| Title | : | Naked Empire (Sword of Truth, #8) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0765344300 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780765344304 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 725 |
| Publication | : | First published June 1, 2004 |
Richard Rahl has been poisoned. Saving an empire from annihilation is the price of the antidote. With the shadow of death looming near, the empire crumbling before the invading hordes, and time running out, Richard is offered not only his own life but the salvation of a people, in exchange for delivering his wife, Kahlan, into bondage to the enemy.
Naked Empire (Sword of Truth, #8) Reviews
-
Anatomy of a Break-up:
Going through a break-up or a divorce is never easy. The best of them are tinged with sadness and regret while the worst feel like a grenade going off in your chest. Worse still is the ending of a relationship that has lasted for many years and survived through adversity.
Well after almost 15 years, my relationship with the Sword of Truth series is over.
Given that these situations are already emotionally charged, I know the “right” thing to do is just to walk away and say nothing. If I were a bigger man, I could do that. If the Sword of Truth was less of a mind-numbingly stupid, mega-pretentious BITCH, I could do that. I’m not and it’s not. My anger…my soul-crushing humiliation at sticking this long with such a vacuous, repetitive chunk of IQ-draining smegma needs to vent, and so that’s what I’m gonna do.
I’ve done enough for this series…this is for me.
I first met SoT in 1996, two years after it had burst onto the scene and taken the Fantasy world by storm. I should have known by the author photo…I fucking should have known by how the author was standing with arms folded trying to come across all menacing when he really looked like Paul Mitchell with a ponyFAIl. Hey, I told you I was bitter.
Unfortunately, I was doing very little pleasure reading at the time and was inexperienced when it came to fantasy and got sucked in. Wizard’s First Rule swept me off my feet and I was immediately smitten. It was this series that brought me back to casual reading in general and fantasy reading in particular. I guess I at least should be grateful to the series for that. Maybe someday when I can look myself in the eye again…but right now the series can just fuck off and die.
Time went on and problems popped up in the series. The shitty prose, the repetitiveness, the rambling, simple-minded monologues paraphrasing Ayn Rand. However, loyalty is something that’s always been important to me so I discounted these things and continued to read through rose-coloredblindersglasses. I ignored the “grade school” melodramatic prose and the ear-grating phrases like “bags.” I ignored the poorly executed plot in Temple of the Winds and the stupiFUCKINGidiotic Chimes in book 5. I ignored the condescending windbaggery that increasingly showed up in the stories.
My delusional loyalty reached its zenith with book 6, Faith of the Fallen. Goodkindian douchetard that I was, I defended the author’s clunky, over-wrought ramble-preaching as something admirable. ADMIRABLE!! I don’t think I could pour enough whiskey and prozac down my gullet to fill the gaping hole this has left inside me. Believe me, I’m gonna try.
Pillars of Creation blew like a hurricane and that was when the scales began to fall from my eyes. The stench of this experience led to a separation between me and the series. However, since Pillars didn’t really focus on the main characters of Richard and Kahlan, I decided to give it one more try. We’d been together a long time and I thought it was the right thing to do.
MISTAAAAAAAAKE!
Well, my optimism ended up getting me coldcocked, pissed on and left shattered on the ground. As bad as Pillars was, Naked Empire is even worse. This book was a cheese pizza loaded with tripe sporting ball-aching suckness of biblical proportions. As I read/listened to this, I began to doubt my very existence.
Well, I’d had enough. It was time to leave…for good this time.
Since finishing this over the weekend, I’ve taken a few days to get my thoughts together and think I can finally describe the series without having it go all angry. The Sword of Truth has some very interesting magical elements and world-building (see below). It also has a story arc that is, or more accurately, COULD BE very interesting. It also has some characters who “on paper” are somewhat compelling.
The problem is that all of the above “potential” is absolutely butchered through:
**shitty, long-winded, repetitive writing;
**clunky, simplistic wince-inducing prose with zero flow to it;
**monotonous, clunky philosophizing that grates the nerves and ruins the narrative;
**serious lack of editing;
**poor development of potentially good characters; and
**painful, “ear-bleeding” dialogue that saps the will the live
It took me a while, but I have seen the light.
Now, hopefully, the hard part is over and I’ve left a bad situation. I don’t plan on thinking about this series anymore. I just want to move on and leave it be. There’s plenty of good fantasy out there and I plan on picking up the pieces and reconnecting. -
1.5 stars
Yikes. While it was nice to focus on a villain who wasn't Jagang for a minute, this was an idealogical mess. Naked Empire is very preachy- more than a lot of the other books in the series- and not about something that just makes sense because it's a fantasy world. This entire book is basically mocking non-violence, the rehabilitation of criminals, and community-based governance.
It sets up this group of people who apparently can't recognize evil because they think listening and giving in will fix things, including an invading force kidnapping, assaulting, and killing their women and children. When some of the men finally change and start fighting back and killing people, their wives are thrilled and find them more attractive.
Richard does some pretty disturbing stuff in this book too, things I can't brush off like I did in earlier books. He has no tolerance for people with views that don't match his own and massacres a group of non-violent protesters (including a graphic description of him beheading a plump woman yelling at him, so let's add fatphobia to the mix). There's also this convoluted walking back of Richard not eating meat because of the gift- which is more dumb than offensive but dovetails with the overall point that killing opposition is morally righteous.
Kahlan did basically nothing in this book, even though she was there. And the solution to the central problem was very hand-wavy (which I don't mind when I'm having fun, but this wasn't fun). Jensen was also sidelined in lieu of Richard. We never got answers to what the deal with these weird statues is. And Jagang is STILL alive!
This book was frustrating on many levels. Seeing Nathan appear was fun and in general, the side plots saved the book from being completely terrible, but this is among my least favorites in the series. I really hope things improve. -
I've really been enjoying my SoT reread over the last year but I must admit I was dreading picking up Naked Empire as I felt like this was was a real flop and a low point for the SoT series during my first read of the series. The truth is I recall not particularly enjoying this one first time around and thinking it was really bad! The good news is that I enjoyed it a lot more this second time around. It had more flaws than the average SoT tale for sure and I'd still rate it as the weakest book in the series but for all that I still enjoyed my read of Naked Empire and the story held my attention from start to finish. Impressive considering this story was around 23 hours long in audio.
The story was fun enough. Richard and Kahlan were heading back to the New World after Richard helped start a revolt in Altur'Rang, the spiritual capital of the Imperial Order, when their party (including Jennsen, Tom, and Cara) were waylaid by a random traveller who pleaded with Richard to help free his people from the yoke of the Order. After Richard turned the plea down on the grounds that he had to get back to the New World and help with the war there the man revealed he had poisoned him so it was really a case of help or die! Back in the New World we got a bit from characters like Verna and Zedd as Jagang came up with a new ploy to seize the Wizard's Keep and also sought to move his troops through a tight pass to invade D'Hara.
