Death's Mistress

Sister of Darkness: The Nicci Chronicles #1

by Terry Goodkind

Onetime lieutenant of the evil Emperor Jagang, known as "Death's Mistress" and the "Slave Queen", the deadly Nicci captured Richard Rahl in order to convince him that the Imperial Order stood for the greater good. But it was Richard who converted Nicci instead, and for years thereafter she served Richard and Kahlan as one of their closest friends--and one of their most lethal defenders.

Now, with the reign of Richard and Kahlan finally stablized, Nicci has set out on her own for new adventures. Her first job being to keep the unworldly prophet Nathan out of trouble...

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Audiobook, Adult, Magic

512 pages, Hardcover

First published January 10, 2017

About the author

Terry 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.

Reviews

[Eric Allen]

*Facepalm*

GDI Terry Goodkind... Far past time to move onto something else.

I said it in my review of Warheart. I'm done reading books that take place in the world of The Sword of Truth. Why? Because for the last decade, they've been absolutely terrible, and I'm not going to put myself through Terry Goodkind ruining more of the things I love.

Nicci is my favorite character in The Sword of Truth, thankfully she was almost completely absent from Richard and Kahlan. I am extremely wary of picking up this book because I don't want to see Goodkind do to her what he did to Richard, Kahlan, Zedd, and Cara in the Richard and Kahlan series. And, unfortunately, I've heard from about two dozen people that she did get the same treatment, soooooo, yeah, I'm probably never going to touch this one, or any sequels it might get in the future no matter how many people may tell me the book is decent.

Frankly, the effort it took just to plow my way through Goodkind's last six books, The Law of Nines, The Omen Machine, The First Confessor, The Third Kingdom, Severed Souls, and Warheart, has pretty much just burnt me out on Terry Goodkind completely. It took a lot of effort to read those books, and they did a lot of damage to my opinion of him as an author, and as a human being in general. It was a pretty big strain just to make myself finish them, and, well, I just don't want to have to put myself through it again, but this time with my favorite character. I'm sure there are some people, maybe many people, out there who enjoy this book for what it is, or are able to justify having read it to themselves in any number of ways, but I've pretty much come to the conclusion that Terry Goodkind is never going to put out another decently written book, and it's time to move on. So, there it is. I'm, unfortunately, just plain done with Goodkind. He can publish books to his heart's content, and I can pretend they don't exist to MY heart's content, and everyone is happy. If you enjoy the book, power to ya, but me, I can only take so much punishment. And, honestly, these last six books HAVE felt like punishment to me. I shouldn't have to look at reading a book by one of my former favorite authors as a hideous chore to slog my way through, and that's what it has felt like these last few years. So yeah, I'm done. Enjoy it if you enjoy it, but I'm gonna sit this one, and any future Goodkind books, out. I hate to part ways like this, but it has become very clear to me tht Goodkind has stopped caring about telling good stories, or telling them well. I gave him six books to get his act together, and he didn't, so, I guess this is me shaking my puny fist at the universe and saying, "no more." I've had enough, and that's that.

Thanks to all of you who read my other Goodkind reviews, and all of you who liked and commented on them. I do enjoy seeing the opinions of others, even if they are completely opposite of my own. I am still intending to finish with the original 11 Sword of Truth books, it's just cramming time to reread them into my busy schedule that is the biggest factor in how much time I'm taking on them. Well, that and the next book, Soul of the Fire, is one my two least favorite books in the series. Sometimes it's a bit hard to work up the mojo to read a book that you know you don't really enjoy all that much, y'know?

[Paul Weiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Death’s Mistress? We have no need of further death.”

Seventeen novels (depending on who’s counting)! That’s what it took for Richard Rahl to subdue the evil Emperor Jagang and, presumably bring peace and stability to the world. But all is not as it seems. When Nicci, former merciless Sister of the Dark whose blood lust earned her the title DEATH’S MISTRESS, sets out with Nathan Rahl to find new challenges and to spread the good news of Richard’s peaceful world order, she finds herself charged – not once, but twice!! - with the impossible task of saving the world. And Nathan, by the bye, having completely lost his powers of magic when prophesy vanished from the world, must find the hidden city, Kol Adair, in order to make himself whole again.

Battles, magic, life versus death, good versus evil, hate versus love, a sprinkling of lascivious nudity and love-making, lost languages, bigger and better villains, a traveling “fellowship” (Where have I heard that before?) – DEATH’S MISTRESS is pretty standard stuff as epic quest fantasy goes. It’s entertaining but, for my money, I’d say it was overwritten, overwrought, melodramatic and , while not derivative, it doesn’t exactly plow any new furrows either. Lifedrinker is the first nasty on the prowl for world domination - DEATH’S MISTRESS’s version of Sauron, Voldemort, Grindelwald, or She Who Must Be Obeyed (wait … maybe not that last one!). And the second ugly on Goodkind’s world horizon is to Lifedrinker as Saruman is to Tolkien’s Sauron.

Some solid editing and winnowing of the novel’s length would make it considerably more palatable. I’d probably have held out for just 1- or 2-stars but, being completely honest, there were some definitely entertaining moments. The conduct of the young girl, Thistle, in the final few chapters leading up to the climactic battle is genuinely heartwarming. Soooo … DEATH’S MISTRESS gets rounded up to 3-stars.

Recommended for those fans of THE SWORD OF TRUTH series who want to complete the story and absolutely NOT recommended for those who haven’t read it. The characters and the references to the past simply wouldn’t make any sense to you.

Paul Weiss

[Mogsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2017/02/19/...

To put it bluntly, I never thought I would read anything else by Terry Goodkind again. After my disastrous first attempt to get into The Sword of Truth series, I almost turned down the opportunity to read Death’s Mistress, but now I’m very glad I didn’t. It’s been years since I last read Wizard’s First Rule, and it seemed a shame to potentially miss out on a good start to a new series especially when the author’s style or my reading tastes could have changed so much since. And as things turned out, I did have a surprisingly good time with this.

I also had initial concerns about jumping in without having read the entirety of the previous series, but that was not a problem. The book follows Nicci, a “Death’s Mistress” and a former lieutenant of Emperor Jagang who has since switched her alliance after being converted to the right side by Richard. Now that the latter has solidified his rule, Nicci travels the world helping spread the word of his benevolence and letting everyone know that the world is free, while accompanied by the ex-prophet and wizard Nathan.

