Wasteland

Children of D'Hara #3

by Terry Goodkind

RICHARD'S GAZE TRACED ALL OF THE PASSAGEWAYS, THE ROOMS, THE CIRCULAR HALLS, THE DEAD ENDS, THE ENTRAPMENTS, THE LATERAL ROUTES, THE COMPLEX OF TWINNED AND TRIPLED PASSAGEWAYS, CHECKING, HOPING HE WAS WRONG.

HE WASN'T.

"WE'RE IN TROUBLE," HE SAID.

Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell are fighting on all fronts. The Golden Goddess, Collector of Worlds, has infiltrated the People's Palace, able to insinuate herself into the minds of those without the gift of magic.

Richard can trust no-one but the gifted. So, when Vika, one of his sworn Mord-Sith bodyguards is abducted, he has to get her back. His determination will lead him and Kahlan deep into the labyrinthine heart of the People's Palace - the Wasteland - and into more danger than they have ever faced before.

"THE SWORD OF THE TRUTH SERIES WAS MY MASTERWORK. YET, LIFE FOR THESE CHARACTERS GOES ON AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF THAT SERIES. FOR YEARS READERS HAVE BEEN ASKING ABOUT RICHARD AND KAHLAN'S CHILDREN. THIS IS THAT STORY" (TERRY GOODKIND)

In 1994, 'Wizard's First Rule' introduced Richard Cypher, a young woodsman seeking answers and vengeance in the aftermath of his father's murder, and Kahlan Amnell, a mysterious young woman pursued by a bloodthirsty tyrant's assassins.

The Sword of Truth is on of the most ambitious fantasy series ever written. It was a decades-long masterwork that has been translated into 20 languages and sold 26 million copies. After 16 volumes and one novella, it concluded in 2016 with 'Warheart'.

The Children of D'Hara picks up immediately after the conclusion of the Sword of Truth series. The story will be told in installments. 'Wasteland' is the third novella.

©2019 Terry Goodkind (P)2019 Recorded Books

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Audiobook, Epic Fantasy, Magic, Novella, Speculative Fiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 2019

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

[Jonathan O'Brien · Rating 2 out of 5]

The novellas in this series are weakening as they go. The idea of a random witch man that no Mord Sith ever mentioned taking over the palace, plotting to kill Richard and Kahlan, and living unseen for years is absurd. Also, the explanation about how there could be this labyrinth of hidden passages and rooms in the palace is strained as well. No one ever mentioned this to Richard? Finally, the bloodthirsty ending is very chilling and goes too far. Goodkind has gotten more vicious in this series as he goes, using those descriptions in place of interesting plotting and character development. I think that characterization is especially weak is the series. Shale is completely useless and Kahlan is a frightened nobody. The Mord Sith are quivering and useless. Richard has no charm in this series of novellas too. Goodkind is just making a quick buck here. It's apparent that there is nothing of real value so far in this series--no new character developments or anything thematically that is unique.

[Twila · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella has possibly THE most cruel ending I've ever read. I am FURIOUS.
So good, though.

[Michael Otto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a continuing story of Richard and now pregnant Kahlan. The sequel to the previous book 2 Hateful Things. By now everyone should be acquainted with the Glee. When Richard seeks to rescue a Mord - Sith he get into more than he bargained for which leads to a whopping cliffhanger ending. What is the Wasteland? Come find out. So now comes the waiting for book 4 Witch's Oath which won't come out until next year!

[Vagabond of Letters, DLitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5

[itchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

brief synopsis:
richard decides to flee to the wizard's keep but a lackey of darken rahl thwarts them.

setting:
the people's palace

named personalities:
kahlan - the mother confessor
richard cypher - the lord rahl
shale - a cynical witch woman
cassia - a mord-sith protecting richard
vika - a blond mord-sith
zedd - richard's grandfather
giller - an experienced wizard who accompanied kahlan when she used to travel the midlands
berdine - a short, wavy-haired, blue-eyed mord-sith
nolo - a person used by the goddess
dolan - a lieutenant of the first file
nyda - a tall, blond mord-sith
darken rahl - a tyrant who ruled previously
denna - an especially ruthless mord-sith who once captured richard
red - a witch woman who appeared young and beautiful to kahlan but an elderly woman to others
shota - a witch woman who appeared to richard as his mother
rikka - another tall, blond mord-sith
vale - still another mord-sith
moravaska michec aka michec the butcher - a warlock who was vika's trainer
hannis arc - a person who vika was loaned to
dori - a person controlled by the goddess
edward harris - second-in-command to mr burkett
burkett - a palace official
baraccus - the first wizard who authored secrets of a war wizard's power
bonnie day - a book character
nathan rahl - an author

quite gruesome.

