What do you think?
Rate this book
Richard and Kahlan #3
Severed Souls
From the far reaches of the D'Haran Empire, Bishop Hannis Arc and the ancient Emperor Sulachan lead a vast horde of Shun-Tuk and other depraved "half-people" into the Empire's heart, raising an army of the dead in order to threaten the world of the living. Meanwhile, far from home, Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell must defend themselves and their followers from a series of terrifying threats, despite a magical sickness that depletes their strength and which, if not cured, will take their lives...sooner rather than later.
"Richard saw the point of a sword blade sticking out from between the man's shoulder blades. He spun back toward Richard after throwing the woman out of the opening, ready to attack. It seemed impossible, but the man looked unaffected by the blade that had impaled him through the chest.
It was then, in the weak light from the fire pit off to the side, that Richard got his first good look at the killer.
Three knives were buried up to their brass cross-guards in the man's chest. Only the handles were showing. Richard saw, too, the broken end of a sword blade jutting out from the center of the man's chest. The point of that same blade stuck out from the man's back.
Richard recognized the knife handles. All three were the style carried by the men of the First File.
He looked from those blades that should have killed the big man, up into his face. That was when he realized the true horror of the situation, and the reason for the unbearable stench of death."
From Terry Goodkind, author of the Sword of Truth series, comes a sweeping new novel of Richard Rahl, Kahlan Amnell, and their world.
"Richard saw the point of a sword blade sticking out from between the man's shoulder blades. He spun back toward Richard after throwing the woman out of the opening, ready to attack. It seemed impossible, but the man looked unaffected by the blade that had impaled him through the chest.
It was then, in the weak light from the fire pit off to the side, that Richard got his first good look at the killer.
Three knives were buried up to their brass cross-guards in the man's chest. Only the handles were showing. Richard saw, too, the broken end of a sword blade jutting out from the center of the man's chest. The point of that same blade stuck out from the man's back.
Richard recognized the knife handles. All three were the style carried by the men of the First File.
He looked from those blades that should have killed the big man, up into his face. That was when he realized the true horror of the situation, and the reason for the unbearable stench of death."
From Terry Goodkind, author of the Sword of Truth series, comes a sweeping new novel of Richard Rahl, Kahlan Amnell, and their world.
560 pages, Hardcover
First published August 4, 2014
452 people are currently reading
10538 people want to read
About the author
Terry Goodkind
277 books12.3k followersTerry Lee Goodkind was an American writer. He was known for the epic fantasy series The Sword of Truth as well as the contemporary suspense novel The Law of Nines (2009), which has ties to his fantasy series. The Sword of Truth series sold 25 million copies worldwide and was translated into more than 20 languages. Additionally, it was adapted into a television series called Legend of the Seeker, which premiered on November 1, 2008, and ran for two seasons, ending in May 2010.
Goodkind was a proponent of Ayn Rand's philosophical approach of Objectivism, and made references to Rand's ideas and novels in his works.
Goodkind was a proponent of Ayn Rand's philosophical approach of Objectivism, and made references to Rand's ideas and novels in his works.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 602 reviews
February 9, 2017
An Opinionated look at
Terry Goodkind's Severed Souls
By Eric Allen
You know, I'm running out of entertaining ways to say the same things about Terry Goodkind's work. To call this book merely bad makes other bad books look worse for the comparison. I've read worse. I'd rather reread Severed Souls than The Wise Man's Fear again. But man, this one is now pretty high on the list of the worst books I've ever read. There's some spoilers, but I've hidden them behind spoiler tags.
We begin with Richard, Kahlan and company making their way to the People's Palace to be healed of the touch of Death that is poisoning them. At this point an action scene ensues, as they are chased by an army of zombies that is able to track their every move because... Occult Powers. Get used to that explanation, Goodkind uses it to hand wave away just about everything that happens in the entire damn book! Magic will not work against them because... Occult Powers. And so they are chased, fighting, running, and unnecessarily expositing, and oh my GOD is it boring. Gee... if only they had faced an army full of people that can't be touched by magic before.... hmmm... they might have some tricks to use in a similar situation. Too bad that never happened, though. Just too bad, indeed.
Now, I'm going to compare one piece of craptastic storytelling to another to help you better understand why this action scene doesn't work. There haven't been many people calling the Star Wars prequel movies masterpieces of filmmaking. I certainly haven't. Most people like the lightsaber fights and don't really care for the rest. So, in Revenge of the Sith where the epic duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin first starts off, I was all like, well, this is cool, I guess, I finally get to see how Vader got into that suit. And then the fight kept going... and going... and going... and goooooing, until it passed the point of being superficially exciting and straight into incredibly dull and boring. It lasted like 30 minutes, and it really only needed to be 2 or 3 to get the point across. That's what happens in the beginning of this book. This action scene goes on FOREVER. It moves straight past interesting, well past superficially exciting, and even passes checking your watch every 47 seconds, and right into mind-numbing just get it over with already territory, taking up the entire first third of the book. It quickly delves into beat your head against the wall, make the pain stop territory before it finally comes to an end.
This action scene is interspersed with recaps of the series up to this point, just because it wasn't boring enough without them, and a ridiculously repetitive interrogation scene. When Richard questions a captured zombie, be prepared for some hardcore boredom. He asks one question of this zombie. Except he asks this one question worded in about four thousand different ways. And what information does he recieve for his efforts? Nothing we didn't already know... and Occult Powers.
As for the recaps, well, for those of you who actually made it to book 14 of The Wheel of Time, do you remember any recaps of the series up to that point in it? No? Well, that's because it didn't need any. Because it assumed that you read the thirteen books that came before it. Well here we have another book 14 in another popular fantasy series, and what should rear its fugly head, but the deadly recap monster. Here it is to take up as much space as possible and make the author's book look longer than it actually is. Wasting your time since badly written fiction was invented. There was no need for this. We don't need reminders of who the characters are, and how they've come to this point if we've made it all the way to book 14 of your series. We already know. All it does is take up huge amounts of space and bore your target audience to tears. I mean, who in their right mind is going to just pick up book 14 of a series and say, "eh, I'll give it a try. Oh thank god for these recaps, or else I'd have no idea what was going on."?
Samantha finally drags the action scene that just won't die out behind the shed and gives it both barrels, and we can move on to the actual story. A third of the way through the page count. Because... Occult Powers...? Hannis Arc and Sulachan lead their army of zombies toward the People's Palace, raising the dead in every graveyard they pass to join them with... Occult Powers. And Ludwig Dreier makes his move to seize the center of Arc's power for himself with... Occult Powers.
Obvious Spy turns the group toward Hannis Arc's old center of power because the very same MacGuffin awaiting them at the People's Palace required to heal Richard and Kahlan may be there as well, and the two of them probably won't survive to reach the palace. Contrived prophecy is given along the way, probably because of Occult powers.
The Good? The scene with Ludwig Dreier immediately following the forever long action scene that just won't die is actually my favorite in the whole book. This is a villain with actual, understandable, relatable motives, and seems a whole lot more threatening than Hannis Arc ever did. His seizure of Hannis Arc's center of power is a pretty well done scene, and he seems a whole lot more fleshed out as a character from this one scene than literally ANYONE else in the whole book. I did like his scenes later too, but not as much as this one.
The quality of the writing did not go down between this book and the previous one. I suppose that's a plus. It didn't really improve either. Goodkind is hovering just on the wrong side of mediocre, and still about twenty steps behind where he began his career as a writer. But he didn't take any more steps backward, so I suppose that is a positive nonetheless.
It's really sad that I'm actually counting this as a plus in this book. I shouldn't have to. It should just be one of those things that sort of happens on its own and keeps on happening on its own. Richard actually acts like Richard during his final scene in this book. Considering that he hasn't since The Sword of Truth proper ended, I suppose it's a plus. However, a character should always act like himself, and it just goes to show how he and every other character in this series has been lobotomized and downgraded to shadows of their former selves in these new "Richard and Kahlan" books.
The Bad? Horror. Goodkind does not seem to understand how or why Horror and Suspense work as genres. He doesn't seem to know that you can't just tell someone that something is "creepy" or "spooky" and have them feel it. He keeps trying to pull elements of Horror and Suspense into this story and it's really just a mess because he clearly doesn't understand what makes things scary, what makes them suspenseful, and why people are afraid of certain things. These are basic requirements for writing horror. His timing is WAY off, his cheap scares don't work because he doesn't execute them properly, and it just falls in on itself into a confusing mess because Goodkind has no clue how fear, in writing, works. A good Horror writer can make you feel the fear, the tension, and the creepiness. Goodkind just sort of tells you that you're creeped out by something, or that you should be afraid because... Occult Powers. It's a really half-assed attempt, and the book would have been much better served without. He doesn't seem to understand that you can't just write other genres the way you write fantasy. (And yes, Terry, you ARE writing fantasy, get over yourself.) They function differently, and require different elements to make them work properly. A good Horror writer can make you feel a character's fear, even if what the character is afraid of is not necessarily something that you, yourself, are afraid of. I once read a book that had me feeling just as terrified of rape as the young woman that the book was about, and, being a guy, that's not typically something I worry about. But the way this writer described it, she made it into something real and terrifying to me, and made me understand how horrific it is to be the victim of it. Goodkind on the other hand, pretty much said "you're creeped out by this scene because I said it was creepy, okay?" "Yeah, this has a really spooky vibe, got it? You're scared now, right?" "OCCULT POWERS ACTIVATE!!!" It was PATHETIC. Someone, please, take Goodkind aside and EXPLAIN to him how Horror works, because if I have to suffer through another failed attempt at it by him I think I'm going to throw a basket of kittens in front of a steam roller and dance an Irish jig nude under the full moon while they get pancaked. Why? Because he'll have broken my poor, fragile mind, that's why.