At the beginning of this story Nathan decides to seek out the witch called Red, and Nicci offers to go along with him for protection, knowing they can trust no one and must be prepared for anything. Sure enough, after their visit, the witch imparts upon them the following obscure message: travel to a dangerous place far away called Kol Adair, where Nathan will find the answers to his struggle with his waning magic. Little do Nicci and Nathan know, that by embarking on this adventure they will also be a part of something much bigger, bringing back peace and hope to many along the way. Indeed, before they can even set off in earnest, Nicci saves the life of a young sailor named Bannon on the docks, preventing him from being mugged and killed by a gang of thugs. Grateful for her help, Bannon offers his services to the Death’s Mistress, volunteering to fight alongside her and Nathan while on their journey to Kol Adair.

I must confess, the story’s introduction was a bit of a whirlwind for me, with the bewildering circumstances around Red and her message, as well as the reasons for Nicci and Nathan to head to Kol Adair. It’s clear that I’ve missed a lot of history, not having followed The Sword of Truth. Trying to piece together everything that has happened since the last time I spent time in this world admittedly took up most of my attention, though fortunately once our characters actually begin their adventure, the path ahead gave way to clearer purposes and more exciting and engaging motifs. Death’s Mistress has a strong traditional fantasy vibe to it, with emphasis on the classic quest narrative. The question why Nicci, Nathan and Bannon were on this journey in the first place became less important to me overtime, while the details surrounding where they’ll go or what they’ll do when they get there or who they’ll meet gradually became more fascinating and relevant.

If there’s a bigger story, it hardly matters—at least at this point. Goodkind is starting a new series here, and you can tell he’s doing his best to make Death’s Mistress as accessible as possible. There’s not much history or deep context in play, and no greater conflict to concern ourselves with…yet. Rather, our characters are given a relatively straight forward task (go to Kol Adair, spread the word of Richard’s reign) and while on their travels they encounter various situations in which they can lend a hand or help solve a problem (picking up some side-quests along the way, so to speak). In fact, the structure of the plot can almost be described as “episodic”, the way our adventuring party moves from one place to the next, setting things aright before moving on again to save the next village or help defend the next town.

The results are surprisingly enjoyable. After all, few things are better than being able to explore new worlds, meet new people, and witness epic battles infused with a real sense of excitement and magic. If you’re a fantasy reader, these are the moments we live for, and this book had a way of satisfying all those little pleasures. From our time with our characters on the high seas, to watching them fight alongside a fishing village against a fleet of attacking slavers, to being with them as they try to save a land leeched of life, it’s never a dull moment with this book. The characters are also memorable, with Nicci being a strong protagonist I could sympathize with and root for. Supporting characters are also well-written and fleshed out, leading to some highly emotional and shocking surprises near the end.

Like I said, I’m very glad I decided to give Death’s Mistress a chance. At times, Goodkind’s writing still has the subtlety of a cudgel and some of his scenes can be a little schmaltzy, but on the whole my experience was a lot better than I expected. Nothing too complicated here in terms of plot, but I think in this case, the straightforward and simple approach worked in the book’s favor, offering readers a chance to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

[Branden Gibson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good fucking god. Terry Goodkind is a monster that will not be stopped until he's destroyed everything he's ever built. I'm half convinced the man is possessed by someone who hates him and just wants to shit all over his legacy.

[Bill Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am going to change my normal format for this review because this was hard for me. I am a major Terry Goodkind fan, have been reading every new book of his since Soul of the Fire came out in 1999. I have read the original Sword of Truth arc multiple times over the years (every new book required a new read through!). Faith of the Fallen is my second favorite book of all time, there is just so much in that book that makes it perfection to me. Nicci, Death's Mistress, is one of the most interesting characters in the entire SoT series.

But that said, Goodkind has lost it for me. Ever since the main arc of SoT ended (which was amazing!), his books have become something altogether different, lackluster and boring. And, the writing aside - which I will get to later, the main reason why I think these last handful of books are so disappointing is that Goodkind is trying too hard to stay within the world that made him successful.

The Richard and Kahlan four book series was a complete and utter joke. Goodkind introduced a worthy plot of a second series, but failed miserably on all levels with it. And the characters suffered, became shells of who they were in the original arc. Even the deaths of some characters felt like an attempt to push the boundary like Game of Thrones, but instead of the magnitude of their deaths, they were handled poorly and with little fanfare.

To me, a diehard SoT fan, it just seems like Goodkind is fearful of stepping away from the world he created to create a new fantasy realm and that is where Death's Mistress failed.

Like I said, Nicci is an amazing character. I think she is the epitome of a redemption character, but in this new series - which is focused on her - she is not as interesting or worthy as a protagonist. Nathan, the cheery, fun-loving, jokester prophet joins her and they set off on their own journey to save the world - as they find out from a witch woman. Three different times in this novel - three! It was like Goodkind wanted to put three separate plots into one book, all under the banner of Nicci has to save the world.

Now this is where Goodkind loses me in this book. I loved these two characters, but they fall incredibly flat. All Nicci does is try to do things for Richard Rahl and her love for him, but it is her choice -or so she says. In SoT, Nicci is conflicted about her beliefs, going from darkness to the light, all because Richard showed her the way. And in this book, she harps upon her leaving Richard, her mission for him and all the things in her past. It bogs her down and makes her boring, makes her a husk of who she became after Faith of the Fallen. It was like Goodkind made a puppet of who Nicci was and then focused on her past as Death's Mistress. She becomes just another boring female character pining after a man, which she wasn't in the original arc. There was only one single moment in this book where I felt the old Nicci and that was toward the very end.

Nathan also became frustrating. He always was a fun character to read, but in this story he was too focused on his clothing and his sword. With prophecy gone from the R & K arc, he is useless with magic and this hurts his character. His humor was not strong enough in this story to offset this change in him.

My main flaw with this book is the world and the writing of the world. What I mean is this: if this was a brand new story in a brand new world, I would have thought this a better story.

