générales sur le net et elles n'étaient pas roses. Ça faisait peur même. L'un disait que le livre était mauvais, un autre disait que c'était le pire de la série, plusieurs disaient que le fait que Richard et Khalan était la une quarantaine de page au max était une erreure et un petit nombre parlais d'une perte de temps à lire ce livre. My god, que s'est il bien passer pendant l'écriture de ce livre pour attirer autant d'antipathie.

Comme je venais de recevoir dans ma dernière commande le reste de la série, j'ai décider de prendre mon courage à deux main (il faut bien que je le lise si je veux finir la série) et de prendre ce livre une page à la fois.

Avant d'en dire plus, je dois préciser que j'adore le style d'écriture de Terry Goodkind. Je trouve que sa prose est fluide, facile à lire et accrocheuse. Donc, ça m'a beaucoup aider à apprécier certaines oeuvre que plusieurs qualifieront d’abyssales. Donc fin de la parenthèse.

Alors, dès le départ le roman part sur des nouveau personnages et ils sont bien introduit. Ensuite l'auteur ne perd pas de temps et met déjà de l'action et fait démarrer l'histoire. Lord Rahl veut la mort de Jensenn et de sa mère. Donc, Jensenn se doit de trouver des alliés pour l'aider à survivre et à se venger du méchant Lord Rahl (qui est Richard en passant). Alors pour pouvoir avoir la protection nécessaire, Jensenn join l'armer de l'Empereur Jagang et les aide dans leur combat contre les force du Lord Rahl.

A mon avis ce roman est un pur délice. Je suis un gros fan des histoire de type point de vue où on voit les deux côtés de la médaille. Je me demandais pourquoi certaines scènes était traité rapidement en deux ligne dans le sixième tome. He bien voilà la réponse, ces événements sont traité en détail dans ce roman mais du point de vue des méchants. C'est un plaisir que de voir leur réactions à certains événements et de voir à quel points Richard peut exaspérer l'empereur.

Bon, ce roman n'est pas tout parfait (de là le 4 étoiles). Premièrement Jensenn est vraiment nunuche, c'est une conne et elle est pas très brillante. Elle se contredit souvent et ses plan ne sont pas toujours géniaux. Ajouté le tout au fait qu'elle doit être la fille la plus naïve jamais enfanté et vous avez le personnage principal de cette histoire. Moi ça ne ma pas trop dérangé, mais les fille qui liront cette histoire s'en verront surement choqué. Moi ce qui m'a aider a passer par dessus, s'est l'overall autour.

Deuxième point, il y a un personnage qui se croit pourvu de la voie du créateur qui fait des actes ignobles. Les moments sont décrit en un peu trop de détails et la manière dont son histoire fini laisse un peu à désirer. Je crois que ce personnage a été un hit & miss de la part de l'auteur.

Finalement, le fait de voir Richard et Kahlan juste 40 page dans tous le roman laisse à dire que l'auteur aurait presque dû laisser tomber l'idée de les mettre tout court. Bon ça arrondi le final, sa permet de mettre une des "rules" de magie par la bande et de préparer le prochain roman. Mais a mon avis, l'auteur aurait pu mieux écrire cette partie là. Sa sonne quasiment l'ajout forcé, peut-être que son éditeur l'a obliger à insérer les personnages ou c'est lui qui a décider de les mettre juste pour dire. D'une manière ou d'une autre, c'est juste 40 pages sur 700 qui sont plus ordinaire, donc pour moi c'est minime.

Donc pour conclure j'ai beaucoup apprécié ce septième livre et j'ai hâte de lire la suite. Même si le roman suivant à été encore plus mal coté sur le net. Comme celui-ci l'était et que je l'ai aimer quand même je me dit que je n'ai rien a perdre. Donc si vous êtes fan de la série faite vous plaisir et laisser vous embarquer dans Pillars of Creation.

mostly not even about The main character, but, it’s nice, and it’s a preparation for book 8

Date Started: 3/9/21
Date Finished: 4/1/21
Rating: 5 of 5

Book Title: The Pillars of Creation
Author: Terry Goodkind
Page Count: 725

Note: For those of you who have read this series and loved it, it’s still just as good as the rest of the books in the series. It just doesn’t include our trio of heroes and heroines. Our Zedd and Addie don’t play big roles either. They haven’t really played big roles in a few books anyway. It’s still a really good book and you get a glimpse of the inside of the enemy’s side in this one.

