Wizard's First Rule (1994) Book Review

 Hey everyone! How's it going? I'm doing pretty well. Today I'm here for a book review. I don't do book reviews quite as often as I would like to just because it takes time to read and oftentimes my reading time is limited to just before I go to bed at night or when I'm sitting outside in the morning before it gets to hot, so I don't get a whole lot read during those times. So I do book reviews when I'm able to. Today's book review is of Wizard's First Rule, the first book in the The Sword of Truth series by the late Terry Goodkind, published in 1994. I don't think I'm going to include spoilers, but I might. It's a 28 year old book though so it doesn't matter THAT much if I include spoilers. Let's get into it.

I first read Wizard's First Rule sometime between June 2006 and September 2007. I don't remember exactly when except that it was after my high school graduation in June 2006 and my first day of college in September 2007. Brad lent me the hardcover along with the hardcover of the second book in the series, Stone of Tears, and I read both of them fairly quickly despite them being relatively thick books. I enjoyed them but didn't end up continuing with the series as I wanted to read some of my Star Wars novels before I started college and wouldn't have much time to read for relaxation since I'd be reading alot for school. 

What I like most about this book in particular and this series overall (what I've read of it so far) is that there are twists and turns, but very few of those twists and turns are political in nature. While politics is at the very heart of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, it does make the story pretty complicated since there are so many characters and it's hard to keep track of their allegiances throughout the series. With The Sword of Truth, particularly Wizard's First Rule, the politics is kept in the background and there are far fewer characters to keep track of. The only time politics really figures into the story is when Richard and Kahlan are with the Mud People, and when Richard's brother Michael is involved. 

So if you're not familiar with this book, Wizard's First Rule is about a man named Richard Cypher, a Woods Guide, who meets Kahlan Amnell, who turns out to be a powerful magical woman, known as the Mother Confessor. Her power is to make people confess to their crimes and enslaving the men. Kahlan is attempting to prevent the evil sorcerer, Darken Rahl from taking over the world. With the help of his friend Zedd, who is a Wizard of the First Order, Richard becomes the Seeker and takes the Sword of Truth in order to stop Rahl. 

There's obviously more to the book than that, but that's the basic plot. I'm not a huge fan of Sword & Sorcery Fantasy novels. Mostly because the magic in them tend to be way more complicated than it needs to be and the genre can get pretty repetitive at times. But this book feels more personal in terms of the characters. When you break it down the book is about three people: Richard, Kahlan, and Darken Rahl. That's it. In some ways it's sort of about Zedd as well, but he's missing from a good chunk of the story. And while Rahl is only in a few scenes, particularly early on, his presence is felt by all the characters and so the story is as much about him as it is about Richard and Kahlan stopping him. Particularly with the twist that comes at the end of the book.

I think my favourite characters in this book are Zedd and Kahlan. Zedd is just alot of fun, because he very much likes to test Richard in the same way Yoda tested Luke in The Empire Strikes Back. I love Kahlan though because she's a very powerful person but she wishes she wasn't so she could have a normal life. Which isn't something very many characters with extraordinary powers experience. Kahlan is different though because her powers isolate her from everyone, even from having a family of her own. So she believes anyway. I won't give away the ending, but something does happen at the end of the book that allows her to be with Richard. 

The book does feel overly long. Because of how episodic it is, there are probably parts that could be cut out to make the story flow a little bit better without ruining the plot, such as the time that Richard and Kahlan are in Westland, and the time they're with the Mud People could've been trimmed down a bit. And maybe the Rachel subplot could've been shortened a little bit too. But that's just my personal preference. 

Overall this is a pretty decent book. The Sword of Truth series continued until Terry Goodkind's death in 2020, through various sequels and prequels. Wizard's First Rule is still in print today so I would recommend reading it if you're into Sword & Sorcery Fantasy. 

That my friends is going to be it for me for today. I will be back tomorrow for my review of this week's episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which oddly enough has a Fantasy feel to it thanks to an unknown lifeform messing with the crew using the storybook that M'Benga has been reading to his daughter. It looks like a really fun episode, so I will see you for that review tomorrow. Until then have a wonderful evening and I will talk to you all later. Take care.