But its not, it is firmly planted in SoT, which was the wrong choice. There are so many times throughout the novel where the backstory of the previous two arcs are defined. Repetitively too, I might add (like literally the same exact things explained multiple times, this is what also drove down the second arc). If Goodkind had spared those words for building a brand new world, it might have made this story so much more stronger and engaging. The idea behind the plot is intriguing, but it doesn't fit into the SoT world. It was almost like a buddy cop movie with multiple episodes and that doesn't work in the world Goodkind created.

And then comes the writing itself. While it is much better written than the R & K arc (which was atrocious) there is much to be desired. This book teeters back and forth between adult and young adult, where I think Goodkind wanted to write a simpler story like young adult, but couldn't let go of the adult themes that were present in SoT (another reason to ditch that world for a new one!)

One thing that really bugged me was that he had to color code every description every time he wrote about something. For example, Nicci wears a black dress, we all know that from the previous arcs. Every time her dress is mentioned, the words black dress are on the page. Same with a new character's ginger hair. It really bogged the reading down because, as a reader, you only need to tell me once that her dress is black or his hair is red. I don't need to see it 100 times. Again, use those extra words to world-build.

The three main characters were all denoted by titles, not their names when talking to one another. Nicci = Sorceress, Nathan = Wizard, Bannon = my boy. It was so frustrating to see Nathan call Nicci Sorceress every time he spoke to her (like it was literally every time for these characters) and vice-versa. It made no sense that none of the characters could use a name. And then Nathan calling Bannon "my boy" was a glaring misstep. Zedd used to call Richard "my boy" not Nathan. It was almost like Goodkind making up for mishandling Zedd in the previous arc. This using titles thing was so frustrating to read and made me roll my eyes more times than not.

The biggest misstep of the writing is the focus on sex and rape. Goodkind used to struggle with this in the original arc, but it was better done. Jagang and his forcing the Sisters of the Dark -like Nicci - to undergo force of rape made him altogether more evil, it made him a force to be fearful of. The aftereffects of the rape shaped the characters, influenced their decisions, was haunting. In this new series, there are scenes of potential rape that bring nothing to the story, in fact, it made me angry they were there. Rape is nothing to be happy about reading, but when it is done properly to show how there is evil people in this world and the crushing affect it has on the victims, then I can see it has merits in a story. But this story didn't have that. The readers are reminded of Nicci's past with Jagang, but the new would-be-rapists don't serve the story, and this angered me to have read it.

And the sex thing was also poorly done. Too many times the readers are reminded of this woman's breasts, or that woman's curves, the color of her nipples. It was unnecessary and out of place. The whole second half of the book focused on these four strange women who thought of nothing but sex and fertility. It was just odd choices and decisions.

But those aspects were mashed together with a young adult story. The writing is fast-paced, the journey quick, the chapters very short (some only two pages), the overcoming of obstacles way too easy for adults. It all felt pushed together without much thought. Pick one or the other and stick with it. Make it great, not bland.

As I said, this was hard for me. I will still read the original SoT arc with great joy, but these new books are a slog to get through. I wish Goodkind would leave this world for a new one, I know he has it in him. I will read his new ones after this, still, even though it pains me, he bought my loyalty with Faith of the Fallen. I just hope he returns to form.

Rating:

2 out of 5

[Starlight Kid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death's Mistress is on paper the book I have been waiting for, kick ass female lead fantasy book who is an anti-hero just sounds amazing and really there isn't enough books out there like that. When I found out that Goodkind was writing a spin off from the Sword of Truth series I pre-ordered the book right away. Now my knowledge of the series and world isn't great only having read the first book in the series last year so I had no clue who Nicci was when I first started. So would this book make a good read for someone new to the series and is is a good read in general?

Death's Mistress follows the story of Nicci and Nathan who are set on this quest by the Red Witch, over the course of their quest they encounter various different foes and allies who help them along the way. Nicci is one of those characters I was bound to love from the start, amazing sorceress who dosent hesitate to kill and is flat out bad ass. I had no clue who she was before I started this book but Goodkind does an excellent job of explaining her back story throughout the first half of the book to give the reader an idea of who this person is and what they went through. He did the same for Nathan another series regular who I was new to so if you are no to the series this book works OK for those with little to no knowledge of the story so far. Yes there are spoilers for other books in the series but lets be honest thats bound to happen in a book that is set after other books in the series.

Original characters to this book include the likes of Bannon and Thistle. Thistle who you encounter late on in the book who sort of becomes like a daughter to Nicci was a decent addition to the story and it helped humanize Nicci who does come across as very cold before this. Bannon however is one of those characters that too me is a pointless addition and most of his story could have been given to Nathan in all honesty. Bannon is a character who is a peasant who encounters Nicci by chance and joins her quest, there is some character development with him but then as soon as he gets remotely interesting it just seems to stop with him? Needless to say I was not a fan of Bannon and towards the end he really did annoy me.

Death's Mistress is a weird book as it starts with you expecting this epic quest that is suppose to happen in this far off land however this first book in the series focuses more on the journey then the destination. What you get is essentially a book of short stories that are collected into one story. Some parts of this book particularly the action scenes are phenomenal however the build up at times is rushed (apart from the final two villains). This is how a normal story goes in this book:

Random Character 'There is a monster around this area that is evil and deadly'. Nathan 'We will fight this monster for you' Monster attacks, Monster killed end of story. Literally no build up at all which is a shame as it sort of takes away from the danger that these characters are meant to be under. The final two villains are way more interesting and its because of the build up, however those are the two with the worst action scenes it just seems to be in balanced. Not saying its bad as everything is here for a great book and it really should have been 5 stars especially from an author who is as experienced as Goodkind.

The ending of the book also seems rushed with earlier chapters being around 7 - 11 pages long where the final chapters you are lucky if you get over 4 pages per chapter. Although the ending isnt bad it just seems unfinished, now I know this is a start of a new series but this kind of suffers the same mistake that the Hunger Games books did which was to have sudden ending. There is no guarantee a second book for this series will be released I believe it has been given the go ahead but still anything can happen between now and then and for the first book in the series we should have had a proper ending.