Both story arcs ended up being interesting enough. The stuff with Zedd and Adie battling a new threat and the stuff with Verna and her allies having to battle the Order without Richard and Kahlan to back them up turned out to be pretty engaging. I think the secondary story arcs have really been a strength of the later books in the SoT series. The main story arc with Richard and Kahlan was engaging enough even if it did have some glaring flaws. Richard sought to free the country of Bandakar from the clutches of the Order. With Jagang up in the New World it was Nicholas the Slide that was in charge of the Order's forces in the region. Nicholas was the result of a bit of human experimentation the Emperor had the Sisters of the Dark performing on wizards. They were attempting to create weapons just as the wizards of old did when creating the likes of the dreamwalkers and the confessors. Nicholas the Slide was the first success of the program! He had the ability to use the souls of others to seize control of animals. It was a weird but effective talent.
The story was fairly engaging as Richard fought a race against time to boot the Order out of Bandakar and get his antidote to the poison. As it was beyond his small team to achieve this goal he had to inspire the people of Bandakar to help him which was a tougher task than it might seem given that they were a culture of pacifists! The other fun thing about the story was learning a bit about the history of the people of Bandakar. They were an isolated people who up until the boundaries fell had been separated from the rest of the people in the Old World and had some historical links back to the people in the New World.
This is SoT so a lot of the usual SoT issues were present. I'm not going to bore people by mentioning the usual Goodkind flaws as anyone who has reached the eighth book of the series will be well aware of them by this point plus I've mentioned most of them in my earlier reviews. I will say that this book had more flaws than normal and so I can easily see why I was not a fan of this instalment the first time around and why Naked Empire is just generally rated as a bad SoT book even by fans of the series. Goodkind did go a bit mad with the preaching and batshit crazy "moral" and philosophical lessons in this story. Richard spent a ton of time ranting against various "evils" and telling people how to properly live their lives!
I'm honestly not sure why I'm so forgiving of the Goodkind related insanity we get in this series. It might be pure nostalgia playing a part as I loved SoT in my teen years (It was my fave!) or it might just be the fact that I find these books engaging and readable despite their very real flaws. It could also just be the fact that I view Goodkind himself as a bit of a nut so I just roll my eyes at a lot of the more insane happenings. I'm sure a tiny fraction of this stuff in other series would have me ranting in rage at the author and characters lol.
Classic moments of SoT insanity in this one include:
-Richard battling his latest foe: the great evil of pacifism! Yep, after defeating the terrible evils of Socialism, Democracy, and Mercy, in previous SoT instalments Richard turned his attention to opening the worlds eyes to the evils of pacifism. He rolled into Bandakar and with the aid of many, many, lengthy speeches convinced a bunch of pacifists that violence and murder were the right and just way to prove to people just how good a person truly was. I'm sure this drove 99% of readers insane but I have to admit I found it amusing most of the time!
-Richard discovering a way to solve the flaws of Democracy as a system of government. It was simple really. You simply have to hold your vote on a given issue and then afterwards just kill anyone who voted "wrong". It really is the only way to insure a just society for all!
-Richard leading by example and lopping off heads as he tore through a peaceful protest against his cause. I almost bust a gut laughing as Richard convinced his men to chop through a group of unarmed peaceful protesters chanting "stop the violence" by screaming that they were pure evil incarnate and just had to be stopped before their evil doomed everyone. Some of Goodkind's beliefs really boggle the mind!
-Classic moments of hypocrisy as Richard ranted against the enslaving beliefs of both the Imperial Order and Bandacar all while claiming the people could live free under the rule of Rahl....as long as they simply followed all of his own beliefs lol.
This one had a lot of craziness for sure but despite that I still managed to quite enjoy the story. I was happy I enjoyed Naked Empire a lot more this second time around and am looking forward to reading the final three books in the regular SoT series!
Rating: 4 stars. I'm rating it so high this time around as I did find myself quite engaged by the happenings and I got through this story fairly quickly despite its length. It is worth noting I thought this sucked during my first read and likely rated it around 2 stars. I'm not sure if I should go with my old or new rating here at Goodreads? I'll compromise and rate it 3 stars. It is weird how I've managed to feel so differently about the same book years apart as that almost never happens to me and it might be the very first time I've ever reread a book I disliked and enjoyed it a lot more!
Audio Note: I'm still going with the N.L.B versions of the audio rather than the commercial versions. Nick Sullivan is fantastic! I'm sure he is half the reason why I'm enjoying this SoT reread so much. He really gets the tone and brings the characters and story to life. The more I listen to him the more I'm convinced he is a great narrator.
The commercial version was narrated by Jim Bond. The guy is a total bore that sucks the life out of the story. It is like the SoT audio publisher hated the series and wanted it to fail on audio as the commercial versions of SoT are absolutely atrocious. -
While I had hoped the decline begun in the previous book would be checked in this one, it continues on it's disastrous course. The ongoing villain is barely addressed, the introduced villain is a mere toady, who is not really threatening at all at any point, and the new characters are simply cardboard cut outs, devoid of anything entertaining or interesting.
Faith of the Fallen was a good book, and it's philosophy is an interesting one, good to discuss, even though I don't personally buy it. I was hoping that Goodkind would develop this philosophy further, and really take on some of the criticisms and explore other, conflicting ideas, with the same elegance and feeling from the sixth installment.. However, he merely sets up a series of straw men, and barely even needs to argue with them to persuade them. In the process he takes pot shots at broad caricatures of certain social groups, and even takes a little dig at the Pagans and other followers of earth-based magical paths.
I don't know about anyone else, but it seems to me that most of the fantasy story fans I know either are pagan, or they are sympathetic to pagan ideals. So, perhaps, Mr Goodkind, it wasn't the best idea to go out of your way to alienate your fanbase. At this point in the story, Richard is becoming a very frightening parallel of his father; a frothing, dangerous zealot with little patience for outside ideas. It is upsetting to me that someone who is called "the Seeker of Truth" approaches every new thought with the assumption that he is right, and the other person is wrong from the outset. In my experience this is not the way to seek truth, but feel free to disagree with me.
The thing is, if this scary, extremist mindset were a plot point, (or heck, even acknowledged,) it would have really hit home some of the points the earlier books made about how every villain thinks what he's doing is the right thing. But despite the Seeker's black and white view points, his blatant bullying, and his carrying on for pages at a time about the rightness of his philosophical thought, the irony seems to be completely lost on the author, who means this all very seriously. -
Mandatory music for this review: Zamfir, Lonely Shepherd.
I'm going through my book shelf, and I see a few more SoT books need my attention.
Naked Empire should be re-titled A Man and a Goat.
This book continues the breathtaking suspense from the seventh volume ... nah, just kidding.
