Book 7, The Pillars of Creation: Sword of Truth

At the beginning of the book I was disappointed that Richard or Kahlan were not the main characters. I soon grew to love the new characters Sebastian (Emperor�s strategist), Jennsen and Oba Rahl as their thoughts, dreams, fears weaved a spell around me making me hang on every word. In this book Jennsen is used by the Order so that she can kill her half-brother Richard Rahl. Oba like Dreftan, and Darken is your average chip off the old block. He enjoys watching creatures, and people alike eye�s in mute fascination as he grasps their still beating hearts in his hands and squeezes it until it bursts. Sebastian during the book is your knight in shining armor, well Jennsen's blonde knight hunk. He mangaged to carry her to saftey away from the evils that destroyed her mother and fell in love with the lovely flame haired girl.
The Pillars of Creation gives us an exotic taste of places both already visited and not. This world gives lessons that must be learned in order to survive. It shows how brute force will not always bring you victory in war or battle as Jangag experienced first hand. Although not all the characters in the book do not live in the end, this is a book worthy of a two thumbs up. In the next novel I think that we can all imagine what type of mischief Jennsen and Richard Rahl will bring for Kahlan, Cara and the rest of the world. *Rina gives Terry G. applause for a job well done* P.S.- Hurry up on your next book :)

After having read over 1/2 of this book, I have decided I will no longer read books in the SOT series. Nothing in this book moves the story plot along. With entirely new and seemingly unimportant characters being the focus of an entire book it begs the question, "Is he just out for money? Because clearly this book has nothing to do with the story." You could summarize the first 1/2 of the book into 4 chapters and move on to the real part of the story.

I would recomment skipping it entirely read a summary on wikipedia and move on to the next book that actually has to do with the story and plot.

I will now be looking for someone else to read as clearly Goodkind does not cut the butter any longer.

on a side note. Can I give this book 0 stars?

After anxiously waiting to see what Richard did with his new position of power and Khalan by his side in the old world, this book was vastly disappointing. If it had been hyped as an introduction to a new character I would have been slightly more willing to read 400 pages about some character I didn't know, or really care, about. Plus I think Terry went a little overboard on depicting Oba as a sick character and wrote some very repulsive sections.
The introduction of new characters is well and good for the perpetuation of the story but the author seemed to fail to realize that the reason most people would buy the 7th book in a series is the see the continued development and possible conclusion to the story of the main characters. I usually read the Sword of Truth books in few days as a sort of reprieve from my usual studying. However, this book took me well over a week to finish because I just didn't feel motivated to read it. Especially after being grossed out by Oba and then looking ahead to discover none of the main characters get evolved till very late in the book.
If the chapters had spent more time early on getting Richard and Khalan involved and letting the readers know what they were up to, this would have been a much more enjoyable book. As is I would highly recommend either waiting for this book to come out on paperback before buying it or trying to find it at your local library.

I just finished reading this book, and frankly I wasn't overwhelmed. I had never read anything from this author, but I was browsing my local library had heard great things about his work so I was eager to give it a try.
Now that I know some of the background of the series, this story might help those readers that have finished the first six books, but for me it was a tough book to read.
Characters who were well 'fleshed out' suddenly acted totally out of character. The main characters also seemed to be written a little towards a sterotype, one a shelter woman hiding from the world most of her life, and the other a mentally unbalanced man who has given himself over to 'the darkside'.
When the sheltered woman who has never been alone in her life, suddenly bluffs, cons, and tricks the captain of the guard and an elite body guard into releasing a prisioner and avoiding a major person of authority, this is stretching things a little far.
The end felt a little contrived as well. I don't mind a happy ending, but this seemed a little too easy. A burst here, a lightining bolt here, a passionate speach, and suddenly all the threats are gone. The good guys have won, the bad guys are dead or trapped and now it's time to go home.
I really wanted to like this book, but it just rubbed me the wrong way so many times, I couldn't enjoy it. I'm very glad to hear that this is part of a series, and that many who are familar to this series don't see this as one of the better books in the series.
I think I may have to go back to my library and see if I can find the first book and give this author another chance.

One of the main complaints about these books in general is that Richard is all-powerful. Yes, well, that was told us in the beginning. And the problem in each book follows necessarily from the last. It started with Darken Rahl, and it is still happening. It is a continuing process, which is why there are all these continuing disasters. Yes, they come through at the last second every time, but their mistakes cause problems, which are solved in the next book(s). We know that Richard has the power, but he struggles, and barely survives, but he survives because he has that power. The point is what he goes through, and learns. It is a personal journey as well as magical, as well as the main plot to stop Jagang. Goodkind creates a fully fleshed out world, with real characters. They have all evolved in their own ways from the various experiences they have been through. As far as the new book goes, yes, it's quite different. Those interested in the magic should have nothing to complain about. It explains so many fascinating details about this world, and what is going on around the main plot, but ties back into the main plot at the end, which will necessarily be returned to in the next book. Yes, it takes the reader out of his comfort zone. It takes us away from what we're used to, and in so doing tells a very well done story. As for the 'too evil' bad guys theory, look at the personality that is developed for Jagang in this book. We get a very personal view of who he really is. He is brave, smart, loyal, courageous, etc. He truly believes in his fight. Doesn't sound too bad, eh?

First off, let me say that I am a fan of Terry Goodkind's and the Sword of Truth series. However, this book was not an the same level as his other work. There was a lot of unecessary violence, there was very little attatchment to the new characters (and you don't see the old favorites until the end, and even then the encounter is brief), and even the writing itself at times drove me up the wall. In various scenes, Terry Goodkind went to great lengths to explain every facet of a new concept. There were several instances that reminded me of an old 50's science film that had to talk down to the audience to explain the situation, someone asking simple questions that are supposed to be on the reader's minds when we actually got the point with the first paragraph and were ready to move on. IT DROVE ME NUTS!!! Finally, then conclusion was hurried. Everything was tied up neatly (too neatly, actually) in a few paragraphs. My recommendation, however, is to wade through this book, because (and I'm going on faith here) the next book(s) will undoubtedly be better, and the main character will probably be important later on. I sense that Terry Goodkind was rushed on this book and just kind of got it out of the way.

I found this book very disappointing. Having only discovered the series at the end of the summer, I only had a couple of months to wait for this sequel. Because of that I suppose my expectations had not quite reached the fevered pitch of people who read Faith of the Fallen when it first came out. Still I was disappointed. The jacket is blatantly misleading. It spends half of it's space talking about Richard and Kahlan as well as Jennsen. The reader is deliberately lead to believe that the story is about Richard and Kahlan meeting this new girl Jennsen. That's like saying the Lord of the Rings is about Prince Imrahil. I felt the characterizations were forced. I'm sure he thought he was being subtle, but it was blatantly obvious that Sebastian was using the main character. And as for Oba, what was the point? He had almost no bearing on the book that required him to have so much development. Furthermore his development was uneven. He's a sadist before he listens to the voices. We're supposed to feel like he's a weak nice guy who's hoodwinked by the voices in his head which corrupt him over the course of the novel. That's a little hard to swallow, when his FIRST scene has him inflating a live chicken! Jennsen felt like a low rent version of Kahlan. Similar trust issues, but not as smart. I still enjoyed reading the book for the most part, but I found the ending unsatisfying and I felt hammered by "subtleties". I'd almost suggest new readers read this one first then go back and read the rest of the series.

Mr. Goodkind has written another fine novel in his Sword of the Truth series. While shorter than the previous books, it doesn't forget to tell a story (unlike Mr. Robert Jordan who seems to like to confuse his readers with endless subplots and similar charater names.) The primary characters in the book are new to the series and act as a piece of the puzzle Goodkind is building for us as readers. I did find some of the outcomes predictable but there were enough twists to keep my interest. The book is worth a read because you do get to see more of the world created in the previous books. Its length makes it a short but good chapter in the tale of Richard Rahl.

I have followed this series religiously since Robert Jordan's went downhill. I have every hardcover copy of the series. Terry Goodkind weaves a world that is so real you can hear the clash of armor and weaponry, the heat of Wizard's Fire, and go on a rollercoaster ride of passionate emotions felt by his characters. Emotions so real you find yourself sharing tears of joy, rage, or sorrow as his characters love, wage war, and suffer losses.
I was unable to put this book--the 7th in the series--down and was once again transported to this world for about 12 hours, coming out only to eat. My wife understands that she won't see me until it's finished...when I get a Terry Goodkind book.
I started out looking for my favorite characters, but quickly realized that I was following a new set of characters and this was their story. After a few hours, I didn't care because these characters were just as engaging, and I knew that they would eventually meet up with Richard and Kahlan.
I wouldn't say it's disappointing, because it's just too good. I do miss a Richard and Kahlan adventure and the little glimpse we see of them is enough to have us craving for more. I hope Terry Goodkind keeps it up and we get another installment soon! I can't wait!

After enjoying the creativity of the first six books of the Sword of Truth epic, I had expected much more from Terry Goodkind. I was disappointed in "The Pillars of Creation". To me this book is a dragging detour from the main story line of the series. Particularly the way the author failed to link this book to the rest of the series by dropping out the "Wizards Rules", so much for continuity.
The overall context of book six (Faith of the Fallen) is Richard's loss of faith in the people that he is trying to save in his war with the Imperial Order. I'm not sure how The Pillars of Creation fits as the continuation. The only thing it does for me is make a feeble attempt to account for the time it takes Richard and Kaylan to make their way back North from their adventures in Jagang's homeland in the South.
I got the feeling that the story line for the "Pillars of Creation" is from rough drafts of the "Temple of the Winds". Based on the "Pillars of Creations" theme, there now could be an ongoing array of both good and bad siblings resulting from Darken Rahl's legendary number of perverted conquests. Good for the publishing company, bad for us readers who get stuck buying disappointing books from gifted authors under contract to produce "X" number of books on a time schedule.
I suggest you skip "Pillars of Creation" and wait until book 8 comes out to (hopefully) reach the conclusion of the war with Jagang and the Imperial Order. If book 8 requires you to back up to the "Pillars of Creation" for some clarification (which I doubt) you'll be able to get it cheaper, either as a used book or a Paperback.