The Ugly?
The enemies in this book can pretty much do anything they want without adhering to any laws of reality previously established by Goodkind himself, and it's just hand-waved away as... Occult Powers. After about the seventy-third time "Occult Powers" is given as the reason for something happening, it does start to get a little mind-numbing, and really takes you out of the story, because it's, LITERALLY, the explanation for EVERYTHING that goes on. Might as well say, "because reasons." It amounts to the same thing in the end. Even the characters start to point out the fallacy in that near the end. It's a really annyoing, lazy, distracting, Deus Ex Machina-y way of explaining everything instead of technobabling it away as Goodkind usually does. Between the two, I think I'd rather have the incomprehensible technobabble back. At least that makes a show of explanation. You know, Terry, you CAN give explanations without using pointless technobabble, while actually giving your readers details on how things work and why. You know, instead of vaguely hand-waving things away or giving me twelve pages of technical jargon that is absolutely meaningless. There ARE other, better, options to use.
Again, Hannis Arc fails to impress. Again, he could have been left out of the book entirely, and no one would have noticed. He's so irrelevant that he might as well not even exist. I'm sorry Terry, your new villain just plain sucks compared to the previous ones we've seen from you.
This book's plot is about as simplistic as it could possibly get. Get from point A to point B. THE END. Now, that can work for a book... that's not part of a huge, ongoing, epic tale of fantasy and adventure. Look at, literally, ANY of Goodkind's other books, and see the deep plots, the huge character arcs, the sweeping narratives that surpass single volumes and lead you on a journey of adventure. This book lacks all of that. It doesn't FEEL like part of a grand epic fantasy. It FEELS like characters going from point A to point B, and in the most boring, mundane way possible. The Wheel of Time gets a lot of flak for it's middle volumes where characters aren't doing much but going from point A to point B, but you know what? It still felt like it was part of the story as a whole. It still felt like things were happening, and important events were being set up. Here, there's none of that. Nothing really seems to have much driving force behind it except because the plot says so. This is not how good storytelling works, I'm sorry to say. There has to be emotion, and character personalities as a driving force behind it all, and that was sorely lacking in this book. Take all of the character names from the text, and you could not tell which character was speaking, because their personalities have been dumbed down to the level that they're basically just drones following a script, rather than the people bursting with personality and emotion that they used to be. In earlier books, you could tell who was speaking just by what was said and how it was said. Not here. Because these characters are simply reading a stiff script provided by the author rather than showcasing who they are in their every word and action. Alfred Hitchcock said that fiction is life without the boring parts. This book is life without the excitement.
The Wizard's Rule introduced in this book actually made me laugh at how childishly spiteful it is, and how Goodkind tried to hide a barb for his critics in it. It's basically the SoT version of "haters gonna hate." I thought it was a little juvenile of him, considering the bad press and reviews he's been getting lately. I get that he doesn't like people criticizing his writing. The solution should have been to write a better book this time, not to say that anyone's opinion against him is invalidated, because it breaks his new Wizard's Rule as the moral of the story. It's good to show contempt for your readers. I'm sorry Terry, but the world doesn't work that way. You are not always right simply because you say you are. THAT only happens in fiction, and usually not very good fiction at that. Produce quality material and you will be given due praise for it. Continually produce crap, and, well, you'll be called out on it. The reactions you get are directly tied in to the work that you produce. It's not about hate. It's about people who have come to expect a certain level of professionalism out of you, which you have refused to give to them for a very long time now. Just as you, yourself, have said many times. There is black. There is white. There is nothing between. Or are you rethinking your seven hundred page rant on morality you published as Naked Empire now that you're on the wrong end of it? If you don't want people to call your work crap, put a little effort into it, like you used to. Pay some attention to some of the lessons that YOU taught in Faith of the Fallen, about putting in your all, no matter the circumstances you find yourself in. Call back some of that fire and passion from the beginning of your career, and write a better book next time. I know you can do it. You've written so many great books before. You're better than this.
In conclusion this book was just... depressing. For the first time in a very long time, I was actually looking forward to a new Goodkind book, and he let me down... again. The Third Kingdom gave me hope that Goodkind could pull it together and finally get out of this rut he's been in, but it was not to be. Longtime characters died to about as much fanfare as a man pouring salt on his meal, the action scene at the beginning drags on FOREVER and goes way past exciting and straight into soul-crushing boredom instead, and everything and anything is explained away by vague Occult Powers that no one really seems to have a real definition for. Goodkind's attempts at writing some Horror and Suspense into the mix are laughable at best, because he clearly has no idea how, or why either of those genres work, and the whole book is just a mess of clunky exposition, highly repetitive dialog, and characters who once had life and depth to them, fumbling around in the dark, without even a shade of their former personalities. It lacks respect for the longtime fans, as well as respect for its own characters. I rated it one star higher than The Omen Machine's zero, only because it is nowhere near as boring, badly written, or laughably stupid. I CARED about this story. I CARED about these characters. I CARED about this series. And then Terry Goodkind kept writing after it all ended, and seemingly can't be bothered to care even half as much about them as I did. Unless you want to see the train wreck for yourself, I would suggest skipping this one.
All I can say after venting about this atrocity, is that I am so glad I didn't have to pay good money for it.
Check out my other reviews.
Terry Goodkind's Severed Souls
By Eric Allen
You know, I'm running out of entertaining ways to say the same things about Terry Goodkind's work. To call this book merely bad makes other bad books look worse for the comparison. I've read worse. I'd rather reread Severed Souls than The Wise Man's Fear again. But man, this one is now pretty high on the list of the worst books I've ever read. There's some spoilers, but I've hidden them behind spoiler tags.
We begin with Richard, Kahlan and company making their way to the People's Palace to be healed of the touch of Death that is poisoning them. At this point an action scene ensues, as they are chased by an army of zombies that is able to track their every move because... Occult Powers. Get used to that explanation, Goodkind uses it to hand wave away just about everything that happens in the entire damn book! Magic will not work against them because... Occult Powers. And so they are chased, fighting, running, and unnecessarily expositing, and oh my GOD is it boring. Gee... if only they had faced an army full of people that can't be touched by magic before.... hmmm... they might have some tricks to use in a similar situation. Too bad that never happened, though. Just too bad, indeed.
Now, I'm going to compare one piece of craptastic storytelling to another to help you better understand why this action scene doesn't work. There haven't been many people calling the Star Wars prequel movies masterpieces of filmmaking. I certainly haven't. Most people like the lightsaber fights and don't really care for the rest. So, in Revenge of the Sith where the epic duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin first starts off, I was all like, well, this is cool, I guess, I finally get to see how Vader got into that suit. And then the fight kept going... and going... and going... and goooooing, until it passed the point of being superficially exciting and straight into incredibly dull and boring. It lasted like 30 minutes, and it really only needed to be 2 or 3 to get the point across. That's what happens in the beginning of this book. This action scene goes on FOREVER. It moves straight past interesting, well past superficially exciting, and even passes checking your watch every 47 seconds, and right into mind-numbing just get it over with already territory, taking up the entire first third of the book. It quickly delves into beat your head against the wall, make the pain stop territory before it finally comes to an end.
This action scene is interspersed with recaps of the series up to this point, just because it wasn't boring enough without them, and a ridiculously repetitive interrogation scene. When Richard questions a captured zombie, be prepared for some hardcore boredom. He asks one question of this zombie. Except he asks this one question worded in about four thousand different ways. And what information does he recieve for his efforts? Nothing we didn't already know... and Occult Powers.
As for the recaps, well, for those of you who actually made it to book 14 of The Wheel of Time, do you remember any recaps of the series up to that point in it? No? Well, that's because it didn't need any. Because it assumed that you read the thirteen books that came before it. Well here we have another book 14 in another popular fantasy series, and what should rear its fugly head, but the deadly recap monster. Here it is to take up as much space as possible and make the author's book look longer than it actually is. Wasting your time since badly written fiction was invented. There was no need for this. We don't need reminders of who the characters are, and how they've come to this point if we've made it all the way to book 14 of your series. We already know. All it does is take up huge amounts of space and bore your target audience to tears. I mean, who in their right mind is going to just pick up book 14 of a series and say, "eh, I'll give it a try. Oh thank god for these recaps, or else I'd have no idea what was going on."?
