I promised myself I would not buy any of Goodkind's books, and I even hinted at quitting the whole series after reading Naked Empire. Alas, I have accomplished only the first of my two goals, because I keep telling myself that I need to see the Sword of Truth laid to its final resting place. My friend gave me Chainfire after she finished it, and I must say that the book is better than Naked Empire, but considering the ridiculous and highly repetitive propaganda combined with some of the most inhuman characters ever created (and I don't mean Jagang or Nicholas) almost anything could be better than Naked Empire. Chainfire seems to be a conscious effort from Goodkind to go back to some of his earlier Fantasy themes, such as the Boxes of Orden, the return of the "lost" Sisters of the Dark, and even a revisiting of Shota, by far my favorite character in the series, because unlike the usual suspects her motives are unknown and her actions actually surprise me. Also, splitting up Richard and Kahlan for the whole 667 pages was a good move. Think about it, the book would have been at least a couple hundred pages longer if Goodkind started describing how lovely Kahlan looked at dawn, how striking she looked and noon and how misty she seemed in the evening. In Chainfire, we only had to read about how righteous, strong, just, honest and life-loving Richard is over and over and over again, until I am almost willing to do the "devotion to lord Rahl" if only it would make Goodkind stop writing about Richard's infallibility, and give him some human features and character flaws. However, I kept reading, desperately wanting to believe that something surprising had happened to Kahlan, and maybe, just maybe, a real tragedy would befall the "perfect couple." For bringing back some great fantasy themes and for keeping my attention for the better part of the book, I must give Goodkind some credit, but for continually revisiting themes such anti-religion and anti-collectivism which were fervently introduced some 5000 pages ago in Blood of the Fold, I will refrain from buying Phantom. After all, having been disillusioned before, I am not in a rush to see just how effortlessly Richard will solve the problem of the beast, or how defiantly Kahlan will crush her kidnappers...but for now, at the end of Chainfire, anything is possible, and Goodkind can still surprise me, or so I hope.

Terry Goodkind begins this final trilogy by setting up the end. He makes us wonder if what we know to be true is actually true. He uses Wizard's First Rule to make us frightened that Kahlan really does not exist. The suspense has been killing me and trust me that this book is worth the read.

Mr. Goodkind, if you like Ayn Rand so much, perhaps you should pick up "Ayn Rand: My Fiction Writing Teacher" by Erika Holzner. I strongly suggest that you read up on what she calls the "preachy novel trap." Rand says to ask yourself "Am I really impassioned about my story or am I just hung up on spreading the Word and enlightening the masses?"

Think about it, Terry. Until you learn the above lesson or until I just give up on you, you will continue getting one-star reviews from me.

The book is so good that it only took my husband about a week to read it!!! (I bought the book as a gift for him).

True, TG tends to go really deep into whatever theory he is presenting, but come on! He has done so from book one, and that's what I like about him. It's what makes him different from just another Fantasy writer. I found that Chainfire was a great read, we get to learn a lot more about some of the main character, the Richard-Kalhan duet takes a welcome break and we discover another side of Richard. I loved the cliffhanger and couldn't wait for the next one to come out. Once again, TG is not afraid to break with a writing format.

After Naked Empire I promised I would not continue to buy the books, but finding myself in a train station facing a long trip with this being the only book even remotely interesting to me in the magazine shop, I reluctantly bought it. I can say it has not been much of an improvement from Naked Empire.
Wizard's First Rule was a great fantasy book, and I enjoyed it greatly. From there it has been going downhill, with barely an original idea, until the author took a turn into objectivism. From there it has been unbearable. While I do not think that fantasy books should never have anything to do with philosophy or similar subjects, Goodkind goes beyond what I can tolerate and spends half the book preaching about the evil of collectivism and personal responsability. If I wanted to read about objectivism I would pick up a book by Ayn Rand.
The book could have easily been cut in half, if many of the speeches about how people need to value life and take control of their lives had been left out. Towards the end the story once again starts getting interested, but it can be quite frustating getting there. Being in page 250 and realizing that the story has not been advanced at all, and it has only been an odd to Ayn Rand is quite annoying.
I will read the reviews on Phantom to see if things continue down this path, and if so I hope to be able to keep my promise of not buying it.

To be fair, the other reviewers are right; TG is far too wordy, too preachy, and his characters tend to lecture. But that's his style. He will pick a concept or philosophy and somewhat run it into the ground, it becomes the basis for his book. So that being said, Chainfire is about alot of things, but what happens to the character is almost inconcequental. Yes, he torments the main character Richard, by making him rush around all over the world, but the book has a surprising amount of depth in it, if you can ignore the redundant parts of it. For example, torture. TG feels that torture to do what's right and save lives is different than torture for its own sake. Why he has to bring up torture in every book I don't know; it really distracts and is deeply disturbing. Another thing; freedom is the most precious of values to TG and his characters. Richard is defined by being the one person who clings to his free will, while everyone else is slaved to prophacy or other rulers. So, to me he's making a strong statement about the current war on terror and is basically saying everything Bush has said for the past 5 years (whether you agree w/ that or not is a different story). Anyway, this book was much better than the pillars of creation which didn't really advance the plot. You have the sense that the series is almost done (thank god, just end it already), and it will be over in two books. What I don't like is that the book ends on a serious cliffhanger and little is actually resolved in this book, except to realize that Kalha (sp) is missing, and some stuff about the end of world. In sum, a good, strong read, multiple levels to it.

chainfire was a wonderful edition to the sword of truth series. It was well written, as they all are. Goodkind uses words to paint you the picture of life, love, and feelings in the world he created. with a trilogy like this i just hope the books aren't released too far apart!!