I've been an avid reader of Goodkind ever since Stone of Tears came out. A friend let me borrow Wizard's First Rule, and I fell in love immediately with the series. I spent about 20 straight hours and read the book twice in a row. The next day, I went to the store, and picked up the new Stone of Tears, and did the same. Years of waiting and four mostly-magnificent books later, I was waiting in the attached Starbucks to the closest Barnes and Noble at 9AM on Tuesday morning of the 20th of November, ran in when it opened, picked up 3 copies of from the stand (one I read, one I keep perfect, one for my fiancee as a gift), and buy them. I head home, crack the book, and read the first 50 pages or so.
I put the book down, and don't touch it again for 24 hours. Why? After the magnificent creation that was book 6 (Faith of the Fallen), and the major cliffhanger it left you on, nothing about events after that is even mentioned in the early goings. I picked it up yesterday, the 21st, and read another 50 pages or so, with the same qualms. I couldn't relate to the characters, not a single character from any of the other books had shown up, and only one or two were even mentioned. The story was good, and interesting, but it wasn't what I wanted.
This morning, turkey day, I picked it up again, and read it to the end. About 150 or so pages in, I could understand the characters and enjoy the plot thread. However, before the last 50 pages of the book, only four characters from any of the other books make appearances. One character has a lot of scenes, but the other three make only one appearance each, with not more than 5-10 lines to them. In the last 50 pages, the story does overlap, which is always good.
Now, to the review. The characters are extremely detailed, likeable or hateable, depending on which character you're talking about. The plot is interesting, if not anywhere near as epic as the last few books. It all builds to an enjoyable climax in which the plot *does* overlap with the main characters, and in typical Goodkind fashion, making you want to email websites and distributors trying to get speculation dates for the next book's release.
The plot, while enjoyable, resembles the 3rd Book, Blood of the Fold, in this respect: From the beginning to end of the book, not much really happens in the grand scope of things, and all of the major characters are still there, and in similar states as they started. We are added with a new protagonist to join the party, but not much else really happened. From the setup in book 6, we do have the Trap At Andyndril, and we see the results of that, but it doesn't gave any sort of lasting impression.
The whole book is told through the eyes of the four new characters, with not a single chapter devoted to any of the major characters from the other books. It's interesting to add new characters to the mix, but it really felt more like a parallel novel than the next in the series.
Final summary: A good book, enjoyable, solid, and not at all what I wanted.

Pillars of Creation. What can i say?

First of all i liked the idea of telling the story from a different point of view i.c. jennsens view. I could sort of identify with her. I could understand her fear for the house of Rahl and her struggle to escape proscecution to live her own life.

On the other hand i find myself getting more and more annoyed by improbable, unrealistic and simplistic plot and story development. Also i've noticed that i'm equaly annoyed by the way the author uses his characters to advocate his philosophical views. I know, you can read all about it on his website but i still don't have to like it. It didn't bother me with the first books but now i find myself constantly in debate with the main characters (read author). (probably that's what he meant to happen) It started a few novels ago. Maybe it's because i'm older.

Still i hoped this change of perpective would allow the reader to critisize the main characters and their actions a bit (adapt a black and white view and destroys everything and everybody who isn't on your site, not nessecary an enemy) and/or shed some light on the views of the Order (where do their views spring from? Why was there this big war eons ago? Why were there in the old times more people siting with the views of the Order than those of the New World, or, if the Order isn't that old, how did they gain so much power with their non functional system, etc, ect. If anyone knows he/she is invited to explain at [email protected])

Maybe TG tried to give the Order's view on Richard's actions (via Sebastian) but because their views are "a given" without evolution, depth, history or philosophy (to just state that "magic is bad and selfish" and "all are equal" isn't enough) this didn't happen. The views of the Order are only used to explain, rationalize and justify Richards actions and views. A missed upportunity.

A thing a also disliked is the way the world seems to get smaller. I though Richard was deep inside the Old World and that the Old World was huge but now everyone can reach him within a few days from anywhere in the New World. Also when someone talks about "deep in the wildernis" or "a dessert" they seem to mean "a park" and "a square mile of sand". By the end of the book this becomes clear when al sorts of people reach Richard effortlessly and in record time. I know most fantasy novels use a sort of pangea type of world but i think it's strange that in one instance they take months to cover a certain distance and the next time they complete the same journey in 2 or 3 days.

Speaking of time, the build up could have been better. In the beginning Jennsen and Sebastian wander around getting nowhere fast. But when she finally sets out to confront Richard the journey takes one paragraph or so. In fact, the whole climax is a bit rushed to say the least.

(On a side note: how did they find Richard anyway? Before answering that, think about the implications of your answer)

to conclude: dispite all my critisism i enjoyed the book. It wasn't as great as i hoped but enjoyable enough to recommend it. After all, i read it just after i finished Crossroads of Twilight....

PS: I enjoyed the character of Oba. This inside the head of a madman was a interesting twist.

The world of Terry Goodkind is one where evil battles good, and the line between the two is clearly marked. This battle takes place largely in the minds of the participants, rather than on the field of battle, which is something that has become more obvious in the latest books, especially so in The Pillars of Creation. The side of good makes use of reason and compassion, trying to win its war by allowing its targets to see the situation with clarity and make their own decisions. Evil tries to spread its message through misinformation and propaganda. In The Pillars of Creation, the battleground is in Jennsen's mind, and her choice could have severe repercussions. The importance of the good-evil conflict makes for a story full of drama and emotion. However, people looking for battles which are determined by sword and by magic will not be disappointed. When logic and reason fail to win people over to the side of good, Richard and his allies have no choice but to attack their enemies with both sword and magic.This was a really great read. I also suggest to anyone who would like to read a really good book also Paul Omeziri's Descent into Illusion

We wait all this time to find out what happens to Zedd and Richard and Kahlan and Cara, one of my personal favorites, and what do we get? A completely new story with all of our favorite heroes as afterthoughts! I was looking forward to this book with vigor; after all, "Faith of the Fallen" was a beautiful and stunning work written by a true writer. I cared deeply about Richard and Kahlan and Nicci, and wondered what would happen to them. And what do we get? A completely off-kelter story about people I don't even care about and undoubtedly never will! They would be great as a sub-plot, but really! You can't write 6 books about characters that your readers learn to care deeply about and then write a book about some other chick and her problems and sell it in the same series! Frankly, I don't really care to know about Jennsen and Oba and Sebastian and the sorceress dames. I eagerly await Terry Goodkind's next book, and hope its a hell of a lot better than this one.

I am a huge fan of Terry Goodkind works, almost to the exception of all else, when I read this book, I couldn't put it down, I don't know what anybody here is talking about. It's true, that Richard: noble, amazing, in all ways exceeding everybounds Richard, didn't show up too much, but they introduced two new characters which were imaginitive, enjoyable, utterly lavish with psychological wonders (from an analyzing point of view) true and sensitive insights into the human mind, I don't know about you, but the moment that Jennsen starting talking (...) about Richard's evil, and as soon as you start to CARE about sebastian, from the other side, I was just stunned with the implications and dedications required to peer unpredjudiced from the other side of things. Never once did I get bored, and never once did I find it lacklustre, I tell you, with Oba, it really balanced it off, I found myself the entire time absolutely childishly giddy in anticipation of when they met the master of all things, exceeder of all expectations, Richard Rahl. And I wasn't dissapointed especially with the dramas at the end of the revelation of Jennsen, of course we know that Zedd, Richard, Kahlan are supreme, and could take on Jagang any time (smiles in rememberance of a certain magic scene) but they gave it some perspective and I got a serious amount of satisfaction from the start to the finish in this wonderful tale.

In the Sword of Truth series I have become accustom to the charaters being tortured both psychologically and physically. I am not accustom to being tortured myself. Reading this book was torture. (...) There were no surprises for me in this book. (...)This is not my main gripe though. This book introduces two new main characters. Both of which are truly deficient. Oba was a complete waste of time. I found mixed emotions about his death. Too many pages were wasted on this one-dimentional and boring character for him to die. But in his death I know that I will not have to read anything else about him... Hooray!!! He could have made his debut at the end of the book, and it would have relieved atleast 100 pages of fluff. Jennsen is a better character than Oba, but just barely. I would have been ok with five pages devoted to a charater of her calibre, but no... the whole flipping book is about this self-absorbed (character). I found her (...) so painful. Jennsen utterly loathes Richard and think he wants her death. (...) It would have been acceptable on some level, except there were countless places in the story where people should have made it known to Jennsen that her ideas were (...)backwards. To top it all off, her journey with Sebastian is straight up boring. This takes up the majority of the book. In comparing this book to the others in the series... I deem this work a masterpiece of shame. The book is not all bad hence the 2 star rating. Like Goodkind's other works the writing is technically proficient. I was somewhat vindicated in finishing the book because fifty of the last hundred pages are pretty cool. Some action does occur, and the reader gets a glimpse at the Orders perspective. The only explaination for this book is that Terry Goodkind has sold out. The problem for him is that he dumped such (...) on us this time, that we will be on the lookout in the future. I really enjoyed the other SoT books. I feel betrayed by one of my favorite authors. On my scale, I would not recommend a book I rate a 3 or lower. If you are interested in continuing the SoT saga I recommend that you get a friend to summerize the important points and "skip" this book. If you have to buy this book wait for the paperback. I still can't believe I blew good money on this.

