Product Description
On the day that she awoke remembering nothing but her name, Kahlan Amnell became the most dangerous woman alive. For everyone else, that was the day when the world began to end.
As her husband, Richard, desperately searches for his beloved, whom only he remembers, he knows that if she doesn’t soon discover who she really is, she will unwittingly become the instrument that will unleash annihilation. But Kahlan learns that if she ever were to unlock the truth of her lost identity, then evil itself would finally possess her, body and soul.
If she is to survive in a murky world of deception and betrayal, where life is not only cheap but fleeting, Kahlan must find out why she is such a central figure in the war-torn world swirling around her. What she uncovers are secrets darker than she could ever have imagined.
Amazon.com Review
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Craig Daniels @ 8:00 pm
Hear me out; everyone seems to be writing glowing reviews for this book and I am not going to be one of them. Read on though, at least try and appreciate a different viewpoint.
I have been a fan of Terry Goodkind from the start. I consider myself well read in this genre of fantasy and have bought each book the day it came out with great anticipation. The last few books have been, to say the least, mostly disappointing and have failed to capture the magic of the first few books. I kept my peace after reading them, hoping and expecting that he would come out with a book to redeem himself and set the storyline on course again. And so I eagerly awaited Phantom; Chainfire was good, not great, but good and I had hoped that Phantom would get to it again.
Not so. I have a number of issues with the book, so here they are.
First Minor Issue – Everyone is painstakingly, ravishingly beautiful. Got it Terry, no more needs to be said. If I read one more time how beautiful and heartbreakingly gorgeous (but deadly at the same time) that Nicci is, I will scream. Or put down the book and be very upset.
First Major Issue – Life is sacred. Got it. No really, I get IT! I am tired of the pedantic drivel that spouts out of Richard (and now other characters) at will. I thought Faith of the Fallen was a monumental piece of work, that was the truly last excellent, innovative and thought provoking book Goodkind wrote. In trying to continue to tirelessly hammer home his quasi-religious ideological “life is worth living” theology, the book really starts to lose drive. Every time Richard pauses for breath and talks to someone, I know that somewhere in the next few pages he is going to start preaching about how sacred life is and how people have the choice of living life free, blah blah blah. I can appreciate a theological tone to a fantasy novel, used correctly it can certainly be a vehicle for adding depth to literature. TG is driving it so hard though in this last few books, that it comes out as tired and fanatical – like something I would see on TV at 1:00 in the morning begging me to see the light of Jesus.
Second Major Issue – I have a guilty secret; I still enjoy when they discover new things about magic. But on top of that guilty secret is that TG is a very self serving writer and has destroyed his own credibility in the world he has created. I am tired (again) of having monumental odds placed before characters and they somehow find an obscure magical reference, are able to save the world (or the situation) and life moves on. This is not realistic. Magic in itself is not realistic! But the way in which magic is implemented and used should be realistic. Magic is not (and should not) be a catch all that can solve all problems, is the crutch in a time of need, etc. TG uses magic here as a crutch for moving the plot; he had some good plot twists in this book but whenever he seems to dig himself a hole and can’t get out – Whala! A new form of magic, a new spell, a new way of looking at a thousand year old problem and Richard has his solution.
I would go on, but I won’t. Overal (if you haven’t read it yet) the book moved the plot forward towards a final batter/confrontation with Jagang and the end of the world (read Tarmon Gaiden), the characters rush around (it appears) aimlessly, but some grand finale is being planned. A ton of new magic is discovered, and hidden depths of the first Wizard Barracas are explored.
Interestingly enough I enjoyed the book. I was up late last night finishing it and couldn’t put it down. Some of the old excitement has once again entered back into TG’s work. But I felt I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the glaring issues in his work. If people want to congratulate him on the best book ever written, have a ball. I hope you have an open mind when reading this, at the end of the day I am a Sword of Truth fan and have all of his books in hard cover and will continue to buy them when they come out. I think TG has some great energy and I am awaiting the last book to come out – but this does NOT excuse poor writing.
Deborah Wolf @ 9:02 pm
Terry Goodkind’s latest novel in The Sword of Truth series is quite a bit shorter than the previous installments. Weighing in at a mere 587 pages it wouldn’t even counter-balance a single gallon of milk. On the up-side, this means that he has given us roughly the same amount of plot as his other books (not counting Wizard’s First Rule) by merely cutting back on his infamous 10-page-at-a-time interspersions of philosophical meanderings. Actually, if you want to skip the philosophical bits entirely, they were all lumped together between pages 114 and 215. The rest of this book is all action, and very exciting.
Let’s see… Without spoiling the plot, here’s the basics you’ll want to know about. Scenes with Jagang remain as graphic and unpleasant as ever. Rachel makes a return appearance after too long an absence, and remember wicked little Princess Violet from Wizard’s First Rule? She’s back, badder than ever, and has a new tongue in her mouth.
