Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm under no illusions: this review is almost perfectly irrelevant. It's irrelevant because if you have enjoyed Goodkind's Sword of Truth up until now, there's no way you're going to read the first ten books and then not finish the final novel. There is nothing bad that I could say that would keep you from seeing how the story resolves. If you've started the series but have misgivings about how preachy and tiresome Goodkind has become, the books that preceded this one were probably enough to deter you. Rest assured, Goodkind does not magically change his tone in this book. Thus, if you like the previous books, this will be a fitting conclusion. If you were fed up with Goodkind, you'll find more of the same dreck. There is a small subset of people who might benefit from a review of this book. Two subsets, actually. The first is comprised of people who have not yet started the series, and are reading reviews of the last book to see if the series is worthy of their time. (Short answer: NO.) The second is a group that I'm a part of: people who were initially entertained by Goodkind's story, but think he totally jumped the shark and now read purely from a sense of morbid curiosity about where Goodkind will take this absurd screed next. In this final book, Goodkind manages to plumb depths of awfulness not yet explored. Some of the failings are familiar: he attempts to be poignant and is instead awkwardly maudlin; he attempts to be profound and deep but is instead narrow and shrill; he attempts to create richness of character and instead renders his cast as absurd cartoons. But as he wraps the series up, Goodkind slips even further as he ham-handedly ties off the lingering loose ends. The fact that Terry Goodkind is writing a book to illustrate his pet themes is never more obvious. Anyone who has ever pondered writing can't help but be distracted by the smears of Goodkind's literary fingerprints, pulling you right out of the story to wonder what on earth he was thinking. We're treated to everything short of an author theophany in the story, perhaps with Goodkind's ponytail swinging to and fro as he shakes his villains until they finally see that people are beautiful and life is important and blah blah blah. Even if I completely agreed with Goodkind's philosophy, I think I would come to hate it after the wooden endorsement these books provide. It's worth noting that even if we ignore Goodkind's endless sermons (which would reduce the work from a book down to more of a pamphlet), the book fails on some rather basic levels. For example, John Galt--er, Richard Rahl cannot tell Katlin that he loves her even after they are reunited, because of the "sterile field." I won't explain what this means, other than to say that it is nothing more than Goodkind blatantly making up arcane rules left and right to ratchet up the emotional tension. To be fair, this is a fantasy novel and Goodkind can make up whatever rules he so desires. But if the story is to have authenticity, the imagined rules have to follow a coherent pattern that at least seem to transcend mere whimsy. So when Goodkind allows his characters to discover about the "sterile field," it proves to be a clumsy deus ex machina that is grossly manipulative. This doesn't even begin to get into what happens with the Boxes of Orden, which (unsurprisingly) prove to be the greatest I-can-do-anything-I-want plot cheat since the holodeck. Goodkind does manage to make this book awkward and hilariously contrived in one new way undiscovered in the previous books. Because this is the final book of the series, Goodkind decides it is a good idea to take Richard on a grand tour of all the places he visited in the previous books, stopping by to say howdy to all our old friends. It's like the series finale of a cheesy 80's sitcom. Why look, here's Uncle Bill! We haven't seen him since Season 3! How nice of you to stop by! The irony is, my attempts to mock Goodkind fall short of the actual absurd contrivance of the novel. Look, Gratch has come by to lend a helping hand! Jenn shows up and has a nicely satisfying destiny! Violet gets her comeuppance! The Mud People make a cameo! Characters that I can't even remember any more come to a good or bad end, as appropriate! I hope it doesn't spoil the story for you to know that Goodkind wraps everything up (I won't say he wraps it up neatly), and all the characters who follow Goodkind's nutty philosophy live happily ever after. The same cannot be said of the readers, who are left wondering why they ever bothered to continue reading.