Samantha finally drags the action scene that just won't die out behind the shed and gives it both barrels, and we can move on to the actual story. A third of the way through the page count. Because... Occult Powers...? Hannis Arc and Sulachan lead their army of zombies toward the People's Palace, raising the dead in every graveyard they pass to join them with... Occult Powers. And Ludwig Dreier makes his move to seize the center of Arc's power for himself with... Occult Powers.
Obvious Spy turns the group toward Hannis Arc's old center of power because the very same MacGuffin awaiting them at the People's Palace required to heal Richard and Kahlan may be there as well, and the two of them probably won't survive to reach the palace. Contrived prophecy is given along the way, probably because of Occult powers.
The Good? The scene with Ludwig Dreier immediately following the forever long action scene that just won't die is actually my favorite in the whole book. This is a villain with actual, understandable, relatable motives, and seems a whole lot more threatening than Hannis Arc ever did. His seizure of Hannis Arc's center of power is a pretty well done scene, and he seems a whole lot more fleshed out as a character from this one scene than literally ANYONE else in the whole book. I did like his scenes later too, but not as much as this one.
The quality of the writing did not go down between this book and the previous one. I suppose that's a plus. It didn't really improve either. Goodkind is hovering just on the wrong side of mediocre, and still about twenty steps behind where he began his career as a writer. But he didn't take any more steps backward, so I suppose that is a positive nonetheless.
It's really sad that I'm actually counting this as a plus in this book. I shouldn't have to. It should just be one of those things that sort of happens on its own and keeps on happening on its own. Richard actually acts like Richard during his final scene in this book. Considering that he hasn't since The Sword of Truth proper ended, I suppose it's a plus. However, a character should always act like himself, and it just goes to show how he and every other character in this series has been lobotomized and downgraded to shadows of their former selves in these new "Richard and Kahlan" books.
The Bad? Horror. Goodkind does not seem to understand how or why Horror and Suspense work as genres. He doesn't seem to know that you can't just tell someone that something is "creepy" or "spooky" and have them feel it. He keeps trying to pull elements of Horror and Suspense into this story and it's really just a mess because he clearly doesn't understand what makes things scary, what makes them suspenseful, and why people are afraid of certain things. These are basic requirements for writing horror. His timing is WAY off, his cheap scares don't work because he doesn't execute them properly, and it just falls in on itself into a confusing mess because Goodkind has no clue how fear, in writing, works. A good Horror writer can make you feel the fear, the tension, and the creepiness. Goodkind just sort of tells you that you're creeped out by something, or that you should be afraid because... Occult Powers. It's a really half-assed attempt, and the book would have been much better served without. He doesn't seem to understand that you can't just write other genres the way you write fantasy. (And yes, Terry, you ARE writing fantasy, get over yourself.) They function differently, and require different elements to make them work properly. A good Horror writer can make you feel a character's fear, even if what the character is afraid of is not necessarily something that you, yourself, are afraid of. I once read a book that had me feeling just as terrified of rape as the young woman that the book was about, and, being a guy, that's not typically something I worry about. But the way this writer described it, she made it into something real and terrifying to me, and made me understand how horrific it is to be the victim of it. Goodkind on the other hand, pretty much said "you're creeped out by this scene because I said it was creepy, okay?" "Yeah, this has a really spooky vibe, got it? You're scared now, right?" "OCCULT POWERS ACTIVATE!!!" It was PATHETIC. Someone, please, take Goodkind aside and EXPLAIN to him how Horror works, because if I have to suffer through another failed attempt at it by him I think I'm going to throw a basket of kittens in front of a steam roller and dance an Irish jig nude under the full moon while they get pancaked. Why? Because he'll have broken my poor, fragile mind, that's why.
The Ugly?
The enemies in this book can pretty much do anything they want without adhering to any laws of reality previously established by Goodkind himself, and it's just hand-waved away as... Occult Powers. After about the seventy-third time "Occult Powers" is given as the reason for something happening, it does start to get a little mind-numbing, and really takes you out of the story, because it's, LITERALLY, the explanation for EVERYTHING that goes on. Might as well say, "because reasons." It amounts to the same thing in the end. Even the characters start to point out the fallacy in that near the end. It's a really annyoing, lazy, distracting, Deus Ex Machina-y way of explaining everything instead of technobabling it away as Goodkind usually does. Between the two, I think I'd rather have the incomprehensible technobabble back. At least that makes a show of explanation. You know, Terry, you CAN give explanations without using pointless technobabble, while actually giving your readers details on how things work and why. You know, instead of vaguely hand-waving things away or giving me twelve pages of technical jargon that is absolutely meaningless. There ARE other, better, options to use.
Again, Hannis Arc fails to impress. Again, he could have been left out of the book entirely, and no one would have noticed. He's so irrelevant that he might as well not even exist. I'm sorry Terry, your new villain just plain sucks compared to the previous ones we've seen from you.
This book's plot is about as simplistic as it could possibly get. Get from point A to point B. THE END. Now, that can work for a book... that's not part of a huge, ongoing, epic tale of fantasy and adventure. Look at, literally, ANY of Goodkind's other books, and see the deep plots, the huge character arcs, the sweeping narratives that surpass single volumes and lead you on a journey of adventure. This book lacks all of that. It doesn't FEEL like part of a grand epic fantasy. It FEELS like characters going from point A to point B, and in the most boring, mundane way possible. The Wheel of Time gets a lot of flak for it's middle volumes where characters aren't doing much but going from point A to point B, but you know what? It still felt like it was part of the story as a whole. It still felt like things were happening, and important events were being set up. Here, there's none of that. Nothing really seems to have much driving force behind it except because the plot says so. This is not how good storytelling works, I'm sorry to say. There has to be emotion, and character personalities as a driving force behind it all, and that was sorely lacking in this book. Take all of the character names from the text, and you could not tell which character was speaking, because their personalities have been dumbed down to the level that they're basically just drones following a script, rather than the people bursting with personality and emotion that they used to be. In earlier books, you could tell who was speaking just by what was said and how it was said. Not here. Because these characters are simply reading a stiff script provided by the author rather than showcasing who they are in their every word and action. Alfred Hitchcock said that fiction is life without the boring parts. This book is life without the excitement.
The Wizard's Rule introduced in this book actually made me laugh at how childishly spiteful it is, and how Goodkind tried to hide a barb for his critics in it. It's basically the SoT version of "haters gonna hate." I thought it was a little juvenile of him, considering the bad press and reviews he's been getting lately. I get that he doesn't like people criticizing his writing. The solution should have been to write a better book this time, not to say that anyone's opinion against him is invalidated, because it breaks his new Wizard's Rule as the moral of the story. It's good to show contempt for your readers. I'm sorry Terry, but the world doesn't work that way. You are not always right simply because you say you are. THAT only happens in fiction, and usually not very good fiction at that. Produce quality material and you will be given due praise for it. Continually produce crap, and, well, you'll be called out on it. The reactions you get are directly tied in to the work that you produce. It's not about hate. It's about people who have come to expect a certain level of professionalism out of you, which you have refused to give to them for a very long time now. Just as you, yourself, have said many times. There is black. There is white. There is nothing between. Or are you rethinking your seven hundred page rant on morality you published as Naked Empire now that you're on the wrong end of it? If you don't want people to call your work crap, put a little effort into it, like you used to. Pay some attention to some of the lessons that YOU taught in Faith of the Fallen, about putting in your all, no matter the circumstances you find yourself in. Call back some of that fire and passion from the beginning of your career, and write a better book next time. I know you can do it. You've written so many great books before. You're better than this.
In conclusion this book was just... depressing. For the first time in a very long time, I was actually looking forward to a new Goodkind book, and he let me down... again. The Third Kingdom gave me hope that Goodkind could pull it together and finally get out of this rut he's been in, but it was not to be. Longtime characters died to about as much fanfare as a man pouring salt on his meal, the action scene at the beginning drags on FOREVER and goes way past exciting and straight into soul-crushing boredom instead, and everything and anything is explained away by vague Occult Powers that no one really seems to have a real definition for. Goodkind's attempts at writing some Horror and Suspense into the mix are laughable at best, because he clearly has no idea how, or why either of those genres work, and the whole book is just a mess of clunky exposition, highly repetitive dialog, and characters who once had life and depth to them, fumbling around in the dark, without even a shade of their former personalities. It lacks respect for the longtime fans, as well as respect for its own characters. I rated it one star higher than The Omen Machine's zero, only because it is nowhere near as boring, badly written, or laughably stupid. I CARED about this story. I CARED about these characters. I CARED about this series. And then Terry Goodkind kept writing after it all ended, and seemingly can't be bothered to care even half as much about them as I did. Unless you want to see the train wreck for yourself, I would suggest skipping this one.