What we have here is as follows:
Richard acquaints himself with a goat and not in a good way.
He's brought democracy to the Old World, so he feels he should vacation some.
He takes his troupe on a walkabout, and stumbles upon some hippies that are immune to magic.
Unbeknownst to him, the greatest villain of all is after him.
THE GOAT-LOVER!
Forget Darken Rahl and his murdering hordes.
Forget Comrade Jagang and his Apparatchiks.
We have a badass here.
In fact, he's so badass that Richard develops a tummy ache.
Like a wounded fawn, he is taken care of by Kahlan and Nicci. Alas, nothing exciting happens.
And then ... the problem is solved by invoking Wizard's Eight Rule: Wesley Crusher.
Happy ending.
Le song:
My magic brings all the Slides to the yard,
And they're like,
My Order is better than yours,
Damn right it's better than yours,
I can ward you,
But I have to charge
I know you want it,
The sword what makes me,
What Rahls go crazy for.
They lose their minds,
In the Wizard's Keep,
I think it's Zedd.
La la-la la la,
Warm it up.
Lala-lalala,
Jagang is waiting.
Igor -
This book was practically one long Richard is right, everyone else is wrong storyline. Goodkind seriously needs to stop writing that kind of nonsense. His sister went from a very interesting main character to a sidekick.
While portions of the storyline was still interesting, Goodkind needs to start providing secondary titles to his books so you know which agenda he's going to pound this time. This one could have been titled: Naked Empire, or Why Pacifists are Evil.
I get tired when his agenda keeps interfering with the stories. -
I'm going to do what I did with Pillars of Creation for this review. This book makes me too angry to sit down and calmly write out my thoughts on why it is so absolutely terrible, and insulting to the intelligence of anyone who reads it. I just cannot even with this book. I posted my notes below, if you want to read my thoughts as I read through the book, in lieu of writing out an actual review. I tend to use more profanity in my notes, and less professional language, grammar, and punctuation than I do in my actual professional (well, not so much anymore) reviews. I had so much to bitch about in this book that it does continue down into the first post of the comments section, because I exceeded the Goodreads post limit. This book is a slap in the face to any fan of the series before this point. I will never pick it up again. Terry Goodkind should be ashamed of himself for it.
All right, I'm gonna band-aid this one. Just rip it off and get it over with while I mull over what all I want to say in my review of Pillars of Creation. It'll be less painful that way. I hate this book with a fiery passion, and I don't need it hanging over me, asking to be reread and reviewed
20% done...
You know what, after rereading Pillars of Creation this last week, the beginning of Naked Empire is actually pretty good (comparatively). Oh, I know it takes a steep nosedive not much further from where I am, but the beginning is actually far better written than the previous book. The conversations between characters are not soul-shatteringly repetitive here, and the recaps of previous books have been kept to a minimum (so far). An interesting mystery has been introduced in the finding of another set of Boundaries that have gone down, and a note of dramatic tension has been added in Richard's Gift causing headaches again. This is a pretty decent beginning, and it's far better written than anything we saw in the previous book.
There is one thing, and one thing only that I actually enjoy about this book. And that is Zedd's storyline. This is the book that really humanized him for me. Before he was just a wacky, unconventionally wise old man who does and says silly things. Here, he really steps up and becomes more of a well rounded character. I love how he pretty much spends the whole book, just looking back on his life, seeing his successes, and his failures. Remembering the people he's loved and lost. Thinking of all the things he's done, and all the things he wished he could have. All of it leading up to him almost sacrificing his life to keep the Imperial Order from using the things of magic that they took from the Wizard's Keep against Richard. Frankly, I kind of wish that he actually had died in this book. It would have made far more sense, narratively. His storyline in this book would have been the perfect, heartfelt sendoff that his character deserved. Rather than the senseless, ignoble death he received in Severed Souls. It would have shown the due respect that the character and the fans deserved.
One thing that I do have to question is, um... why is Jensen still hanging around? Her story is over. She and Tom should have wandered off to live happily ever after. Now she's just taking up space, because she's a pointless addition to the cast. She has nothing of value to add to any of the conversations, and basically remains silent most of the time, because she really doesn't have much business still being a part of the story. She doesn't belong in this book. She already had her story, and that story is over with. You could argue that her story was pointless and didn't need to be told to begin with, but that's another argument. This is something that has always annoyed me about this book. Why is Jensen still here? She does nothing of value. She says little of value. She's just there because reasons. She's basically just baggage from the previous story, being carried around by the characters in this story, because Goodkind didn't think to leave her behind when he should have.
41% done...
You know what I hate? Straw man arguments. You want to show me that your ideals are better than someone else's? THEN PUT THEM ON AN EQUAL FOOTING, DOUCHEBAG!!! Show how GOOD the other ideal can be. How happy it can make people. How peaceful life can be while following it. Don't come out of the gate belittling it and telling me how stupid it is and how stupid anyone that believes that way is for believing it. That is not the way to show me that your way is the better way. Winning a straw man argument doesn't show me that your way is better. It shows me that you don't even understand what you are fighting against, and refuse to even try to. Any victory of your ideals over straw man ideals is empty and hollow, because it isn't a victory at all. I can remember going to a lecture on writing by Brandon Sanderson, and he gave some very good advice on showing your own ideals triumphing over others. He said start with the other side of the argument, and make that side as strong as you possibly can. Only then are you ready to write your side of things. And if you made the other side too strong, and can't figure out how to make your side of the argument win, maybe you're on the wrong side of the argument to begin with. When the ideals of the protagonist are so much stronger than those of anyone else, there really isn't even a point of having them clash at all. Why even bother? It just wastes everyone's time.
I really hate how Richard acts in this book. He has no tolerance or patience for anyone with beliefs different from his. The moral of this story has always seemed to me to be "Anyone who believes differently than you is an idiot, and should be mercilessly persecuted until they set aside their beliefs and join with yours." Richard is openly contemptuous toward Owen and his beliefs. He makes jokes at the man's expense. He's extremely sarcastic. He belittles the man, and treats him like a stupid child. And for what? Because the man has different beliefs? Our hero, Ladies and Gentlemen. Richard is as much a bigot and tyrant as Jagang in this book. He refuses to have any beliefs other than his, and he forces others to follow his beliefs. Guess what you're fighting against the Imperial Order for there, pal? If you're fighting for freedom, why are Owen and his people not free to believe what they wish? That doesn't sound like freedom to me? That sounds like trading one form of enslavement for another. And Terry Goodkind can fuck off if he thinks I didn't see it that way. He rails against the evils of socialism, and yet, is not forcing all people to follow your own beliefs regardless of their wishes the very heart of socialism? HOLY FUCKING HYPOCRISY BATMAN!!! And people ask me why I have no respect for Terry Goodkind as a human being. It should be pretty fucking obvious why I have no respect for Terry Goodkind as a human being. Read this book and you will see.