To be honest, I stopped reading this series after I finished Book 8 Naked Empire. At that point I became fed up with reading the same story line over and over again. This series has been by far my favorite series if I exclude the last 3 or 4 books. Wizard's rule and Faith of the Fallen were two of his best, I think. Beyond that he begins to drop many of the great character interactions and quirks and starts becoming too philosophical and too wordy. I grew weary of the 3 page long explanations that could have been dealt with satisfyingly in 2 or 3 sentences, and I grew weary of Richard being an idiot and getting captured all the time, and finding some miraculous way out of it that somehow defines his new abilities. A word of advice to Mr. Goodkind; You should have ended this series 4 books ago, would you just end it already. Start a new series with new characters and I will read it.

The pace of this book is tremendous. It opens with peril and dumps you in the middle of an emotional roller coaster as our hero fights to survive.

I loved this book. It was a hard story to read for those of us who have followed Richard and Kahlan though all of their adventures. If you want to read about heros, Goodkind offers a pair of truly unique ones.

Please read my review of Phantom for several issues I have with Goodkind's books. I will try not to repeat myself here. However, another minor problem with how Terry is handling the plot: stop making the Imperial Order into the ultimate bad guy! I'm sorry, but even the Old World can only have so many conscience-lacking, ruthlessly hedonistic men at their disposal. Why does Jebra have to describe in yet more detail what happened in Galea (reference to Phantom)? We know what it was before, we've heard it in every book you've ever written about the Order. Rape, slaughter, mockery, derision, killing, blood, injuries, more rape. Why not throw in some incest rape in there too? Have the indoctrinated boys rape their mothers and sisters, please, because we all love reading about every new sick method of rape and murder that you can possibly come up with. Why don't you make it as gross, disgusting and repulsive as humanly possible? And again, please stop setting it up as David versus Goliath. The Order cannot have a trillion men at their disposal, especially when there's enough men left in Altur'rang to defend the city.

However, I am writing this to review Chainfire. Chainfire could be shortened to about 100 pages. It is amazing to me how long TG could send Richard on a wild-goose chase to find someone, just one person, who remembers Kahlan. Why is he constantly surprised at each person who doesn't remember her? Well, Nicci and Cara don't remember, so maybe Victor or Ishaq will! Wait, no, I guess not, maybe...Shota will! Surprise, she doesn't either. And Terry takes about 400 pages to get Richard to that point. Not interesting at all. This book only functions as a bridge in explaining Chainfire. To save yourself several hours of life-wasting, just read the last 50 pages or so to find out what Chainfire is, then move on to the next book. The rest is completely useless writings. You could even go to Borders, read the last 50 pages in an hour or so, get up and leave so you don't waste your money on this book.

Nine books into the series, I was happy to see a new twist to the overall storyline, and for that I liked this book. This was one of the few in the series, that wasnt absolutely predictable to me. For as much as I applaud the direction in the storyline, in all other aspects, it was remakably unremarkable. The 778 pages in this book could have been cut down to about 500 easily. There are endless pages of recounting past events, or detailing the environment that you have already heard a thousand times throughout previous volumes in the series. I found myself skipping page after page because I think Goodkind was plagerizing his previous works. Im not sure if thats a crime, but it should be. All in all, it was good enough that I will finish the rest of this series, wether or not I'll regret it is yet to be determined.

This book follows "Naked Empire," book 8 of the Sword of Truth series. I loved this book as I do all of Terry Goodkind's books. I was so happy to see a continuation of the series - Hurrah! Keep it up! This story as with all others he writes, is a new story, but related to past events so consequentially ties in quite well. The only thing I found dissapointing was that the story did not end in this book. So, if you are wanting to read the entire story at one time, be sure to get "Phantom" also. I'm glad it's out already or waiting to see what happens next might have driven me crazy. Mr. Goodkind is a master at description. He brings his world alive for me by the way that he writes. I do not understand where some reviewers think that Mr. Goodkind is preaching to us - the readers - in his writing. This is a fantasy book, meaning, not real. Mr. Goodkind's characters' have certain values and beliefs which are espoused in the story as is appropriate. I feel that if a reader finds that Mr. Goodkind is preaching to them, they must be dealing with some issue of their own. It's just a story let's read it for what it is.

I was very impressed with this book. I can't wait to get the next book to see how it all comes out in the end. I find his writing is very entertaining and I have really enjoyed the books in this series. Everyone just leads you on to the next. If you like fantacy books then these will really capture your imagination.