Very enjoyable book, but I think the last sentence might have been the most exciting: “BE SURE TO LOOK FOR THE NEXT AND CONCLUDING BOOK IN THE SWORD OF TRUTH SERIES.” I know – an 11-book series seems like a strange number to conclude on, but I need closure, so I won’t complain.
To those readers not familiar with this series, I recommend going in order starting with Wizard’s First Rule. However, Goodkind does insert enough backstory throughout Chainfire to make it possible to understand what’s going on if you start with just the first book in this concluding trilogy. (*note* I had originally written that you could start with just this book, but on thinking about it, that would probably be a bit too confusing. The amount of backstory in this book was much less than Chainfire, and served mostly to help me remember the details I had forgotten since I last read a Sword of Truth book 1 year ago.)
In brief, the series goes as follows:
Wizard’s First Rule (first and best in the series)
Stone of Tears
Blood of The Fold (plot of the overall series is introduced)
Temple of The Winds
Soul of the Fire
Faith of the Fallen (Best book other than Wizard’s First Rule)
The Pillars of Creation (recommend skipping)
Naked Empire
Chainfire (first book in the concluding trilogy)
Phantom
Final Book (name not yet known)
J. Johnson @ 10:36 pm
Since I’ve read the previous 9 books in this series, I felt obligated to read the 10th. Ever since “Faith of Fallen” (Book 6), I’ve felt this series has been on a downward slide. Phantom continues this slide. It has several glaring problems:
1. Goodkind’s philosophy lacks depth and as a result, the long discussions on the value of life are tedious and repetitive: OK, we get it, the Order is bad. In this book, the first two hundred pages is mainly a monologue on how bad the Order is. Truly, no army or society could function under the system the Order has created. The Order is absurd. As best as I can tell, the Order is now a mixture of Sado-Communism-with Cult of Personality thrown in for good mix. And yes, we understand that life is sacred. All the characters now spout the same unending drivel about the sanctity of life. Yep, got that too. I get it — I’m pretty sure I understood all this by the end of Faith of the Fallen but now 5 books later, I’m still beat over the head with it. The philosophy is pretty one-dimensional at the end of the day. Life is valuable vs. Life is not.
2. Goodkind is strangely fascinated with sadism, especially rape and child abuse: this book is rather sickening in its continual description and emphasis on the mistreatment of women and girls.
3. Goodkind has no concept of how actual armies work: We’re supposed to believe that the Order’s main armies is “millions” of men strong moving in one massive blob. Of course, it’s supplied by an agrarian society and relies on horse drawn wagons to carry its supplies over hundreds of miles. Supplying an army that is larger than the combined size of the Union and Confederate armies of the Civil War (and pretty much any army, pre-WW2) with horse drawn carts and no true industry is downright ridiculous. This army would starve to death or, more likely, die in large numbers from massive dysentery or other diseases — the Order which practices no hygiene whatsoever seems remarkably disease proof.
4. Monologue: One word says it all. Characters no longer talk to each other, they just preach or go on for endless pages in monologues. Even the extended discussions on the workings of magic border on the ridiculous. I miss the days of witty banter between Zedd and the other characters or real discussions between the characters.
5. Richard misses Kahlan: in case you don’t know this, you will be told this every other page or so that mentions Richard. Heck, just walking around and breathing causes him to miss her. It’s ridiculous after a while.
5. The plot feels increasingly contrived: VERY MINOR SPOILER, but a major character faces the threat of rape and avoids it through a plainly contrived plot device.
6. Philosophical inconsistency: MINOR SPOILER: In a remarkable twist, our main characters begin to embrace the concept of “total war” — how that jives with the philosophy of “life is sacred”, I have no idea. How the D’Harans and the other characters’ increasingly blind cult-of-personality devotion to Richard jives with the philosophy of running your own life, I’m not sure either. Is he a benign Kim Jong ‘IL? How they all willingly buy into the total war concept without blinking is beyond me too.
So if you’ve read 10 books, read this but save your money and wait for the paperback or check it out from the library. If you are wondering whether the series is worth reading, read the first 4 or 5 books and then just stop.
Daniel R. Macleod @ 12:38 am
I started reading this series at the age of 18, when Wizard’s First Rule was published in 1997. I thought it was wonderful; the pacing was brisk, the story was interesting, and the characters were, for the most part, likeable. The next few books were nearly as enjoyable, although Goodkind’s seeming fixation on rape, torture, and domination got a little irritating after a while. Before I continue the review, I feel the need to elaborate on this point.
I am not a prude, and I don’t have a problem reading things that make me feel uncomfortable, provided they have a purpose in the story. For example, rape plays a focal point in Stephen Donaldson’s pioneering Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series, and it never really bothered me reading about it because it was absolutely necessary to the plot and added to the fallibility of the main character. In contrast, Goodkind uses rape to show us how “bad” the “bad guys” are. In this case, it becomes a clumsy tool, used to later justify atrocities committed in the name of liberty against these “very, very bad guys”. In Goodkind’s universe, if you put an attractive woman in a room (and ALL of the female protagonists in the Sword of Truth series are attractive, of course) with a man who is not working for Richard, she will be raped. To make matters worse, Goodkind will write just enough detail to make the reader feel a bit dirty, like a peeping Tom watching something he shouldn’t.
