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The Sky People
Raging River, priestess of the Sun People, has just done the unthinkable.
The Sun People are bound by an ancient law, left by the long-vanished Sky People: they must never kill. To other tribes, who have no such law, the Sun People are easy prey who will not defend themselves. Their game is poached, their stores are raided, their women abducted, their men killed for sport.
But when Raging River and her sister are attacked by a Wolf People raiding party, River fights back and kills one of the warriors. Worse, she has killed the son of their chief.
Now, with the Wolf People vowing revenge and her people facing annihilation, River must do the impossible. She must prove herself as priestess. She must find the mythical Sky People.
The Sun People are bound by an ancient law, left by the long-vanished Sky People: they must never kill. To other tribes, who have no such law, the Sun People are easy prey who will not defend themselves. Their game is poached, their stores are raided, their women abducted, their men killed for sport.
But when Raging River and her sister are attacked by a Wolf People raiding party, River fights back and kills one of the warriors. Worse, she has killed the son of their chief.
Now, with the Wolf People vowing revenge and her people facing annihilation, River must do the impossible. She must prove herself as priestess. She must find the mythical Sky People.
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First published January 10, 2019
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About the author
Terry Goodkind
279 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
December 13, 2019
I had the absolute best time reading this.
I’ve been a fan of Terry Goodkind and his novels ever since I was a kid. I've only read, I don't know, around 17 of his books or so! How could I resist a short and free novella?
The Sky People is different from his Sword of Truth novels—this is the closest he has ever come to sci-fi—but if you’ve read his books, then you know how Goodkind can sometimes tend to get a little . . . preachy. This was no different. It actually reinforced the main philosophies found in that series with many similar themes: fighting for life until the very last moment, hiding behind the law and how it can be wrong, how “truths” can be different for everybody, seeking reason before revenge, and the inherent right to self-defense and how it differentiates from murder. So yeah, basically some of the same themes he beat to death in Sword of Truth.
All this was fine for me; I’ve come to expect that in his writing. Where the story fell off a cliff was how nonsensical the science fiction portion was and how simple the plot was. Everything made so little sense that I was laughing like a little maniac for the entire back half of the novella. It’s really one of those cases where it was so bad, it was AMAZING. I actually so thoroughly enjoyed myself reading this that I wouldn’t have wanted the author to change a single thing about it. It was perfect in its ridiculousness.
Still, even though my heart says 5 stars, I cannot in good conscience give this novella more than 3. Objectively, it would have been a 2. At the most.
But hey, I got it for free. So, what the heck. 3 stars it is.
I’ve been a fan of Terry Goodkind and his novels ever since I was a kid. I've only read, I don't know, around 17 of his books or so! How could I resist a short and free novella?
The Sky People is different from his Sword of Truth novels—this is the closest he has ever come to sci-fi—but if you’ve read his books, then you know how Goodkind can sometimes tend to get a little . . . preachy. This was no different. It actually reinforced the main philosophies found in that series with many similar themes: fighting for life until the very last moment, hiding behind the law and how it can be wrong, how “truths” can be different for everybody, seeking reason before revenge, and the inherent right to self-defense and how it differentiates from murder. So yeah, basically some of the same themes he beat to death in Sword of Truth.
"We must value life above all else.”
All this was fine for me; I’ve come to expect that in his writing. Where the story fell off a cliff was how nonsensical the science fiction portion was and how simple the plot was. Everything made so little sense that I was laughing like a little maniac for the entire back half of the novella. It’s really one of those cases where it was so bad, it was AMAZING. I actually so thoroughly enjoyed myself reading this that I wouldn’t have wanted the author to change a single thing about it. It was perfect in its ridiculousness.
Still, even though my heart says 5 stars, I cannot in good conscience give this novella more than 3. Objectively, it would have been a 2. At the most.
But hey, I got it for free. So, what the heck. 3 stars it is.
December 5, 2021
"The Sun People are bound by an ancient law, left by the long-vanished Sky People: they must never kill. To other tribes, who have no such law, the Sun People are easy prey who will not defend themselves."
Terry Goodkind's novella, The Sky People, follows a priestess, Raging River, and her people who live by an ancient law. No killing no matter what. As a result, no peace is possible with other groups living nearby. They kidnap Sun People's women, kill the men and take what they want. The story begins with Raging River's sister being kidnapped by the Wolf People. The scifi element of the story had some interest; however, the dialogue seemed a bit off and the conclusion was way too uncomplicated. Still, this was a quick read that got me thinking about first contact scenarios.