I have greatly enjoyed many of the other books in this series, particularly the first. And I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the next couple. The story continues to be interesting.

Yet ...

This book would have been greatly improved had Mr Goodkind done a couple things:
- refrained from beating us over the head with his "value of life" theme. I started wishing I could blank out the parts of the book where he gives the same same old speech the 20th time. Or the 30th. Or the 40th ... Once would have been quite enough, thank you - twice if he was feeling self-indulgent.
- had not revisited the plots of the previous books as much. A little is helpful, but I started to feel as if I was living in a time warp.

It is annoying to enjoy a book enough to continue reading it while all the time wanting to attack the permissive editor with a freshly-sharpened pencil.

This is one of my all time favourite storylines and over the years I can't help but get attached to much of its imaginary world. Every time a new addition appears on the bookshelf it makes me happy. I don't read much anymore. Actually at the moment I don't have a desire to read at all but when an 800 page Goodkind book presents itself, I'm happy.

Chainfire was a frustrating read. I know Goodkind tends to repeat himself but most of the time I can accept it because there are so many characters in the book who are passionate about what they believe in. Passion leading to repetition is okay but Chainfire is written in circles. You could skip entire chapters and you would learn nothing new. To me almost nothing happens in the entire book. It is so amazingly slow to a point where it doesn't just bore me but drives me nuts. The characters in the book were very odd and behaved in ways I thought weren't believable? Events happen in ways that were also a little hard to swallow. I didn't get it.

So I'm upset over reading this book but then again, for a long time reader like myself, I can't not read this book. It's like life; you need to get past the rough patches hoping to get to the good parts. For me this seriously was a rough patch.

3 1/2 stars, not quite 4.

This was the first book of Goodkind's that I had read and was intrigued from the first page. As I did not know the backplot, as the events unravelled I found myself becoming drawn deeper & deeper into his world. Without ruining the plot for those of you that have not read the novel, the book is ultimately serviceable but just shy of brilliant.

There are several problems. 1. It is too long. Events are repeated too many times. Even as a novice to the series, I was able to pick up the action pretty easily and did not need to be told so many times about what had happened before. 2. 'show, don't tell' is an old writers proverb that Goodkind has ignored. Too often he tells us every minute thought and feeling that his characters are experiencing rather than demonstrating through their actions and reactions. Chainfire would have benefited from more subtelty. 3. Too many characters seem to be amalgams of characters that we have seen so many times before (think Lord of the Rings/Belgariad)

However, it is an audacious premice and I will definitely be reading the sequels and trying to dig up a copy of the earlier books in the series.

I am in the middle of reading Chain Fire and I just read the synopsis of Phantom. I quit. A book this long that takes one idea and makes it into two (or more) books is ridiculous. It is too long and just repeats itself over and over.

Chainfire (2005) is the ninth fantasy novel in the Sword of Truth series, following The Naked Empire. In the previous volume, Zedd and Adie escaped from the Imperial Order camp after Chase and Rachael, Rikka, and Captain Zimmer arrived separately to rescue them. They all got out just before the Zedd's sunset spell exploded into a huge fireball.

Richard led an uprising by the ungifted against the Imperial Order troops, with Ann and Nathan providing a bit of assistance. Richard also fooled Nicholas the Slide, cut off his head, and rescued Kahlan. Then Owen rescued his sweetheart Marilee. When Richard left the valley, his sister Jennson stayed behind with Tom, Ann and Nathan.

In this novel, Richard is shot with a crossbow bolt and rushed to an abandoned farm house where Nicci works to heal him. When he awakens three days later, he finds that his wife has disappeared and no one else remembers her. No matter how much he argues with them, his closest companions just don't remember Kahlan at all.

Despite their growing conviction that he is delusional, Richard keeps looking for someone who remembers Kahlan or, failing that, someone who can provide information to help him to find her. He decides that Shota is the best chance he has to gain such information.

Meanwhile, Nathan discovers a hidden cache of prophecy works and sends Jennson to fetch Ann, the former prelate. Although the cache has many works believed to be destroyed with the Palace of Prophets, Nathan has some puzzling news for her: various of the books have blank areas where there had once been prophecy. Ann doesn't believe him at first, trying to explain the gaps in various way; then Nathan shows her a prophetic work with which she is thoroughly familiar and it is completely blank.

Verna, the new prelate of the Sisters of Light, finds much the same thing has occurred in the People's Palace of D'Hara. Zedd discovers the same erasures in Wizard's Keep. Moreover, they notice that all memory of this prophecy has been removed from their minds.

The witchwoman Shota is angry with Richard for demanding help from her. She insists that she does not have any obligation to help him. Then Richard asks her what she wants for his help and she tells him that she wants the Sword of Truth. He gives it to her, or rather to Samuel, and she gives him three pieces of information in return.

This novel shows Richard's growing frustration with his companions. Even Zedd begins to think that he is delusional. It looks more and more like he should just give up and forget about Kahlan; yet he can't forget her even if he could turn aside from his search.