This books saving grace is the high tempo, gorey action scenes, the variety you get with them and Nicci. What the book fails to do is to anything original(I did see some brief originality in the final part of the book but I am not a big fantasy reader so might be nothing new to more hardcore fantasy fans) and if it didn't star the main character I would have scored this book alot less.

I did enjoy this book but it scores around a 7/10 for me is a good book but I was hoping for something great. I would highly recommend this for people who are a fan of Goodkind, The Witcher Series or are just looking for a bad ass female lead in a fantasy book. Due to the content in this book however this is for mature readers only.

What this book has done though has made me want to go back to The Sword of Truth series which I cant wait to get stuck back into.

[Allie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frankly, I did not like anything about this book. I felt like I was reading a story written by a budding fantasy author using the names of Goodkind's characters. Goodkind had a really interesting concept started with Nicci and Nathan's adventure and he could have done so much more with it, including developing the lands in which they traveled more thoroughly.

There was so much prospect lost in order to cram the book with "adventure". So many events took place - bam, bam, bam - one right after the other, that it felt sloppy. Richard and Kahlan had some bad luck in their journey together, but Nicci and Nathan seemed to have hit the lottery of bad luck. It was so over the top. Each new baddy introduced came and went so fast that it didn't even seen worthwhile to include them.

One thing that really peeved me throughout the book was how the duo addressed each other and their companions, constantly referring to each other as "Wizard" or "Sorceress", even if they were the only two present. Nathan also constantly used the phrase "my boy", which was something far more unique to Zedd. I adore Nathan, but that was an injustice to the First Wizard.

However! One thing I will give Goodkind credit on in this book was he significantly reduced the redundancies that ran rampant in his previous five books. It made the flow of the book more tolerable, and I'll hope to see continued progress of this.

I can't say I'd read this one again.

[The Tattooed Book Geek (Drew). · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always this review can also be found on my blog The Tattooed Book Geek: https://thetattooedbookgeek.wordpress...

I received a free copy of this book courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Death’s Mistress is a new series set in the Sword of Truth world. I’ve seen it mentioned that you don’t need to have prior knowledge of the series to read it and I can attest to that as my own knowledge was very lacking. However, I found both the magic system, names and past events very easy to pick up and enough information is given during the book to enlighten you on what’s gone on before.

Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series ran for 17 books. My only previous foray into the series being from watching the rather cheesy but fun TV series based on the actual books that aired quite a few years ago.

Death’s Mistress follows Nicci, a powerful sorceress and the Death’s Mistress of the title and Nathan Rahl, both prophet and wizard are tasked by Lord Richard Rahl as emissaries of the D’Haran Empire spreading word of the end of tyranny and the start of his rule and a new free age to the various peoples of the Old World.

After a prediction from the Witch, Red that tells both Nicci and Nathan that they need to journey to and find Kol Adair they set off on their adventure.

Nicci at first scoffs at and derides her part in Red’s prediction but later in the book she comes to realise that Red’s words may well in fact ring true. While Nathan, the first ambassador of the D’Haran empire fully believes Red’s prediction from the start and the necessity of finding Kol Adair.

Along the way Nicci and Nathan pick up a couple of travelling companions due to unforseen circumstances. Firstly, they end up being accompanied by Bannon Farmer, a sailor on his maiden voyage, who is running away from his past and looking for adventure. Bannon is originally from Chiriya, a small island of cabbage farmers – sniggers!  Pay attention in school children or else you might end up farming cabbages and eating cabbage soup for life! Secondly, the trio are later joined by Thistle, a tenacious and spunky young orphan girl.

Nicci isn’t the most likeable of characters, she’s stand-offish, distant and cold for the most. She’s been given a task to do and she will accomplish the task, no matter the trials and tribulations in her way. As you follow her on the journey to Kol Adair you find her to be a deeper character than she first seems and while not instantly endearing she grows on you. Nathan is a far more affable character, the opposite of Nicci and together they make a good duo.

When Bannon is introduced, oh poor Bannon, if he was in a grimdark book he’d have been dead in his first paragraph! Naive, trusting, idealistic and clueless are the best adjectives to describe Bannon. He does mature over the course of the book showing himself to be a competent sword fighter and earning Nicci’s respect late on. Some of his actions and the lines he comes out with throughout the book make you cringe at how corny they are and sound, it’s best we put it down to him being a gingernut and his youthful boyish exuberance. He is a likeable character though and a worthy companion for Nicci and Nathan, his interactions with Nathan and parts of the story where he proves himself show an added depth to his character.

Thistle was probably my favourite character in the book, she’s determined and brave with a bit of an attitude and she added an extra dimension to the group also aiding in Nicci’s character development when something poignant happens late in the book, just for a moment Nicci’s Ice Queen facade cracks and it was one of the standout moments in the book, seeing a character in Nicci that seemed impervious to emotions actually showing feeling.

Goodkind has a decent eye for scope and scale in his world building, giving you that epic vibe and feeling that many miles have been traversed.

The book adheres to the tried and tested straightforward formula, whereby our protagonists journey to Kol Adair consists of travelling to one location, encountering an obstacle and overcoming it before moving onto the next and so forth. It’s simple but works well to move the story forward and the locales are diverse enough that each creates a different new challenge for our group.

The adversaries that the group face throughout Death’s Mistress are many and include, Selka, underwater creatures. Norukai savage slavers. The Adjudicator. Dust People, remnant husks created by the Lifedrinker. The Lifedrinker himself, a student who after using a magical spell that went wrong turned into the Lifedrinker, an unstoppable force draining the life out of people and the world. And, Life��s Mistress, again, the result of a magical spell gone wrong but this time instead of draining the life out of the world, the creation gives life back, only too much life wanting to revive the world, wipe out humanity and turn it into a massive forest and a vast plateau of flora.

The pacing in Death’s Mistress is good with the story moving along and developing nicely. The book doesn’t outstay its welcome and when the ending comes, it feels like the right place to end the book both as a conclusion to this part of the tale and as a ‘to be continued’ for what will happen next.