Terry Goodkind's novella, The Sky People, follows a priestess, Raging River, and her people who live by an ancient law. No killing no matter what. As a result, no peace is possible with other groups living nearby. They kidnap Sun People's women, kill the men and take what they want. The story begins with Raging River's sister being kidnapped by the Wolf People. The scifi element of the story had some interest; however, the dialogue seemed a bit off and the conclusion was way too uncomplicated. Still, this was a quick read that got me thinking about first contact scenarios.
October 16, 2021
Short novella that's a departure from most of Goodkind's other works. A tribe of indigenous people are the main characters in this book with a bit of SF contact thrown in. Towards the end this got really preachy with some of Goodkind's philosophy along the lines of unrestrained tolerance equals cultural suicide.
Not one of his best work so good that it was short.
Not one of his best work so good that it was short.
March 25, 2020
A pretty straight-forward science fiction story. A planet full of people worship aliens that landed there in the past. The characters' names were pretty silly, and the ending was predictable. I won't be in a hurry to pick up another book by this author.
January 2, 2020
I've never read anything by Goodkind before, he's seemed like one of many white old men-writers out there that I've tried to avoide for as long as I can remember. Even as a teen just diving into fantasy, I avoided them because my father read those books and I thought they were boring at the time.
But I had heard about Goodkind, and so I expected a sertain level of maturity to his writing, that just wasn't there in this short.
The language was super repetative - once, he said the word ''people'' 10 times in a paragraph - as well as wordy and slow and flat.
This also describes the story in this book. There was a whole chapter dedicated to the MC yelling at some men and saying no less than 7 times that she would shot them, and the men just yelling back how she couldn't shot them all.
Not to mention that the MC is told a story that don't really have anything to do with the plot, and then she tells it to someone else later, and we get told the full story both times. Talk about fluff!
Then there was the characters, who all seemed like parodies of what the author wanted them to be. They all had one feeling default, and hardly anything else, and the dynamic between the characters wasn't there at all. It was like they were each talking to a rock, not really expecting an answer or a reaction.
The only reason bought this book to begin with, was to have a short story to listen to while I waited for my next pre-order on Audible, and the only reason I finished it, is because I was waiting for that pre-order, and was in a lot of pain and couldn't sleep anyway.
But I had heard about Goodkind, and so I expected a sertain level of maturity to his writing, that just wasn't there in this short.
The language was super repetative - once, he said the word ''people'' 10 times in a paragraph - as well as wordy and slow and flat.
This also describes the story in this book. There was a whole chapter dedicated to the MC yelling at some men and saying no less than 7 times that she would shot them, and the men just yelling back how she couldn't shot them all.
Not to mention that the MC is told a story that don't really have anything to do with the plot, and then she tells it to someone else later, and we get told the full story both times. Talk about fluff!
Then there was the characters, who all seemed like parodies of what the author wanted them to be. They all had one feeling default, and hardly anything else, and the dynamic between the characters wasn't there at all. It was like they were each talking to a rock, not really expecting an answer or a reaction.
The only reason bought this book to begin with, was to have a short story to listen to while I waited for my next pre-order on Audible, and the only reason I finished it, is because I was waiting for that pre-order, and was in a lot of pain and couldn't sleep anyway.
March 11, 2019
I'm a fan of Goodkind, and have read almost all of his books after falling in love with his Sword of Truth series, but this book felt like he was being pressured to fill a quota. No depth whatsoever and the plot was completely run-of-the-mill elementary level, predictable reading. Did not capture me at all and had absolutely no character development. Felt like I was reading the same voice for each character and the main character was just moving through the motions of a step-by-step formulaic novella. Maybe this would be a good read for someone looking for less detail and more surface level, feel-good ending novella's, but definitely not for me.
March 14, 2019
A great short story. A bit slow going to start with but it built and got really interesting and the twist really got me. I was thinking fantasy and then suddenly, BAM, sci-fi.
April 3, 2019
I think I may be done with Goodkind. I hate even thinking that, b/c his Sword of Truth series is largely responsible for my falling in love with fantasy books.
But there was just so much about this that was....not good. It's a freaking novella! How is so much bad crammed into such a short story?!