Kahlan is important for more than his personal desire for her company. As the Mother Confessor, she has strongly influenced the leaders of the New World and her erasure from their memories will profoundly effect the struggle against the Imperial Order. Moreover, this forgetting has erased the positive influence she has had on many people, noble and common alike.

It is vitally important that Richard rescue her from her abductors. If only he can understood the hints that Shota has given him. He just has to try harder.

Despite having read this novel once before, I just couldn't scan through it as I originally intended. I had to read every page all the way to the end. Maybe the author is slightly better than some of his critics have stated. As for me, I really enjoyed it both times.

Highly recommended for Goodkind fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of high adventure, sheer perseverance, and great loyalty.

-Arthur W. Jordin

I just finished this book today and I believe that this book has some of the best character development along with Jordan's 'Knife of Dreams'. I loved the plot and how Richard goes along trying to convince everyone that Kahlan is real, you can feel the frustration. I like the prophecy vs. free will plots that come into play, I had missed them from the earlier books.

You'll end up hating this book from the very start with Kahlan MIA.... Terry has writen out our favorite female of the series and has turned the world on its ear with everyone thinking Richard has lost all sense from a near-death experience. If you persevere through this book you finally make sence of what is happening and things pick up in the last few chapters... only to leave you at the worst cliff-hanger in the series! This book needs Phantom to be sold as a two pack as far as I am concerned, but it is still worth owning if you love the sword of truth series.

I have followed the Sword of Truth from the beginning.
Alas, book number 9, Chainfire,is the last one for me.
The author is needlessly and endlessly repating himself and in
doing so he is destroying his own book.
The story needed only one third of the pages he used.

Ok So I have read This entire series twice now and I dont know what the heck you guys are complaining about. Terry Goodkind has kept this series alive for a long time becaus it is goo.. I mean GREAT! Probably the best i have ever read. And for those of you who think that RObert Jordan has an excelent series your just dumb. I read the first two books in his series and it nearly killed me. Anyway Chainfire is an amazing work and it really makes you mad because of the events that happen. But it keeps you flipping the pages and now i cannot wait until Phantom comes out! So if you have read this far in the Sword Of Truth then you deffinatly need to read this book because it keeps getting better.

THE SWORD OF TRUTH IS A WONDERFUL GROUP OF BOOKS, BUT THE MAIN
PROBLEM IS MR. GOODKIND SEEMS TO HAVE TROUBLE ENDING THE STORY.
GRANTED IT IS AN INTERESTING STORY BUT TEN VOLUMES, PLEASE!

IT HE WOULD NOT REPEAT SO MUCH AND GET ON WITH THE STORY I'M SURE
HE COULD HAVE DONE IT IN SAY FOUR VOLUMES.

TAKE DAVID EDDINGS, NOW HE KNOWS HOW TO WRITE SOME GREAT STORIES.
HE ALSO KNOWS HOW TO DRAW THEM TO A CLOSE IN SUCH A WAY YOU ARE
NOT BEAT TO DEATH WITH REPEATS AND A DRAWN OUT AFFAIR.

I HAVE ALL OF THE SWORD OF TRUTH BOOKS AND HAVE READ THEM. NOW
HOPEFULLY THIS LAST BOOK WILL END THIS EPIC TALE. THESE ARE
WORTH READING IF YOU HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF TIME. I SKIP OVER ALOT
OF HIS REPEATS, AND DISCRIPTIONS BECAUSE IT TAKES TOO MUCH TIME
READING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER.

STILL IT IS WORTH READING...........

Having given Mr. Goodkind's last novel such a scathing review, I felt it only fair that, when I put this one down with some regret at having come to the end, I give credit where credit is due.

And credit is due here.

This is a good story - frustrating at times, but well-paced and certainly entertaining. While Mr. Goodkind engages in a little Objectivist haranguing, it is not the sole purpose of the book, as it was in Naked Empire. Rather, this is a concept book - a well-worn concept, certainly, but a concept artfully presented.

Most importantly however, Chainfire lacks the cheap plot twists and empty speeches that spoiled the last book. While our heroes do at times stop to briefly lecture on the series' central motif of life, or engage in internal monologues regarding their own Objectivist epiphanies, it's bearable and not nearly so jarring as it was in Naked Empire. Further, this book offers a truly epic story - the stakes are as high as they've ever been.

I won't tell you the dialogue is always crisp, or that the writing won't have you wincing on occasion. And at times I confess to skimming over the longer descriptive passages. But in fairness, that may have had more to do with a need to unravel the mystery. Certainly that mystery was enough to forgive any foibles in the writing. This book was, for me, a page-turner.

I count Naked Empire as one of the worst books I've ever read. While this book won't crack my list of top 25 reads, it's an enjoyable journey and a step closer to a return to form for Mr. Goodkind.

I love the series, and I like the characters. I think the author has definate talent. But for goodness sake, I was much happier reading the books when Richard Rahl was busy chopping off heads and fighting blade masters and epic battles. Now he spends the majority of the books running from this place to that and having long winded conversations that make it hard for me, as much as I love the series and the characters, to slog through the novels. The last two of his books have left me rather disappointed. And I'm getting frustrated by the mighty Lord Rahl's lack of progress in getting anything meaningful really accomplished.