[Jordy_DM · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boek 3 van de 5 en om eerlijk te zijn denk ik dat het "avontuur" hier voor mij stopt.

De boeken lezen niet vlot en het verhaal is voorspelbaar en uitgetrokken. Na 3 boeken zitten ze nog steeds op dezelfde locatie en de schrijver legt alles 5 keer uit.

Ik wou echt duiken in een goede fantasie-reeks helaas was deze serie geen goede fit :/

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing novel and an amazing plot. It's gripping and entertaining.
The ending came unexpected.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

[Sora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical Goodkind. Richard Rahl is on a mission to save Kahlan from the Golden Goddess and the Glee who want to murder the mother confessor and future generations.

But, as Richard is coming up with a viable plan to rescue Kahlan, he gets sidetracked by ANOTHER evil witch man who lives in a secret maze that is really a complication or spell underneath and part of the palace that causes chaos.

Also, there are unknown spies and a lot of evil creatures, people, things that throw a wrench into everything. Richard may be as powerful as ever, but he still falls into many traps and the novella ends in a cliffhanger. I’m cheering for Richard and Kahlan, but it is not looking very good for them.

[No' · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously ?? I mean, why does Kahlan always end up in that kind of situation ? Doesn't she deserve some kind of break ?
Outside of this horrifying ending, I really loved this book ! We get to see Richard using his power like he never did before, and boy is he powerful. Shale was kind of annoying, being the character that asks all the questions (no matter how obvious the answer sometimes is) but it was fun to see how Richard was as annoyed by her as I was, kind of like Goodkind knew he was being a bit boring but it was necessary.
As always, I'm eager to read the next part !

[Shane Findlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Lisaaaaaaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Altijd leuke boeken! deze werd wel een klein beetje luguber op t einde

[AndrewP · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a side quest from the main storyline lead Richard and Kahlan into a vast underground maze known as the Wasteland. The new villain here is a bit of a plot device as he must have been there all the time, throughout the entire 'Sword of Truth' series and only now becomes a problem. Overall a decent read though.

[Andrew]

Now that is a way to end a book to get people to want to read the next book! The best in the Novella series so far!

[Andrew R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aghhhhhhhhhh you can’t just stop like this

Oh my god what a read I can’t belive it has finished on such a cliffhanger the next book needs to be in my hands soon another fabulous read

[Dakeyras · Rating 2 out of 5]

Instead of continuing with the main story, this novella is a seemingly unnecessary side quest. Yes, by the end, the author manages to tie it back to the villain's in the main story line, but there's no real need for this novella to exist, other than to pad the series length.

Now, maybe something in the final 2 novellas will make this one worthwhile.

That's not to say it's bad. It's easy to read and it moves along at a decent clip. The maze is a good idea but unfortunately there's not enough time to explore it in detail.

A big problem though is how often a character will say something relatively dumb with the sole purpose being that it allows a different character to deliver exposition. Only to have that character say something dumb and have another character provide further exposition.

Also included is some ridiculous dialogue. This is strictly the dialogue from a section of the novella but there are multiple conversations like this throughout each novella:
Richard: It's a complication.
Kahlan: Well, I can see by the weird and confusing design of the place that it looks incredibly complicated. But what do you see?
Richard: No. You don't understand. It's a complication. This kind of design is called a complication.
Shale: You mean it's an exceedingly complicated maze? We all can see that. Is that what you mean to say?
Richard: No. No. I mean it's a complication.
Kahlan: Richard. I know you think that should explain it but we don't understand what that means to you. You need to tell us what you mean by that. What are you trying to say?
Richard: It's a complication. That's what this kind of design is called. That is the name for it: a complication.