*conversations surrounding women and their place in this story. yeah sure, high priestess has ultimate say and clearly this story is all about women power...but this token powerful female character was repeatedly undercut by every dang man in the story. That last conversation between the two dads/chiefs? Come on.
*I guess I can appreciate Goodkind having a message he wants to share...and then sticking to it so much so that every single book he writes talks about it for two and a half pages. This is a novella, bold move to dedicate essentially an entire chapter to saying the same thing over and over and over.
*sigh*
Thanks for Wizard's First Rule. It was a fantastic story. But it's time I move on...I'm clearly not who he is writing his books for anymore.
But there was just so much about this that was....not good. It's a freaking novella! How is so much bad crammed into such a short story?!
*conversations surrounding women and their place in this story. yeah sure, high priestess has ultimate say and clearly this story is all about women power...but this token powerful female character was repeatedly undercut by every dang man in the story. That last conversation between the two dads/chiefs? Come on.
*I guess I can appreciate Goodkind having a message he wants to share...and then sticking to it so much so that every single book he writes talks about it for two and a half pages. This is a novella, bold move to dedicate essentially an entire chapter to saying the same thing over and over and over.
*sigh*
Thanks for Wizard's First Rule. It was a fantastic story. But it's time I move on...I'm clearly not who he is writing his books for anymore.
November 25, 2019
I read this book because I wanted a sampling of Terry Goodkind's writing. I was pleasantly surprised by Terry's masterful storytelling skill. This particular book is not very long, but he accomplishes quite a bit within the confines of his story. Terry is very skilled at gradually revealing key pieces of the plot. For instance, at the start I felt like I was in a South American setting. Think rain forest and uncontacted peoples. Terry is very skillful, starting at the level of a sentence. The writing flows well and no element seems out of place. Some authors I read are incredibly skilled, but there are brief sections that make you want to skip over to get to the good stuff. Terry moves you right along and graciously dumps you off at the conclusion of the story. In short, this is one author that I am happy to have discovered, and look forward to reading something longer from him in the future.
May 21, 2019
This was a simply written but enlightening tale about ancient gods and how misunderstandings can leave humanity at the mercy of villains.
February 4, 2023
2.5 stars 👀 short stories is fun i guess
January 2, 2020
This was a quick novella read. I borrowed it off Amazon's Unlimited.
I haven't read Terry Goodkind before but have heard of him. I had high expectations for this book. In this short novella, the story starts with a priestess breaking one of the laws of her people, handed down by the Sky People, forbidding them to kill people. She kills the son of another tribe's chief.
This means her tribe are at the mercy of other tribes, for having possessions stolen, crops stolen, women stolen, raped and sold into becoming wives.
Raging River, as priestess, goes to the sacred mountain to try and appeal to the Sky People to revoke their laws and help her people take up arms and defend themselves against raiders.
Did I mention I had high expectations? I had to check the publication date to make sure this wasn't a very early novella because the ending was horrible and some writing was very repetitive.
Who was the audience here? Middle schoolers?
Spoiler ahead.
As an introduction to Terry Goodkind, I was very disappointed.
I haven't read Terry Goodkind before but have heard of him. I had high expectations for this book. In this short novella, the story starts with a priestess breaking one of the laws of her people, handed down by the Sky People, forbidding them to kill people. She kills the son of another tribe's chief.
This means her tribe are at the mercy of other tribes, for having possessions stolen, crops stolen, women stolen, raped and sold into becoming wives.
Raging River, as priestess, goes to the sacred mountain to try and appeal to the Sky People to revoke their laws and help her people take up arms and defend themselves against raiders.
Did I mention I had high expectations? I had to check the publication date to make sure this wasn't a very early novella because the ending was horrible and some writing was very repetitive.
Who was the audience here? Middle schoolers?
Spoiler ahead.
As an introduction to Terry Goodkind, I was very disappointed.