I am thankful that the annoying bleating goat was left out of this one though. It's a small consolation.

Chainfire by Terry Goodkind is the 9th book in the Sword of Truth series. This book picks up after the events of Naked Empire and follows Richard Rahl as he goes in search of his wife, Kahlan, who happens to be the Mother Confessor. Readers who have read the previous books in this series will notice that at times this plot line is a little recycled, and that is stating it mildly.

In previous books, some readers have complained about Goodkind being `preachy' about his views on certain issues. I had never seen that before, however, in this book there are some passages that Goodkind leaves no room for imagination he takes his views and slaps the reader upside the head with them. Once or twice in a 700+ page book wouldn't be too bad, but this theme is repeated over and over again and gets quite stale quickly.

As I said above the plot of this book is recycled from previous books in that Richard is searching for the Mother Confessor. There are very little side scenes in this book, it almost solely focuses on Richard and his quest. That's not to say this isn't a good book, I quite enjoyed it, but for those things I mentioned above. This is far better than Pillars of Creation by Goodkind which in my opinion was terrible and dry. This plot has a good steady pace to it, the only time it slows is when Goodkind decides it is time to preach to his captive audience, then the book comes to a grinding halt. If the reader can force their way through these spots the story is well laid out and fun to read.

As far as character development, there is very little in this book. This particular novel is clearly plot driven. Goodkind can get away with this because of the previous 8 books in which these characters were developed and fleshed out. That is not all bad in this case because the story takes up so much space to tell. In previous books I felt like some things were added just to fill space, I didn't have that feeling with this book, but I think some type of character development may have been beneficial.

Overall, this is a decent book and a must read for fans of the series. If you are considering reading this book before reading any of the others, I strongly advice against that. These book really need to be read in order to grasp the entire story. I would probably recommend this series to serious fantasy readers as long as they know what they are getting into. Goodkind has talent as a writer if he would simply tell the story and not his morals and values. Definitely a better read than the last book. Only two more to go to end this series. I will certainly keep reading the series.

I love Terry Goodkinds books. I read Chainfire in 5 days. I was so enthralled, I couldnt put it down. Now I find that i finished it a little too fast and Im sitting here waiting for his next book. i know that probably no one will take this reveiw seriously because im a "kid" but i wrote it anyways.

While most people would love to complain about how preachy Mr. Goodkind's books are, I just can't bring myself to do it. I agree "Naked Empire" and "Pillars of Creation" were way too slow for me. I would like to say, however, that this book sees a return to the entertaining novels at the origins of the series. While not as good as the first few titles in the series, the return of a riddle that actually leaves you wondering what the solution will be is a faint glimmer of hope to readers of this series. While I may not enjoy the philosophies that Mr. Goodkind incorporates into his work, I do feel obligated to at least read them and see what I make of them. To be perfectly honest, I like to see the contradictions that arise in his explainations of his philosophies due to their incomplete analogies and Richard's simple-minded audiences. I can only assume that since the story picks up speed in the latter half of the book, that most of the rantings by Richard in previous books were to be used as filler for a ten book contract while Mr. Goodkind worked his way to a point that he could launch into his original style again. In the early novels I had a thirst to read the books (occasionally at the expense of valuable rest), whereas in recent releases, I no longer had that thirst. With the increased speed with which the tumblers fall into place at the end of this novel, so too did my desire to read this series to it's conclusion.

In general, I don't love the Sword of Truth series. The first 2 books were good. I didn't even read the 2 books before Chainfire. However, I heard from a few people that Chainfire was really good, so I trusted them and bought the book. I loved it. It's my favorite Sword of Truth book now.

I have read a few reports about how Mr. Goodkind is throwing in a lot of philosiphy. Well thats true he is, but you have to think that Richard is completely clueless about his gift and the ability was just shown to him. He is on his own without anybody to guide him and he has to figure his gift out. By doing so he needs to really think about how his gift works. He does that by using philosiphy. I myself and a big fan of his books and i was greatly entranced when I started reading Wizards First Rule. I started it when i was in 6th grade and now im in 9th grade and i have to admit I love his books. These past reveiws about how he really needs to end the series is a little bit frustrating. Maybe its because i am only a teenager, but i find the book wonderful. I am constantly going to the book store to check and see if the new book is in yet. This one has been especially has a great twist to it when you find out that kahlan has been completely whiped away from the minds of everyone and even the prophecy and only Richard remembers. That definentally had me on the edge of my seat the whole time because I was constantly wonderring where is Kahlan? what happened? I'm personally glad the way it turned out, because i dont expect the best of the best from him. His first book was amazing, but it is hard to keep you on the edge of you seat for 10 or so books. I think that for the amount of books that are in his series, he has done a wonderful job of keeping the plot moving and keeping me entranced.