[Garrett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel as though each new novella makes the characters more shallow. There were times in this book where the characters seemed to revert to the mental state of four year olds. The overall story was good, but some of the character dialogue is getting repetitive and almost cringe worthy. As someone who ate up the original series I plan to stick around to see how this ends, I just hope the final book will be long enough for meaningful dialogue and a fully wrapped up story. As of now, the evil leader has almost no depth and Goodkind has just introduced a new co-evil-leader that has somehow been skulking around the Peoples Palace throughout the entire original series and Omen Machine arc without being detected or mentioned.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Filler with drama and useless horror



In all honesty this one was not what I might have hoped for. It continued the Golden Goddess story line and added an extra villain straight from a b grade horror movie. The recaps continued to take up pages, and there was zero additional character growth of change. Richard was super special and good at magic...but only to serve the story, and Kahlan, who was once one of the strongest characters in the Sword of Truth continued to be captured and manhandled. It was honestly boring and lackluster.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great addition to Goodkind's collection. Can not wait to finish this series.
Also just heard the news today. RIP Terry, we will miss you, but you will forever be remembered trough the stories you told

[Gea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wel weer een goed boek, wel even een waarschuwing voor de volgende lezer die dit deel wil gaan lezen voordat deel 4 er is. Het boek eindigt met een gigantische cliffhanger, dus als je daar niet van houdt kun je beter wachten tot deel 4 is verschenen en dan pas met dit deel beginnen.

[Danita White · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the slowest one of the series...the action scenes took forever to come upon and when they did there was more narration than action....:-(

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

A much too drawn out story featuring searching for and fighting a witch-man hidden in a obscure section below the keep called the wasteland

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got sick of hearing the word “complication”. I would have DNF’d the book and abandoned the entire series if this was the first book of the series. I’m interested to see if book #3 ends it for me.

[Katy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasteland is very aptly named for this novella!

As I've read each novella, I have had to come to the inescapable conclusion, that Terry Goodkind is taking the Mickey, along with the hard-earned cash - out of his readers!

This 'book' is yet another example of that.

To call this a series is bad enough to start with, especially a series about Richard and Kahlan's children who, as yet, here in this 3rd novella, have barely been conceived!

As I've read each novella, it reads exactly like a chapter in a book (even with each one starting and ending just like a chapter tends to), rather than the series of shorter stories about the children of Richard and Kahlan, that I had expected.

As for the 'plot' in Wasteland - well, the premise that there could be a huge area of the palace that not one person living there has thought to mention to Richard, or Kahlan - even as an aside, or reference, when talking about the Palace being built as a spell form - just doesn't work for me, especially with all the many disappearances happening there. I just can't picture any of the First File - the men devoted to guarding Richard and Kahlan with their very lives - not thinking of mentioning it to him at some point before now, at least!

Also, the fact that there has, apparently, been a man as evil as Moravaska Michek - and one who trained so many of the Mord Sith, to boot - who has never been mentioned to Richard by any of the people who live and work in the Palace, until now, and especially with Michek being as powerful as he is being portrayed - just feels wrong, as if he's an afterthought - or, as I feel, has been thought up to stretch out an already overly stretched story, which is really beyond the joke now!

The Mord Sith have all sworn to protect Richard, and surely Cara, who spent so many, many, months with Richard and Kahlan, while Kahlan was recovering, in a previous book, might have spoken of him? If not her, then surely Bernice, at least, who is also so close to Richard, would have mentioned her trainer, at some point in their many book searching sessions - or the fact that this man was so close to Darken Rahl - to the point that he was given the run of the Palace by him?

There is also the bugbear of this novella being book 3 in this series, already - and yet none of the characters have even made it out of the Palace yet! If this isn't a waste of our time, and money, as readers, I don't know what could be.

Yes, the basic plotline of the complete Children of D'hara, so far as a whole, is interesting enough that I've generally been generous to award it 3 stars - but, when most of this particular novella is written in a way that gore and torture take the place of decent characterisation and plot, then the 2 stars I've given it, this time, is being very generous - only because there are occasional gems among the dross but, mainly, because of the nostalgia brought on by it being a Richard and Kahlan story!

I'm now hoping like mad that, at least with the next installment, Witch's Oath, our intrepid band can at get out of the fix they are all in, and manage to get on their way to the Wizard's Keep, at last - well, I can hope, can't I?

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the next instalment of this series. Not my favourite - but its always good to be back with Richard and Kahlan.

There are a couple of things that bother me in these more recent books though.
1. There is a lot of regurgitating of old information. (Richard is the first war wizard - we know; Richard often thinks differently - we know..etc) I mean, if I am reading this book - I have probably read the whole series (surely no one would jump in at this stage of the game?)

2) There are always people around Richard who question him and his decisions. In this book, the standouts in this space were the mordsith and that witch woman. I found that all his people questioning him was annoying and really - by this stage of the game - he is Lord Rahl, he is a war wizard, he has the sword, he has proven his awesomeness many times over....can we just move to the part where he says "jump" and his people say "how high"??

