Blood of the Fold: Sword of Truth, Book 3

words good

Speaking on the condition of the book itself, the print is a bit off and weird for about half the book, but then returns to normal. Great surprise, though, I bought 3 books, and I didn’t know until I checked out that they were running a special, and I got one free!! Content: I’m only to chapter 7, so I don’t have much to say about this book, but Goodkind does well at re-capping with few words and details, for those who haven’t read the previous books, which is great for those of us who have already read the books. It keeps new readers in-the-know without boring the rest of us with what we already know.

The first three of these books are pretty good. I like most of the characters, settings, and there are some good action pieces. That being said, there are some really annoying parts about the book, too.For instance, the rules of magic seem to be entirely subjective. In the first book, for instance, one of the characters possesses a powerful magic that we are repeatedly told is absolute; we're told there are no loopholes with this magic, and that it is devastating to anybody who it is unleashed against. One of the major plot points centers around the rules of this magic, but by the end of the first book, two different people have been hit with this magic and not been affected. We get a huge problem for the majority of the book about the effects of this magic and the fact that it cannot be countered or avoided, but then at a the end the author says "Welp, forget it, we'll just have it not work this time!"These books also fall into the strange habit fantasy has of getting off topic into weird sexual scenarios. By the second book in the series, we've been introduced to three completely different groups of women who force men to have sex with them. Three different groups of women who have male slaves (and all three take sexual advantage of this). One, it kind of makes sense, I guess. Two? Getting kind of weird. Three? Man, you might need a cold shower before you sit down to write.In my opinion, the characters serve the plot too much as well. For instance, we'll see a character fight monsters for a book or two, then for seemingly no reason the character will trust one of the monsters as though he hasn't spent the last books beheading them. Characters who could easily help our protagonist are always pulled away on other errands to make sure the answers are never clear.That being said, the books, and this book in particular, are pretty good. We get a lengthy introduction to a character that winds up being not particularly important. We get some great fights, we get some parts where Richard just wrecks shop,Overall, these aren't bad books. They're better than a lot of fantasy out there, and are competently written.

Terry Goodkind is a wonderful author. I'd never realized though that Richard did not approve of Bernadine and Raina being together. I must have missed it the first time I read the book. Still good but not really appropriate.

There are a number of things in this book that made it a less enjoyable read than the first two books.First, Kalan was only a few days ahead of Richard at the end of the last book. Suddenly in this book she is weeks away from Richard. If the death spell is in effect, why is she running away from Aydindril and deciding to make her base in Galea? Why would she not return to Aydindril upon hearing that the council and the enemy wizards are all dead?Richard does too many things miraculously by instinct. One has to wonder why he didn't just instinctively kill Jagang from Aydindril without all the extra effort. Yet, he also chooses to act foolishly for no apparent reason just to further the plot. The character is no longer believable.Jagang is one dimensional. He's all evil, with no redeeming qualities. We get no insight into what motivates him. There is no background to him whatsoever. He just appears out of nowhere and does not evoke much interest or emotion from the reader. By now I've gotten to the point where I just think, "OK, more raping and torturing skip ahead...".The same is true of the Mriswith. The book tantalizes the reader with the prospect that some of them may be allies but then leaves them as one-dimensional as Jagang. Could we not have at least a few of them thinking independently?There are many characters in this book who conveniently switch from being disinterested to devious schemers just to further the plot. Why is the only sorceress in Aydindril acting for herself and not under control of Jagang?Once again the author has armies of hundreds of thousands sitting around doing nothing, fed and provisioned by some miracle and then moving ridiculous distances through supposedly war ravished territory. Emperor Jagang seems to have conscripted all the men in his empire, who then sit around apparently terrorizing all the women. On has to wonder who is planting and working. How can his army sustain itself waiting around and not conquering new territory throughout the book?Kalan considers not taking a bath, so hopefully Richard will not recognize her nor come to her rescue. I found that thought to be a complete non sequitur. Would Kalan actually believe that she could become so filthy that Richard would not recognize her?This book seems to have a poorer copy of the plot from the previous book.Like the first two books, the Kindle edition has numerous typographical errors, missing letters and words, misspelled words and a lack of editing and proofreading. It seems to have been hurriedly scanned from a printed copy with no attention to quality. There is no table of contents and no search function. I discovered that when I tried to search for the word "Sliph" to recall the pages describing a prophesy in a previous chapter.I am considering buying the paper back books in a set if I continue reading the series. That will be less expensive and perhaps provide better copies. I'm dubious about the amount of meat left in this story considering the direction of this book.

Richard は wizard でありながら、誰にも何も magic という gift の使い方を教わっていないため、本能だけで magic を発動させて、いつも危険をかいくぐるというスリルを与えてくれます。しかし、そんな Richard が Zedd のような first order の wizard でさえも入れないという Keep の地下に入り込み、3,000年も眠っていた古代の magic の一種である sliph を発動させる事に成功します。she と呼ばれる sliph とは一体何か・・・どんどん面白くなっていくこの話は一体、どのような展開を今後見せるのか？ The Wheel of Time とはかなり違う躍動感とスケールの大きさに引き込まれると抜けられなくなる「魔力」があります。

本書において注目した点はいくつかあります。　一つはMord-Sithとのからみ。序盤におけるAydindril市街でのリチャードとMord-SithのCara等との再会にはじまる、リチャードとMord-Sithとのエピソードは本書のハイライトのひとつ。　二つ目はWizard's Keep。そしてSliphe。広大な空間をどう移動するか、小説世界内部で違和感のない答えを作者は出しています。　三つ目はいよいよその存在を顕わにしてきたJaganとSisters of the Dark。　なお、末尾におけるMriswith QueenとのWizard's Keepでの闘い。映画のAlienシリーズを思い浮かべたのは私だけではないと思うのですが。　シリーズ序盤の最高峰と私が考える第2作目と内容の濃さではシリーズ中1，2を争う第4作目の谷間の作品ですが、小粒でもピリッと辛い、といった作品となっていると思います。

An excellent book for those that want to read about rape, sex, mutilation, graphic violence and more rape and sex.The relationship between the male and female heroes seems to be aimed at 13 year old girls with their undying love for each other being mentioned every few pages (in between the sex and rape of course).It’s not one for me as whilst I like fantasy I prefer something other than sexual fantasy

I found this one a bit slow at times even though there's a fair amount of action. To be fair to the author, he has created such a well detailed world with lots of characters that passages of back stories and descriptions would seem called for. I thought that there were less surprises too as Richards obvious breaking of the often mentioned wizards third rule were to give rise to inevitable troubles. I don't particularly enjoy the coming of age element to this saga and what I guess is meant to be romantic talk between Richard and Kahlen just makes me cringe. There's a time and place for romance and the middle of fighting for your life is not it. Given how dangerous the adversaries have been built up to it would seem more likely to get you killed.All in all though, there are enough dark elements to give an unromantic soul such as I plenty to enjoy and there really is some dark stuff which offsets the disney-esque coming of age stuff to make this story work.

Most of this book involves people getting; separated from each, trying to save each other, being in the same place as each other, while being unaware of their proximity to the other person, intrigue and deception. Who wouldn't want to read it? I love the Sword of Truth series, this edition is no exception, the twists and turns build excitement and some chapters lead you down several characters storylines in succession. As always not all paths are followed to a a conclusion, leaving unanswered questions for Richard and the reader to pick up in the next tale Temple of the Winds.