November 19, 2019
brief synopsis:
a quaint story of one girl's quest for q-seventeen authority that's right up giorgio tsoukalos' alley.
named personalities:
raging river - a priestess to the sun people
morning flower - river's little sister who was kidnapped by warriors of the wolf people at the onset
great hawk - a son of the wolf people's chief who was killed at the onset
white crow - the shaman of the sun people
'ass feathers' - a warrior of the wolf people who was part of the kidnapping party
big dog - river's wolf-dog
standing bear - the sun people's chief who is also river's and flower's father
lone willow - bear's significant other
walking stag - a warrior of the sun people
she who knows the moon 'wise one' - a wise elder of the sun people
bright star - the sun people's priestess before the events in the story; river's predecessor
rebecca collins - a commander of the sky people from a time before the events in the story
tom 'just-tom' - a commander of the sky people
'control' - tom's lifeline
three fingers - chief of the wolf people
laughing fox - fingers' only daughter
typo:
p33 - so it was that, together, lone willow and bright star set out on the journey to sprit mountain.
alright, i'm off to find me some righteous hate.
a quaint story of one girl's quest for q-seventeen authority that's right up giorgio tsoukalos' alley.
named personalities:
raging river - a priestess to the sun people
morning flower - river's little sister who was kidnapped by warriors of the wolf people at the onset
great hawk - a son of the wolf people's chief who was killed at the onset
white crow - the shaman of the sun people
'ass feathers' - a warrior of the wolf people who was part of the kidnapping party
big dog - river's wolf-dog
standing bear - the sun people's chief who is also river's and flower's father
lone willow - bear's significant other
walking stag - a warrior of the sun people
she who knows the moon 'wise one' - a wise elder of the sun people
bright star - the sun people's priestess before the events in the story; river's predecessor
rebecca collins - a commander of the sky people from a time before the events in the story
tom 'just-tom' - a commander of the sky people
'control' - tom's lifeline
three fingers - chief of the wolf people
laughing fox - fingers' only daughter
typo:
p33 - so it was that, together, lone willow and bright star set out on the journey to sprit mountain.
alright, i'm off to find me some righteous hate.
September 10, 2024
It was nice to read a book that was anti-pacifism for a change. Sci-fi/fantasy have been getting too nice lately.
April 24, 2022
A quick read / listen. Enjoyable. Not dark or grim. The story begins in a hunter gatherer tribal culture with an ancient law from ancient gods. The first half felt slightly mysterious but the plot is not complicated. A bit heartwarming. A bit preachy teachy regarding people’s right to self-govern and to self defense. Audio narration is quite good.
August 25, 2025
Very, very good short story. Only took an hour to read. Well written with a great plot test, highly recommend. only reason I didn't give it 4/5 stars is because it was so short ... wish it would have been longer.
January 14, 2019
Goodkind focuses his literary talent at a new target and hits the mark.
High stakes vengeance tension
Compassion
Reason
And telltale humor fans will immediately recognize
Welcome to a new world that's well worth the price of admission
C'mon, how can you decline an invitation to a bestselling author's first venture into sci-fi?
High stakes vengeance tension
Compassion
Reason
And telltale humor fans will immediately recognize
Welcome to a new world that's well worth the price of admission
C'mon, how can you decline an invitation to a bestselling author's first venture into sci-fi?
October 8, 2019
***Update: This series has nothing to do with the Jack Raines / Girl in the Moon series. For some reason, I thought it was linked, but it isn't and I was wrong.
----
This book is with the “Girl in the Moon” series, but it does not have any of the regular characters and is completely different from the main premise of the series. It’s underlying message is clear: murder bad, self defense is justified. But, this is a completely different book from the series. In fact, I spent the majority of the time trying to figure out how it relates to the original story line. This was a different type of science fiction / fantasy storyline. So much so that I am not even sure how it relates. A lot of the major traits that are in the series that are pivotal to this story are keenly missing. There is a wolf-like sidekick that is similar to the first book.
Overall, it reads fine as its own novella. I just don’t understand what it has to do with the rest of the series. It also ends very abruptly. I kept thinking there was another page or epilogue missing.
----
This book is with the “Girl in the Moon” series, but it does not have any of the regular characters and is completely different from the main premise of the series. It’s underlying message is clear: murder bad, self defense is justified. But, this is a completely different book from the series. In fact, I spent the majority of the time trying to figure out how it relates to the original story line. This was a different type of science fiction / fantasy storyline. So much so that I am not even sure how it relates. A lot of the major traits that are in the series that are pivotal to this story are keenly missing. There is a wolf-like sidekick that is similar to the first book.
Overall, it reads fine as its own novella. I just don’t understand what it has to do with the rest of the series. It also ends very abruptly. I kept thinking there was another page or epilogue missing.