It took me a while to get used to Goodkind’s writing. I found the interaction between characters came across as rather stilted and wooden. At times it seemed like they were practising receiting lines in a play to each other instead of having the easy flow of a conversation. Goodkind isn’t the most poetic of writers, he doesn’t woo you with flowers and chocolates under the moonlight, with gentle caresses and whispered elegant sweet nothings to lure you in. His approach is rather more blunt, like a club to the back of the head, resulting in you being dragged back to the cave. But, he has written and sold a lot of books and the approach obviously works well for him and as I progressed through Death’s Mistress, it didn’t bother me as much, I became accustomed to his style and liked his rather straight to the point manner.

The book itself is not overly dark and gore splattered with the visceral action I’m generally accustomed to from the grimdark subgenre of fantasy I frequent. And is far more akin to and harkens back to the classic styling of adventuring and epic fantasy.

Even with my issues at the beginning, by the end I had enjoyed my time spent reading Death’s Mistress, it was a book I looked forward to being able to pick up and read, at the end of the day that’s what reading should be, an enjoyable experience. I’m definitely interested to follow the continuation and see where Goodkind takes the story next.

I found Death’s Mistress to be an enjoyable and often fun if somewhat formulaic fantasy yarn.

[Horror Bookworm Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terry Goodkind has begun an all new epic entitled Death's Mistress. Wizard Nathan and Sorceress Nicci are an unlikely teamed charactered driven duo that have discovered a dramatic reconfiguration of magic in the Goodkind created universe. His conjured characters who begin a quest of commonly agreed rules for each individual land, becomes a task proven to be heavy handed for all involved. Within this realm the reader will be versed in many exciting new Goodkind creations including beginning a life book chronicling accomplishments and experiments of a wizards prolific journey to prophecy driven events that consists of strange species such as the deadly sea bearing creatures known as the Selkin. This hefty novel is one heck of a Terry Goodkind adventure awaiting the reader.

[Karin Diricx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super goed is toch 1v mijn favoriete schrijvers.Kan niet wachten op het vervolg.

[Jonathan Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 Stars

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

I need to go back and read some previous parts of the latter entries in the SoT series. We have a near clone of Richard enter the story as Bannon Farmer. He just doesn't have magic (at least none demonstrated). Thistle was a great character and made the book more enjoyable. Nicci shows a faint glimmer of humanity. Otherwise, not a great entry in the Goodkind library. 2 Stars

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who would have thought...but I really enjoyed this book.

As a long time fan of SoT series (and very disappointed with some of the novels in between then and now), I went into this one with eyes open. And I found the combination of Nicci and Nathan (and sidekicks) to be compelling, And I was completely blown away. It's kind of like a new SoT chapter with someone we know but no trying to get back into Richard and Kahlan-land. Of course there was a little sermonising and the good and evil came through but this story was more about how the characters developed - we really got to see All of them at their worst, recount their past horrors, live through disappointment and move on to fight another day.

I guess this was just a journey story with a new main hero. There were no expectations to be met...just fabulous battle scenes, gruesome descriptive passages, awesome magic displays, death, life, good and bad, a little of Nathan's preening and a lot of Nicci's kickassery! In fact I was so freakin amazed by Nicci's magical prowess I've talked a couple of SoT diehards into reading this because it was so so so satisfying to see our heroine do her thing (in a way Richard never seemed to)!

I do have to warn readers that this book ends with not a cliff hanger exactly, but it's totally not a finished stand alone book and I guess we will be waiting to see the next instalment soon??? And guess what - I'm looking forward to it!

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read and reviewed Terry Goodkind's Nest a few months ago and wasn't all that pleased with it, but I hate to judge a writer by one book so I tried this series opener and learned that she's just not my kind of writer. Somebody reads her, since all her books list her as a New York Times Bestselling Author. They say that of John Grisham, too, and I can't get past the first page on most of his books. De gustibus non est disputandum: In matters of taste there can be no disputes. 

The book rests on a weird basis: A powerful warrior witch named Nicci, also known as Death's Mistress, travels with a wizard named Nathan who has been a captive for over 1000 years and has kind of lost his magical chops. Unbeknownst to me, this carries on an earlier Nicci story dealing with her capture of and falling in love with Richard Rahl, with whom she joined forces to fight the former emperor. She and Nathan are scouting the now-stabilized empire and doing sort of a PR tour for Rahl. 

The blurb on Amazon says Nicci is one of the "best loved" characters from an earlier series called Sword of Truth. I'll take their word for it. In this book she's damaged and angry from years of killing and being raped or pimped out by previous emperor Jagang. Goodkind's dialogues for her make her seem generally hard and unlikeable. The two also pick up a sailor with the last name Farmer, as clearly damaged as Nicci by being raised by an abusive father and now wandering the world. Both have lots of painfully long stories to tell about their abusive past lives.

The three find a wizardy library that has been extracted from melted stone that covered it during the recent war. There they try to learn the best magical spell to overcome an area of death that continues to grow, accidentally created by one of those tending the magical books. 

There will be a weird masturbatory sacrifice to try to fight the spell and, ultimately, a sacrifice of one of the few nearly likeable characters in the book because someone forgot to read the fine print on a counter-measure. 

There are so many books I've read where the ending pained me because leaving the author's imaginary world was like leaving a well-loved home. This book kept me counting pages wondering when it would end so I could move on to something else. 

[Melody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terry Goodkind is just a shell of the author he was when he first began this adventure with the SOT series. Nikki is not even the character we grew to love in that series. All the dialogue is forced, unoriginal, and so cliched that it was like a play where the actors only kind of knew their lines and you were waiting on them to remember the lines. Horrible.

Goodkind had some pretty twisted ideas for the SOT series, but for this series, it is even more sordid. It was like he was trying to put anything he could think of for them to encounter, into this book. They just were not built like the scenes from the first books in the SOT series.

This author has totally butchered what was once a great story with amazing characters.

[Tony]

I’m not rating this, hardly fair as I didn’t finish it. Absolutely hated it and I very rarely say that.

Found it trite in the extreme.

I think it may have more to do with my mood to be honest. Need something with a bit of class. This had none.

[Cathy]

I gave up after 30 pages. I thought maybe I'd care and be interested because I like Nicci and Nathan, but there's no drive in the story and no corresponding drive in me to read it. Wizard's First Rule had passion. I was excited to read the early books in the series, to see what would happen next. Now I just feel tired of it, and tired of being lectured at. I looked at the end and it's clear that this wandering story isn't for me. There's no goal, no drive, and no passion. I have too big of a to-read pile to mess with it.