For eg: (trying to give no spoilers here), there was a scene where they had to go tracking. Richard determined that their quarry had moved in a certain direction, engaged in a scuffle and then disappeared. And then his companions questioned him!!! - so we got a very very detailed description about indents and dust and tracks and prints - all very much a time-wasting exercise. FFS - when are these people going to just accept that Richard is awesome, thinks outside the box and knows stuff??

In another example, Richard is trying to explain about 'the grace' and a 'complication spell' to the witch woman - and OMG - he went into detail and explanations and did this a few times - just to explain something that she didn't think he had right.

Anyway - all that aside, I love being back in this world - but a couple of words of warning,
* this book (novella) probably should have been attached to the next one - cliffhanger much?
* loads more violence and gore in this book


Quickly off to get book 4.

[Brita Mackay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another novella in the Sword of Truth series. And while it wasn't perfect and it wasn't my favourite, but this was still a good novella. Wasteland has things that bother me so I am going to warn you about that so you are ready for that .

1) We get a lot of repetition of the same information over and over again. Yes, we know that Richard is the 1st war wizard and we know that he thinks differently. You don't have to beat that into us again.

2) Richard is surrounded by people who will question not only him but his decisions. The mord-sith and the witch woman. We could never tell at times if he was the War Wizard or if he was Lord Rahl. Yes, he's proven his worth many times over and when he say's “jump” everyone will say “how high”?

No spoilers but to show you what I mean, in one scene they had to go and track Richard and determined that their mark had moved in another direction and engaged in a fight and suddenly disappeared. After they found him, they questioned him. He went into a diatribe about indents, dust, tracks, and prints and all this time he spends yapping, is just wasting time he could have spent looking for his mark. FFS – everyone just has to get over it and accept that Richard just knows and they just need to follow his lead and follow him.

Another one, Richard is talking about “the grace” and the “complication spell” to the witch woman he goes into detail and explanations and repeats himself a few times and she didn't think he had it right even though he knew he did.

That aside, this is a good novella, I love being back in this world. It does end on a cliffhanger and this one hurts (thankfully they are all out now). One last word of warning and this is nothing bad, more or a trigger warning. There is a lot of graphic violence and gore in this book. So if you are not big into violence and gore then this novella might be a bit hard on you.

[Seitenzauberin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es geht weiter mit Richard, Kahlan und ihren Gefährten. Noch immer sind unsere Helden unterwegs um dei Zwillinge in Sicherheit zu bringen. Doch das scheint nicht so einfach zu werden, denn die Schergen der goldenen Göttin sind nach wie vor hinter ihnen her. Als Vika entführt wird müssen Richard und Kahlan schnell einsehen das sie es mit einem neuen und sehr gefährlichen Gegner zu tun haben. Mehr mag ich an dieser Stelle nicht verraten, außer das es mit einem Cliffhanger endet der sicher im nächsten Band aufgegriffen wird.

Wieder einmal war es sehr spannend. Ich konnte richtig mitfiebern und hab mir schon am Buchbeginn fast gedacht, das es nicht so glatt laufen wird. Und tatsächlich. Mit dem neuen Charakter des Hexers kam eine wirkich sehr mächtige und sehr sehr brutale Figur ins Spiel. ich habe mir beim Lesen wirklich Sorgen um meine Helden gemacht. Am schlimmsten jedoch um Kahlan, da sie ihm nun direkt ausgesetzt ist.
Hier hat Mister Goodkind aber auch keine gruseligen Details beim Beschreiben ausgelassen so das ich mir die ganze Zeit alles wirklich gut vorstellen konnte.

Der Schreibstil war wie gewohnt leicht leserlich und auch recht blutig diesesmal. Was dieses Büchlein aber nicht war ist langweilig. Im Gegenteil. Seit dem Zusammentreffen von Richard und Co mit dem Hexer war es durchweg spannend und ich mochte das Buch nicht aus den Händen legen. Einmal mehr muss sich Richard beweisen um seine Liebste aus den Fängen des Bösen zu retten und ich finde er wächst immer mehr über sich hinaus.

Fazit:
Es war zwar wieder ein eher dünner Band aber dafür war er sehr spannend zu lesen. Der Cliffhanger am Buchende macht natürlich neugierig auf mehr und ich bin sehr gespannt wie es mit dem Hexer und unseren Helden weitergehen wird.

[thebonebreaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

My brain is in turmoil right now. . .

I generally sleep like a rock, however after I finished this book, around midnight last night, I just could not fall asleep! I kept tossing and turning, knowing that I have to wait another three months for Book 4 to be released, and to see the resolution to this book's horrifying cliffhanger.