When I read Wizard's First Rule I was completely BLOWN AWAY. I recall ordering the next 6 books as much as 6 months in advance. Now I had been reading Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series as well and I see a similar thread of deterioration in both series.
I Terry's case, although the style is still the same, with good but not overblown descriptions and concise, if not slightly simplistic dialog, the storylines are getting a little strained. After so many trials and tribulations between Richard and Kahlan, one gets a little tired of the great effort put forth just to keep them vital.
It is my opion that Terry has produced one of the most rich, imaginative series I have ever read, with deep, colorful but not naive use of imaginary creatures and interesting and fresh use of the genre of magic as a literary and plot device.
However, I would like to see a 1000 word, two chapter book that describes Richard, in a final fit of exasperation and rage, march up to Jagang, cut his F#@$#@%ing head off, turn and glare omniously at anyone who has a problem with this final solution of good versus evil and then have Kahlan take out any female antiheros and opponents in a similar manner. Short and sweet, to the point, and end the series once and for all.
Then, maybe an epilog describing the two going off, having tons of children who are (oh my god is it possible?)normal, adjusted and non-pathologic, a happy kingdom and realm, and evil on the permanent run for its life.

Then, Mr. Goodkind, take a few years off with my blessing, draw a new map with different types of characters (how about a stab at Sci-fi or action adventure with mutants, etc.) and begin a fresh new series. Heck, you can even use my name as one of your new characters. I really don't care. Just finish this series.

P.S. I gave up two or three books ago on Robert Jordan's series. I got tired of polygamy, a meandering plot and so many characters that I thought Robert was trying to become the American Tolstoy of Fantasy. Give it up Robert. They're just paperback books. Don't take it so seriously. We just want to be entertained, okay?
jsr

Everyone that started this series was blown away by the first book....a truly "adult" fantasy. It was awesome! And just like so, so, so, many fantasy series that have a strong book or two, it just goes on and on and needed to end 4 books ago. Lord of the Rings had a plan, and it was awesome because of it. Sword of Truth had a great two books, and now, it is a cycle of the two main characters taking turns playing "the love of my life is in trouble". Mr Goodkind, it is ok to end this and start something new! Like everyone else reading this, I too will keep reading to the end. I just wish you knew before hand it would be like this. Of course, it took us 20 years to get through the Dark Tower series....what can one expect!

cheers

The entire premise of this book is just ludicrous. One of the main characters vanishes and no one but Richard can remember her? She is the entire reason he ever left Westland and became the Lord Rahl! Without Kahlan he would still be "just a woods guide", there was no impetus to ever leave Westland.
The storyline is so stale now I could care less about Richard and Kahlan, they've become irritating and insipid. The most interesting characters are Zedd, Ann & Nathan, and Berdine!

First, before I go into any form of a review, I would like to state something. I often find that those who are critical of Mr. Goodkind's books, and other authors of the genre as well, have one similarity. One similarity that really is disturbing. That similarity is this: They don't read the story, they read the book. Too many times, I get the impression that some people start to see the philosophy that Mr. Goodkind does include (yes, it is clearly in there). What I don't understand is that once the see the first hint of it, they seem to begin reading Mr. Goodkind's work like it is some college or high school text book, or some self help textbook. Can't you simply read the story and let Mr. Goodkind's incredible tale unweave before your minds eye?

Anyways, to get off the soapbox, I found this book was a good story. Early on in the series, you could have picked up any book and read it in completeness without having to really know any of the former books (although they would enhance your understanding of the development of Richard Rhal). The two that everyone complain about because of the philosophical base were Poc (Pillars of Creation) and NE (Naked Empire). Sure it started in Faith of the Fallen (an excellent book in my opinion), but if you read from Faith of the Fallen onward, you will notice a progression in Richard. Not only has he been ever growing in his own understanding of the world and his gift, but he is growing in the understanding of himself and the world around him. In this book, we see a shift back from a time of humanitarian need (which based the philosophy everyone is against for some reason) to once again looking for Kahlan. Passion rules reason and in the past few books, there was more reasoning, now, it is passion.

I would like to say this to end. This book is great in my opinion, but yes, there are always going to be books that have an authors personal opinion (i.e. the soapbox we all stand on in our very opinionated world and western society), but what ever happened to ready a story instead of just a book, or watching a story instead of just a movie. We have greatly lost our imagination that fuels our own creativity when we begin to read everything through our own blinding filters. Read this for the story and you'll find it great. Read it as another book, and you might not like it. Not every book is written for everyone. Besides, it is known quite publicly that Mr. Goodkind does not like the fantasy genre, so this is indeed a different kind of fantasy.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book, and my 3 star rating reflects that. Is it great? Not even close. Is it bad? No, not really, and if you read the others, you may as well read this.

This is a series that started out well, bogged down, and needs to finish with a bang. It may be that this is the beginning of a trilogy that will complete it, but time will tell.

As much as I detest leaving characters that I feel I know well, there is a point where it should end. I think we've gotten there in this series.

because I read the last three books in quick succession I found myself skipping over the redundant explanations...to be fair there aren't that many in this book...not nearly as bad as RJ's WOT series. I still like RJ better as some of the dialouge here doesn't seem to fit the characters...especially from Cara who's character seems to have become more one demensional in this book after being pretty weel developed earlier. Overall this book is as good as any of the last three and I enjoyed reading it, although I do hope it speeds up a little in the next installment...not alot of action here, a good set up for the trilogy though!