All I can say after venting about this atrocity, is that I am so glad I didn't have to pay good money for it.
Check out my other reviews.
March 23, 2016
“Since the dawn of man,there have always been people bent on harming others.There have been periods of peace and enlightment,and there have been dark times,but through it all,mankind survived.That cycle has repeated itself over and over.It wasn't always easy,and despite those who would have it otherwise,life went on.”
Honestly,life seems rather bleak right now,and I can't imagine how it can go on.My face is stained with tears and I can barely breathe.There are times that I feel empty inside and times I want to start sobbing in the middle of a conversation.Times that I cannot seperate reality from fiction and times I wonder when I'll stop drowning in sorrow.People around me tend to say that I am overly attached to fictional characters,that I always seem to be elsewhere and that this obsession with books is not healthy.Perhaps they are right,I don't know.The only thing I know is that Sword of Truth is part of who I am,part of my soul,that Richard is the hero who constantly inspires me and feels like I know him in person,that I can talk to him and follow his example,that Kahlan is the impersonation of strength and courage and love,that Zedd is the light that shines in the darkest times.And now Terry Goodkind severed my soul.
“There have always been those who hate,and there always will be.”
These are the people Richard and Kahlan fight,the ones that hate free will and feel powerful by using brutality,by taking away any choice.With no access to their powers and an army of the walking dead and half men on their steps,they struggle to get rid of the touch of death inside them and stop two tyrants before they destroy the border between life and death and unravel existence.With Cara gone,they can rely on Nicci and Zedd and the fearless First File in order to survive.I must admit that for a very long time I didn't like Nicci,but during this book she won a place in my heart.She was right about everything and if they had listened to her maybe the story would turn out differently.
“Richard’s mind was filled with the flow and form of the dance with death, the way of a war wizard. He was lost in that dance he had come to know so well.”
I can't stop admiring Terry Goodkind for the dialogues in his books,I can read them again and again just to grasp a tiny part of their wisdom.I know that many people aren't very fond of his writing,everyone for their own reasons.For me his only flaw is that there are parts in his books that are a little slow,but I always forgive him because there are scenes that leave me speechless,that cause so many feelings that words are inadequate to describe.In Severed Souls,page after page I couldn't help but experience sharp pangs of anxiety,dreading what was about to come but so eager to read more,to live more in his world.It will take me a while to come around,but that ache in my heart will stay until the last book is published,and that is the toasted toad's truth .
August 11, 2014
I have been a fan of Terry Goodkind and Richard Rahl since the beginning of this series but I have to say that my patience for the long drawn out story-telling is wearing thin. I feel that Mr. Goodkind repeats and repeats and repeats and repeats and repeats and repeats and repeats and repeats (kind of annoying, huh?!) his themes. The book is WAY longer than it needs to be and it is unnecessarily drawn out. I found myself asking the same question as Richard and Kahlan! "Why should I go on????" I know there will be another book and I will want to read it but I will wait for a while after it has been released and the price goes down!
August 8, 2014
Painful. This was the most emotionally painful Terry Goodkind book I have ever read. And even though we were warned in advance, the deaths in Severed Souls just about killed me. I can name on one hand the number of books that left me sobbing as if I had lost a loved one. This is one of them.
Also it is worth noting that Severed Souls marks the return to the Goodkind writing we have come to love.
Please, let there be more. This can't be the end.
Also it is worth noting that Severed Souls marks the return to the Goodkind writing we have come to love.
Please, let there be more. This can't be the end.
June 26, 2014
I think any of Goodkind's book will be a great read anytime any day.
August 17, 2014
This is one of Goodkind's worst works, yet. For fans of the series that haven't read past Confessor, please stop there. This latest Richard and Kahlan trilogy has done nothing but repeat past plot points without allowing the characters to use the knowledge they retained during those plot points. The carefully constructed world of Additive and Subtractive magic is cast aside, as everything in this book falls under the deus ex machina of Occult Powers.
Remember how the world strives to remain in balance between the Keeper and the Light? Yeah none of that really matters anymore because Occult Powers. The foreshadowing in Goodkind's latest book is little more than crayon on the walls, as it's executed with all the finesse of a four year old drawing a picture and asking if you can guess what is happening in the picture.
I don't know if I grew out of Terry's style or if he's gotten worse as he's continued on, but Goodkind should have stopped writing about Richard and Kahlan at the end of Confessor. His new direction of focusing on earlier characters like Magda Searus in The First Confessor was okay, but the writing was still groan-worthy as Goodkind uses pages and pages to explain things that have already happened.
By the time you're on your 14th book, you shouldn't need to revisit things that happened in the 6th book. Overall, I'm pretty sad to see such great characters dragged through the mud by the mind that created them.
I'm done with Goodkind for now, as he's proven incapable of an original plot device with the meaningful characters he created over the first six books.
Remember how the world strives to remain in balance between the Keeper and the Light? Yeah none of that really matters anymore because Occult Powers. The foreshadowing in Goodkind's latest book is little more than crayon on the walls, as it's executed with all the finesse of a four year old drawing a picture and asking if you can guess what is happening in the picture.
I don't know if I grew out of Terry's style or if he's gotten worse as he's continued on, but Goodkind should have stopped writing about Richard and Kahlan at the end of Confessor. His new direction of focusing on earlier characters like Magda Searus in The First Confessor was okay, but the writing was still groan-worthy as Goodkind uses pages and pages to explain things that have already happened.
By the time you're on your 14th book, you shouldn't need to revisit things that happened in the 6th book. Overall, I'm pretty sad to see such great characters dragged through the mud by the mind that created them.
I'm done with Goodkind for now, as he's proven incapable of an original plot device with the meaningful characters he created over the first six books.
March 23, 2015
I have to admit that I approached this book with mixed feelings. Would I love it? Or would I hate it? Goodkind has always provoked heated debate. In one corner are the rabid fans for whom he can do no wrong. In the other corner are the disenchanted and scornful who have never understood why he became as successful as he did. I tend to sit on the fence when it comes to Goodkind and his work. At times I am blown away, and other times I am let down. Severed Souls follows what I would say was Goodkind's worst work, so I was hesitant in starting this. Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed this latest instalment from him.
Severed Souls takes us on a roller coaster ride of action and emotional distress as Goodkind attempts to up the ante on his previous book. Richard, Kahlan, and their merry band are caught up fighting unseen and powerful occult powers, and all of the characters we know and love are facing annihilation at its hands.
The story itself was solid without being amazing, and I thought it was a major improvement on Goodkind's previous few releases. The action scenes were well executed, and I enjoyed the long chase at the start of the book. The pacing of Severed Souls was up and down. At times the story flowed brilliantly and at other times it became bogged down as Goodkind recapped previous events from other books. The characters were also a mixed bag (I've come to expect this of Goodkind), with some enthralling me and others boring me. Characterisation has never been Goodkind's strongest point , but I really liked how Ludwig Dreier was depicted and positioned throughout the story. He was a strong villain with clear and understandable goals and motives that I could relate to. I especially enjoyed how he wasn't as one dimensional as some of Goodkind's other characters. Richard also had moments of brilliance, and the ending took me back to the golden age of Goodkind in the nineties, but overall Goodkind did struggle to get my emotional involvement throughout stages of the story until the end.
The magic, as always, was interesting and enjoyable, but I found myself getting frustrated with the author's explanation of 'occult powers' for every single thing that happened that didn't make sense. I wanted more detail, hoping for some new amazing magical system that Richard and Kahlan would have to combat, but there was none coming. I can handle enemies breaking the laws Goodkind himself has established in previous books as long as it is explained. Sadly however 'occult power's' turned out to be about as far as Goodkind was willing to go in his detail most of the time.
What made this book for me was its ending. It almost felt like Goodkind was cruising at until the end. The finale of the story was gripping and incredibly tragic, and it took me back to how I felt when I first read Wizard's First Rule. The question for me then is why Goodkind couldn't replicate this throughout the rest of the book? The ending alone lifted this book from an average read to a solidly enjoyable one. Things fell into place, and I found myself wanting more. This was the Goodkind that I loved as a teenager, the writer who could blow my mind and tear out my heart.
All in all I found Severed Souls to be an enjoyable read, albeit with many frustrating facets that could have been improved prior to release. If you are a Goodkind fan then you will love Severed Souls and be willing to ignore the weaknesses it has. If you aren't, then you will probably not be able to get past the flaws. A major improvement over previous works, I hope Goodkind continues to write and get back to producing works similar to his early books.
3 out of 5 stars.
smashdragons.blogspot.com.au
A review copy was provided.
Severed Souls takes us on a roller coaster ride of action and emotional distress as Goodkind attempts to up the ante on his previous book. Richard, Kahlan, and their merry band are caught up fighting unseen and powerful occult powers, and all of the characters we know and love are facing annihilation at its hands.