Richard has been in some bad places before, but nothing like the situation he is in now! Goodkind is a master of his craft!

The good news is that these novellas keep increasing in size (this one is 233 pages). The bad news, like I stated above, is that after an already horrendous event, the end of this one will leave you winded from the brutal gut-punch that Goodkind delivers! And Book 4 is not scheduled to be released until January 6th. (I seriously recommend waiting to read this one, closer to that date, so you will not have an agonizing wait!)

All I will say about this one, is that this is one of Goodkind's absolute best! (hands down the best of this novella series) The title of this book is deceiving, in that the Wasteland is not what you expect/imagine.

The book begins with Richard & Kahlan preparing to leave the People's Palace (where they have been under constant siege from the Golden Goddess) and travelling to the Wizard's Keep in hopes that they will be safer there. (Kahlan is unable to travel through the Sliph due to her pregnancy...)

Before they can head out though, Goodkind introduces yet another new villain - Moravaska "the Butcher" Michec - a Warlock. (If you thought that Emperor Jagang "the mad dream walker" was bad, you haven't yet met Michec!)

[Shaun Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three books in and this series continues to up the ante and pick up momentum.

Some of Goodkind's repetitions are starting to come through (Richard's raptor gaze, y'all. There is more than one way to describe someone's gaze, Terry) and some passages get repeated more than once, but overall the book is still well-paced and the story still captivating. The horror aspect continues to draw me in and string me along. The ending, the most cliffhangery yet, is excellent. I am glad I have the next volume already as waiting 3 months for the next volume might have made me hate the ending, but since I can just start the next book, my feelings are overall positive.

We get introduced to another antagonist here, and his existence does raise some continuity questions, but we will have to see how things go in the next book before I pass final judgement.

I did read some of the reviews here talking about the ending was chilling, gruesome, and just went too far!! And....huh? I read these statements before I finished the book and when I got to the end I was going, "Where is all that gruesome stuff they were talking about?" Yeah there is some gore, but nothing absurd or beyond the pale. It was honestly a lot tamer than what those reviewers made it out to be.

This was another solid entry in the series and I look forward to jumping straight into book 4.

Onward to Witch's Oath! (Which, oddly, was a line mentioned near the end of this book...)

[Kara Prem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another slow start. After Richard finally finding out that Kahlan is pregnant with twins, the group realizes that they must travel by land to get to the Wizard's Keep which is the only safe place to avoid the Glee spying on them through the eyes of the ungifted. Because of her pregnancy, Kahlan can't travel in the Sliph (of course not - nothing is ever easy, right?). However, Vika has disappeared - she went to get horses for the trip from the stables, but was captured by an evil warlock called "The Butcher". His name is Michec and he trained Mord Sith for Darken Rahl - but everyone in the palace assumed he'd left after the previous Lord Rahl was defeated. Of course, he hasn't - he's been hiding in The Wastelands - a "complication" built into the spell of the Palace - and no one thought to ever mention him before to Richard or Kahlan. There are glee attacks and deception, and then Richard and company set off into this mysterious complication to free Vika, and stop Michec from trying to usurp command while Richard is away. It's a side journey that seems uncessesary but of course, it prolongs the series. While the story wasn't bad, it seems like Michec could have come forward a thousand other times in previous novels to take over the rule of D'Hara, so why is he suddenly a threat? I have a love/hate with these books.

[Remy G · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third entry of Terry Goodkind’s Children of D’Hara series picks up where its predecessor left off, with Kahlan telling her husband Richard to get to the Wizard’s Keep via the sliph, although he ultimately decides against doing so, fearing for the pregnant Kahlan’s safety, and thus, alternate means of travel are contemplated. One of the Lord Rahl’s Mord-Sith, Vika, is held hostage by the main antagonist of the novella, Moravaska Michec, with Richard and his companions learning about a room containing an illusionary labyrinth known as the Wasteland when looking over maps of the People’s Palace.

The action intensifies towards the end of the novella, with a cliffhanger ending that definitely leaves me eager to read more, and overall, I definitely enjoyed this short novel, which adds nicely to the Sword of Truth mythos, although given its violent content, it’s definitely not for the squeamish. As with the novella’s precursors, moreover, the editorial work is inconsistent, with some occasional misused punctuation. Regardless, it’s very much a quick and engaging read, although those unfamiliar with the franchise would best start from the beginning of the Sword of Truth saga.