[Chris T. · Rating 1 out of 5]

So far it's ok. I'm only on page 98 and I'm already tired of reading about "Nicci loves Richard" and "She's doing this for Richard" and then the Rape scene. Also, couldn't he find something more creative than "the sorceress has to save world"? Why not leave these page fillers out? I don't know if I will be able to make it to the end...

[Rebekka · Rating 1 out of 5]

No, this was just terrible.

There was no structure, plot, character growth/development OR background that makes them likeable. The villian were torn from the hairline MY GOD. And the relationship..what relationships???

We start of with a wizard Nathan and a Sorceress Nicci, they go to a wizard women in the forrest who tells them to get Nathans powers back they need to go to a city, where Nicci has to save the world. Simple enough. That plot keeps going for the first 100 pages, we meet Bannon who tells them about a boat and suprise he is on it as well. And from then it just goes down hill.
From then on the Plot follows the style of travel-meet people-ambushed-fight-death-tragic backstory-go on an then from the beginning. Everytime we have new bad people who just get forgotten after we fight them. After two rounds of the plot we meet THE MOST ANNOYING GIRL Thistle. She just joins the happy group of three making it four.

At some point we arrive at a temple, compleatly forgetting we need to travel to the city. And there shits just gets weird, bad and just .. IRG.. we have tree assult against one bad women, a chapter about how Brannon basically gets raped three times, but its okay because he falls in love with all three. Then the "life Mistress" comes to life (hahah because nicci is the deaths mistress, we now have a life one aswell).
Then Dragons come into play after not mentioning them once. Obiviously we find one RIGHT away and bam Life's Mistress is dead. And then 2 Chapter before the end we arrive in sead City we actually wanted to go and say "This could be interesting" ..

FUCK OF.

NON of the character have any sort of chemastry with each other, making every converstaion painful.
Nathan despite having no powers after 1000 years takes it suprisingly well. I mean he always does so that he feels lost but we never talk about it and he never feels useless.
Nicci just hates everyone, goes on random missions inbetween and making it clear she hates men, wanting to be a wife and be a mother BECAUSE SHE IS A INDEPENDENT QUEEN. I think thats what we wanted to go with.
Thistle as I already said goes around like she is 10 wanting to joing every bloody mission like she is the most powerful one and can do everything, but hides and annoyes the shit out of Nicci and why, "BECAUSE SHE NEED TO PROTECT NICCI" -- really thats the excuse that we give her. I understand she is young but could she not have been such a pain in the ass. Her only reason to be there was to be the "tragic sacrafice" at the end. Which would have been tragic if there was chemestry between the character but every conversation between Nicci and her went
- "Thistle stay here you won't be safe out there"
- "But I need to protect you, and if you make me stay than I will just follow"
- "then I make you stay with magic or tie you to a post"
- "No you won't do that"
- "Yeah you are right"
Conversation over.
Brannon was the only character I had a hint of sympathy. Because he was the only one were we at least had a little backstory, or a hint to his childhood and his purpose why he wanted to join. But half way though he is just forgotten, a swordsmen on the side and the fuckhourse for those three girls in the temple.

The whole story of Fertility made me uncomphy. Victoria (suprise at the end the main baddy, I think) couldn't have children so she adopted girls who were young and fertile and made them have children. She is also the one with the connection to the other bad guy the "lifetaker" (ouhhh what a name) who yeah just is there and than gets killed. Victoria wants those three girls who had sex with Brannon a bagillion times to finally be pregnant and when they aren't she performs a fertility spell which lead to Victoria being raped by a tree (yes) and then being the Life's Mistress. Who later also dies (with help of that fantastic not plotconviniant dragonbone)

Also in this book btw, are sea monsters who have wishstones that men hunt for. Slaveres who take children to become slaves. Dust people, a Kingdom that just gave up on the south and never explored it. Magic and theft.

This was just all over the place. Non of the characters were likeable because they were given no life. There is a unhealthy amount of talk about how bad one parent was, how often Nicci was a whore for the former King (oh yeah the kingdom was changing at the beginning of the book) and generally the topic of Sex was delt with really bad. As already said the plot just took 50000000 turns and just made no sense anymore. The whole little groups we meet, feel like we were jumping between different worlds and not countries. The Villian were no villains that were important because they had no impact on the story.
This book is the first book of a 4 part series and it feels like a filler. I mean the only relevent part were the beginning till the arriving on the boat and the last two chapters. Other than that is was just filler. Or just really bad forshadowing to the other books. Because heck if I would continue (with fuck no I won't) those sea monsters and villians and weird fucking fertility temple will become important.

But as I already said.. just ... no...

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

She has been called Sister of the Light, and even Sister of the Dark; Nicci has been the lieutenant of a tyrant and pledged to destroy a man who she then fell in love with. But that was in the past. It is a new and safer world out there, and Nicci’s new role is telling the people of how Lord Rahl’s rule will bring peace and prosperity to their world. But the first job is keeping the wizard and prophet Nathan out of trouble… Nathan wants to visit the witch called Red, whom he wishes to get to tell him his life story.

She does, but issues a cryptic message to him; He must seek the place Kol Adair, where the answers and solution to his fading magic will be answered. It is a place that no one has heard of, and its name appears on no chart. They make haste their preparations to travel south and whilst getting provisions, Nicci saves the life of a traveller called Bannon who is being robbed. He is so grateful that he recommends the ship he is sailing south on and pledges his services to her. So begins their perilous journey south to find this mystery place. They will face threats from the sea, the land, bargain with dragons and face the greatest threats to the world that they know.

I do read some fantasy every now and again. It is a genre that can either be excellent, full of intrigue and political shenanigans or can fall a bit flat as it is broadly similar to other stuff that you have come across. This is the first of Terry Goodkind’s books that I have read, and overall it wasn’t too bad. There was plenty of pace to the story, with a mix of dramatic events and the standard tropes from the fantasy genre. It did suffer from being a bit formulaic, though, but that is the problem that I have with a lot of the quest style fantasy. Not bad, though, might even read the sequel!