The story itself was solid without being amazing, and I thought it was a major improvement on Goodkind's previous few releases. The action scenes were well executed, and I enjoyed the long chase at the start of the book. The pacing of Severed Souls was up and down. At times the story flowed brilliantly and at other times it became bogged down as Goodkind recapped previous events from other books. The characters were also a mixed bag (I've come to expect this of Goodkind), with some enthralling me and others boring me. Characterisation has never been Goodkind's strongest point , but I really liked how Ludwig Dreier was depicted and positioned throughout the story. He was a strong villain with clear and understandable goals and motives that I could relate to. I especially enjoyed how he wasn't as one dimensional as some of Goodkind's other characters. Richard also had moments of brilliance, and the ending took me back to the golden age of Goodkind in the nineties, but overall Goodkind did struggle to get my emotional involvement throughout stages of the story until the end.
The magic, as always, was interesting and enjoyable, but I found myself getting frustrated with the author's explanation of 'occult powers' for every single thing that happened that didn't make sense. I wanted more detail, hoping for some new amazing magical system that Richard and Kahlan would have to combat, but there was none coming. I can handle enemies breaking the laws Goodkind himself has established in previous books as long as it is explained. Sadly however 'occult power's' turned out to be about as far as Goodkind was willing to go in his detail most of the time.
What made this book for me was its ending. It almost felt like Goodkind was cruising at until the end. The finale of the story was gripping and incredibly tragic, and it took me back to how I felt when I first read Wizard's First Rule. The question for me then is why Goodkind couldn't replicate this throughout the rest of the book? The ending alone lifted this book from an average read to a solidly enjoyable one. Things fell into place, and I found myself wanting more. This was the Goodkind that I loved as a teenager, the writer who could blow my mind and tear out my heart.
All in all I found Severed Souls to be an enjoyable read, albeit with many frustrating facets that could have been improved prior to release. If you are a Goodkind fan then you will love Severed Souls and be willing to ignore the weaknesses it has. If you aren't, then you will probably not be able to get past the flaws. A major improvement over previous works, I hope Goodkind continues to write and get back to producing works similar to his early books.
3 out of 5 stars.
smashdragons.blogspot.com.au
A review copy was provided.
August 17, 2014
Forced to give one star because of the book's occult power.
August 10, 2014
After finishing this novel I'm almost speechless. Mr. Goodkind does what no other storyteller can do. He reaches into the heart and mind to deliver spellbinding, deeply emotional tales about the triumph of the human will and spirit. His characters come not just figuratively, but literally off the page. They're not just names on a page. They become beloved friends and hated enemies. As far as this reader is concerned when it comes to great storytellers there's Terry Gookind and then there's everybody else.
May 24, 2015
I have to admit, I have been a lover of Goodkind's books since I picked the first one up several years ago, even of the not-so-great ones. I generally don't write reviews, but gosh. While this book started out pretty disappointing and tedious, and didn't really have any character development (which has always been my favorite thing about the books, really feeling like you are getting to know who the characters are deep down) it was still interesting enough to keep at it. The last 1/3 of the book, however, is when it really started feeling like the Goodkind books I know and love. Heart-wrenching, breathtaking, dumbfounding plot-twists and cliffhangers. When I first saw the *spoilers* that Goodkind was revealing from the book about Richard's death, I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it. I had to set the book aside and compose myself when I got to the hard parts. There were times in the early books when I truly could not comprehend how those things could happen, but this...if it does not get resolved, I don't know what I'd do with myself. Overall, this was definitely a great read, and I would recommend it. I know there are those who have been turned off from Goodkind's books for various reasons and have not read some of the later books and like to complain how "bad" they have gotten, but I believe if you truly loved his books (as much as you can love books, anyway), you would have stuck with it even if you felt they weren't up to par. If you were turned away so easily, then you were never really a fan and were perhaps trying to get something from the books that was not being offered and are letting your perception of that cloud your judgment.
August 3, 2014
I stopped reading this drivel years ago when Goodkind was filling his pages with everyone loudly and repeatedly proclaiming their "love of Richard Rahl". And the author's preoccupation with rape, attempted rape and insinuated rape made me wonder if there's a missing woman locked in Goodkind's basement.
I realize there're unpleasantries that are necessary to a story but these books became a vehicle for sexually, repressed fantasy-readers who I surmise both resent and lust for the women who likely spurned them. I couldn't stand to read the series as it only got worse. Goodreads sent me an email informing me of the upcoming release and I should thank them for reminding me why I avoid Goodkind's work.
I realize there're unpleasantries that are necessary to a story but these books became a vehicle for sexually, repressed fantasy-readers who I surmise both resent and lust for the women who likely spurned them. I couldn't stand to read the series as it only got worse. Goodreads sent me an email informing me of the upcoming release and I should thank them for reminding me why I avoid Goodkind's work.
August 12, 2014
Two stars, simply because it was better than "The Third Kingdom". However, the book itself remains completely flawed, and I'm still convinced that this new series is written by another author.
SPOILERS FOLLOW -
There are so many reasons why I was disappointed by Goodkind's newest outing. Firstly, the writing is clunky as though Goodkind wrote the story once and never bothered with a second look. That's what the book feels like: a first draft. There is such a "one step forward, two steps back" feel to the storytelling, you swear you remember reading the very same words in his previous book.
Secondly, Goodkind kills off characters like they were introduced two pages ago - I mean, we've been with these people through 14 books, and you kill them, and then practically forget them?
Thirdly, the story is just so basic and uninspiring. There is never anything surprising, never anything new.
Basically, another substandard story that I was obliged to read because, fuck, I've come this far. Take my money, Goodkind. Take it and run.
SPOILERS FOLLOW -
There are so many reasons why I was disappointed by Goodkind's newest outing. Firstly, the writing is clunky as though Goodkind wrote the story once and never bothered with a second look. That's what the book feels like: a first draft. There is such a "one step forward, two steps back" feel to the storytelling, you swear you remember reading the very same words in his previous book.
Secondly, Goodkind kills off characters like they were introduced two pages ago - I mean, we've been with these people through 14 books, and you kill them, and then practically forget them?
Thirdly, the story is just so basic and uninspiring. There is never anything surprising, never anything new.
Basically, another substandard story that I was obliged to read because, fuck, I've come this far. Take my money, Goodkind. Take it and run.
March 24, 2015
Terry Goodkind sparked my love for Fantasy Fiction, so pretty much every time that I pick up one of his books I swoon from the building anticipation. I wanted to love this book as much as I loved his earlier work but I was unable to connect with the plot and the characters that I have come to know and love were portrayed as mere shadows of their former selves.
I am not a fickle fan. Here I am reading the 14th book in the series so I do not appreciate having to hear about how Richard and Kahlan first met, how Zedd is the 1st wizard or that Nicci used to be a sister of the dark who kidnapped Richard and bla bla bla...I've been there. I've read that. I also don't appreciate that so much time was dedicated to reminding me of what has already happened in OTHER books in the series, but when something actually happened in THIS book, you know, like the death of a MAJOR character or two, it was barely even addressed. Emotionally, I felt cheated because I was made to feel NOTHING at all.
Goodkind made a lot of choices that I did not agree with in this book. For example, he elected to write in a traitor amongst us that is so obvious, both Kahlan and Nicci suspect her of being up to no good. Of course, neither of them ACT on their suspicious and Richard doesn't even notice that anything is amiss; Richard, The Seeker of Truth, the first War Wizard to be born in YEARS, the Lord Rahl who is the magic against magic can not identify what is painfully obvious to the reader?
Where's Cara? Benjamin died so she is going to abandon the only people who care for her knowing that Richard and Kahlan have been touched by death? That seems TOTALLY plausible given everything that I know about her. The answer to this inexplicable abandonment must have something to do with occult powers. Why not? Terry seems to think occult powers explain EVERYTHING else.
The ending of the novel is also completely ridiculous and unsatisfying but it does serve as a jumping off point for the last novel in the series, and like a lemming, I will follow.
I am not a fickle fan. Here I am reading the 14th book in the series so I do not appreciate having to hear about how Richard and Kahlan first met, how Zedd is the 1st wizard or that Nicci used to be a sister of the dark who kidnapped Richard and bla bla bla...I've been there. I've read that. I also don't appreciate that so much time was dedicated to reminding me of what has already happened in OTHER books in the series, but when something actually happened in THIS book, you know, like the death of a MAJOR character or two, it was barely even addressed. Emotionally, I felt cheated because I was made to feel NOTHING at all.
Goodkind made a lot of choices that I did not agree with in this book. For example, he elected to write in a traitor amongst us that is so obvious, both Kahlan and Nicci suspect her of being up to no good. Of course, neither of them ACT on their suspicious and Richard doesn't even notice that anything is amiss; Richard, The Seeker of Truth, the first War Wizard to be born in YEARS, the Lord Rahl who is the magic against magic can not identify what is painfully obvious to the reader?
Where's Cara? Benjamin died so she is going to abandon the only people who care for her knowing that Richard and Kahlan have been touched by death? That seems TOTALLY plausible given everything that I know about her. The answer to this inexplicable abandonment must have something to do with occult powers. Why not? Terry seems to think occult powers explain EVERYTHING else.