And you know that repetition? You know, the stuff that made the previous book SO. FUCKING. UNBEARABLE? Yeah, it's back with a vengeance. Here's a little tip for anyone looking to be a better writer. The reader only needs an explanation once. When one character explains something to another, you do not need to have that character, in turn, explain it to a third in exact detail. The reader already knows. You are free to gloss over the explanation, and the book will be all the better for it. (I.e. "Joe related to Terry what Bob had said to him earlier.") That's all it takes. It's easier to write, it's easier to read, and it uses far fewer words, leaving you free to embellish another part of the book, and still keep to your target word count. Repeating the same explanation within the same chapter is going to annoy and bore your readers, and it's going to also make them feel insulted by you, because you clearly don't have faith in their ability to understand the explanation the first time around.
The part of this book where Richard questions Owen is just excruciating to read. For the aforementioned way that Richard acts, and for the insane amount of repetition. And I do mean insane. Anyone that repeats themselves this much cannot be a sane, well-balanced individual.
Another thing that I actually do like about this book, is Nathan throwing Anne into prison. That fucking woman deserves it and more. She kept him a prisoner for a thousand freaking years, and she expected to walk up and imprison him again? Yeah, she can go to hell, and Nathan should have left her there to rot for the rest of her life imo. I love how he does it to prove a point, even if he doesn't let the punishment stick. It's very effective.
Gawd this book makes me angry. Not because I disagree with Goodkind's message, per say, but more because of the utter ineptitude with which he presents it. At the core, I think he has a justified point. People should not expect others to do all of their fighting for them. If you're not willing to stand up for yourself, why should you expect someone else to? However, I can also make the allowance that there are those who may not be able to, or those who would rather die than harm another human being. There are many different people, and many different ways of seeing the world. It's just the way he presents this argument is extremely offensive. He has no empathy for anyone who has even the slightest degree of different belief than he does. He openly mocks those that do not believe as he does. He basically tells anyone who does not share his exact beliefs that they are evil, and should die for it. This is a very dangerous line of reasoning to follow with your beliefs, because you know what? You're not going to be right all of the time. Your world view is not the only world view that works, and insulting those who don't see it your way is a good way to lose, oh, say, about 75% of your readership, going by sales for Naked Empire vs. sales of Chainfire. Just, the absolute idiocy and lack of understanding for anything even resembling reality that Goodkind displays in this book is what makes me angry. I feel that trying to force the world into your vision of black and white is an idiot's errand. The world is not, nor will it ever be, straight up black and white. Refusing to even allow for differing opinions, and different belief structures than your own is just plain stupid. Guess what pal, there are more than two opposing belief sets in this world. Hell, there are probably as many beliefs as there are people on this sorry planet of ours. There may be black and white, but there's about seven billion other shades of color between them, and the sooner you grasp that concept, the easier a time you're going to have living in this world. Just... like... Fuck you, Terry Goodkind. Seriously. Just, fuck you. You cannot force the world into your view, and your fantasy fulfillment of having Richard do it for you is more than a little pathetic, and telling about your character and intelligence.
And again... why is Jensen still here? When a character adds NOTHING to the story in any way, which describes her to a T in this book, that character does not belong in that story. Every character must have a purpose, whether it be a crucial thing that she will do in the story, giving the protagonist an idea he needs to win, comic relief, ANYTHING. Jensen does none of these things. She is just there taking up space. She hasn't had a single relevant line in almost half of the damn book.
55% done...
Okay, here we start getting into why I dislike this book so much. Richard will, at the drop of a freaking hat just go off for PAGES on a rant about Terry Goodkind's flawed version of morality. Usually someone will say something completely unrelated to him, and he'll just go off on a tangent ranting about the evils of this, or the virtues of that, and then whoever spoke to him will be like, oh, yeah, that makes sense... except for the fact that it had nothing to do with what they were asking in the first place, but whatever. I call this Goodkind's flawed version of morality, because, as I said earlier, it only takes into account good and evil. Black and white. It completely ignores and has no room for any of the billions of other shades of color between. I'm afraid that morality, right and wrong, good and evil, ARE NOT THAT FUCKING SIMPLE!!! And omg does he beat this dead horse. I would say that at least 25% of the entire word count of this book is Richard ranting about one thing or another. Okay, look, if you want to share your views on the world with your readers, that's fine. Few, if any of them are going to thank you for it, and will certainly thank you not to do it again, but it's fine if that's what you want to do. The problem here is that halfway through this book, Terry Goodkind forgets that he's also supposed to be telling a story. The book becomes nothing more than a vehicle for his beliefs, forgetting character, forgetting story, forgetting any sort of drama in the situation, so that Richard can rant for dozens of pages to little point or purpose within the narrative. This is not okay. It strikes me as very ironic that a book that, at it's heart, is about balance, HAS NONE. There has to be a balance between all of the ranting, and, you know, ANY-FUCKING-THING ELSE!!!
80% done...
Something that has always annoyed me about this series is that Goodkind often describes Richard as "Patient, but intolerant." Okay... there's a pretty strong argument for the fact that you can't really BE patient while also not being tolerant, but I'm not here to debate philosophy. Richard certainly is intolerant of any views but his own. He openly shows this at pretty much every opportunity. But then there's the other half of the statement. Okay, first of all, if you have to tell me that your character is patient, you're doing it wrong. A patient character, to me, is a character that, you know, SHOWS PATIENCE WITH OTHERS. This is something that Richard has NEVER done in this entire series. He has never once shown any patience with anyone ever. He is a very impatient man. And yet Goodkind continually tells me that he is patient. No. He isn't. He really, really isn't. He is openly contemptuous. He is sarcastic. He belittles others in their beliefs, and openly mocks them in ways that they don't understand, so that they don't even know that they're being mocked. He does this while spouting sermon after sermon on the evils of their ways, and shows no patience whatsoever when they are slow to leave beliefs that they have held all their lives behind just because he told them that they are wrong. This is not patience. It is the exact opposite of patience. He is both impatient and intolerant, and when you combine that with his absolute refusal to accept any other way than his black and white view of the world, he murders you. (See Anderith's fate) What I'm trying to say here is that Goodkind wouldn't know what actual patience was if it walked up to him and waited quietly to get his attention.