July 28, 2021
Although I've read everything Terry Goodkind has published, I came back to this short to see if it tied into any of the other work I'd recently revisited. My thoughts as I was reading it again after learning of the author passing away almost a year ago (Sept 2020) drifted towards wishing I hadn't learned that before picking this up again. Mainly because it sort of tainted my already questioning attitude towards this potential start to a new series. I was expecting this to somehow tie in with The Girl in the Moon, as I devoured the entire series - brief as it was in comparison to our beloved Sword of Truth saga with Richard, Kahlan and their children. I really REALLY wanted to like this, but found it lacking any luster as well as redundancy throughout making it hard for this fan to say it's the last of his work published. I'm going to have to go back and re-read the Sword of Truth Series I think, or maybe the Nicci Chronicles too... heck, maybe all of them again! We MISS YOU TERRY GOODKIND!
January 15, 2020
The tears I shed.
I enjoyed the this book also. It kept me on the edge of my chair. River went three allot, but she kept her head. River is a brave female and a strong person for her people. Bringing her people together took heart. Most of all Terry Goodkind has my heart because he keeps me in a world of my own. I travel with friends now. Thank you Mr. Good kind and God bless you always.
I enjoyed the this book also. It kept me on the edge of my chair. River went three allot, but she kept her head. River is a brave female and a strong person for her people. Bringing her people together took heart. Most of all Terry Goodkind has my heart because he keeps me in a world of my own. I travel with friends now. Thank you Mr. Good kind and God bless you always.
December 27, 2019
I liked this short-and-sweet story. It's a little like Vernor Vinge's "Tatja Grimm's World" only with less universe-building. Unlike "Tatja Grimm's World", I don't have a lot of interest in reading more from The Sky People's universe. So, it is probably best that it was all wrapped up in 150 pages.
April 26, 2024
I would give this 3 1/2 stars if I could. It is a good story with a strong female lead.
The story: Raging River is the priestess of the Sun People, a native tribe dedicated to non-violence because the Sky People said that hurting others was wrong. When the Wolf People kidnaps her little sister, Raging River wants to get her sister back, but to get the Sun People to fight back, she is going to have to appeal to the Sky People to lift their prohibition against violence. So she journeys to sacred mountain, and discovers that the Sky People are not gods. They are better.
Any problems with this story? Hard to say without giving away spoilers. I'll say this. Raging River was a volatile character who didn't fit in with the rest of the tribe. I found it hard to believe that this kidnapping incident was the first crisis that Raging River ever had to confront with the tribe. After all, she was the tribal priestess. In some ways she had more authority than the chief. The story would have benefitted from some additional background story about how many times Raging River had confronted the tribe, trying to push it in a different direction and even defying the Sky People. I just couldn't believe that this priestess was born and raised by this tribe. their non-violence ideas seemed not to have touched her at all.
Any modesty issues? The idea of rape was discussed. After all, the Wolf People kidnapped that young woman for a reason and although it was not discussed in detail, it was discussed.
There is some action. Overall I enjoyed the story. The majority of the plot threads that began this story were tied up by the end, leaving a reasonable opening for a sequel.
I'd be glad to read this story again. I'd especially like a sequel, but as far as I can tell this is a single.
The story: Raging River is the priestess of the Sun People, a native tribe dedicated to non-violence because the Sky People said that hurting others was wrong. When the Wolf People kidnaps her little sister, Raging River wants to get her sister back, but to get the Sun People to fight back, she is going to have to appeal to the Sky People to lift their prohibition against violence. So she journeys to sacred mountain, and discovers that the Sky People are not gods. They are better.
Any problems with this story? Hard to say without giving away spoilers. I'll say this. Raging River was a volatile character who didn't fit in with the rest of the tribe. I found it hard to believe that this kidnapping incident was the first crisis that Raging River ever had to confront with the tribe. After all, she was the tribal priestess. In some ways she had more authority than the chief. The story would have benefitted from some additional background story about how many times Raging River had confronted the tribe, trying to push it in a different direction and even defying the Sky People. I just couldn't believe that this priestess was born and raised by this tribe. their non-violence ideas seemed not to have touched her at all.
Any modesty issues? The idea of rape was discussed. After all, the Wolf People kidnapped that young woman for a reason and although it was not discussed in detail, it was discussed.
There is some action. Overall I enjoyed the story. The majority of the plot threads that began this story were tied up by the end, leaving a reasonable opening for a sequel.
I'd be glad to read this story again. I'd especially like a sequel, but as far as I can tell this is a single.