OK, OK, it's fantasy. Earth's rules of science and physics don't matter but in many places this book fails to adhere to the rules of common sense. Also, I thought the editing was poor. There were spots where it felt like Mr Goodkind took a break then started writing again before he re-read what he had just written. One such error comes to mind where two full sentences repeated just two paragraphs apart. I don't mind letting a few nonsensical things slide, but there are so many big and little screwy things here that it was impossible to reconcile them short of turning off your brain. Here are a few examples in no particular order (a few spoilers noted with '***'):
* Jennsen is selectively ignorant/knowledgeable, observant/unobservant, or strong willed/easily manipulated depending on what is convenient at the time throughout the story to maintain the weak plot.
* The Emperor's key strategists are not very strategic, nor does he listen to them.
* Doesn't the existence and knowledge of these "holes in the world" make places like the Wizard's Keep a whole lot less threatening? If the Emporer knew about Jennsen why didn't he use her to assault the Keep? Or, why didn't Richard use her (or someone like her) previously - wasn't one of the main themes of a previous book based around trying to get past the magical safeguards of the Keep?
* The Emperor losses a million plus units of his army to an unknown force that strikes at the heart of his camp and his response is basically, "oh well, it'll take a little time to rebuild." Yeah, this guy is going to have many followers...
* Tom covertly follows Jennsen (who is in the middle of this million plus unit army) in a horse drawn wagon.
*** Tom is supposed to be one of the elite protectors of Lord Rahl, but idly watches while Jennsen charges Lord Rahl with a knife.
*** Tom is supposed to be one of the elite protectors of Lord Rahl. Why would he be working, deep cover, in the market?  Convenient coincidence.
*** The idea is repeated several times that Jennsen never had the chance or right moment to tell Sebastian that she was immune to magic even though they are lovers and traveling together for months. This didn't make sense to me, but to use this as the key point in Jennsen discovering Sebastian's treachery was just plain weak. WEAK! I cringed reading Jennsen say "I never told you magic didn't effect me..." Hmmm, didn't he just see her come away unharmed after battles with wizards and sorceresses in which she saw through the illusions that nobody else did?
* Jennsen's bluffs to get into the palace and free Sebastian were unbelievable and most of that sequence was silly.
The list goes on but unless I missed some deeper meaning, it's not worth the mental energy it would take to go over all the inconsistent events and convenient coincidences in this book. The ending felt rushed with the main baddies conveniently killed or missing, with a few obscure references to other characters thrown in for whatever reason "Wait until we tell this to Nikki" or other such lines. In the end I was left feeling that nothing happens in the book.
Homerinvests

I just finished reading the Pillars of Creation. I have to say after reading it that it wasn't quite what I expected. I'm used to Seeing Richard or Kahlan trying to make the world a better place. Instead I see a new character trying to figure out her own identity and in so doing goes through a complete character change as she grows.
After my initial shock of not seeing any of the main characters in the book, I actually enjoyed the book. Jennsen Rahl struggles to escape her past. She is given choices on how to do it and in the end chooses correctly.
What makes this book unique for long time sword of truth fans is that for once you really get to see the perspective of Jagang and the rest of the imperial order. You see how they see Richard and Kahlan and what they represent to these characters. Now that can be a very difficult thing, but I appreciated the new dimension this book gives to the series. Grant you, for some this is quite predictable and expected based on whether or not you have read the first six books. But it still was a unique attempt. Not too many authors really have the guts to try that. Only L.E. Modesitt Jr. has done the same thing that I have read in high fantasy.
For those that have read them, you see a lot more depth to the world you have been reading about for the last six (now seven books) with the special protectors in the D'haran army, used by the D'harans to help protect the Lord Rahl. An intelligence service that hopefully will continue to be used as the series progresses. They had a good introduction here.
That said, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed at the lack of major characters until the very end. Grant you it would not have been in any way useful to the story, but as a reader I have come to care about Richard, Kahlan, Zedd and the many others involved. It was a little disappointing that Terry did not continue on the thread he had left at the end of book 6, because as a reader I always want to have to know what happens next. Hopefully in book 8 he will continue that story, as it seems to me he already has something in mind, but you'll have to read the end of pillars to understand.
Finally, the author gave away a major revelation to the series. In the end, Richard Rahl is the only one that can end magic in the world. It will be his choices that determine the fate of the world. While this isn't fully unexpected, I think with this and book 6 previous the full conflict with the imperial order is now revealed. You now know what each side fully represents and who will decide things in the final battle. What remains to be seen is whether or not the conclusion to the war is going to happen in the next book.
All in all, I enjoyed the book. Many may not, if you are a die hard fan. You mightt feel betrayed. But if you can get over the major characters absence in the book, it really is a good read and worth picking up. That's my two cents. Hope you enjoy the book.

I, like many of you, have been a die hard Goodkind fan since Wizard's First Rule. However, unlike many of you, I think The Pillars of Creation is every bit as good as the rest of his work. I've noticed many people don't seem to like this book as much because it deals primarily with new characters. But I think it was a brilliant ploy. Making Richard the villian (At least from the perspective of the main characters) was a wonderfully insidious twist. For those of you who've not yet read it, much of the book is told through the perspective of a woman named Jennsen, who is convinced that Richard had her mother murdered, and is now trying to kill her. Many reviewers seem to be upset, or feel cheated because the book was not totally about Richard, Kahlan, Cara, Zed, ect, ect. Now I'm an aspiring writer myself, approximately halfway through the first draft of my first novel, and I can honestly say that things do not always turn out as the writer has planned. I've read interviews with Mr. Goodkind where he mentions that the stories guide him, not the other way around. If he meets new characters, then he lets them show him their part of the world, tell him their stories. That is exactly how good writing is created. A good writer will merely help the story to unfold, he will not force it in which ever direction he wants, or the audience wants. Personally, I think showing the events through the eyes of new characters is a very good way to shed light on different parts of the world, and to show that despite we all know Richard as the hero he is, not everyone in the world realizes it. Also speaking as a writer, it can get repetitive to write about the same characters time after time, and I'm sure introducing Jennsen and the others was quite revitalizing to Mr. Goodkind. I know that after writing 6 books in a row with the same characters, especially after finishing one as intense as Faith of the Fallen, I would have been grateful for a change of pace. Anyway, I've babbled on long enough. I feel the Pillars of Creation, while not as moving as Faith of the Fallen, is still every bit as riveting as the rest of the series. As long as you know in advance all the previous characters are absent for much of the book, I think you will really enjoy it too. Plus, even if you agree with those who dislike Richard's extended absense, the book is worth buying for Jagang's raid on the Confessor's Palace alone. Don't listen to the whiners, read it yourself.

I have a hard time knowing where to start with this book. In many ways it was superior to what I have seen in the last two books in the Sword of Truth series. I could see Goodkind's writing in it, his ability to shape and weave a story that is both wonderfully written and spellbinding for both a world and the characters. Soul of the Fire was not written in that way, it was slow and hard to get through. Faith of the Fallen was better, more interesting, but still not up to the standard Goodkind set for himself with the first four books. In this regard, book 7 was very well written. However, it was unique in the series and I am not sure that I like the change. When I read Sword of Truth I want to know what's going on with many things. The main characters are the most important of those things, with the world and the supporting characters as secondary in what I want to know. This book explored what happens in the world in some aspects, but we see very little of the main characters; so little that I hardly felt like the book was Sword of Truth. That's not to say the story it told was a poor one. Quite on the contrary. I liked that story and the main character, Jennsen was interesting to say the least. It just felt to removed from the series as I know it. However, I must consider the ending. I think its highly possible that Goodkind was using this book to set up the rest of the series, and that the things that happened in Pillars of Creation will become crucial to the rest of the series, especially in regards to the character Jennsen. Due to this I am going to have to reccomend this book to anyone who wants to finish out the series. To anyone who wants a good story, I would also say read this book. To someone who is looking to explore what is happening with Richard and Kahlan, do not. You will be disappointed. I give it three stars because it is a good story, but feels out of place as the series stands now.

Not knowing what i was in for, i was hugely disappointed. After waiting so long to hear of Richard, i was stunned to find this book wasn't even about anyone we already knew of in the series. This book is a short tangent about an annoyingly stupid chick and an even stupider guy.
DON'T BUY THIS BOOK. I know you've got to read it anyway - but trust me , get it from the library. And when you do read it, skip to the final four or so chapters, because they're the only ones that are any good. And admittedly they are good - Zedd and his misses enter and tose up a few thousand of the order and then Richard embarks on the same old plot where hes seperated from Kahlan and his sword and must find them (only this is done in three chapters this time rather than the standard book it usually takes).
Frankly, Wizards First rule -ROCKS- there is no disputing that, Faith of the fallen did what the title suggested and resored some of my faith by the rest of the books are the same tired old stuff. If Richard wasn't such a legend i wouldn't bother reading them at all.
P.S. Bring BAck Chase!

I've read all of the Sword of Truth Novels to date. (Debt of Bones is on order) I have loved all of them and been wrapped up in them to the point of not sleeping for 3 days to finish one. BUT..... Now, Pillars of Creations is a good story, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't flow like the rest of the stories. It just doesn't have.... "it." The story is a good one and it shows true in the spirit of the previous novels, running the full race, but it's just missing on one or two cylinders. Not enough to come in first as the rest did. I have the paperback and when I compared to the others, the print is almost twice as big as if the publisher was making it bigger to compare with the others in the series. I honestly think that there was something missing in the book that should have been there. Richard and Kahlan are the main characters yes, and Jennsen is a full character in her own right. But the entire book is told only from her point of veiw. I think that it was cut and reput together so that there may be another novel coming, matching what Richard, Kahlan and Kara were doing as Jen did what she did. My thinking is that there should have been more to it than there was. For example: What was it that Kara touched? Where were they? What were they doing as they traveled north to the New world? Interesting, no?

In Terry Goodkind's latest novel we follow the new character of Jensen on her journey of self discovery. Jensen is Richard's half sister and she believes Richard is out to kill her like their murderous father attempted to. Terry Goodkind is an incredible author and while I applaude him for using fantasy as a genre to present his political philosophies at times he climbs a little to high on his soap box. Another major drawback to this book is that Richard and Kahlan, the series main characters occupy less than twenty pages. For true Terry fans the novel can be enjoyable if you are forewarned of the lack of main characters. I still can only give this book two stars because I was not warned of the lack of the original characters and therefore looked forward for over a year to reading about them only to be disappointed.