The ending of the novel is also completely ridiculous and unsatisfying but it does serve as a jumping off point for the last novel in the series, and like a lemming, I will follow.
August 9, 2014
He has done it again. That darn Terry Goodkind has ripped out my heart and stomped on it. I love this book. Even having the author "prepare" me I was still unprepared. Quit reading my review and go read the book. Have plenty of tissues ready.
August 8, 2014
Several things I find making this book the least in the series. First the first half of it felt like a rereading of the previous book and utter filler that accomplished more on getting from point A geographical location to Point B while the plot never moving beyond Point A in the first place.
Second, have the characters forgotten everything they had when dealing with a pristinely ungifted army? Is Richard, the Seek of Truth really so much of a idiot to forget loopholes he and Zedd abused in the past to get around magic immunity?
Third, a character suffers the ultimate humiliation of a scripted death scene. Meaning they were handed a script and told to die, end of story. No recourse and nothing of matter results from it. It felt utterly a waste. How can such a death be utterly flat? Word of warning there are two major deaths and they are both flat as pancakes and not nearly as tasty.
Fourth this is filled with cliches that aren't even used in a innovative way. Nothing was expanded upon or reinvented in trying to make them interesting. Instead we get old and tired.
Fifth, one of the newest characters who I happened to like was alienated because of Richard's idiocy being played to ten so he had no choice but to act even more stupid. Richard is the Seeker of Truth. Thinking with his head is what he's supposed to do even when he's half dead and emotionally unstable. If your going to alienate someone at least make the action and the causes the led up to such believable.
Finally, yhe book had potential and for that it gets one star above the base, but that doesn't make it excusable. And by potential I say that in the same breath of Twilight and the Hunger Games having concepts that could have been so much more but were instead executed poorly that it had me screaming at the book. Some cases literally. I could have excused the first half filler if the second half of railroading the characters down a fixed course like a bad RPG had been done away with for something more natural. That would have netted it two more stars.
Ultimately I can't see myself reading the series beyond this point if the next book is anywhere near as bad as this. I've never been this disappointed in a book before.
Sorry Terry Goodkind but for once... I can't see the truth in this story. Best of luck and wishes on the next book. It may be my last.
Second, have the characters forgotten everything they had when dealing with a pristinely ungifted army? Is Richard, the Seek of Truth really so much of a idiot to forget loopholes he and Zedd abused in the past to get around magic immunity?
Third, a character suffers the ultimate humiliation of a scripted death scene. Meaning they were handed a script and told to die, end of story. No recourse and nothing of matter results from it. It felt utterly a waste. How can such a death be utterly flat? Word of warning there are two major deaths and they are both flat as pancakes and not nearly as tasty.
Fourth this is filled with cliches that aren't even used in a innovative way. Nothing was expanded upon or reinvented in trying to make them interesting. Instead we get old and tired.
Fifth, one of the newest characters who I happened to like was alienated because of Richard's idiocy being played to ten so he had no choice but to act even more stupid. Richard is the Seeker of Truth. Thinking with his head is what he's supposed to do even when he's half dead and emotionally unstable. If your going to alienate someone at least make the action and the causes the led up to such believable.
Finally, yhe book had potential and for that it gets one star above the base, but that doesn't make it excusable. And by potential I say that in the same breath of Twilight and the Hunger Games having concepts that could have been so much more but were instead executed poorly that it had me screaming at the book. Some cases literally. I could have excused the first half filler if the second half of railroading the characters down a fixed course like a bad RPG had been done away with for something more natural. That would have netted it two more stars.
Ultimately I can't see myself reading the series beyond this point if the next book is anywhere near as bad as this. I've never been this disappointed in a book before.
Sorry Terry Goodkind but for once... I can't see the truth in this story. Best of luck and wishes on the next book. It may be my last.
August 15, 2014
So, When I started this new "Sword of Truth" series, I didn't really have high hopes, but I wanted to read more about Richard and Kahlan. I wasn't really thrilled with how the last 3 books in the main series ended. They had a large tonal shift, were very repetitious and in the end he defeated the series big bad during essentially a freaking soccer game. So, I wanted a new series with these characters to redeem that ending.
The first book in this new series was "The Omen Machine", and it felt like a return to form for Goodkind. There was a machine found in the castle basement spitting out what turned out to be prophesy. That seemed like an awesome opening to a new series. I'd love to see a series just dealing with using and abusing prophecy. But near the end of the book it starts to change as they fight a Hedge Maid witch. In the second book suddenly there is a hidden Third Kingdom between life and death and a bunch of weird mumbo jumbo about people without souls that seems very internally inconsistent. By the end of that an ancient Occult magician has returned and is trying to destroy the world and there is also still a small plotline about a bad guy abusing prophecy.
NOW, we are finally to this book, Severed Souls, Which picked up immediately where the last book ended. Richard and Kahlan infected by the hedge maid's magic and slowly dying, but like dead forever dead or something (but later that whole dead forever thing seems to have been retconned as that doesn't happen. He needs a better editor). They are racing to some place where they can get cured all while an obviously hidden evil plot twist character hangs out with them. Important characters die in woefully under-represented ways. The characters get out of jams far too easily using deus ex machina. And a big prophecy is fulfilled in a way the characters didn't see coming...
I'll be honest that I speed read this. I just didn't find it very good. Maybe his heart isn't really in this world or with these characters any more.
The first book in this new series was "The Omen Machine", and it felt like a return to form for Goodkind. There was a machine found in the castle basement spitting out what turned out to be prophesy. That seemed like an awesome opening to a new series. I'd love to see a series just dealing with using and abusing prophecy. But near the end of the book it starts to change as they fight a Hedge Maid witch. In the second book suddenly there is a hidden Third Kingdom between life and death and a bunch of weird mumbo jumbo about people without souls that seems very internally inconsistent. By the end of that an ancient Occult magician has returned and is trying to destroy the world and there is also still a small plotline about a bad guy abusing prophecy.
NOW, we are finally to this book, Severed Souls, Which picked up immediately where the last book ended. Richard and Kahlan infected by the hedge maid's magic and slowly dying, but like dead forever dead or something (but later that whole dead forever thing seems to have been retconned as that doesn't happen. He needs a better editor). They are racing to some place where they can get cured all while an obviously hidden evil plot twist character hangs out with them. Important characters die in woefully under-represented ways. The characters get out of jams far too easily using deus ex machina. And a big prophecy is fulfilled in a way the characters didn't see coming...
I'll be honest that I speed read this. I just didn't find it very good. Maybe his heart isn't really in this world or with these characters any more.
August 12, 2014
Actually a 4.5. The one draw back was some of the word choice. I can not remember how often I read "he knew that..." or "she knew that..." That drove me nuts. Outside of that, fantastic read.
God..I am still in emotional turmoil, and I just put the book down twenty minutes ago. This book was worth it, though. Worth every damn second and trauma. A Mord-Sith would be proud. I didn't think that Terry would take it that far, but he did and he did a good job of it, too. Some things were obvious--I was cool with that. But this book leaves a LOT of loose ends, which tells me that Terry isn't finished ripping our hearts out, throwing them on the floor and doing the Mexican Hat Dance on them. This book has restored what doubts I had after the Third Kingdom.
God..I am still in emotional turmoil, and I just put the book down twenty minutes ago. This book was worth it, though. Worth every damn second and trauma. A Mord-Sith would be proud. I didn't think that Terry would take it that far, but he did and he did a good job of it, too. Some things were obvious--I was cool with that. But this book leaves a LOT of loose ends, which tells me that Terry isn't finished ripping our hearts out, throwing them on the floor and doing the Mexican Hat Dance on them. This book has restored what doubts I had after the Third Kingdom.
April 1, 2015
First things first, my overall dislike of this book mainly stems from the ending. When an author specifically uses a warning that there is no happy ending as their marketing scheme... listen to them. However, I will say that before I ever realized that Goodkind wasn't joking, I still did not enjoy this final Richard & Kahlan book. Here are the reasons why:
1) It is the art of the puppeteer to yield the puppets in such a way that their strings do not show. This was not the case in these last three Richard & Kahlan books. The art was missing in quite a few places. I often saw the puppet strings, even when hope attempted to take over by obscuring them.
2) I strongly dislike being told the same thing over and over in different ways. I understood it the first time. I may have needed the second reminder. But the third, fourth, etc. reminders just made me feel like the puppeteer was at work again and completely held me aloft from the story. In a way, I'm thankful. This trilogy could have ruined the series for me. But, really, seriously? Yes, we can be idiots as readers, but it is excessive to treat us like we are still in our early drooling years.
The above two items are things I noted upon opening this book, and if I recall correctly, they were themes for a lot of this final trilogy. However, having said that, I can also say I'm most likely putting these out there as bluntly as I am because I'm kind of pissed at the moment. If you've read this book, you know it is for a good reason.