I was prompted to read this book because it’s one of my mother’s favorite series of all time. I read the first book many years ago and I really loved it. So I broached the idea of buddy reading the series together. I’m so glad that I did. This entire series has thrown me through the loops over and over again. I love every moment of it.

I think that the author painted the scenes and characters amazingly. I felt what the characters felt when I was reading their point of view. I felt the emotions of the crowds that they were surrounded by. I was in the moment every single step of the way. It was beautiful. There were people who I just couldn’t stand and hated to read their points of view. That was the point of the matter though. I won’t say who. I want to let the reader draw their own opinions of the new people in the book.

This entire book in the series was told from three points of view. Two of which were offspring of Darken Rahl. Ones that managed to keep from being killed before Darken Rahl dies. They are considered a whole in the world to anybody who is gifted with magic. Magic can’t touch or harm them in any way. The third point of view is of the husband of one of the gifted women that are referenced in the series. He plays a more important role than he will ever realize.

This entire series twists and turns so much that there are times I wonder if I will ever recover. It seems that things are going great, and then everything flips upside down out of nowhere. The transition is so smooth that I can’t even begin to explain it. Even if I tried. The only thing I’m sad about with this book is that Richard, Kahlan, and Kara aren’t in the book as much as I would have loved.

Jenson was a really amazing character in this book. I hated that she was so brainwashed and she believed with all of her heart the lies that she has been told all of her life. I wish I could have found out for sure if her mother was also brainwashed or if she was one that was filling her daughter’s head with lies as well. Jenson was a really amazing woman who was more intelligent and brave than she really gave herself credit for. I related to her in many ways.

I know this series was actually turned into a television show at one point. Sadly, I didn’t know about the series until long after the television series was off the show. I also have no way of watching it as far as I know. Maybe one day I’ll go back and check to see if I can watch it. I would like to see another television series based on this series. I would watch every episode that aired. Probably more than once. I’m not sure it will happen though. Sadly, the author of this book passed away last year.

I have to be honest, the parts that were in the points of view of the person I referenced earlier were brutal for me. I couldn’t stomach them. I couldn’t stand really seeing how horrible somebody could be. How absolutely cruel and evil. It made my skin crawl. The fact that they thought that everything they did was right made it so much worse for me. I really just wanted to skip those parts if I’m being honest with myself.

I won’t go into the details because I don’t believe in giving spoilers. I have been known to give them but only when I’ve been badgered. I don’t like doing so. I really enjoyed the whole story. It was intense. Like I mentioned, there were parts I didn’t want to see, but that’s just because I’m an Empath. I really enjoyed the ending. I was worried it was going to go a different way and I’m so glad that I was wrong. It was absolutely perfect.

The Pillars of Creation was not as good as I hoped it would be. However, it was still an interesting read and gives readers a new perspective.

What you need to know before reading this, so you don’t become disappointed as I did, is that this novel is written in a different perspective. If you understand this to begin with, then I don’t think you will have a problem with the book if you like the series. We finally get to follow the Order and read from their perspective. I thought this was interesting once I realized this was how the entire book is written. However, I believe switching between stories every couple of chapters is more engaging. That way we would be able to read from both perspectives and not spend so long on one or the other.

There are several new characters introduced in this book. Jennsen and Sebastian are the main ones you read about. There are also Althea and Frederick, as well as Oba. Later in the book, there is Tom who is a secondary character, but is more important than you realize. Eventually, you become pretty involved with the lives of these characters. I believe we read about these characters because they probably play more of a part later in the series and Goodkind wanted us to have a back story for them. I can tell you that I despise Oba, and I thought Jennsen wasn’t unintelligent, but that she doesn’t think about things as she should have, which bothered me.

The most annoying aspect of this book is that you don’t get to read about Richard or Kahlan until the last five chapters. After spending so much time with them in the previous books, I was pretty disappointed that I had to wait so long. It made me very anxious to get through all the other chapters, so I did not enjoy them as much as I should have.

The things that kept me going throughout the book are that I wanted to find out where the voices were coming from (I had a pretty good idea) and I wanted to know what a specific word and phrase meant that was repeated several times in the book in High D’Haran. I also wanted to know if specific characters would ever meet.

