Naked Empire (Sword of Truth)

Terry Goodkind continues to impress with gripping story telling, imbedded with clear moral messages to impress upon his readers. Just as Faith of the Fallen illustrated Ayn Rand's Objectivism and the fallacy of blind altruism, Naked Empire illustrates the necessity of violence in the defense of freedom and liberty. This book is was clearly influenced by recent world events (i.e. The War in Iraq), and shows the inherent danger to societies which unconditionally reject violence. There is a danger in distilling the actions of evil men to mere root causes, Goodkind successfully argues that we are accountable for our actions and those who commit crimes should be punished accordingly. Goodkind recognizes that those who protect evil men in the guise of enlightened morality are no better then the men they protect. A common theme is simply, evil exists and must be recognized as such, and not explained away. These messages are incorporated into the story of a lost people and expands on the plot initiated in The Pillars of Creation, while advancing the larger story of the struggle to keep the New World free.
All of our favorite characters are back, but the novel focuses largely on the travels of Richard, Kahlan, Cara, and Jennesen. Zedd has a good supporting role and we get a chance to see the reemergence of some beloved secondary characters (sorry you'll have to read it to find out). The book introduces new bad guys you'll love to hate and hints at more to come (sorry no chicken monsters).
Goodkind does touch on past books to remind readers of those events, which I found useful as we are now up to book eight and it is at this point that readers may have trouble remembering the details of past plots and the interrelationships of secondary characters. It is well done, with just enough information presented to remind readers of past events without becoming a burden. Nevertheless, this series is reaching a point where a glossary or a prologue would be helpful, but thankfully is nowhere nearly as convoluted as say, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series (which is totally out of control).
Minor negative criticisms some readers might feel is that the book lingers on the moral of the story more then the story itself, Richard delivers speeches that GW Bush could only dream of making (too perfect), and the polar beliefs of the lost society are so extremely foreign it seems unbelievable (well, maybe just to me). However, all in all Naked Empire has a great message surrounded by a good story that will entertain and educate readers both new and seasoned to the overall story. This series is a must read for all fantasy lovers.

I really liked this book. Just finishing up the last two chapters and have already ordered the next book for my Kindle.
After so much Jensen in the last book it was nice to see many of the old crew back together and a lot of things happening.
Loved the book. I can't wait to read the next one. Thanks!!

I really liked this book. Just finishing up the last two chapters and have already ordered the next book for my Kindle.
After so much Jensen in the last book it was nice to see many of the old crew back together and a lot of things happening.
Loved the book. I can't wait to read the next one. Thanks!!

I've really enjoyed the series overall, but starting with book 7 and continuing into book 8 the author seems to be trying to preach to the reader about his personal views more then continuing the story lines. Still enjoyed the book.

While the story line is a decent continuation of the saga, I found myself getting extremely bored, and then frustrated, by the the continual re-explanations of past events and characters as well as with the pontification of the various lines of thinking represented by the characters.

Seemed too preached and forced. The course of action through the book was consistent and clear but had too much "fluff" explaining most of the moral points. Still cant wait to read the next though and have no doubt that some of the facts in this book will be called on in the future and necessary to tell the full story.

I received the book series in good shape and very quickly. There was a small problem with one of the books. I contacted the seller and he quickly found a replacement at no extra cost and had it shipped to me. Doing business with this seller is recommended highly. Thank you for your awesome service and attention to my order and request. The series is well written and very interesting.

Beginning with Wizard's First Rule, Terry Goodkind's The Sword of Truth fantasy series contains fiction that is both entertaining and challenging. Goodkind's latest foray seems to take on allegorical undertones that are none too subtle.
Today's current struggle with terrorism is a curious one. There are those who would denounce the existence of evil, claiming that there is no such thing. What is perceived as evil is nothing more than people who can be nurtured and shepherded into normal life with only the open arms of love. President Bush became enmeshed in a quagmire of negative criticism when he declared the existence of a triumvirate of evil that existed in the world during his State of the Union address.
Perhaps Goodkind used Bush's speech and subsequent criticism as the basis for Naked Empire, and mayhap he merely was inspired by presidential candidates who actively denounced the United States' war against Iraq. Clearly, Goodkind's intention is to level profound criticism upon the spirit of appeasing political tyrants.
The hero of The Sword of Truth, Richard Rahl, finds himself coerced to help an empire of people who are simply known as pillars of creation. These people are born without a single spark of magic. Magic cannot touch them and these people are blind to magic's wonders. These pillars of creation have built an empire that is truly `enlightened'. There is no death penalty. People who resort to violence are banished. No decision is reached without social enlightenment.
Along comes the invasion of Jajang and his Imperial Order. If ever there was a comparable Saddam Hussein figure in literature, the evil Jajang is he. The empire of the pillars of creation is sacked, and the people are used and abused royally. They refuse to fight back, choosing instead to use appeasement as their weapon of choice.
Things get worse. In order to assist the pillars of creation, Richard tries to elicit their help. He offers a history of their people, telling why the pillars of creation were banished and allowed to form their own empire.
"`...banished your ancestors not only because they couldn't see magic, but, more importantly, because they couldn't see evil.'"
One of the pillars answers, "`But what you call evil is just a way of expressing an inner pain.'"
Another says, "`Saying someone is evil is prejudiced thinking. It's a way of belittling someone already in pain for some reason. Such people must be embraced and taught to shed their fears of their fellow man and then they will not strike out in violent ways.'"
Richard loses his patience and informs them that those who banished the pillars of creation "`feared you because you are dangerous to everyone...you embrace evil with your teachings. In so doing, in trying to be kind, to be unselfish, in trying to be nonjudgmental, you allow evil to become far more powerful than it otherwise would. You refuse to see evil, and so you welcome it among you. You allow it to exist. You give it power over you. You are a people who have welcomed death and refused to denounce it.'
`You are an empire naked to the shadow of evil.'"
These are powerful words that could be spoken by today's left and right presidential candidates. As the last line spoken by Richard Rahl indicates, the book's title lurks within his final climatic statement. The pillars of creation will discover those words to be as sharp and true as the sword of truth itself.
Unlike other fantasy series that seem to lose momentum with each book, Terry Goodkind writes with a crescendo of adventure, usually insuring that each new book in the series surpasses the last. The Naked Empire is no exception. Not only does Goodkind entertain, he also sheds light upon today's current events. Put simply, when it comes to creating brilliant allegorical fantasy, nobody does it better.

This book series has been one that I have enjoyed, but I couldn't help but feel like Terry had been dragging the reader as of late. This book however had a finesse and fire to it that I fell in love with in the original book.

I enjoyed this better than the previous book in the series (The Pillars of Creation). I know a lot of people say the books have become too preachy but I did not find that to be an issue. I enjoyed the fact that many of the principal characters played key roles and got into (and out of) sticky situations.

Another excellent novel written by one of my favorite authors.   This book takes the reader on another magic filled adventure with Richard, Kahlan, and all of their friends that we know and have grown to love.

This book is terrible! So extremely boring. The characters break into long philosphical discussions at the worst times. It's totally unrealistic. Goodkind rants about Freedom, but his readers just want a good story. This is NOT a good story. I stopped reading 3/4 of the way through. I'm done with Goodkind.