December 21, 2021
I had never read anything by Terry Goodkind before today so I had zero expectations going into this. I didn't even read the synopsis in full since I bought the book on sale weeks/months back and didn't remember what it was about when I started it.
I think what I liked most is how compelling Raging River's character was at times. She was headstrong, brave, wise, and so much more. With books this short, characters (and the overall story) have to pack a punch and I think Goodkind mostly delivered on that through his protagonist.
I think where things fell short for me was in the overall story. It felt bare at times and I needed so much more of the "meat and potatoes" as my middle school history teacher would say. I really wanted River to face more adversity in her quest to save her sister and her people because the true story is often in the journey. It's strange in a way that she was given so much agency, but lacked that journey and the growth that you would expect from a story like this. When everything is easy, it makes everything else fall a little flat.
But I think a lot of that comes down to the constraints of a story this short. It's not designed to provide the space for River to be more than what she was. And that's a shame because there was so much potential with her.
All in all, this book was good for what it was, but not what it had the potential to be.
I think what I liked most is how compelling Raging River's character was at times. She was headstrong, brave, wise, and so much more. With books this short, characters (and the overall story) have to pack a punch and I think Goodkind mostly delivered on that through his protagonist.
I think where things fell short for me was in the overall story. It felt bare at times and I needed so much more of the "meat and potatoes" as my middle school history teacher would say. I really wanted River to face more adversity in her quest to save her sister and her people because the true story is often in the journey. It's strange in a way that she was given so much agency, but lacked that journey and the growth that you would expect from a story like this. When everything is easy, it makes everything else fall a little flat.
But I think a lot of that comes down to the constraints of a story this short. It's not designed to provide the space for River to be more than what she was. And that's a shame because there was so much potential with her.
All in all, this book was good for what it was, but not what it had the potential to be.
November 10, 2024
I found this quick novella while browsing Amazon and scrolling through Terry Goodkind books. My OCD kicked in at that moment, and I had to get the three novellas that I was missing in my collection. This happened to be one of them.
When they finally arrived, this was the first one that I chose to read. I had high expectations for this novella when I looked at it upon the package. This one starts with a priestess breaking a law of her people, its handed down by the Sky People, the law that was broken that you were not to kill anyone. She had killed the son of another tribe's chief.
It means the offended tribe has the other tribe at their mercy. They can steal crops, women, rope women and steal them, and sell them to other as slaves or wives.
Going to the Sacred mountain, Raging River who is a priestess, tries to appeal to the Sky People wanting them to revoke their laws, help her people take up arms and hopefully defend themselves against all the raiders coming against them.
This novella didn't meet my expectations what so ever. I was left disappointed. I feel like this novella was written for a younger audience, and that's why it wasn't up to my expectations. But, I know that Terry doesn't write for the younger generations. He just missed the mark on this book.
When they finally arrived, this was the first one that I chose to read. I had high expectations for this novella when I looked at it upon the package. This one starts with a priestess breaking a law of her people, its handed down by the Sky People, the law that was broken that you were not to kill anyone. She had killed the son of another tribe's chief.
It means the offended tribe has the other tribe at their mercy. They can steal crops, women, rope women and steal them, and sell them to other as slaves or wives.
Going to the Sacred mountain, Raging River who is a priestess, tries to appeal to the Sky People wanting them to revoke their laws, help her people take up arms and hopefully defend themselves against all the raiders coming against them.
This novella didn't meet my expectations what so ever. I was left disappointed. I feel like this novella was written for a younger audience, and that's why it wasn't up to my expectations. But, I know that Terry doesn't write for the younger generations. He just missed the mark on this book.
January 7, 2021
I don't really enjoy the way Terry Goodkind writes because it's just a constant recap or a really long/repetitive inner monologue that doesn't add anything to the events that just happened (but no surprise there because I've read enough of Sword of Truth but I thought he would have improved on those aspects or at least got a better editor if he can't change his writing style!
Also it's seems kind of a crazy/stupid premise. The sun people would have died out almost immediately if they really are attacked as much as it says - what's changed lately to make them more attacked otherwise?
This was good in the end, but longer than it needed to be. I did enjoy it and I was surprised by the aspect of space faring humans which I didn't see coming and was actually really interesting! And the speech about peace at end was actually really good!
Also it's seems kind of a crazy/stupid premise. The sun people would have died out almost immediately if they really are attacked as much as it says - what's changed lately to make them more attacked otherwise?