All in all. My serious opinion? I wish I had never read any of the books that Goodkind wrote after Confessor. And that includes Law of Nines; though Law of Nines was in itself not a bad book, it gave me a reason for wanting to read further on in Richard & Kahlan's story with its interesting take on the results of the decision made at the end of Confessor. I seriously wish I'd just stopped and been happy.
Though admittedly, I'm good with a messed up ending, as long as it was written in a way that doesn't make me feel like I was spoon fed a mass of snakes. Gone Girl and Anna Karenina are several positive examples. Need I even point out that Severed Souls is not a positive example of a good bad ending?
Thus, I leave my review to end with this warning: if you like Richard & Kahlan and you like having a good feeling after having finished a series... just don't read after what was truly supposed to be the last book; Confessor is enough of an ending and you really just don't need to know. But if you are like me, curiosity will win and you will find you really didn't need to know and should have listened.
Review Edit:
It's a sad testament to both myself as well as Goodkind himself that I neglected to mention the completely "irrelevant" death of one of the best characters in the entire Sword of Truth series, . It was so underplayed and sadly glossed over, despite linked events, that the ending death scene meant more to me than this other main, well-loved character's did, despite their equally devastating death. Which is inexcusable on all accounts, but especially on the author's. No major character should go so unloved, and by their own creator no less. Having written before, I know that a major character is like a child; who in their right mind would not weep openly and for a very long time after a child's death? I know I wouldn't get over it in a matter of pages, if ever. I really can't think of a single truly positive thing about this book. And I actually keep thinking about it, which irks me. It's sad when you need another book, a sequel that you hope will never come in order to stop being disappointed in every way possible.
1) It is the art of the puppeteer to yield the puppets in such a way that their strings do not show. This was not the case in these last three Richard & Kahlan books. The art was missing in quite a few places. I often saw the puppet strings, even when hope attempted to take over by obscuring them.
2) I strongly dislike being told the same thing over and over in different ways. I understood it the first time. I may have needed the second reminder. But the third, fourth, etc. reminders just made me feel like the puppeteer was at work again and completely held me aloft from the story. In a way, I'm thankful. This trilogy could have ruined the series for me. But, really, seriously? Yes, we can be idiots as readers, but it is excessive to treat us like we are still in our early drooling years.
The above two items are things I noted upon opening this book, and if I recall correctly, they were themes for a lot of this final trilogy. However, having said that, I can also say I'm most likely putting these out there as bluntly as I am because I'm kind of pissed at the moment. If you've read this book, you know it is for a good reason.
All in all. My serious opinion? I wish I had never read any of the books that Goodkind wrote after Confessor. And that includes Law of Nines; though Law of Nines was in itself not a bad book, it gave me a reason for wanting to read further on in Richard & Kahlan's story with its interesting take on the results of the decision made at the end of Confessor. I seriously wish I'd just stopped and been happy.
Though admittedly, I'm good with a messed up ending, as long as it was written in a way that doesn't make me feel like I was spoon fed a mass of snakes. Gone Girl and Anna Karenina are several positive examples. Need I even point out that Severed Souls is not a positive example of a good bad ending?
Thus, I leave my review to end with this warning: if you like Richard & Kahlan and you like having a good feeling after having finished a series... just don't read after what was truly supposed to be the last book; Confessor is enough of an ending and you really just don't need to know. But if you are like me, curiosity will win and you will find you really didn't need to know and should have listened.
Review Edit:
It's a sad testament to both myself as well as Goodkind himself that I neglected to mention the completely "irrelevant" death of one of the best characters in the entire Sword of Truth series, . It was so underplayed and sadly glossed over, despite linked events, that the ending death scene meant more to me than this other main, well-loved character's did, despite their equally devastating death. Which is inexcusable on all accounts, but especially on the author's. No major character should go so unloved, and by their own creator no less. Having written before, I know that a major character is like a child; who in their right mind would not weep openly and for a very long time after a child's death? I know I wouldn't get over it in a matter of pages, if ever. I really can't think of a single truly positive thing about this book. And I actually keep thinking about it, which irks me. It's sad when you need another book, a sequel that you hope will never come in order to stop being disappointed in every way possible.
September 18, 2014
2 stars
This book was a big disappointment for me.
After the Omen machine I was pretty disappointed, it wasn't really up to the standard that I was used to from Goodkind but in the end it was ok. Then came the Third Kingdom. I liked this much more and was a lot happier with it; I felt that he was getting back on the right track. It was a bit predictable and I got highly annoyed at Richard because I saw the solution at least half the book before he did. (That might be a slight exaggeration but it was a year ago when I read it)But on the whole I urged people to read it because I thought it was going somewhere.
I was wrong.
I was not even a page in and I had to correct the way I was reading it in my head. I was reading it like a child reads, it didn't flow naturally and it just seemed quite immature as if the age of the audience should be a lot younger. I also felt like the plot was being handed to be on a plate, there were no subtle clues, just ones that slapped you round the face. Nothing was a surprise.
Not only that, but the repetition was endless;
Why is everyone so thick that they need something explaining to them 5 times over, I seem to remember this being a little annoying the in the original series but nothing to this extent.
I read all the previous books (as I assume everyone reading this book has) I didn't need a recount of it all. ( Although I think the characters could have done with a reminder because they seemed to have forgotten how to solve problems they have previously solved)
Occult… enough said.
Towards the middle of the book it appeared to pick up… that was short lived.
I can’t really say too much without giving anything away but what ordinarily would and should have been massive events just seems to be glossed over. No one in the book cared. Characters that I know and love just seemed to forget who they were and say things completely out of charter, almost to the extent that I thought that they weren’t actually who we thought they were.
The ending off this book has left me a bit numb, I don’t know, if it had ended differently I might have a higher view of this book. As it stands I am emotionally drained. I did cry a few times while reading this book, which is a good thing. However, I think it had more to do with the connection of the original SoT series than this book alone.
It’s not a book I would recommend to SoT fans.
That said if there is another one (surely that can’t be how it ends) I will read it.
This book was a big disappointment for me.
After the Omen machine I was pretty disappointed, it wasn't really up to the standard that I was used to from Goodkind but in the end it was ok. Then came the Third Kingdom. I liked this much more and was a lot happier with it; I felt that he was getting back on the right track. It was a bit predictable and I got highly annoyed at Richard because I saw the solution at least half the book before he did. (That might be a slight exaggeration but it was a year ago when I read it)But on the whole I urged people to read it because I thought it was going somewhere.
I was wrong.
I was not even a page in and I had to correct the way I was reading it in my head. I was reading it like a child reads, it didn't flow naturally and it just seemed quite immature as if the age of the audience should be a lot younger. I also felt like the plot was being handed to be on a plate, there were no subtle clues, just ones that slapped you round the face. Nothing was a surprise.
Not only that, but the repetition was endless;
Why is everyone so thick that they need something explaining to them 5 times over, I seem to remember this being a little annoying the in the original series but nothing to this extent.
I read all the previous books (as I assume everyone reading this book has) I didn't need a recount of it all. ( Although I think the characters could have done with a reminder because they seemed to have forgotten how to solve problems they have previously solved)
Occult… enough said.
Towards the middle of the book it appeared to pick up… that was short lived.
I can’t really say too much without giving anything away but what ordinarily would and should have been massive events just seems to be glossed over. No one in the book cared. Characters that I know and love just seemed to forget who they were and say things completely out of charter, almost to the extent that I thought that they weren’t actually who we thought they were.
The ending off this book has left me a bit numb, I don’t know, if it had ended differently I might have a higher view of this book. As it stands I am emotionally drained. I did cry a few times while reading this book, which is a good thing. However, I think it had more to do with the connection of the original SoT series than this book alone.
It’s not a book I would recommend to SoT fans.
That said if there is another one (surely that can’t be how it ends) I will read it.
August 2, 2014
This book hasn't officially been released yet, so nothing spoilery here, but behind a spoiler tag just to be on the extra safe side.
If you have read The Omen Machine and The Third Kingdom, you should be familiar enough with the overall story and know where it's headed. Of course, Terry Goodkind has the ability to turn even the seemingly simplest of tasks into an adventure, and takes the reader along on a wild ride with so many twists and turns, not to mention foreshadowing and subtle hints, to me some of it only made proper sense after I had finished reading the book. Then it all falls into place, although I expect a second read will reveal many things I didn't even pick up on the first time around.
Four stars, not five, simply because I still have issues with some of the author's writing style as with the previous books, but that would never stop me from reading his stories. They never fail to live up to the expectation, and Severed Souls is no exception.
Well done, Mr. Goodkind.
If you have read The Omen Machine and The Third Kingdom, you should be familiar enough with the overall story and know where it's headed. Of course, Terry Goodkind has the ability to turn even the seemingly simplest of tasks into an adventure, and takes the reader along on a wild ride with so many twists and turns, not to mention foreshadowing and subtle hints, to me some of it only made proper sense after I had finished reading the book. Then it all falls into place, although I expect a second read will reveal many things I didn't even pick up on the first time around.