Ok, we all know the criticism of Terry Goodkind and his series. It is not germane to this review. If you've been discouraged by the preceding books, this one will salve the wound. By no means amazing or an incredible pageturner, this book is still much better in comparison to all but the first three. To tell the truth, I reread all of the books again, skimming over all the parts where he explains past books, and am now thoroughly sick of Terry Goodkind's prose as well as his libertarian ways. But I digress. This is not as good as his earlier books, nor robert jordan's and it's no harry potter. It obviously lacks subtle motifs, and I've always found the dialogue awkward-who launches into a rigid, eloquent speech every time they speak? And who but Richard has reached the upper eschelons of physical and mental prowess? But hey, we're not looking for reality here. So, uh, I guess I've sort of begun rambling, but my point is, um, read this. Though if you haven't yet, you may want to wait. Phantom (the second of this trilogy) keeps getting moved back, and in the way that sequels work, you'll most likely be desperate for it after you finish this.

I really think Goodkind went back and read his books over, or went back his notes from previous books, because I felt an old feeling. I was so happy with the revival of old characters in Naked Empire coming back to the story with similar importance as before, but in Chainfire, we got to revive old feelings too.

Chainfire was another of Goodkind's books that I couldn't put down because I yearned to see just how Richard would solve this one. Nothing was really life threatening, and things weren't solved in the nick of time, if at all. Bad things happened and are still going on, and I seriously doubt if all will end well. True, there is separation of lovers, and that makes me upset because I want more encounters with Jajang. There is plenty of unresolution as the book ends, with different characters holding useful peices to the puzzle, but not enough to guarentee success.

Goodkind is still keeping to the old "bad guys" and keeping the story mostly believable as to why some believe the way they do, and why things are in the Old and New Worlds. I really felt the character's emotions in Chainfire and still beleive in Goodkind's amazing character creation.

Let me help you understand the first half of Chainfire...it goes something like this: "Where's Kahlan?" "Who?" "My wife." "You don't have a wife" "Yes I do; where is she?" "You're not married!" "Where's Kahlan?" etc...

For the entire first half of the book the characters are running around the woods having that conversation over and over. It is VERY boring.
Then comes the second half, Richard decides to visit Shota and when she begins to explain things the story picks up and we're off on a great adventure.
We need to remember that this is the first of a trilogy and this is only used to set up the story.
So after reading this review, you can skip ahead to when Richard meets with Shota and you won't miss much!

I enjoy Ayn Rand's work and Objectivism. So these books and I get along very well for the most part. I anjoy the parrallels he creates. I am guilty of skimming at times. But I always got back and read it again.

I wish Mr. Goodkind had retained the voice and the pace of the first books in the series (which is why I only gave it 4 out of 5). I always go back and read those again with pleasure. But I find it hard to relish in his latest works.

My suggestions would be, finish writing the series from this point on the just the drama, action, romance and inventiveness his fans have come to expect. The write a companion the the series that lays down the Objectivist perspective and adds the things, in his passion and plead for common sense he feels compelled to add. I think that would be much more enjoyable.

I loved the concept behind this book, but it really seemed that the editors forgot to edit. There were many grammatical errors and lots of repetition, which, unfortunately, led to going back and reviewing sections to make sure I was tracking the story correctly.

I didn't mind the review in this book as much as I have in some of the others, but that could possibly be because it took over a year for the paperback to come out after the hardback and the hardback was more money than I was willing to pay.

I do hope Mr. Goodkind can avoid the temptation to lecture his readers in his future books. Knowing the values and morals behind what is driving a character is important, but when their conversation patterns reflect the way many children's books end, it becomes old very quickly. It didn't help much that these conversations were repeated multiple times.

Despite all of this, I loved seeing the human side of Richard Rahl and loved some of the concepts presented in this book. From about a third of the way into the book, I was unable to put it down until I reached the ending. I was glad to see that Mr. Goodkind did not have a "Star Trek" ending, which I was fearful of as I approached the end and was not seeing how the problem was going to resolve itself in time without being cheesy.

I look forward to his next book and am very sorry to see that the hardcover will not release for many months yet (meaning that the paperback will be another year behind that??)!

Well, what is left to say about Goodkind? He still claims that he doesn't write fantasy and that his books are about human interaction/etc. Sadly this latest in the SoT series doesn't measure up to his earlier works such as Wizards 1st which were at least decent reads. As is normal with Goodkind he rehashes a fairly stale plot with his same cardboard cutout and inane characters. This book is better than his last offering by far, but that isn't enough to get Goodkind out of the hole he has dug for himself.

Goodkind continues however to offer bocks for the lite fantasy reader which seems to be his forte, those that like his style (or lack thereof) should continue to enjoy his series Those of us that just read Goodkind because we like to abuse ourselves after getting sucked in by a couple decent books at the beginning of the series will continue to suffer at the hands of a guy that is bringing new meaning to the term "hack".