I really enjoyed the ending of the book. The last five chapters were very engaging, and I’m glad that certain things happened and others didn’t (no spoilers!).

The biggest problem I have with Goodkind’s writing is that he repeats himself way to much! The characters kept thinking the same things over and over again, which became rather annoying.

Also, I felt that the story could have been much shorter. There were parts of adventures and details that did not appear to be necessary. I could have enjoyed the story without them. Otherwise, I did enjoy the book, but it wasn’t what I had expected.

Séptimo volumen de la serie La Espada de la Verdad (decimocuarto en la edición española, todo un robo por parte de la editorial, ya que de cada volumen original hacen dos y por lo tanto cobran casi el doble), en el que los protagonistas no son, aunque parezca mentira, Richard y Kahlan. Sí amigos, un libro sin los protagonistas habituales de la serie, que no hacen acto de presencia hasta los capítulos finales.

Pero esto no va en detrimento de la calidad, ni mucho menos. Terry Goodkind sabe dosificar la acción, las aventuras y la trama perfectamente. Los protagonistas clave esta vez son los hermanastros de Richard, los hijos bastardos de Rahl el Oscuro: Jennsen, una joven pelirroja que vive con su madre, ambas escondidas y en constante temor de que el actual Lord Rahl, que no es otro que Richard, dé con ellas para matarlas y acabar con todo rastro de aquellos bastardos que no poseen el don. Y el otro protagonista, Oba, un sociópata y asesino, envidioso de lo que cree suyo por derecho de descendencia.

La historia va in crescendo y no decae en ningún momento en cuanto te das cuenta de por dónde nos quiere llevar Goodkind. Un final demasiado precipitado y cogido con pinzas, hasta cierto punto surrealista, le resta una estrella a mi puntuación. Da la sensación de que Goodkind ha utilizado este libro como un paréntesis en su saga para emociones más fuertes.

Una historia apasionante, nada que ver con dragonadas ni cosas por el estilo. Fantasía de la buena. Demos gracias por tener a Terry Goodkind.

Unlike the first six books of the series, Terry Goodkind decides to drift away from the perspective of major characters to instead focus on completely new characters that he has dreamed up. Oba and Jennsen. Two young adults (no big surprise there) forging their life and being entwined into the weave of Fate which sends them on their way through the pages of Goodkind's novel. So, to make it abundantly clear, if you have your heart strings completely wrapped around Richard and Kahlan's decisions, then you are not going to like this book. It does not focus on them and for a majority of the book you have no idea what they're doing in the Old World. One has to be willing to open their eyes to a larger perspective of people while simultaneously neglecting Richard and Kahlan.

With that being said, it is a very different take on the series. Jennsen and Oba, having never dealt directly with anything that has happened in the course of the series, provide a completely naive perspective on Richard, Kahlan, and their cause against the Imperial Order. It also shows just how powerful a view coated in darkness can turn people's ideas of the world with powerful, enormous force. It is strikingly realistic to a comment on society and how lies can be fed so easily and swallowed so quickly that stopping and questioning one's own instincts becomes unimportant. Yet it is probably the most important task any individual is charged with doing.

Unfortunately, this novel in the series of The Sword of Truth is hard to follow and a bit confusing in that things don't line up at the end. I feel as if a vital bit of information was left hanging somewhere and never fully implemented so that the ending remains slapdash and peculiar. Despite this, it is still a part of the series and has to be slogged through. Thankfully, the characters of Oba and Jennsen are intriguing and interesting, making the book travel at a good pace. Just don't expect a success like Faith of the Fallen. This is a bit more akin to Soul of the Fire, though not nearly as oddly distasteful.

This book is sort of a departure from the main storyline of the Sword of Truth series. It follows Richard's sister, Jensen, as she attempts to assassinate her brother, who she believes killed her mother and is now trying to kill her.

This book is very interesting, because it only has Richard in it for about 25 pages, the rest is about Jensen and the people she meets on her journey. This is a cool way to introduce a new character to a large series and give them enough time in the spotlight so that the reader can get to know them.

This book is a solid addition to the series.

Jennsen was easily manipulated and Oba was just creepy. However, it introduces us to other characters that are affected by the previous ruler and this new army. It was a good thing to branch away from Kahlan and Richard.