In addition to constant references to rape, the violence that’s been everpresent throughout the Sword of Truth novels is also here in Phantom. That is not to say that the book is overly graphic. It’s just sadistic. In order to beat home the same tired point (that the bad guys in this book are bad, bad, bad!), Goodkind heaps extra helpings of abuse on Kahlan and Rachel, both of whom are in the hands of villians for most of the book. Again, I’m not opposed to violence in writing; indeed, George Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series is far more gristly than Goodkind’s work, but it manages to be that way without feeling sadistic, without leaving the reader wondering whether the author tortured animals as a child. Oh, and let’s not forget that most of Goodkind’s anger is directed at women in this book (via rape and brutal beatings). I don’t know if this is a coincidence, but it certainly is more than a little troubling.
On to the story. There actually isn’t much plot movement here: as people have already stated, Richard is, once again, captured and emasculated, new plot elements are introduced seemingly at a whim (when writing himself into a corner, Mr. Goodkind need only wave his wand for solutions, as evidenced by his absurd treatment of the Book of Shadows, a plot twist that decapitates the first book of the series, rendering its events entirely without meaning), and we’re served a heaping spoonful of very basic philosophy.
The philosophical component of Phantom is especially difficult to read because:
1. Goodkind rehashes what we’ve already read in Faith of the Fallen and Naked Empire, but does a poorer job of it. There is very little here we haven’t seen before.
2. The philosphy is very, very simple, like something a high school freshman might write about after reading The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged. I’m sorry, but when you’re dealing with ideas that are this simple (e.g. liberty is important!), you simply cannot sound insightful or profound. It’s almost painful reading this stuff, knowing that Goodkind sees himself as some sort of visionary when he’s reaching conclusions that most people reach when they’re teenagers.
3. The Cold War is over. When Ayn Rand wrote her books, at least she was speaking against an ideology that she felt was threatening the fabric of individualism. Goodkind is setting out to wage war against a paper tiger. Thank you, Terry…we already know that Communism (e.g. The Imperial Order) is flawed. You’re preaching to the choir.
4. It’s blatantly hypocritical: the entire foundation of Goodkind’s philosophy is used as justification for killing numerous innocent children in the Old World. Why is this okay? Because according to Jebra (via her description of Order soldiers teaching Dharan children to become merciless killers), The Imperial Order brainwashes people so absolutely that they become little more than animals and are unredeemable. Interestingly, the soldiers of the Dharan Empire, who were also little more than beasts/rapists before Richard became the Lord Rhal, are now paragons of virtue and liberty. For some reason, they were able to change completely after Richard gave them one speech, but the people of the Old World do not deserve the same treatment. It’s baffling.
As the second book of a trilogy, Phantom closes leaving us with more questions than answers, but that’s the nature of trilogies, and we can only hope that Goodkind ties things together in the final book.
Oh, and if it’s possible, the protagonists of this book are less likeable than ever. Kahlan and Richard’s relationship, which is so uninteresting that the author needs to constantly separate them in order to keep the book readable, continues to lack anything resembling depth (if you’ve watched the new Star Wars trilogy and squirmed uncomfortably through the atrociously-written dialogue between Anakin and Amidala, you’ll know what I’m talking about). Furthermore (as some here have pointed out), Zedd, Cara, Nicci, Anne, etc. all now behave in one of two ways: either they question the validity of Richard’s assertions, even though he has always been right and they never have, or they fawn over him tirelessly after coming to see how right he was all along. Richard is so self-confident and idealistic that he’s become the archetypal “hero” figure that is indicative of derivative fantasy. Morally, he can do no wrong, which is unfortunate because it makes him far less interesting and believable than Richard the Boundary Warden from the first book in the series.
All of these problems would be a little more palatable if the book were well-written. Unfortunately, it’s not. Borrowing the words of others, Goodkind has never been a great writer, only a good storyteller. Now that the story is quickly falling apart, there is little to enjoy. I guess this begs the question, have I gotten that much older and jaded, or has this series really descended so far?
Michael T. Henderson @ 1:09 am
After reading Chainfire, I had some hope that Terry Goodkind had regained some of the creativity that had been lost in his later books. Frankly, the story has been declining after the Stone of Tears. Unfortunately all the things that have made the later books fail to entertain is here. Richard continues to be the lecturer instead of leader and there are long drawn out lectures on the meaning magical symbols. Much of the arguments have the feel of just being made up to fill in space in the book and not really taking the reader anywhere.
The book has many of the flaws that you come to expect in the middle book of a trilogy. It’s meant to put the players in the right place for the ending. This could have been done in about the third of the pages, but I guess people would feel ripped off if the got a book of 200 pages in stead of 600. Instead we are bored to death.
It’s a good thing the series I coming to an end. It should have long ago when the creativity started dying out. Time to move on to other books and authors.