Take any of the 500+ word speeches given in "regular" conversation throughout the book and insert blah, blah, blah, blah...it would still convey the same meaning.

That was my FIRST problem with this installment.

Next, the writing is awful. It has absolutely no life. What happened? I got the feeling that Goodkind's passion burned out in the 2nd book and is completely gone....that he's writing to fulfill a contract. Is that it? Is Tor setting such horrendous deadlines that the writing is just plain forced? Seemed that way to me.

This book could easily have been several hundred pages shorter for all of the repetition and preaching. And the really bad part....there was no conviction behind the preaching this time around -- seemed to be rehashes of previous sermons. *sigh*

Yes, there is no resolution in this book. And if this is the buildup for the finale.....*sigh* what an anticlimax. I think SOT should have just been a stand-alone book if anyone wants good, pure writing and a truly intense and satisfying read. All the others will leave you feeling the same as if you've had marathon love-making and no big explosion. Again: *sigh*

Imagine waking up one morning to find the love of your life is missing, and nobody else remembers that your love ever existed, not even your closest friends.

This is the central problem facing Richard, the hero of CHAINFIRE. His search for answers in the face of competing concerns and unrelenting adversity forms the core of a compelling story that powerfully illustrates the capacity of the individual mind to discover truth.

This is an excellent book and one that demands the reader's close attention. Those used to skimming books or racing through them to see what happens will likely walk away disappointed. This is not mindless entertainment. The details are there for specific reasons, and skipping over them will detract from the overall experience and obscure the concepts examined in the book.

Unlike Goodkind's previous works, which are stand alone novels with a definitive beginning, middle, and end, this is the first part of a trilogy. As such, there are a lot of things set up to pay off in the next two books. Far from being annoyed by this, I look forward to PHANTOM (the next book in the series) all the more to see how these new twists develop.

Terry Goodkind's books have always incorporated colorful, heroic characters, ingenious plots, and thought provoking ideas. CHAINFIRE is no exception and continues the trend of delivering entertaining, thoughtful, and uplifting stories.

I have to agree with most of the reviews here. I'll see if I can summarize effectively:

1) Too much review adds several hundred pages (which I skimmed): 5 pages on the beauty of the Palace of the Prophets, 6 pages on how Richard fell in love with Kahlan, 3 pages on how Nicci took Richard prisoner, 5 instances of 1-2 page reviews of why Nicci loves her life, 5 pages on how Zedd raised Richard. If the trend continues, every book that adds more to the story will force the next book to be 10% more recap. If I wanted a recap I would re-read the 5000+ pages already dedicated to introducing me to these characters and events.

2) Thin story line. Without giving away the story here -- the evil manifests itself in such a generic fashion -- suspension of disbelief was not possible for me. I am not referring to the Chainfire story line but the other source of evil in the book. The one new character (priestess of bones) introduced is also very underdeveloped.

3) Missed opportunity. The effects of the Chainfire (the whole point of the book) are not very well developed or explored. Instead the book is just filled with what is going on in Richard's head.

4) Rant - I really can't believe that a writer of the intelligence and imagination of Terry Goodkind can't come up with anything better than this. Is the publisher telling him to add 3-400 pages of recap or was this his own bright idea? This could have been a really fun 3-400 page book. Or, he could have set his mind to developing something interesting with those extra pages -- or, shock -- actually finish this story segment so he could move on in the next book. The series (actually as of book 7) for me has over-extended its reach and fallen into the Robert Jordan vamp -- crank out books just to crank out books. Any author can progressively increase the level of detail or the scope of the book indefinately, but it takes a special author who can keep their books engaging and write a stunning conclusion to their series. It's this kind of crap that is turning me away from the fantasy genre, one bad book after another.

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Why is it worth reading?

1) It's a fast, breezy read as long as you skim past the recap info (probably half the book).

2) The characters -- not much development here but don't you already love them all from previous books?

3) The story line does advance, it's still keeping me hooked...barely.

I think the mistake that Mr. Goodkind has made is trying to make a fantasy series more than it is. His series started out great and somewhere in the middle he thought he could sneak in some philosophy into his stories. The problem is that in doing so, he has turned a potentially great fantasy series into a soap-box preaching/Ayn Rand wanna-be fiasco.

As for this book, I appaud him for trying something a little different (not the same kind of different as Pillars of Creation). Again, the preaching gets old very quickly and you'll find yourself skimming ahead past the sometimes pages-long speeches. You never seem to reach the high emotional invovlement you used to feel between the characters (like the relationship of Cara and Richard, my favorite character interaction). I am only reading the books now because I have invested so much time in the series and feel obligated to finish. I am sure that I am not alone. If you've read them all up to now, then I guess you have nothing to lose by reading Chainfire. We can only hope that he returns to the style that made Wizards First Rule such a great read when he writes the last two books.

Another brilliant thought provoking novel for fantasy lovers who enjoy books with real life characters and not just formulaic D&D adventure segments.