This was good in the end, but longer than it needed to be. I did enjoy it and I was surprised by the aspect of space faring humans which I didn't see coming and was actually really interesting! And the speech about peace at end was actually really good!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 6, 2022
This is a good story for kids.
If you are an adult and read it with this in mind, anything unreasonable will be okay.
A lot of the actions are simplistic and irrational, but it doesn't make this a BAD story by any means, just unlikely, hence the "kid" comment. I would have enjoyed reading this more as a child, back when my belief in people was stronger.
Specifics/spoiler...
When River was giving her speech to Three Fingers, all I could imagine was a spear, arrow, or hammer knocking her to the ground to start the war, as in the heat of everything at stake... she was more or less rambling in the eyes of hatred. It was like the moment in Mr. Deeds when Sandler cajoles the crowd to care about their childhood dreams once more... uh-huh..
If you are an adult and read it with this in mind, anything unreasonable will be okay.
A lot of the actions are simplistic and irrational, but it doesn't make this a BAD story by any means, just unlikely, hence the "kid" comment. I would have enjoyed reading this more as a child, back when my belief in people was stronger.
Specifics/spoiler...
When River was giving her speech to Three Fingers, all I could imagine was a spear, arrow, or hammer knocking her to the ground to start the war, as in the heat of everything at stake... she was more or less rambling in the eyes of hatred. It was like the moment in Mr. Deeds when Sandler cajoles the crowd to care about their childhood dreams once more... uh-huh..
February 12, 2019
I'm on a Terry Goodkind roll lately! This was a fantastic quickie. I read this in about an hour and really enjoyed it.
The plot reminded me a little of something Philip K Dick might have written. An engaging look at the primitive and the influence of foreign contact. The plot took a left turn about midway through but the twist felt organic and I really enjoyed the direction it took the book in.
I felt connected to the characters and am still interested in what might have become of them after the book ended. This novella is a great example of Terry Goodkind's writing at its finest.
The plot reminded me a little of something Philip K Dick might have written. An engaging look at the primitive and the influence of foreign contact. The plot took a left turn about midway through but the twist felt organic and I really enjoyed the direction it took the book in.
I felt connected to the characters and am still interested in what might have become of them after the book ended. This novella is a great example of Terry Goodkind's writing at its finest.
June 14, 2019
This is the first book I've read by Terry Goodkind that is Science Fiction and not Fantasy. It was a take on the "aliens were here and gave us wisdom" story, set on a world (not necessarily Earth), with peoples like Native Americans, who were essentially contaminated by a previous visit, and now one tribe faces extinction at the hands of another, and a priestess is sent to the sacred mountain to ask for help from the Sky People. In some ways, it's more of a fairy tale, with a happy ending. But in other ways, it speaks to free will and where that can take us...
December 3, 2019
Slow-paced, mostly predictable
This was definitely a different style and setting than I’m used to from Terry Goodkind, but it was well-worth the read, even as long as it took me to make time for finishing it.
The character development was on point. The “Sky People” was not what I expected, and definitely “out of this world” as far as Goodkind’s usual plot devices go, but it worked out to be quite enjoyable for this Whovian/Trekkie.
This was definitely a different style and setting than I’m used to from Terry Goodkind, but it was well-worth the read, even as long as it took me to make time for finishing it.
The character development was on point. The “Sky People” was not what I expected, and definitely “out of this world” as far as Goodkind’s usual plot devices go, but it worked out to be quite enjoyable for this Whovian/Trekkie.
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December 9, 2020-> http://antredeslivres.blogspot.com/20...
Il y a plusieurs années de cela, j'ai lu - et pas du tout apprécié - le premier tome de L'épée de vérité, grande série de cet auteur. Je suis restée sur cette déconfiture sans jamais y revenir, malgré tout le bien qu'on entend à son propos... Du coup quand Chat' a proposé cette nouvelle, je me suis dit que c'était l'occasion ou jamais !
La suite sur le blog :)
Il y a plusieurs années de cela, j'ai lu - et pas du tout apprécié - le premier tome de L'épée de vérité, grande série de cet auteur. Je suis restée sur cette déconfiture sans jamais y revenir, malgré tout le bien qu'on entend à son propos... Du coup quand Chat' a proposé cette nouvelle, je me suis dit que c'était l'occasion ou jamais !
La suite sur le blog :)
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