Four stars, not five, simply because I still have issues with some of the author's writing style as with the previous books, but that would never stop me from reading his stories. They never fail to live up to the expectation, and Severed Souls is no exception.
Well done, Mr. Goodkind.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2014
I'm still at a slight loss of how to respond to this book. My heart is broken. I feel betrayed. I'm in denial what occured in fact occured. THIS is the sort of story I expect out of Terry Goodkind. His ability at writing a captivating, yet devastating, story seemed to spark anew in this book, and I was not disappointed in it. I cried *at least* four times, and I never cry reading books.
There were a few minor issues I ran into, such as the excessive use of the word "occult", a horse undergoing a gender change, and some rather played-down or odd circumstantial reactions by the characters. Otherwise, this was a nicely flowing story that kept me turning the pages and wondering how things were going to play out.
Goodkind left the ending open to the prospect of a continuation, and I hope he pursues it. I can't handle this ending.
There were a few minor issues I ran into, such as the excessive use of the word "occult", a horse undergoing a gender change, and some rather played-down or odd circumstantial reactions by the characters. Otherwise, this was a nicely flowing story that kept me turning the pages and wondering how things were going to play out.
Goodkind left the ending open to the prospect of a continuation, and I hope he pursues it. I can't handle this ending.
August 5, 2014
Honestly, I have some problems with this book, but it's a pretty genius ending. I'm hoping it's a fake-out. And I actually have a problem with any of the death scenes. None of them seem to be very momentous. I didn't care that anyone died really because it doesn't really capture it well. But even with all of that, this is still a good book, especially considering the last one which i didn't particularly love. Definitely worth the read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2014
Terry Goodkind’s latest book Severed Souls is an epic piece of writing. This book has everything a person could ask for. Action, drama, suspense, and enough gut-wrenching turns to make a rollercoaster junkie feel sick!
But above all that…it shows what true love is and what it can accomplish. All of the books have been about Richard and Kahlan’s love for each other. This one shows you the true power of that love.
But above all that…it shows what true love is and what it can accomplish. All of the books have been about Richard and Kahlan’s love for each other. This one shows you the true power of that love.
August 11, 2014
Terry Goodkind has written a wonderful, heart wrenching, amazing book! I highly recommend reading this book! I am going to be impatiently waiting the next book in the series. Terry, you can't leave it that way! :-)
June 7, 2015
One of the books I am not sure I would read should I even come close to guessing how it might end. Read the full review here: http://tabookyan.wordpress.com/2014/0...
June 13, 2024
Holy shit that last part of the book flew by. The stakes are high going into the very last book of The Sword of Truth series! I'm sad to have reached it's end :(
August 11, 2014
I purposefully tried to read this book as slowly as possible. Terry Goodkind's books have always just had the pages melt away for me when I read them. So I tried to take this one as slowly as possible and savor it a bit longer than normal. After all, I had to wait a year for this book following The Third Kingdom!
Severed Souls is definitely a darker side of Terry Goodkind. We have seen some diabolical plots and twisted evil villains from Darken Rahl all the way to Emperor Jagang. However I think Ludwig Drier maybe one of the most foul creatures Terry has pinned so far.
We caught our first glimpse of the Abbott during The Omen Machine and realized what a scheming mess the man is. In the Third Kingdom his character is expanded even further and you really get a peek into that dark and twisted mind. His ambition, greed, lust and just general foulness seems to have no limits as he grows even more detestable in Severed Souls.
Wait wait... what about Hannis Arc? Well that is the funny part, Hannis is mentioned merely in passing. We have a vague idea what he is up to, and we start to see his plans unfold. Hannis has a few lines of dialogue, and does a few dirty deeds however the bulk of this story all centers around Richard and his journey to through the Dark Lands.
I personally thoroughly love this book, and enjoyed seeing a peek into Terry's darkside. I look forward to seeing what the next book has to offer.....off to wait another year!
Severed Souls is definitely a darker side of Terry Goodkind. We have seen some diabolical plots and twisted evil villains from Darken Rahl all the way to Emperor Jagang. However I think Ludwig Drier maybe one of the most foul creatures Terry has pinned so far.
We caught our first glimpse of the Abbott during The Omen Machine and realized what a scheming mess the man is. In the Third Kingdom his character is expanded even further and you really get a peek into that dark and twisted mind. His ambition, greed, lust and just general foulness seems to have no limits as he grows even more detestable in Severed Souls.
Wait wait... what about Hannis Arc? Well that is the funny part, Hannis is mentioned merely in passing. We have a vague idea what he is up to, and we start to see his plans unfold. Hannis has a few lines of dialogue, and does a few dirty deeds however the bulk of this story all centers around Richard and his journey to through the Dark Lands.
I personally thoroughly love this book, and enjoyed seeing a peek into Terry's darkside. I look forward to seeing what the next book has to offer.....off to wait another year!
February 10, 2016
This would have been three stars were it not for the last third of the book dragging it up a notch.
Terry Goodkind has long been a favourite author of mine. Reading "The Sword of Truth" series inspired me to begin writing my own books. I have always loved his writing style, but something has gone really wrong with the last few books, this one in particular. The imagination is still present – I'm certain Goodkind's mind has no bounds when it comes to invention – but his narration has gone right off the boil. Either he has short term memory loss, or he assumes his readers have short term memory loss. He repeats himself so often that he must have doubled the length of the book with that alone. One chapter had the same paragraph repeated at least eight times, albeit rephrased differently on each occasion. Every chapter had rephrased repeated paragraphs and it just got so wearing: the literary equivalent of thrice-fried-chips. Once will do thanks, it's still just hot potato. I get it, move on with the story.
I can only think he must have once had a strong editor that is no longer in play; unless he really does have short term memory problems.
Will I read the next Terry Goodkind book?
Of course I will. I love the characters, the world they inhabit and the imagination behind its creation.
Terry Goodkind has long been a favourite author of mine. Reading "The Sword of Truth" series inspired me to begin writing my own books. I have always loved his writing style, but something has gone really wrong with the last few books, this one in particular. The imagination is still present – I'm certain Goodkind's mind has no bounds when it comes to invention – but his narration has gone right off the boil. Either he has short term memory loss, or he assumes his readers have short term memory loss. He repeats himself so often that he must have doubled the length of the book with that alone. One chapter had the same paragraph repeated at least eight times, albeit rephrased differently on each occasion. Every chapter had rephrased repeated paragraphs and it just got so wearing: the literary equivalent of thrice-fried-chips. Once will do thanks, it's still just hot potato. I get it, move on with the story.
I can only think he must have once had a strong editor that is no longer in play; unless he really does have short term memory problems.
Will I read the next Terry Goodkind book?
Of course I will. I love the characters, the world they inhabit and the imagination behind its creation.
August 17, 2014
Enough is enough !!!
at first i thought of writing a scathing ( well meant ) review to fully express my disappointment. But i decided against it for it ll be an additional waste of time.
I really dont recommand this book for many reasons. Topping the list
is the new member in "Richard's fan club" .. yes the cute but with monstous power , our dear Samantha
I mean Nicci a most accomplished dark sister with hundreds of years of experience plus the power she stole of gifted WIZARDS and she couldnt in the best possible situation do the tenth of what Samantha did to the mountain!!!
And let it not be said we forgot to mention zedd and his new tendency of blabbering + boasting with a penchant for philosophcal nonsense
I used to love the character of Zedd .. to cherish his scenes and reread them..I m sorry for his death as an interesting wizardly character than his death in the story
at first i thought of writing a scathing ( well meant ) review to fully express my disappointment. But i decided against it for it ll be an additional waste of time.
I really dont recommand this book for many reasons. Topping the list
is the new member in "Richard's fan club" .. yes the cute but with monstous power , our dear Samantha
I mean Nicci a most accomplished dark sister with hundreds of years of experience plus the power she stole of gifted WIZARDS and she couldnt in the best possible situation do the tenth of what Samantha did to the mountain!!!
And let it not be said we forgot to mention zedd and his new tendency of blabbering + boasting with a penchant for philosophcal nonsense
I used to love the character of Zedd .. to cherish his scenes and reread them..I m sorry for his death as an interesting wizardly character than his death in the story
August 13, 2014
He was right in warning us about stopping at Confessor if we wanted a happy ending but Goodkind has crafted a tale that leaves you numb and questioning everything you knew about the SoT universe.
I couldn't put it down. And although, unlike some of my fellow readers, I didn't cry I was left feeling completely bereft but always with a glimmer of hope.
A must read if you have followed Richard and Kahlan from WFR and must know of their fate regardless of what may come.
And now we play the waiting game again...
I couldn't put it down. And although, unlike some of my fellow readers, I didn't cry I was left feeling completely bereft but always with a glimmer of hope.
A must read if you have followed Richard and Kahlan from WFR and must know of their fate regardless of what may come.
And now we play the waiting game again...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 602 reviews