So, okay, Goodkind wants Richard to preach, but he also needs to cram in those recaps of the series up to this point, because, you know, anyone reading book 8 of a series clearly never read the seven books that came before it, and they'll be completely lost without having the entire saga retold to them in rant form. So, genius that he was, he combined the two into one. Richard rants his ranting little ass off for literally like 30 pages, and spends a goodly portion of that retelling the entire series up to this point in the process. Okay, doubly boring and objectionable from where I'm standing. First of all. I read the seven previous books. I don't need a detailed account of what happened in them. Have Richard say something like, "And then he explained how he and Kahlan met, and their fight to protect the New World from Jagang." That's all you need. I don't need 17 pages of recaps. You just need one line to say that Richard told these people his story. And just the sheer amount of stroking his own dick that Goodkind does in this rant has me feeling like I should be drenched in cum. Which is not a very pleasant feeing. And oh, boy, that's not even the worst part of this section. Immediately. And I do mean immediately. People who were utter pacifists before listening to this speach, all start clamoring to be the first to step up and friggen shank a bitch. When one of them actually does kill someone, all of the others congratulate him for having done it, as if they hadn't spent the entirety of their lives believing that what he just did is the greatest of all sins, and carries the greatest of all of their punishments.
This is not how humanity works. People who are set in their beliefs do not simply give them up for yours because you tell them all about it. I spent some time as a Mormon Missionary. Yes, one of those annoying young men in suits who knock on your door and try to change your religion. I can tell you from long experience that no one on God's green earth is simply going to switch their entire belief system for yours just because you tell them that they're wrong. And, in fact, telling them that they're wrong only sets them further against the idea of converting. What you really have to do to convert people to your way of thinking is SHOW THEM WHAT THEY'RE DOING RIGHT FIRST, AND THEN BUILD UPON IT!!!! Use your common beliefs to bridge the gap between theirs and yours. No one is going to be converted to your ways because you tell them their beliefs are stupid, and incorrect, and that they are evil for believing the way that they do. That is not how people work. But if you show them your common ground, and then lead them into what makes your way so much better than theirs, and allow them the decision as to which way they prefer to believe, then, every now and then, not always, or even very often, really, someone will come to see that your beliefs may be the better way. Insulting and belittling people for beliefs that are different from those you wish to convert them to only sets them against you more firmly. I mean, does Goodkind even understand human at all? Because he is failing at it pretty hard with this book.
Also, the implication that pacifists are incapable of seeing evil is rather offensive and shows an extreme lack of intelligence and understanding by the author. If you're going to write about something, do the time to research it. Don't just use what you personally believe without even bothering to find out if what you think about it is actually true. This is an amateur mistake. If you just plain don't care if you're being true to life or not, well, maybe you shouldn't be writing books to begin with. If you are unwilling to put in the bare minimum of effort to research the ideology of the opposition for your book, then you really need to find yourself another career. This is lazy, offensive, and it makes the author look like a colossal moron, and something of a Nazi as well.
There is too much bullshit in this book to be contained in Goodreads' character limit. Continued below in the first comment of the comments section... -
What Pillars of Creation made me question, Naked Empire confirms. Terry's writing is getting annoying. If you have plowed through the series thus far as I am and up to this one, get ready to recap everything over and over... We learn once or twice again how Richard came to be where and what he is now.. how he came to his beliefs... and on.. and on...
The best is when Terry's feeling especially recaperrific... imagine if you will:
Kahlan's about to use her confessor power AND SUDDENLY! It reminds her of the time........(pages of recap going by.. no joke!)......and now where were we?
It's annoying.Oh! And when he's not feeling recaperrific, Richard is on his soapbox for pages on end delivering speeches about his moral clarity. Good grief!
We get it Terry! We see the dead horse! He's been beaten enough already.
All that said, it has its moments- Nathan is one such moment. -
Goodkind is finding his stride in lecturing us on the failings of our own ideals here (if that is they don't agree with his) funny I thought I was reading an epic fantasy.... give it 1.5 instead of 2 stars.
Look hard you might find a story between the diatribes. -
Naked Empire by Terry Goodkind is book 8 in the in the epic fantasy series called The Sword of Truth series. This series has been lagging a bit but this book brought some intense action, some hard character choices, and lots of peril. This series has not been the best at balancing its many characters, but this book finally does it and it is great. Naked Empire Brought back character from the first and second books that mad me so happy. This series loves to write its character's in impossible corners and this book is no exception. The pace of this book was one of the best of the series. The climax was intense and kept building to an epic conclusion. Richard and Kahlan were almost together the longest time since the first book. We follow 5 sets of characters Richard, Zedd, Ann, Verna, and Nicholas. This book has a couple of payoffs the series has been setting up for a while, some from the last book but one from 3 books ago, and it was a good one. I enjoyed finding out how the title fit into the story and what it meant. Naked Empire by Terry Goodkind was published on June 1 2004.
The Plot of Wizard's First Rule (book 1): Richard Cypher is a wood guide that that has recently lost his father to a brutal murder with no suspects. His father and him had a code where one would leave an item in a jar my the door, the item is a rare vine that should not grow in his land. Richard is on a mission to find the vine and it takes him on the outskirts of the boundary of Westland. While investigating he finds a beautiful woman, Kahlan being chased by four big men. Richard knowing the trails can get to the woman first. He gets to the woman first and ends up defending her and defeating the men. they become fast friends as the woman in mystified by Richard and the way he treats her, it is revealed she is from the other side of the boundary, the Midlands, the boundary is protected by miles of border wall of the underworld, and not used to the kindness from men. Richard takes her to an old healer/ cloud reader friend, Zedd. Quickly Richard finds out that his old friend is not what he seems but a powerful wizard, one of the last of his kind. Kahlan is very important to the cause and Richard is special and anointed the Seeker of Truth, which comes with a powerful weapon the Sword of Truth that is a powerful magical item that focuses emotion into the blade. Richard finds out the true nature of the world that there is a Threat in Darken Rahl that involves tearing down the boundaries and ruling the world. It is up to Kahlan, Zedd and Richard to stop him.
The Plot of Stone of Tears (book 2): The Plot: Two days after Richard defeated Darken Rahl. A creature from the underworld has escaped and it wants to mark Richard so he can open the underworld for the Keeper. Zedd deals with these creatures first and must find Richard and seek side in closing the veil to the underworld. Richard and Kahlan are returning a boy back to the mud people when a creature from the underworld comes for them. They defeat the creature but Richard gets migraines that make it feel like his head will explode they keep getting worse and worse. He meets 3 Sisters of Light that day they can help him but they must collar him and own him to teach him to control his new magic. He refuses and the sister creates suicide right then and there, saying that was chance one you will have two more chances to get help of you do note, you will die.