First of all, this was a very short book-- don't let the page count fool you-- the font and spacing is bigger. Another thing that SoT fans should be aware of is that the characters we've come to know and love, Richard and Kahlan, aren't mentioned in the entire book until the last 50 or so pages.
Sure, once in awhile, someone will say "the evil Lord Rahl" or "that witch, the Mother Confessor", but Richard and Kahlan don't have any role in the book until the end. The end is my favorite part of the book, but c'mon, it's only 50 pages and creates more questions than answers. I guess you could say I was just glad to see the old crew, finally. Zedd and Adie come up in one chapter also, but that's about it. I wonder if Chase is ever going to come back...
Well, the old characters aren't in this book, but there are quite a few new ones. Unfortunately, they die by the end of the book, so it's kind of pointless knowing you'll never see them again. You'll feel as if you wasted 450 pages getting to know them when you could've been reading about Richard's adventures.
This is NOT a Sword of Truth novel.
Of course it's a must read if you're a Goodkind fan like me and waited a year for this, but it'll be a disappointment. I recommend you check the library for it first.

I've seen a few people slamming this book for several reasons, I dont see the reasoning behind their position (or, maybe I see their reasoning, but dont understand it)
It does not feature Richard or Kahlan or Cara as the main characters, but rather introduces Richards sister, Jennsen, who was rumored to have existed in Temple of the Winds, as well as another bastard child of Darken Rahl, Oba...
The first five books were fabulous fantasy tales, book six and seven were also the same, but both of them had deeper meaning to them. In this book, Terry Goodkind shows the way disinformation and rumour can cause people to fear and hate even those that fight for freedom and life.
It also shows Jagang as a 'real' person, not just a one-sided flat tyrant, it shows him as a person who, for whatever reasons, truley beleives in what he's fighting for
One thing I had to laugh at was one person saying, 'If Richard could deal with a thousand men in an instant, why doesn the just end the war?', theres a difference between a thousand and the millions they have to fight, for one, and for another, Richards power works through anger and need, and the thousand he destroyed in an instant were standing between him and Kahlan..perhaps if someone could convince Jagang to capture Kahlan, heheh

I, like most of the other reviewers, bought the first few Sword of Truth novels and thoroughly enjoyed the rich fantasy world and the character of Richard. However, things have most certainly taken a turn for the worst in this last few books. Soul of the Fire for the most part had nothing to do with Richard, Faith of the Fallen had little to nothing to do with the main story of the series and was more of a comment on Terry Goodkind's political views than a fantasy novel.
And then we have this, The Pillars of Creation. This is NOT a Sword of Truth novel. It has barely anything to do with anything. Oh, sure, by the end we can see that Richard has gained another ally and all is well, but surely this could have been done in 50 pages or so, allowing us to explore the battle between Richard and Jagang NOW instead of a year from now in the next book? But no, we are forced to sit through pages and pages of tedium over characters which frankly I care little for.
Disappointing in the extreme.

To begin a series with the depth and sense that Goodkind did is rarely done and should be greatly prized. To follow it up with 6 extraordinary novels each as good as or better than the first is to paint 7 Rembrandts. With what energy and genious this author has captivated us. To those that would wish to judge he who shared this, look deeper into this latest installment before you pass a verdict you dont understand.
We've all read them. They've all left an impression and a sound sense of leadership in our midst. They have all delt specifically with Richard and Kahlan. I believe its time to stray away, if for a while, from a ceaseless pattern of imprisonment and love reunited. The new charachters are just as strong as those before, and add a dimension into Goodkinds lush world that we didn't see before. In this dimension we see Richard as doubtless many do: A tyrant, spawn of an evil inheritance, and oblivious to those ruled by it. Regardless of what you want to read, goodkind has delivered in 557 pages, a novel risky and compelling enough to keep me believing in a world some of you seem to take for granted. Give it and him a chance before you throw Pillars of Creation on the chopping block, its a gift, from the only man who truly knows the Hero's that we wish to be.

ever read a book that you find yourself re-reading? this series will capture you in that way. you will find yourself reading it again and again. the very story, through epic fantasy, of how and why we should be free to rise up and live our own lives without sacrificing free will.

Not only is this book not a good addition to the SOT it is not a good book. From beginning to end the book is centered around two character who are both lame, moronic, and childish in a way that gives new definition to those words. Not just a chapter here or a chapter there... THE WHOLE FRIGGIN BOOK! Now I have proclaimed to the world for the past 3 years that SOT is one of the three best series I have ever read, and now this.
Finally not only are the main characters weak, but he has gone and ruined other characters that weren't. In this book Jajang who up until now has been a fearsome genious has proven himself a foolish brute. Then again you can all rest well knowing that yes, Kahlan does get kidnapped (AGAIN!) and yes Richard saves her (AGAIN). Also, yes there are a couple new types of magic that have stupid names like constucted magic vs conjured/ or additive vs subtractive. The Keeper again finds a way to breech the veil, but is stopped by Richard... of course all this happens in the last 10 pages of the book. Someone else wrote that the new characters offer new blood to the book, and I agree thats true, but it could have been done in 3 chapters of a good book as opposed to everything but 3 chapters in this god awful excuse for a book.

I know this might seem belittling to Goodkinds masterfull writing ability but truthfully I have been waiting for a good book to come out since the first three!!! They just seem to get progressively worse. It saddens me that with such talent that Goodkind obviously has, he isn't able to fulfill his obligation to the reader. I keep waiting for an epic adventure like the first books he wrote and I've been disappointed every time. Whats with these new characters? Who cares about them?? They obviously have no sense and their personalities are only shown to be skin deep. (Meaning there just isn't much to them). I sincerely doubt that Goodkind will ever write anything that comes close to his stunning first three. It's really a shame, he's a great author but I guess that after Richard killed Darken Rahl, and then went on to stop the Keeper from breaking free, that there really isn't anything else to accomplish. I can only say that the chapters that Richard and Kahlan were in, and the one with Nathan Rahl, where the only two that I liked. It took me about four hours to read the book.....it was that bad. I skimmed most of it till the end. That should send out a preety clear warning that this isn't the best that Terry Goodkind has to offer.

Major Spoilers ahead!
Ok...I have no problem with an author using his books as a medium for expression of his/her views, as long as it doesn't hurt the story or result in completely unbelievable scenes or become a very poorly constructed argument for those views. Mr. Goodkinds' last few books (Faith of the Fallen through Naked Empire) have become boring one sided debates. Boring because they are so one sided. Ayn Rands' views are presented as infallible and all other views are presented as caricatures of their original selves. If you want to add philosophical debate to the story don't insult the intelligence of the reader, instead make the debate real....put up real objections that can be answered. No people I know on any side of the political spectrum are as naive as some of the characters Mr. Goodkind presents in his last 3 books.
Make characters' acceptance of the philosophy believable too... I mean Jennsen goes her whole life with a certain belief set, plus a huge emotional connection to her goal of vengeance, and then one small speech from Richard and suddenly she's spouting off (right after she's found out that her lover betrayed her, no less!)long winded philosophical arguments that she has never even hinted at possessing before. Unrealistic scenes like this one are so far from Mr. Goodkinds' plotting and character development abilities. Story first, underlying philosophy should remain underlying.
Also Mr. Goodkind does a serious disservice to the great moral leaders who have successfully employed notions of pacifism and self sacrifice for the better of all (i.e. Ghandi, Martin Luther King) Communism which he so clearly hates (Not saying he's entirely wrong there, it was a brutal system in Eastern Europe) was not brought down by violence or the Imperialism of other democratic nations, but through relatively peaceful means of the people.
My long winded rant is basically to say: If you're going to include philosophical detours in your books, at least make them integral to the plot and make them more interesting than this over-simplified tract.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS:

If you're a Goodkind fan-boy, then don't let us distract you. Go out and spend your $10-$20 on this book. If you're empty-headed enough to like it, why, go ahead and buy the eighth book as well. You certainly don't need our permission. But we warn you: this book is badly written, badly edited, and feebly concludes. Even for fans, it's a crushing departure from the--I guess we have to call it this--story arc of previous books and it couldn't possibly stand on its own as a worthwhile novel absent those predecessors that it chooses to ignore.

WHY YOU SHOULD PASS:

We gave it a 1. It's our worst rating. We reserve 1's for books that make us temporarily regret ever learning to read. If the reader would rather avoid such painful regrets, then trust our review and avoid this book at all costs.

READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW AT INCHOATUS.COM

This seventh rendition of the Sword of Truth series was horribly dissapointing. Goodkind, I have some good advice for you: Follow Terry Brooks' example and bring on the next generation! Congrats on the new character but what you need is to bring an end to the Adventures of Richard and Kahlan and flash forward to their grandkids or something who must finish up the job. This book seemed as though you were trying to cram a whole new story into the one you've already started. News flash: It didn't work. I still have no idea what the Pillars of Creation are and furthermore, how dare you finish the book without telling me what the heck Richard, Kahlan, and Cara were talking about with Jennson being the only one who could touch something? That left me the most confused. The ending about killed me when Tom suddenly shows up out of nowhere, proclaiming that he was a protector of Richard all along and had been tailing her. And he was returning little Betty, too! How sweet! A very well written comedy, Goodkind, with the no sense turn of events, but how about returning to the actually story line, huh? What ever happened to all the beautiful magic beings that used to inhabit their world? Where are the sprites, the mud people and their spirits, where is the variety? Granted, you are trying to give us a better look at the Old World but still, please, bring the struggle with Emperor Jagang to an end. When he was first introduced, he installed fear and intriguement with the reader. Now, he seems a shallow, empty character, dashing into frays needlessly and that allure of interest to a potentially good character has been lost. Another word of advice for the author: Reread the first three books of the series and then write like that again because after those three, the rest of the books just continued on a steady decline.

All of the books in the SOT series leading up to this one are pretty bad, but this one took the cake. I am someone cursed with not giving up on a series once I have started it, but this book was so bad I have dropped the series like a steaming hot squishy dog turd that somehow made it into my hand. From an evil character blowing up a poor living chicken like a balloon to kill it for kicks (what is it with Goodkind and fowl anyway?) to the nobility of goats, and the adventures of a sociopathic rapist/murderer, I just could not take it anymore.