[Garlan ✌ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first Goodkind read, and I enjoyed it! He has a huge fan base, so I expected the writing to be good, and I wasn't disappointed. The story moves along nicely, and there's plenty of action scenes to keep you interested. Overall, I found the storyline entertaining and the characters were well rounded. I have the 2nd book in this particular series on my shelf and will probably get around to it before too long. Closer to a 3 1/2 star rating, but not quite a 4 star for me.

[Colin Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicci, a sorceress sets out to save the world at the bequest of Lord Rawl. Accompanied by the powerless wizard Nathan. Soon the pair find Bannan the Farmer. Together they battle sea monsters, slavers and those that would shrink the world and that would accelerate growth' Monsters and powerful forces. For fantasy lovers that enjoy battles and magic, friends and foes, this is one for you. A long book that can be enjoyed in small chunks in the spoken form.

Enjoyable although the narration was just below the standards of many listening books. Still 4 stars.

[Rebecca Morales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that the war is over Nicci and Nathan have set out to spread awareness of Emperor Jagang’s death. Early on in their journey, Nathan discovers a way to regain his prophet abilities which leads them on an epic adventure where we meet new characters, find mermaids, and lost libraries.

Now I did receive this book in exchange for an honest review, so thank you so much @torbooks for providing me a finished copy.

I must confess I didn’t read the Sword of Truth series, but luckily I can assure you that you don’t have to finish that series to appreciate this book.

We follow Nicci who was once known as a Death Mistress. She is a very powerful sorceress, she has lived a long difficult life. Along with Nathan, a now ex-prophet but still skilled sorcerer, they aim to spread the news of Richard rising to power.

I really enjoyed the odd couple dynamic these two had. Nicci is far more reserved while Nathan has more of an playful outlook. They are joined later on by Bannon a young man who is setting out from home for the first time. Bannon is so naive about magic and the world around him. He was another great compliment to Nicci. I really enjoyed this trio of characters and I thought they offered a unique look at the world.

While I did enjoy the characters. It was the villains that really caught my interest. We had multiple bad guys throughout the book, pretty much a baddie for every leg of the journey. We had humans, creatures, and magic going askew.

This book completely captivated me. I read this 500+ page book over two days.

However, I am giving this book a B-.

There were so many graphic depictions of sexual assault, sex, and violence. I had a tough time reading some of those scenes, especially all the abuse that Nicci went through while she was in service to the old Emperor. Her sexual history both positive and negative was used to show how far she came as a character. And that really bothered me.

I am sure that Nicci had a lot of character growth over the Sword of Truth series. We catch glimpses of her darker side via flashback throughout this book. I just we could have seen more character development throughout this book. There was so much non stop action that the development took a back seat.

[Mr Pink Ink · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been dying to read this book ever since it was first announced and I was super stoked going into this!

In case you didn't know, my all-time favourite series is The Sword Of Truth by this author. I was going through a really bad period, when I was much younger, in my life and Wizard's First Rule literally changed my life; I have been a huge fan ever since and he was the first author to go onto my "Auto-Buy" list.

This is a spinoff series and follows Nathan and Nicci, two of my favourite characters from the series, as they embark on a journey to inform the entire world of the new Lord Rahl.

Let me tell you, I was not disappointed! Adventure, magic, intrigue a la Goodkind was served up on a platter from the get-go; there is one particular story arc that just left me beyond heartbroken, so be warned.

Perfect start to a new series, bringing all the beauty, and horror, of the main series back in all it's glory; I definitely recommend this book, especially if you're a Goodkind fan.

[itchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

i actually expected a prequel story

anyhow, nicci seems to be too powerful to be exciting;
life's mistress sounds like a bad joke and her segment seems rushed;
of course she doesn't stand a chance to the more experienced death's mistress

[Brentin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've read this book, please read my comments in the "spoiler" section. I'd love to hear your thoughts on some of them.

First, this book is probably not for first time Terry Goodkind readers. Given that there are already almost 20 books in the saga (counting some that take place before and after this point in time) written in the past 20 years, even Goodkind's attempts to recap some of the highlights of the previous books seem insufficient.

Now for the review, I had mixed feelings. Let's start with the good. Nicci is a more dynamic character than Richard and Kahlan (the heroes of the main saga), who often come off as so noble, plus so in love, it's almost nauseating. Giving Nicci her own series is a good idea. Bringing Nathan Rahl along (and finally making him a Point-of-view character) was a solid choice as well and so was adding a new character, Bannon Farmer, a young sailor running from a troubled past to seek adventure (and maybe redemption). The story starts out interesting enough and sending them off to new areas not covered in previous books is probably a good idea. The dynamic between Nicci and Nathan works really well, and is even occasionally humorous, which is refreshing after 15 books of Richard and Kahlan fawning all over each other (No chance of romance here. At one point in the book, Nathan's POV describes Nicci like a "statue in museum: to be admired for its beauty, but only from afar, and certainly never touched").

Now the bad. I had mustakenky thought these were going to be like a serial of tales or novellas. Nope, this book is 512 pages, and a lot of it suffers from Goodkind's trademark over describing the scenery. The story goes from one adventure right on to the next. I would have much rather had it broken up into four or five short stories, which could all tell the same tale. Also, while this is a Nicci-centric tale, Nathan's story is far more interesting. The plot also can be quite predictable.

I would recommend longtime readers of Terry Goodkind to give this a shot. I know some of you have abandoned the series altogether, and I can't say I blame you. But I think it's a good start to what is hopefully a new chapter.

SPOILERS BELOW
A few other thoughts:

Goodkind spent several books trying to get rid of prophecy. Yet he couldnt resist using one to frame this story "it was prophesied before prophecy vanished or some nonsense"

I wonder if anyone has a count of how often Goodkind uses the word "verdant" in his novels.

Yes, she's been through a lot, but Nicci often operates like a sorceress with Asperger's. Like, you've dealt with people for over a century, surely you've learned some social skills.

Bannon's background of an alcoholic father verges on being a trope.

Nicci talking to Nathan about the succubus was random. I kept thinking it was going to come up later. I was theorizing that's why Victoria had her miscarriages, and why the young girls kept sleeping with Bannon.