The Plot for Blood of the Fold (book 3): A funeral is held at the Palace of the Prophets for the Prelate and the Prophet. They were burned by Sisters of the Dark who have infiltrated the Sisters of the Light. Sister Verna who is the a good Sister of the Light and a friend to Richard Rahl the Seeker of Truth, is set up to be the new Prelate she doesn't know if this is for real or a trick of the Sisters of the Dark, the prophesies foretold that the false Prelate will destroy the Palace of the Prophets. She believes this to be free when she unravels a conspiracy that makes the prophesy come to pass. Richard having just came from seeing Kahlan and confirming she is alive when the world thinks she is dead. Richard waits at the Mother Confesser's temple and fights the Mriswith a deadly snake like creatures that he saw and killed in the old world but has never seen one in this world. The Mriswith have now started to plague the land, they are being lead by something Richard must find out. Richard has started to embrace the Rahl part of his name he believes that the only way to unite the Midlands is be the supreme ruler, with all of Midland under his rule. He tries for peace by strong arming The Blood the Fold leader, the very same man who thinks he murdered Kahlan, but the Mriswith help him as their ruler wants him to live, and has a purpose for him. The ruler is known as the Dreamwalker and quickly takes over the Sister of the Dark and the Blood of the Fold, he wants Richard defeated and the Palace of the Prophets to be his especially the slow aging spell attached to it. Richard and Verna must fight the Dreamwalker on to different fronts.
The Plot for Temple of the Winds (book 4): Richard and Kahlan are finally reunited and talking wedding. They get three very special visitors One is a man claiming to be Richard's brother an illegitimate son of Richard's father Darken Rahl. The second visitor is Nadine a girl from Richard's village who was sent by the witch woman Shota to marry Richard. The final visitor is an assassin who's job it is to kill Richard. Through interrogation of the assassin they find that he was not alone, and with a sister of the dark that work for the Dreamwalker. The Sister has started a plague which starts a prophesy for Richard if he does nothing millions will die, if he wants to fight Kahlan will betray him . and Ricard will be no more. When the first victim of the plague dies his spirt takes over his body and talks about the winds This leads them to find out of a spiritual place called the Temple of the Winds that could hold the key to the cure and stop the plague. The price to enter the Temple of the Winds might be too high?
The Plot for Soul of the Fire (book 5): Richard and Kahlan are finally married by the Mud People and has reunited with Zedd. The wedding bliss does not last long as Richard feels something not right...with a chicken. This isn't the only thing two of the Mud People children has died by mysterious circumstances, and everyone with magic has started to lose it. Zedd ask Richard and Kahlan about the Chimes, the beings from the underworld that saved the world from the dark magical plague, the Chimes manifest in water, air, and fire . Zedd freaked out that Kahlan said them out loud, but in his research the Chimes can only stay in this world if called by the third wife, Kahlan is Richard's second since he was married to Nadine in the last book and did not last. Zedd with prelate Ann knows that somehow the Chimes are here but he knows Ricard will be safe in the Wizards Keep, so he makes up a creature the Lurk and fakes an illness so Richard and Kahlan will race off to the Keep while Zedd can defeat it. On Richard's way to the keep he runs into Du Chaillu a slave girl he was chained to and saved, she comes to Richard pregnant and calls him her husband, with her rules they are married. The Chimes are in this world.
The Plot Summary of Faith of the Fallen (book 6): After the aftermath of the last book with Kahlan getting brutally injured and can not use magic to heal her, Richard takes her to his old town when he was Richard Cypher a woods guide and not the Seeker of Truth. When he arrives the town doesn't want him, that lies of The Order have spread and he is ruining their better life. Richard who just came from a town that rejected him for The Order has but him in an odd place where he doesn't want to fight anymore or yet, because people don't know what freedom is. Nicci a Sister of the Dark and one of Dreamwalker's ,the leader of The Order, disciples, is on the fringe since for some reason the dreamwalker can't always enter her mind. She defies him killing a leader in his army as an example. Nicci is called on by the Dreamwalker while she investigates how Ann a Sister of the Light and her old Prelate have escaped and the Dreamwalker can't enter their minds. She finds out it is Richard is the key, when the dreamwalker can't enter her mind she was thinking of Richard. She finds Richard and place a spell on Kahlan that if any harm comes to her it comes to Kahlan as well. She convinces Richard to come with her to live in the heart of The Order to convince him of it's gifts she goes back to where she grew up. Kahlan and Cara take their anger out on the army of the Order who's invading the Midlands.
Plot Summary of The Pillars of Creation (book 7): Jennsen has been sheltered her whole life, kept away from secrets of her mother. Jennsen is a Rahl half Sister to Richard Rahl. But Jensen is so sheltered she did not know that Richard is good and killed their father Darken Rahl to save people and the land. She meets the chief strategist of Richard's new new enemy the Dreamwalker, and he tells all about The brutal Richard Rahl as he saves her from soldiers that were hunting Rahl family members. Since they pose a threat and have an immunity to magic. Jennsen is convinced she must kill Richard to free from her threat. She and Richard find out that Jennsen is not the only sibling and their are dire consequences if Richard is killed that will effect all lands.
Plot Summary of Naked Empire (book 8): Richard having come to terms with his sister half Sister Jennsen who is resistant to all magic, comes to know a family secret that Jennsen is not the only one that his ancestors would banish the non magic off spring to it own land. The land was protected from the boundary but Kahlan brought all boundaries to save Richard almost 2 years ago. The Dream Walker knows the power of the non magic and can use them to populate an army of non magic and the non magic can enter restricted area that old deadly magical artifacts. Richard runs into one of the banished that escaped. he tries to persuade Richard to help but fails. Richard moves on feeling the effects of the gift and something else, The man shows back up and alerts him he poisoned him so that he can help liberate his people the complex poison needs three vials of the antidote who are now under enemy control he must fight an army to live.
What I Liked: Characters from the 1 and 2nd books came back in a really good scene. The craziest most devious way to torture people, next level stuff. The action was intense and easy to read. The conversations in this book about morality, killing, fighting back, and nonviolence are really good and pretty thought provoking. I like that we finally know what happens to Nicholas 3 books later it was hinted heavily that he evolved and we get to see the monster he has become that could rival the Dream Walker. I like that we get Ann and Nathan back together the frenemy energy works well with them. The Zedd scenes were the best I missed him so much in the last book. This book had some good moments of humor I loved the joke with the bird call.
What I Disliked: The twist with the Wise One was meh, I think it fit but it did not need to be a twist it could of been set up that this is the wise one's of the village. The conclusion was too easy I think it could have worked but not the way it was written was a cop out, and basically inferred Richards gift can get him out of anything.
Recommendation: The Sword of Truth series is a good fun high fantasy with a lot of blood guts, and heart. The series as a hole will be solid 4 out of 5 and the Naked Empire is a great addition to the series. Naked Empire is one of the better books in the series. I rated Naked Empire 4 out of 5. This book was very close to being a 5 out of 5. Here's my ranking of the books in the Sword of Truth series so far... after reading 8 books. 1) Stone of Tears, 2) Temple of the Winds, 3) Naked Empire, 4) Faith of the Fallen, 5) Wizards First Rule, 6) Blood of the Fold, 7) Pillars of Creation, and 8) Soul of Fire. -
Wow! Terry Goodkind, if he truly is the author, seems to have gone off the deep end here. I had a strong love/hate, emphasis on the hate side with this book. I was driven on by the plot but really, really hated the philosophy that Goodkind espoused in this book.