I have read every book in the series, and I am really starting to wonder what is going on with TOR and Terry Goodkind. The first 5 books were awesome. (Personally, I think the first Wizard's First Rule, Stone of Tears, and Temple of the Winds are the best.) Anyway, Goodkind is a great author who develops a great storyline with two great characters -- Richard and Kahlan.
With such great characters, he can draw fans. However, it is obvious that he is starting to run out of material for the main storyline. While most authors would conclude the story when faced with this situation, TOR and Goodkind decide that they want to squeeze every dime they can out of the fans. In so doing, Goodkind offers a book that has almost nothing to do with the main characters -- Richard, Kahlan, Zedd, Verna, Cara, Ann, and Nathan.
By cheating his fans in this way just to get more money, Goodkind and TOR forget those who made them rich in the first place -- the fans. I am very disappointed and particularly surpirsed in Goodkind. In the media, Goodkind always presents himself as a man who has values and ideals that are beyond reproach. With this offering, he does show what he values. Money.

PILLARS is a fine read. It is true that Richard and Kahlan have very few parts in the novel. However, the story serves as background noise that really helps the series as a whole. It is nice to see other perspectives, and I thought the book was very entertaining. Do not let negative reviews keep you from reading this book. It is a fun romp and a great adventure. I think it proves that Goodkind can do something in the future with other characters set in his fantasy world that will be fun to read as well. I would like to see him do some young Zedd stories...

I think not!!
An excerpt from The Pillars of Creation
"She knew she couldn`t stay and search for Betty, but that didn`t make it any easier to know they were leaving her for good. It broke her heart.
Jennsen looked back over her shoulder in the darkness. 'Did they hurt you? I was so worried that they would hurt you.'
'That Mord-Sith would have. You came just in time.'
'What did it feel like when she touched you with the Agiel?'
Sebastian thought a moment. 'Like being hit by lightning, I suppose.'
Jennsen laid her head back down on the pack. She wondered why she had felt nothing from the power of the Mord-Sith`s weapon. He had to be wondering the same thing, but if he was, he didn`t ask. She would have had no answer for him, anyway. Nyda had been astonished, too, and said that her Agiel worked on everyone.
Nyda was wrong.
For some reason, Jennsen found that strangely worrisome."
Sorry, but I just loved the ramifications this brought forth in the book, and possibly future books. :o)
I was originally worried this book was not to live up to the others in this EXCELLENT series. This false thought process was brought on by reading reviews here while awaiting my delivery.
I, like many others was hoping Pillars of Creation would pick up right where Faith of the Fallen had left off, with Richard and Kahlan in the Old World. This isnt so, however it does not detract from the story or the series at all, if anything this book, P.o.C., gives us a more in depth look at life in D`Hara, introduces us to some new characters, we learn that some old enemies are never truly vanquished, and P.o.C. sets things up for books to come (IMHO).
We see new majiks, learn a new Wizards Rule, and witness Jajang`s reaction to the Richard`s 'gift' he left him, also the invasion and defense of Aydindril before we catch up to our heroes, Richard and Kahlan.

Though this book didnt make my hands sweat as much as prior books, "OMG!!! How will they ever overcome this!!", it was still a very satisfying reading. I credit Goodkind with fleshing out his world thouroghly, and always keeping us second guessing. I have never come across another Author who can get my heart rate to increase so much just from words in a book. Like P.o.C., I eagerly await the next book in this, the ultimate book series. :o)
Keep up the good work Mr. Goodkind.
You yourself have the overall vision of your world and characters, and I and many others are enjoying this Journey we have been on. Forget the naysayers, for if they knew what they were talking about, they would be writing novels of their own, and not reviewing others impressive works.
GHOST®

since I've been so bored with a book by the midpoint that I've simply shelved it and picked up something else. Actually, I can't remember ever doing that...until now.
I almost feel bad about writing a review of this book since I only read half of it, but I really think folks should know what they're getting into when they start reading this [book].
First of all, please understand that I'm not a crazed lunatical Richard/Kahlan fan. They were great in the first book, maybe the second, but since then Goodkind has really let them rot on the proverbial vine. The past three or four books have shown us nothing about Richard or Kahlan that we didn't know at the end of the second book in the series. In this, Goodkind has fallen into the same trap that in my not so humble opinion, has completely destroyed Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series: total character stagnantation. Fortunately, unlike Jordan who has come to rely on an insane myriad of new and wholely forgettable characters showing up to drag the reader through the dank morass that his series has become, Goodkind has up to this point shown enough imagination, not to mention restraint, to keep his saga interesting and in a familiar way, entertaining.
This all ended with "The Pillars of Creation", which abandons Richard and Kahlan, in favor of Jennsen, another child of Darken Rahl. This would not necessarily be a bad thing, if Jennsen was remarkable in any way whatsoever. Unfortunately, she isn't. In fact, I can honestly say that my decision to abandon the book half way through was the direct result of Goodkind's complete inability to invoke even the slightest positive emotion from me towards Jennsen. Simply put, I didn't care one whit if she lived or died or succeeded or failed in...whatever she was trying to do (halfway through the book she was just kind of wallowing around trying to find...um...something...).
I can't really say anything about the conclusion or morale of the book because, as I've already pointed out, I only made it halfway through, but knowing Goodkind there were probably several moments at the end when all seemed lost, and then Richard showed up to dazzle everyone with his stoic honor and integrity and compassion etc etc. This of course won over those who incorrectly thought he was their enemy, while his real enemies slouched off into the bushes muttering, "curses!" under their breath. Tell me if I'm wrong.
Meanwhile, if you want to read a good series, check out either Harry Potter...yes, Harry Potter, and if you haven't read at least one of them you have no room to argue, or if you're a bit more ambitious, George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire".

I have been a fan of the Sword of Truth series since it came out even though I sometimes believe it to be a set of books which might be more aptly named "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." Therefore, I was excited to read Goodkind's most recent addition to the story-line; however, this is not to be considered an addition so much as a side trip. The story hovers in the wings of important events - only occasionally touching upon the crucial elements which make up the Sword of Truth plot. Introducing new characters and stories isn't a bad thing - just the manner in which it was done could have been better.
This brings me to my biggest complaint: the two new characters presented here, Oba and Jennsen. Neither are actually believable as being thinking, young, adults but might be thought of as ignorant children within adult bodies. Yes, they are brought up in seclusion and that may have stunted their intellectual development, but in reality they see the world as a 10 year old might and that hampers the story incredibly. I never did care about whether these characters lived or died and that made this book extremely difficult to get through.
On a positive note, it is refreshing to see the world which we've come to know fairly well through someone else's eyes and Goodkind does a good job here.
Unfortunately, I would not recommend "The Pillars of Creation" simply because of the character development.

I admit this is unfair since I am only half way through. But I may not make it through! I had the same reaction to book seven of the "Wheel of Time" series. I gave up on the series after book seven.

Anyway, I find the story line silly and the characters uninteresting. But since it is a cold and rainy day in South Florida I guess I have nothing better to do but to continue reading, even if it is a stuggle.

I've read a lot of fantasy/sci-fi, and I know that it's asking a lot to expect everyone to be an Asimov or Le Guin or Gaiman; but this was a waste of time and money. Goodkind's droning prose takes what could have been an interesting and even exiting plot in a 350-400 page book and turns it into a 700+ page ordeal. I frequently skipped 4-5 pages at a time and NEVER MISSED A BEAT IN THE PLOT. Disregarding the fact that, without having read any of the previous books, I immediately figured out that Sebastian was a villian; the characters constantly re-hash the same saccharin moral dilemnas page after page after page after.... you get the point. If you really want to read this book, get it from the library: you don't need to own it.
And don't even start me on the goat. Geez!

Terry, did you forget who this series was about? It gets annoying when we read the series for a few good charactors(Ann, Zedd,Richard,Kahlan) and you go off with this Oba and Jennesen thing! What the heck!? I mean, honestly, Oba is just plain freaky and Jennesen is anoying with her 'I'm afraid to do wrong but every time i think that i remember my dear old mum and want to kill my brother' thing. THIS-IS-NOT-PRINCESS-BRIDE! I keep expecting her to say,"Allo! My name is Jennesen Rahl. You killed my mother,prepare to die!" I am sick of the jennesen to oba to jennesen to jennesen to oba jennesen again type thing. Also, i am getting tired of this whole war. Anything new Terry? And the goat. yes betty is a pointless goat that they keep making references to. IT IS JUST A GOAT! Stop lingering on the fact that it exists! Terry, what were you thinking and when will you get back to actually writing interesting books? I mean, sure when i sneaked a peek at the first 5 pages my mind was reeling with questions before I even read the series. Who was this soldier? What was on the paper. SO I started to read the series driving onward to get to this book. I loved it so much and it gave me and Dad something nice to discuss. I gave a copy of the first book to my best friend and it hooked her too. I got to The Pillars of Creation and now I slug through it hoping to get to Naked Empire and hopefully fan that little spark that Terry left to glow so i can get the fire of the series back.I didnt give it a 2 because a few bits were funny. Like Zedd is harmless and Jennesen thinking Richard knew alot about magic. I hope to have some better thoughts for the next one, but until then i have 8 words for terry: "What the heck was were you thinking Terry?" Thankyou!

I just don't get what the reviewers here are saying about Mr. Goodkind's books. When Mr. Goodkind decided to write, it was for himself, not for just money. His first book,"Wizard's First Rule," was for himself. Not until about a year afterward did he decide to make contracts and what-not to share his fantasy world with us. He is doing just that-sharing his FANTASY WORLD, not just the same characters over and over again. One thing that I notice some of the other reviewers failing to see(well most of them anyway) is that he is continuing to share is unparalled writing style and love for his work. People say that his works are getting worse and worse for all of the wrong reasons. Mostly because of the lack of appearances by Richard and Kahlan. I see his works getting better and better- as in the fact that he never ceases to amaze me with his writing ability. And if you really care about his works, you would have done the research and learned that he has at least two books planned after this one. I am sure that Richard and Kahlan will be back. As stated in his interviews- He writes for only himself and intelligent readers. If you fail to fall within either of these categories, by all means- read something else. Life is too precious to spend our time reading things we don't enjoy. If you do fall within the aforementioned categories-enjoy one of his best works of all!