A couple of the scenes made me wonder if Goodkind is writing self-aware jokes. Like when they learn about the dragon graveyard and someone says "No one who has gone has lived to tell the tale", and Nathan replies "If no one has lived to tell the tale, where did the tale come from?"

Can we have one Goodkind novel where the heroine doesn't almost get raped?

[Steve Cran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming off the heels of the last adventure with Emperor Saluchan and putting the Omen Machine back to the under world and ending all prophecy for good, Nicci and Nathan are summoned to the layer of Red the witch woman. Braving some hazardous swamps to ge there, they find out they have another mission and that is to save the world and make Nathan whole. They are charged with finding the city of Kol Adair, which is at the other end of the DHaran Empire..
Enroute to Kol Adair, Nicci rescues a young man who is about to be killed by the name of Bannon. Bannon works on the wave walker, his captains ship. THe ship goes searching for Wish Pearls. It is on board this ship they come under attack for stealing pearls that belong to the selka. The selka are a race of sea people egineered by the wizards to fight in wars. The ship is attacked and of course the only three to survive are Nathan, Nicci and Bannon.
As they are shipwrecked on a strange and distant shore, they come across a small fishing town that is isolated from everything else. The villagers are very hosptable to the trveling trio. Yet only after being there for a while the town is attcked by Narukai slavers. Nicci is able to access her magic and use wizard fire to fend off the attackers. Nathan and Bannan must make do with swords. Nathan has lost his magic ever since the Omen Machine was returned to the underworld. When he does access his Han things go awry.
Their next adventure takes them to towns where everyone has been turned to stone. A wizard gone rogue has gone around assessin peoples guilt an turning them to stone. Nathan goes off on his own and sees a tower adorned with painted glass windows. THe wndows depict battle scenes of old. It is here that Nathan must battle some magically charged statues.
Their next two adventures take them to a place that is bein ravaged by another wizard called the Life Drinker. Rolland a wizard who accessed an ancient library was dying dying from/a wasting disease. To cure himself he used magic which casused him to drain the entire valley of life. Piecing together magic from ancient books they obtain a magic acorn from the tree of life. The next adventure has a priestess sacrificing herself to reanimate the valley. things seem to be going haywire. Kol Adair is a ways off still.

[Ojo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fact is that epic fantasy doesn't get more epic than Terry Goodkind...

Death's Mistress promised much and duly delivered. The most recent SoT book I read was The Omen Machine, so I wasn't very prepared for this. But luckily, Goodkind writes every book in his SoT universe like it's a standalone, and not just part of a larger series.

Death's Mistress chronicles the adventures of Death's Mistress herself, Nicci as she ventures on a journey to spread the good tidings of the new Lord Rahl to the farthest reaches of the Old World. Accompanied by the wizard Nathan and the young idealist Bannon, she discovers new depths of dark grimness, while her companions Nathan and Bannon have to come to terms with a changing world...

As it is with all Goodkind books, the story is dark and grim. I think the likes of Mark Lawrence and Joe Abercrombie can borrow a thing or two from Goodkind as regards grimness. There's a lot of blood, gore and explicit violence, all in a hundred shades of horrifying variety. In a nutshell, the book is action packed.

The plot follows one single thread all through, so there are no flashbacks or multiple parallel plotlines. Much of the themes in the book revolve around the Good vs Evil mantra that is a major feature of Terry Goodkind's works. However, the clichéd theme should not deter potential readers from this brilliantly written book because Goodkind has mastered the art of writing Good vs Evil in a hundred different ways, each with it's own unique peculiar sense of thrill.

Highly, highly recommended.

[Aidan Chol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fighting through the mysterious Selka, a life stealing evil wizard, and even a giant spriggan, Nicci, Nathan, Bannon, and Thistle explore the Old world for the new lord, Richard Rahl. Death’s Mistress is a book by Terry Goodkind, about an unruly prophet, and a powerful sorceress’s first adventure together where they meet a naive swordsman, and an orphan girl named Thistle. This book has several conflicts, however the two major conflicts are the fights of the Lifedrinker, and Life’s mistress. The events leading to the climaxes, ranged from renting travel on a boat, to meeting an ancient and powerful creature. The main characters learn that “Both future and fate depend on the journey and the destination” (Prophecy from a Witch Woman).
Death’s Mistress fits in the Fantasy genre because it fits all of the criteria for the fantasy genre. Based on my research, I found that most fantasy stories and poems have some realistic background, however the story itself cannot happen in the real world. For example, in the story Alice in Wonderland, Alice goes through a rabbit hole and ends up in a completely different universe with its physics. In the book Death’s Mistress, the two main characters are a powerful sorceress and a wizard who use magic, however in the real world magic isn’t real. I have also found that most fantasy stories and poems take place in the past or present from when they were written. For instance, the short story “Ashputtle” takes place when there were still monarchs as the main rulers, and they travel by horse drawn carriage, thusly implying that it took place somewhere near the medieval times or soon after. Death’s Mistress takes place when they still thought that their planet was flat, and that the stars and other planets orbited around them.
I haven’t read the Sword of Truth series yet, so I had nothing to compare the book to, however I enjoyed the book. I think that people who find fantasy books interesting will also like this book because, it shares the characteristics of many great fantasy books. For example, Terry Goodkind made the characters relatable, and gave some of the characters powerful skills and abilities. I would not suggest that anybody under the age of 15 read this book. So if you are 15+ and you are looking for a book to read, pick up Death’s Mistress and start reading today.

[AndrewP · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somehow the review I typed in yesterday didn't get saved so I'm adding this again.

I have read every Terry Goodkind book and without doubt this is my least favorite. The idea of taking Nicci and Nathan on their own adventures seems like a good one, but in this book most of the character that made these two entertaining in the Sword of Truth series is missing. They are shadows of their former selves.

The basic plot of this book is that Nicci and Nathan set out to explore the world and spread the word of Lord Rahl. That's it really, nothing more. There are lot's of adventures along the way but these were all episodic and the book didn't feel like it was going anywhere. Most annoying was the way characters never learn't from their mistakes, missed the obvious and then miraculously remembered or found some piece of lore right when they needed it most. All far to inconsistent and contrived for my liking.