What a long way Richard has come from the lowly but noble woodsguide who seemed to cry at least every other chapter of "Wizard's First Rule." Goodkind has twisted his own characters almost out of recognition.
In this book Richard almost loses his "gift" because he believes that to balance the violence of being a war wizard he has to be a vegetarian. Of course he recognizes that his killing is justified therefore he denial of meat is a denial of that justice and the virtue of his gift.
HOWEVER, when Richard stopped liking meat it wasn't a choice he justed hated the taste of meat and cheese. It wasn't a choice that imparted a moral judgment or the use of his gift, it just was. That is when Goodkind introduced the explanation of the need to balance the killing of the gift.
Goodkind also told us in the first book, when Richard was named Seeker and given the Sword of Truth, that Richard would suffer intense pain every time he killed someone with the sword regardless of the justice of the killing. I am amazed that he hasn't tried to explain that away also!
What is going on with this author? Was he caught up in the Pro-war of the post 9/11 events? -
I like this book the best for the process Goodkind describes in leading an extremely ignorant and evil (and thus vulnerable) group from "We need you [Richard] to save us" to thinking for themselves, recognizing value and individual liberty, and defending themselves. That's a difficult process, and one worth examining in detail to similarly educate people in our world. And also it gives the "no meat" taboo the heave-ho (after belief in it causes its share of trouble), which I always thought a bit odd and superstitious (but didn't want to question another man's rules of magic).
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I literally just finished this book 10 minutes ago.
Where shall I start?
Maybe by saying... I LOVED this book!
But let's get a bit critical first...
It being the first novel where we get to see Richard's major character changes in action igsince his inner struggles in Faith Of The Fallen... I must start off by saying that I was annoyed with Richard for the first half of the book.
It seemed to me that his first 'speeches' to Jennsen and Owen in the beginning were condescending and belittling. I understand, COMPLETELY, why he would've felt that way, but even his signature patience and understanding whilst seeking truth seemed tainted with superiority.
It annoyed me more that I could feel that underlying eye switch bubbling up in me towards Richard, whom I've never felt acted unfairly to others thus far, and love just as much as Kahlan does (Well, maybe that's a bit too far-fetched. Maybe). I knew his reasons for acting the way he would, but it still didn't make my inner ache for him to just chill go away. But he's Richard With The Temper... what're ya gonna do?
In the end, his solutions made perfect sense, and my twitches subsided to finally see the truth in the way Richard acted.
I also have to admit, that I now understand why others deem this series as 'preachy' in it's Objectivistic values. This novel is the first that I've felt it could be a fair assessment. There are many, MANY, times in this novel that I found myself skipping over more paragraphs about freedom vs. slavery and faith vs. logic. It was necessary for the characters, because they were so ridiculously misinformed, but it started to drone for the reader after a while, especially since I got it the first time (unlike the bulk of the minor characters).
OKAY. Now for the good stuff!
Naked Empire to me, is where all the pieces start falling into place. All of these repercussions of various decisions and plots trailing all the way back to Temple of the Winds (book 4) start coming into play. Not only that, at various points details from the 1st and 2nd novels come back to refresh your memory with glowing revelation and happy resolve. I feel like the series is finally reaching some important conclusions in this book. Which is well-timed, as I was beginning to become weary of the constant conflict.
Another thing that captivated me during this novel was the history lesson of the D'Haran people during the great war. It amazes me that a fictional world could seem so real merely by the historical details woven so effortlessly into the plot. Terry Goodkind truly has a gift for creating an entirely new and refreshing world.
There were countless sentimental moments... I think shed more tears in this novel than any of the others.
And lastly... Who else was really intrigued by Nicholas the Slide? for some reason this antagonist had my attention more than the others have. The concept of a 'Slide' was disturbing, and once again Terry, very well thought out.
Just curious... Did anyone else imagine Nicholas as the actor that plays Loki in the movie Thor? Maybe only more... gross looking. =D
I did wish, wholeheartedly I might add, that a certain plot that's been pain-stakingly pushing forward(since book 2), would reach it's final breath... But alas, No. I will just have to keep reading to appease my need for resolve. And I'll enjoy that more than hate it. =) -
Ok, maybe this book could have been decent without the random multi-page-lengthed spiels about choosing your own life, and without the horrible plot devices (which I guess have actually been around the entire series, but they were oh so noticeable this time), and without the random moral posturing Goodkind does, but then the book would probably only have 3 pages in it.
It doesn't help that Richard, the man who is always right, the moral paragon of Goodkind, the hero of the people, decides that it is a good idea to massacre peaceful protesters. Richard claims that "since they are defending those who do evil, they themselves are evil." Maybe I shouldn't put quotes around it, but it's pretty darn close. Then, after these hippy people who have never committed violence ever in their life see that Richard is going to attack them, what do they do? They attack Richard! WOW! WAY TO COMPLETELY GO BACK ON THEIR VALUES AT A TRULY VITAL TIME GOODKIND!
My goodness, this book is just awful. So apparently Richard gets poisoned by a subset of these hippy people (who would never bring harm to anybody, but still lethally poison Richard...) who want his help. So Richard is forced to go to these people to save himself, since these people have the antidote to the poison. When he meets this subset of people, he promptly defeats their horrific straw man logic with terrible logic of his own. Like, Richard is supposed to represent logic and reason but his rantings are terrible. Like Goodkind must have no philosophical education, because even I think his arguments are horrific. So, in order to overcome this hero who should have a perfect argument but instead sucks worse than a five year old at arguing, Goodkind makes the people he's arguing against even more inept at it!
Oh, of course, the horrifying plot device that the antidote is split into three different containers across three different cities isn't the worst plot device ever, as others in this book make it look good! Of course, never mind the fact that this Owen fellow was supposed to poison Kahlan as well; however, Kahlan avoids the poisoning so all logic would point towards Richard needing only half the antidote or else these hippy people were just planning on killing Kahlan all along, that's unimportant!
Sigh, I don't even know where to begin about Richard realizing the fact that killing peaceful protesters is moral, it's just astounding how Goodkind can actually act as though these are noble views.
I should be done with this series, but I made a promise to myself that I would finish it. Dear God, please give me the strength I'll need (or the booze required)! -
Terry Goodkind is a superb author, and in my opinion, his "Sword of Truth" series is the best I have ever read. So good, in fact, that I have read the entire series three times in a row, back to back, non-stop. This series is *not* for children. The series covers many aspects of the dark side of humanity, in great detail, as the heroes try to overcome the evils in the world. Goodkind is not afraid to show his readers just what evil *really* is, that is, most often, people who perform acts of evil feel justified in their minds as to why they are doing so, if for illogical reasons, and will that those that oppose them are the evil ones. Goodkind shows his readers that the only way to overcome evil in ourselves and in the world is through use of Reason. The series is *not* light reading, but if one is not afraid to confront the reality of evil (even within ourselves), and how to really defeat evil, the one will find this series extremely rewarding.