After book six (one of the best) I was really looking forward to read the next, with Richard and Khalan together continuing the story. The whole book could have been a really good build-up for book seven.
What I especially like in the Sword of Truth series is that it stays on focus and don't leap all over like Wheel of Time does. With a long time between each book it gets too confusing from time to time. I also like the style which Terry has written in until now. But this book wasn't like this.
This book was boring and predictable, and I miss Richard. It's nice to introduce new characters, but don't leave the main ones in the dark until the very end. What have they been up to? How did it go where we left them last?
I feel that the author has wasted much too many pages introducing a new character which wasn't really needed, and probably won't get much attention later. What's interesting with Jennsen?
Simply put I love the first six books, but I think this book should have been profiled like Debt of Bones, or that the author should have taken a break, if this is the best he can perform right now.

...In this novel we are shown that not all of Darken Rahl's other children are "bad guys". Indeed, Jennsen is essentially one of the "good guys", however misinformed she may be. And so, yes, the novel does not focus exclusively on Richard and Kahlan, but that does not make it any less of a fantastic novel, nor any less pertinent to the story. The novel is a fabulous read, meant by Goodkind to be read from two different perspectives. One being those who have not read any of the others. Then Pillars becomes a stand alone novel and the reader identifies with Jennsen, discovering with her that Lord Rahl is not the evil man she thinks. And the other being those who have read the others (like me). In that perspective one clings to the story, hoping that Jennsen discovers the truth about Richard before mistakenly killing the man who, with his wife, are virtually all that protect the people of the New World from destruction.
If you want a good read that will make you think or you want another fantastic novel by Terry Goodkind then I highly recommend this book as well as the rest of the series. However, if you do not like to be presented with good ideas and are unwilling to hear anything that might damage your vision of the "perfect" heroes, then steer away from this and all other Goodkind novels because he truly will challenge how you view people and the world.

Though this is not the best in the sword of truth series, it is far from being the horrible flop that seems to be the consensus between the readers who have little vision to look beyond the scope of this book as not being all about richard or not about being able to stand on its own - this is why it is part of a SERIES! Do you think that terry goodkind was going to wrap everything up nice and neat? no! He wants you to read his other books and delve into the lives of all of his characters! (And do it by the way, you won't regret it!) This book provides a nice contrast - and if you acutally take the time to READ this book (rather than be dissatisfied at the beginning and continue to be close minded till the end of the book because their is no Richard/Kahlan) the charcters will begin to grow on you as will
Goodkind's reasoning for taking a break from his Kahlan/Richard emphasis. The best thing about Goodkind's works is the message behind it - and I suspect most of the poor reviews for these books are not because the story is not satisfactory but rather because of his display of his beliefs through out his writing that may be contridictory to some. To me, that is what makes this series (and this book) stick out against some of the others series.

I have anxiously been awaiting this book to hit the shelves, and I can't tell you how many times I have reread Faith of the Fallen in preparation for Pillars of Creation coming out. Faith of the fallen is one of those rare books that really stand out amongst it's peers, but in reality has no peers due to the incredible rhetoric and imaginative writing of Terry Goodkind. But I am not reviewing that book.
I fell in love with the Sword of Truth series from the start. I had been reading Jordans book feverishly until they started to become boring, and dependably dull. His series started to flag (I feel) by the 6th-7th book and it has been downhill ever since. Goodkind to me took some of the same ideas as Jordan in writing a series, but I feel as though he learned from Jordan, and didn't make the same tired mistakes. Goodking constantly kept his characters moving, growing, the plot shifting, and new wonders appeared in every book. It is for this that I have revered the series up until the last book.
This new book by Goodkind is a good book. I will give him that. He is a very proficient writing, and has used the land he created almost in a selfish way I feel to explore ideas beyond the regular scope of his novels. I will explain.
The book is about children of Darken Rahl that were saved from summarily being killed at birth as Rahl's are wont to do. These children by the storys beginning have grown to adulthood, and have been on the run from the ruthless minions of house Rahl their entire life. Though the lifelines of these children start out simply and independant, their stories quickly link up, and crisscross each other until the end of the novel.
Their adventures with the Imperial Army, and within the land of D'Hara is sprinkled with excellent writing, yet my gripe with the story is that the main protagonist: Richard Rahl and his associates are not written about until page 450.
Yes you heard correctly: the main characters of this series, Richard, Kahlan, Cara, who have fueled all of the plot thus far were not written about until the book was 4/5ths done.
I respect this from Goodkind, as he probably wanted to use alternative characters to explore the world he had created, and see it from a different point of view, but I feel as though he should have written more about Kahlan and Richard, just to allow them to grow that much more in this book.
So that is my gripe with this book. It was a well written book, but I wish that Goodkind had written a little more about the characters I have grown to admire greatly. Incidentally Richard does learn one more Wizards Rule, and the streak is kept alive as we are now up to 7 rules of "living life as wizards do".
Good book, well written, the characters were interesting, if not who I really wanted to read about. But in the process I was able to learn a little more of the mystique of the land and some of its inherent magic, and that is always a positive thing. So I would call reading this book overall a very enjoyable experience, if slightly unexpected.

When I first started reading the Sword of Truth novels I was pretty excited. We learn of a new world, Richard discovers his heritage and powers, and we are introduced to his moral philosophy. Events which actually move the story happen. I didn't want the books to end. But it's now been several books since anything has happened which might move the series toward completion. There's nothing new! It's boring! This seventh book has "new" characters, and deals very little with Richard, Kahlan, Zed, etc. However, these new characters are no different from what we've been seeing: Ayn Rand-like moral superheroes vs. snivelling communists. It seems as though Goodkind wants to convert every person in the Imperial Order to Lord Rahl's philosophy (one person and one book at a time).
Fantasy is pretty formulaic. You can maintain interest for a few books worth of setting up a world and having your heros complete their quest. But an author should have a good reason (beyond milking his fans) if he is going to keep going beyond 4 or 5 books. Goodkind hasn't shown me anything lately.

If you want to read more about the exploits of Richard and Kahlan, go back and reread the first couple books in the Sword of Truth Series.
The book, while it DOES involve random, uninteresting characters, features only token appearances by the main cast in the rest of the Sword of Truth series, and is not worth buying. Also, except for the fact that Goodkind has outlined how the magic in his world will die out in a couple thousand years, there seem to be no outward plot developments... The Imperial Order is unaffected, as are all the nations under Richard.
Hopefully, this book was a mistake that Goodkind will put behind him; I know that many of us readers would hate to think that he has dried up as badly as Robert Jordan seems to have.
As a whole, this book left me abysmally dissappointed.

I am an avid fan of this series, and have read all of these books as they have come out. My enthusiasm is waning with the successive books. The impact of this book on the story line will not be known for a while, however this was a lot of time and effort devoted to only moderately interesting side characters. With a whopping pattern of two, Terry seems to be taking a side trip every other book, and it's somewhat frustrating. I loved book six, and I will continue to look into the series, but I am not inclined to spend my money on 400+ pages of moderately irrelevant side characters. To Terry: I'm sure you have publishers on you for quantity, but don't feel like you have to copy or compete with R. Jordan's endless repetitive detail. Write your own story, keep it tight and moving then finish it. Move on to other characters in other stories. 600 pages is too much for a side trip. Another book like this, and I may move to newer pastures.

A Pillar of Marvels!
Terry Goodkind's The Pillars of Creation is a wonderful book entailing all the things good fantasy should books have. This seventh instalment in the highly popular Sword of Truth series is very different from it's predecessors. The book is centered on a new character named Jennsen instead of our favorite couple, Richard Rahl and Kahlan. The book follows young Jennsen's tale, through her past and plunges into her future when a mysterious stranger stumbles upon her one winter day. He saves her from vicious attackers, but even his most valiant efforts fail to save Jenn's mother. Jenn and her mom had been hiding from Jenn's father, the vile Darken Rahl, in the most isolated of area's. Scared and lost, Jenn went with her mysterious saver named Sebastian, into the heart of her enemies layer, D' Hara. She meets many toils that would test her strength and wit, but she proves to be strong and pure of heart. She discovers herself and uncovers many truths, which lead to a unexpected ending.
Also in the shadows a new subplot is introduced, Oba lived with his mother on a farm in an especially poor part of the midlands. He was tortured as a child and lived a very sad life. He was also the spawn of Darken Rahl and shares his father's nasty habits. He kills his mother and town sorcerous and leaves to seek his destiny promised by the keeper himself.
This book may not follow the normal flow of the original story, but still has the heart of a true Sword of Truth book. Terry Goodkind still follows his wonderful writing style, but leaves you thirsting for more about your favorite characters, Richard and Kahlan. Goodkind throws in some unique twists and amazing marvels this good novel.

His theme of good vs. evil still is prominent as ever. And his morels and idea are even more brilliant. Goodkinds philosophies about life are shown in his novels. His ideas are amazingly perceptive, wise, and true. Through reading his books you can learn about principles of life. The reader may choose to follow his ideas or agree to disagree, but none can argue that his idea's do not have some basis in fact. This stories morel is to embrace truth and in doing so embrace life. Learn to love you life and yourself.
I highly recommend this book, but only if you've read it's predecessors first. This book would make little sense if you read it out of order. This series of books are for young adults and up. There are some adult concepts and situations that require a mature reader. This is a superb book that paints a wonderfully detailed world full of many frightening dangers and amazing feats. The Pillars of Creation is a fine read and well worth the time.

Goodkind has fallen into a trap set by the Keeper (and now shares the fate of his fellow sellout Robert Jordan) and worships the almighty dollar. Just like the last installment in this series, there is perhaps 50 pages of text featuring Richard and Kahlan, the protaganists of the series. Instead, we are left with a slowwwwwly unfolding story of two new characters, neither of whom is "gifted" and neither of whom is interesting. May Goodkind find the strength and resolve to either resume the storyline or conclude this farce. Tolkien and others had the courage to end their stories without meangingless excursions and tangents. Check this one out of the library if you must and save your dollars.

I never really write reviews, as i just never cared that much before. However, in the case of this latest book in the SOT series, i felt compelled to express just how thoroughly disgusted i was by the puddle of steaming liquid filth that goodkind has produced for the masses. His last book, Faith of the Fallen, was excellent; it was an exemplar of just how well and originally goodkind can write. But to follow it up with The Pillars of Creation is cruelty to the masses. The plot had come about perfectly, and exciting things might easily have happened in this book. But instead of doing any of that, the author decided to introduce two or three new, idiotic characters that not only bored the hell out of me, but went so far as to bring bile to the back of my throat. (...) The characters that have been central to the rest of the series were somehow omitted from this story... why, i cannot say. I only know that this book is an attempt by the publishers and money-hungry authors to brutally screw the literary public in way unmentionable. The only reason i was even able to bring myself to rate this book two stars was out of respect for the rest of the series... i guess what i'm trying to say is that you shouldn't read this book unless you hate yourself. (...)

I may not have paid close attention to the kindle book description, and did not have a physical book to look through at the time of purchase. However, my take away was that Richard and Kahlan meet a very interesting young woman named Jennsen. Then, Richard and Kahlan did not appear until the very end of the book. This may have been obvious with another purchase type... but it was really disappointing. I did not care about the characters, Jennsen seemed flat and just too naive. Oba was simply gross. I flipped and skipped nearly the whole thing after the first quarter of the book.

Anyone out there who is a Die-hard Goodkind fan will know that this book was not what was expected considering the end of his sixth book. After getting over the initial shock that Richard and Kahlan were indeed not going to be written about, I became immersed in Jennsen's story and went on to enjoy the book very much. Now lets take a step back here and think about what it is about Goodkinds books that make them truly better than the rest. Each book has a specific moral lesson to be learned in the form of a Wizard's Rule, and if you think on it, you'll know that in everybook preceding this one, the rule plays an integral part of the book to almost every single character in it. this book is no exception. The lesson learned in the seventh installment could not have been learned by richard because he already knows it. It took a flawed character with a lot of fear like Jennsen to learn it and ultimately teach the lesson to us the readers. The rules of these books and Mr. Goodkinds writing are what make them the best, with or without Richard. And besides, i'm sure he's got a lot to write about for the next book. We're left hanging in this one moreso than in the last one... if that is even possible. This was a really good book.

Well its a great book...but it went off the beaten path of Richard and Kahlan...which kinda is disorienting....although its a great book the character Jennsen isn't that important over all...buy it to get a grasp on the story...and for the quality writing...although it was what got me into Terry Goodkind to begin with...if you get this book be sure you read all the ones that come before it...or you'll be lost

I am an avid reader of Goodkind's books - I've been hooked since I read Wizard's First Rule 4 years ago. While I Think Wizard's First Rule was Terry's best by far, I've enjoyed the whole series until now. I do not have a problem with the new character focus - Richard and Kahlan are not the only people with power in their world, much as I love reading about them, so there must be others able to affect the world. My main problem with this book was the lack of CONTENT. Instead of being captivated by beautiful worlds and a strong storyline, as in the other books of the series, I found myself skimming page after page looking for some content, any content. The main characters were ridiculous: Jenssen was naive and Oba was just plain disgusting. There was little character development required to depict these two one-sided characters. I was especially disappointed by the predictability of the climax - I have never before been able to predict the twists and turns of Terry's books, but I figured out the end before 100 pages had gone by! I understand and agree with the idea of showing the opposition to Richard and his actions - Goodkind does a good job of demonstrating the Imperial Army's ability to twist Richard's truths - but I feel that Terry reused too many old ideas - Oba certainly sounded exactly like Drefan did a few books back. Ultimately, it was refreshing to come upon characters with whom I was familiar, but I did not enjoy much of the book at all. I would recommend this book only to those who are familiar with the series so when Terry writes the eighth book we can all be up to date. Otherwise, don't bother.

After reading this book and Faith of the Fallen in about a week I have come to the colclusion that unlike Jordan, Goodkind can go to this trough any time he wishes. This is because, unlike Jordan, Goodkind has each of his books be an almost stand alone novel. Not to say that it would be easy to read without the other but the series tells a different story with each book. Unlike Jordan who simply covers one conflict with 10 books, Goodkind has a few books that represent many different adventures. My suggestion is that this is the series that is the Anti-Jordan. There is an all encompassing conflict but it is great that there are stand alone adventures. A great read.

This book is another great one from Terry Goodkind. He has a way of writing that makes you never want to stop reading. I have followed this series from the beginning and I feel this book fits right in.
I agree that it was disappointing that Richard, Kahlan and the other main characters were kept out of the plot until the end of the book but this does not make it a bad book.
This story gives us a better understanding of the Imperial Order and how they are able to recruit people to their cause. It also allows us to understand the ideas flowing through the other side of the war and how Richard is perceived.
The only reason that I gave this book 4 out of 5 instead of a perfect 5 is the re-read factor. There is just not enough going on throughout the book to re-read it (other than finding out what one "harmless" skinny wizard can do).
Again, this book is great and extremely well written. Its flaws hardly make it a book that should be left out of your collection. Hopefully, Terry will continue long into the future.

Although it was nice to see some new characters, I thought that this book simply wasn't up to par compared to most of the other books in the series. Jennsen and especially Oba got a little wearing after a while. Neither seemed to have much depth, and there was just too much of both. I waited a year for a fitting end to the series. It seems to me that Terry Goodkind is just prolonging the end with mediocre novels that were written just so he could get a new book out each year. This kind of writing turns "epic" fantasy into one book after another, written for money, while sacraficing quality. After Faith of the Fallen, this was an especially disappointing book. I also do not agree with the reviewer who stated that Robert Jordan was an excellent writer. I only read the first 4 books of his series, and from what I saw, despite the excellent storytelling, the writing went from bad to worse. Despite its flaws, The Pillars of Creation still kept me reading, and I just hope the next book ties into it, so it wasn't a waste of time

I have now read over 50% of the book and none of the main characters have shown up. This should not be titled a "Sword of Truth" book. It is the Jennsen Story.
Talk about dragging out a story. It seemed as if Mr. Goodkind is paid by the page by his publisher. I loved the first few books. I enjoyed them, because of the characters.
One of the other reviews mentioned a lot packed into the final chapters. I hope this is true. I hope it does not seem good because you have to suffer through the majority of the book to find out about the characters we have come to enjoy.
I feel cheated by the author. Yet I do acknowledge it is his work and he can write what he feels is important. But it still feels like a bought a Jag, opened the door, sat inside and found it was the interior of a Ford Fiesta.

It appears the author attempted to extend the series (and his profits) by devoting an entire book to an uninteresting new character. I have never been more disappointed in Goodkind. I actually returned the book back to the store. It is not one that I even want in my Goodkind collection. On a different note: although I am a great fan of Ayn Rand I've become a bit disappointed in the direction/tone of the series which at times it seems Goodkind is lecturing Objectivism: reason, individualism, freedom, concepts as abstract ideas, rational egoism, etc. No where was this more prevalent than in Faith of the Fallen. I'm pretty surprised that it took me until Book 6 to actually notice it. But Richard is definitely Rand's "heroic being" in a fantasy context. Not that it's a bad thing only give me more action and less philosphical lecturing.

This new approach, although successfully written, left a sour taste in my mouth. The character's naivety and easy manipulation left me baffled and angry at the same time. After reading the whole story of Richard, Khalan, Cara, Zedd, then coming to Jennsen, Sebastian and Oba left me noticing a transition between maturity and wisdom to immaturity and childishness. The character's views are narrowsighted and minded, leaving a bitter taste, almost wanting to scream at the pages for them to smarten up or use their brains.
If the point of the book was to make you realize how two-sided the world is, how people can be so smart and yet have such stupid counterparts, it succeeded hands down. Although leaving me a tad frustrated, I can't help but admire a book that can make me feel its story like it did. The story made me want to be part of it just so I could punch Oba and yell at Jennsen. :P All in all, it's a great read for most SoT fans, but keep an open mind. The story is nothing close to what you're expecting.

Ok, so I have been reading this series from the beginning and been waiting almost feverishly for this new book.It finally gets to my local library and I start to peel back the pages. This seems to be to be a piece of literary burnout. All the books before are riveting and the characters always suprise me. From their multi faceted complexity and their adult perspectives, to the world that surrounds them and its contained hardships. These things have pushed this series into its own creme del la creme in the fantasy realm. But all that is totally absent from this book. Page by page I looked for it, but it continued to drone on with its predictable, one dimensional blandness. I was glad I had to return it, for it has no home on the shelves of my own library. Maybe Mr. Goodkinds attention was concentrated on Debt of Bones, which I do plan to read. Or he wasted our time with a book to set up the next book in the series. Either way this book will be a serious letdown for avid fans of Mr. Goodkind. Thank you.

I have been an avid Sword of Truth reader since Wizard's First Rule was published, and have read each of the previous six books numerous times, as they have magnificent characters & plots, and I love his writing style. I have been looking forward to Pillars for over a year, and sadly, I am very disappointed. Though Goodkind continues to impress with his story-telling ability through his detailed character development, I felt the plot was unrelated completely to the rest of the books, Richard/Kahlan/Cara/Chase don't exist until the end, and it seems most of us, judging from previous reviews, enjoy reading about these characters the most. It seems Goodkind wanted to re-create Drefan, from Temple of the Winds, in an extended, prolonged, and boring fashion. This is not worth buying in hardcover, probably in soft cover just to have the book and complete the series. I sincerely hope Terry remembers the characters that made this series so successful in the next edition...Though his writing style is magnificent and unchanged, he forgot the characters, ideas, and story-line that caught everyone's attention and made this an amazing series.

I was quite excited that another Sword of Truth book came out and started reading it as soon as I could get my hands on it. I was quite annoyed however, to say the least. None of the main characters showed up in the book until halfway through at least. It was like a side quest in a RP game or something. Richard and Kahlan didn't even show up until page 497 of 557! I don't know if the ending was worth it or not.

The only explanation for this book is that an alien snatched Terry Goodkind and replaced him with an illiterate life form. This is simply a dull, poorly crafted book. The dialogue is infantile and strained, and the plot develops only because the protagonist and antagonist, along with the rest of the characters, are all incredibly dull-witted. Completely without subtlety or craft, Goodkind's worst-ever effort.