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Am I going to finally bust out the one star rating on this series? I don't know, but maybe. I gotta read some good stuff now before writing this review because my brain fell into a coma while reading it.
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Update (1st March):
At long last, it is finally over. Naked Empire was fine but the fact that I had to stop reading it in the middle for about a week, certainly did not do it any favours. Once I restarted it, it took me ages to get back into the story and even then I spent more time reading about the book than actually read the book itself. I had thought about taking a break from the series but with just 3 more books to go, I think I'll stick around to finish it.
There were parts in the Naked Empire that nearly drove me insane with impatience and frustration (case in point the Bandakars and their misguided notions of peace) I have to hand it to Richard and Kahlan, they actually tried to talk sense with these guys, I would have gladly clubbed them all on their heads.
I usually find the secondary plots tiresome and can't really be bothered to care about them, but this time they were fun and I found myself getting very involved with the characters concerned (Zedd, Adie and Nathan in particular)
We also saw some old characters return and I was very happy to see them. Chase and Rachel were always fun and it was nice to see Rachel a little grown up.
All of the books in the Sword of Truth series have one thing in common, they are incredibly long-winded. They don't take long to get going in the beginning, it is the middle portion that one requires patience in vast quantities. The middle portion, most of the time, just seems to muddle along until you get close to the end, where the pace again gets quite fast and chaotic (but in a good way) I only wish the pace of the narrative was more consistent.
Naked Empire has gone back to the Sword of Truth books that got very annoying in the middle. It has gotten so slow (although, so far that hasn't deterred from wanting to finish the book) Add to that the fact that I can only read a little bit everyday because of my current assignment, that certainly hasn't helped matters any.
And I don't like Jennsen. I tried to like her but I just can't.. She's just so irritating and always asking so many incessant questions. I am surprised that Kahlan or Cara didn't just smack her for it.. And Owen. Don't even get me started. UGH!! I hope it gets better... -
There's something so wonderful about a plot so complex it truly needs 700 pages to work itself out. I appreciate that when reading Goodkind's novels I not only learn the history, culture, and customs of the main characters but also of each character whose path crosses that of Richard and Kahlan. Perhaps I won't wait 2 years to read the next book!
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I've started reading the series and now I can't stop reading. I liked this book better than the last one. By the end of it, I couldn't put it down! I would say way better than the Pillars of Creation, but not as good as Faith of the Fallen. But, still one of my favs. I hope the next book isn't too tragic.
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If you want an author to tell you in no uncertain terms what is right and what is wrong, then this book is for you.
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This book is great, because the warrior is very smart and cunning, I would like be like him.
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This is more of a series review: I've seen a lot of negative posts, because the author pours his beliefs into his writings. I can understand how that can be annoying. It's probably similar to how I feel when I watch the news or most talk shows. Everything is liberal, and, if it's not, it's closed-minded.
Terry Goodkind has pointed out some very real truths that we can relate to, if our eyes are open. Those truths are effortlessly encased in novels that are hard to put down. I have been reading the series faithfully and am now on book 9. I appreciate that the author shares his words of warning. For those who think he had to pander to a certain belief system to write fantasy, I ask why CS Lewis's writings are so beloved, or how about Charles Dickens? The best authors are intelligent and have a way of infusing their convictions into their art. Liberals: the entire news media, and thus, seemingly the whole world is willing to tell you that black is white. If you're going to spend hours reading an author's works, wouldn't you rather read something that makes you think for yourself?
Even if you don't agree with his insights, he's drawn some disturbing parallels, that could be enlightening.
As Goodkind points out, we live in a world where saying something is true & spreading the message (i.e. facebook) makes it true. Too few people think for themselves. They just believe everything that shows up on their news feed or that their party spouts.
Note: If you look up your shocking piece of smear campaign before you repost, you may be surprised to actually learn the truth. -
I read the first 6 books of the Sword in Truth series years ago and LOVED them. Especially the first three are some of my all-time favourite books. Then I read Pillars of Creation... Terry Goodkind really dropped the ball there. I missed Kahlan and Richard as the main protagonists and it just didn't work for me, so I never got around to reading the rest of the series.
Now that they're all out, I figured it was time to finish up - I owed it to the first books ;)
And with Naked Empire Goodkind got back on the horse. Just as captivating as the first 6 books, it drew me right in, and I finished the 660 pages in just two days. I'm now utterly immersed in the universe and wish I had time to reread the rest of the series.
That's not to say it didn't have its flaws. I certainly don't remember the first books as having this much monologuing, and there were some issues I felt weren't properly explained near the end of the book - it seemed like that was more a case of forgetfulness than because Goodkind couldn't figure out how to explain it though.
So yes, I do see the book's short-comings... but I still loved it. This is a 4.5 book for me. -
These books would be so much better if the author just told the story and stopped trying to force feed beliefs down your throat.
For example, in this delightful romp, Richard met a sole man from a far off land who Richard gave many a lecture to about the value of life.
Then Richard met some of this man's village mates and had a chapter + giving the same lectures to all of them about the value of life.
THEN he met some of the wise men of the man's people and told the same lectures again!!!
Plus there were refresher lectures in-between and after all these main lectures. I can only assume that Terry Goodkind thinks his audience is excessively stupid (and given his interviews I think that is it).
For those of you who are curious I will summarize the lectures in three brief points:
- if you value your life you will be willing to fight for it.
- not making a choice or choosing not to fight is actually helping the enemy
- there's no compromise with people who rape, torture, and/or murder
Also it should be noted that for this book and all others, one should remember that Richard is always the most right and it is always his way or the highway. But honestly if it gets him to shut up then I definitely support agreeing with whatever the hell he says.
Aside from all the lectures the story was fairly enjoyable. Plus Goodkind has toned down the excessive rape and violence towards women and descriptions of how traumatized they are to the occasional one liners. -
Can somebody please assassinate the mother Confessor. She has become pointless in this series. Her magic is next to useless. She is going to get kidnapped or almost raped at some point in every story, that's a given.
The women that were so feared and Powerful in the first two stories have been reduced to nothing but weak emotional liabilities.
And don't get me started on Jensen. Richard seems to always run from his allies and run towards his enemies. His friends spend more time trying to find him and second-guessing his decisions then helping.
I haven't read the next book yet but I'm pretty sure somebody will be getting kidnapped or imprisoned or raped or kidnapped imprisoned and raped.
Sigh.... I wish I could stop but I'm too invested.