Although not a bad book, it didn't really have a whole lot to do with the main story line in the series. After about 100 pages, I found myself flipping forward to try and see when Goodkind would get on with it. Unfortunately, he didn't until the last couple of chapters, and then it was a bit of a forced tie-in.
This is more of a side story instead of a continuation of a series, which is disappointing as the description of it makes it sound like the main story line will be continued in this one. If he's going to write a side story, he should at least be honest about it.
After the last book, Faith of the Fallen, which I felt was an incredible book, this was a real let down. There were a lot of threads left open at the end of that one which were just ignored and now we have to wait another year to find out what happens.

I love the Sword of Truth series (except the chicken one, I still don't know what that was all about.) Then I read Faith of the Fallen and I was hooked again desperate to read the sequel. When I picked up Pillars of Creation I thought that's what I had. Boy was I wrong! I don't mind reading about a new character, but she shouldn't have more than a few chapters dedicated to her. In a Sword of Truth book, of approximately 550 pages, neither Richard or Kahlan appear until the last 50, and they don't play that big a role in those pages either. This wasn't a sequel, it was a cash grab. I'm just glad I read a library copy and didn't buy it. Terry Goodkind must be running out of ideas if Pillars of Creation is all he can give us. I'd rather have waited another year or two for him to come up with something worthwhile. Am I willing to risk wasting my time again and read the next book? Sadly yes, because I'm still looking forward to the sequel to Faith of the Fallen. Hope I get it next time.

When I discovered who the book was going to be revolved around, I nearly had a fit! "Why does Goodkind think I'd want to read about anyone other than Richard and Kahlan???" But, I gave in and read it. And, to my suprise, it was good. Not his best, though. If you're looking for finer examples of Goodkind's writings, read earlier books in the Sword Of Truth series, they are much better. However, this book is a must if you're a Sword Of Truth fan. Somehow Goodkind continues to combine unlikely coincidences with a frighteningly realistic plot and characters to match. As with all the rest of Goodkind's characters, you grow to love some new ones. Jennsen, Sebastion, Tom and - yes, even the goat, Betty all touch your heart. So, my recomendation? Do NOT read this book if you have not read the rest of the series. It will ruin the book and the series for you. If you have read the rest of the series, and plan to continue reading, read this book. It's worth it.

I've been a fan of this series... as have almost all the reviewers... HOWEVER, i feel that justice has not been dealt to this book. The purpose of Terry's writings and the books that do not follow the standard fantasy book : following the hero/heroine : is to make an actual WORLD.
Let me clear this up here... RICHARD IS NOT THE ONLY PERSON ON THE PLANET... Goodkind is simply showing this to the reader. The people in the wars, in the trials, in the problems throughout the nations that Richard is instigating/protecting/destroying are REAL people. They have emotions... they are not stupid... and they have a purpose. If the majority of the fans of this series can't live without Richard... than i doubt you will stick around beyond the life span of Richard. If you don't think the book will go that far... than why are there all the foreshadowings that give clues as to the type of person richard's son will be? The main point that has been made through all the lessons Goodkind is giving us is that ONE PERSON MAKES A DIFFERANCE... but no person is imortal. I believe these breakoffs from storyline give added plot, added character, and added foreshoadowing that we will all find in later writings and suddenly have that "oh my gosh!" revelation that we so love as readers. I just thank Goodkind for making such a masterful story... and encourage any and all fantasy readers looking for a real experiance that stays with you for life to forget what the naysayers speak... and see this series for what it is: one large, multi-viewed, fantastic book.
How can i not give this book a 5 rating when this book is not just a sequal... but a partner to every other sword of truth book? cheers to the greatest fantasy series ever created.

a lot of what the other reviewers are saying are understandable and valid, but i personally kind of liked this one. i liked the way it introduced and followed completely new characters, and those new characters are fairly interesting, especially obha. plus the anticipation is deadly when it comes to waiting for richard, and when he finally comes, it doesn't disappoint. maybe try to read it again?

....that I quit reading a fantasy series, or any series of books for that matter. This book, however, convinced me to quit the Sword of Truth nonsense once and for all. Early in the series, I put up with the ubiquitous main-character-that-has-almost-limitless-power-but-won't-realize-it-until-the-author-is-good-and-rich ploy, but when said hero didn't hardly make a showing in this volume, I lost interest for good. If you read reviews for the later books in the series which I have not yet read, you will see some of the same complaints that I have. One of those issues I have is with the some times pages-long chunks of narrative that read like an editorial out of the newspaper. Seriously - it takes no creativity at all to write out your socio-political manifesto, but don't try to pass it off as a gripping fantasy read - it insults the intelligence of your readers. Plenty of other writers have opinions that they want to come through in their writing, but they don't throw it in our faces verbatim with some quote marks around it. It's not even that I disagree with every point that he doggedly insists on making, but it rips me right out of the story, and I have a hard time breaking back in. Fantasy is about escape and suspension of disbelief. If, at the end of the book, I can look back and see the real world comparisons and extrapolate the opinions and points made, then the author has done his/her job well. Like a great painting, it is beautiful at first glance, but the more you look at it, the more there is to see. This series is the newspaper clipping mounted on the wall next to a Monet - I don't care how fancy the frame is, I'd rather look at the Monet.

After a ever so mildly disappointing 6th book, the pillars of creation made up for it. Although the typical main characters are missing from a majority of this book, the moral of the story is well placed throughout the plot. I could barely put this book down, as proven by the fact that it is currently 1am and have read almost a quarter of the book just this evening.

Ok I did the ultmait bad doing in a set of books like these. i read this book first and then read the rest. and while I know some extra info that I shouldn't have known when picking up the first book, but that made the whole book better than if i Had read them in order, I wouldn't know which to recomend first, they really do want to be stand alone books and you would find yourself wishing that you could have forgoten what ever you read first when you pick up what ever you read second. the only issue that i have with this book and most of the terry good kind books, is the abrupt endings. he takes intracket detail and winding and webing in order to get you reading the book like crazy, and conclueds and resolves very quckly, like runing into a brick wall at 120 mph. so I am not sure what to really recomened to you, I will say to all the soward of truth fans, this is not a sword of truth book, it is a spin off, and this is not about the people in the books that you have come to love.

I got plugged into this series with the first episode. Great tale with real characters. Ensuing editions left me wondering why I continued. Then this episode invigorated my attention and thoroughly enjoyed the new places Mr. Goodkind was taking me to.

I would pity the first time reader who picks up any of the editions of this saga and tries to put the pieces together. "The Pillars of Creation" is almost a stand alone novel and does showcase the talents of Goodkind with glimmers of the brilliance that launched the "Sword of Truth" franchise.

Once again logic succeeds in predicting human behavior as foolish people get angry because something isn't exactly what they thought it would be. Terry Goodkind has been brave enough to give us a truly remarkable book with a story line that (despite other reviewers opinions) ties in well with the rest of the series. Although I was dissapointed that some of the major players in the previous books played lesser roles in this one, that shouldn't be allowed to ruin your reading experience. Instead, you should focus on the fact that you have in your hands a very well thought out, entertaining book.
The one thing that I truly hope is that the unwarranted negative reaction to this book won't cut short this wonderful journey which I have enjoyed since the moment I took my first steps. Please don't pay any attention to the words of the bitterly dissapointed children who didn't get exactly what they wanted from the book, and decide for yourself with an open mind

I'd first like to start by saying that the Sword of Truth series is best if you start at the beginning.....
The latest book in the Sword of Truth series is quite suspenseful. However, unlike the other books in the series, it centers on the Richard's half-sister named Jennnsen. I don't like to take anything away from it, but I think it spends too much time on Jennsen's struggles. You really don't see much of the mighty duo of Richard and Kahlan until the last 64 pages, and most of the good stuff is there. A nice addition to the book was another of Richard's many half-brothers, named Oba, but this character makes the book seemingly overviolent (and over graphic). I suppose Mr. Goodkind is trying to portray the evilness of Darken Rahl's offspring, but then how are only Richard and Jennsen untouched?
All in all, I felt this was much better than the ghastly Faith of the Fallen. I also recommend the Wheel of Time series for avid fantasy readers.

A summary look at the reviews shows how many readers liked the book less than the others due to the fact that Richard and Kahlan did not appear until near the end. I tend to agree with that, although the new perspective did have its merits. As used as we are to reading about Richard, mover of worlds, it is refreshing to see a new person on stage who is in a similar position as Richard was in Wizard's First Rule.
A growing problem I have with the series is that the last two volumes concentrated largely on the Imperial Order's philosophy. Especially after Faith of the Fallen, it is starting to wear thin. The basic story of the Pillars of Creation in that sense is: girl start believing in obviously wrong philosophy but sees the light at the end and starts reasoning like Richard.
Do not get me wrong, it was an enjoyable book, although the cover did suggest a more central role for Richard and Kahlan, but I think Terry Goodkind convinced everybody how wrong and cruel the Imperial Order is.

This book is not really a part of the previous sword of truth series. The main character in the story is a new person. Lord Rahl himself is visiting on maybe 10 pages total. The first 400 pages of reading felt as a waste of time waiting for something else. They were spent to build up the background of the new character entered into the series. In the end the book picks up, which is the only reason I finally gave it a three. Considering the new character added I get a feeling the plan is we are going to see sword of truth becoming a very very very long series with many books. But if the next book does not pick up in speed similar to the books before this one and also before the previous to this which was slower than the rest, I am regretfully leaving the series behind. Pitty, the first books were very good.

To the reader who has not read the previous Sword of Truth novels I would surmise that this is not a good place to start. The reason for this is that the main characters of the series do not appear until very late in the book and the significance of certain events and references which made this book great will not be apparent.
Having followed the series I found that this book was superbly written and the late of introduction of new characters, some of which will no doubt be important in the novels to come was artfully accomplished. Goodkind continually keeps the suspense by following the acts of two of Richard's siblings, Jennsen and Oba, both of which are being totally misinformed and in some cases are themselves misguided. All the characters (primary and secondary) are wonderfully human and this is a book where we at times end up feeling sorry for the bad guys too. The plot is riddled with suspense and anticipation as I eagerly waited for Jennsen to discover the truth about her brother, for Richard to actually show up, and to discover the significance of "The Pillars of Creation". At the same time the events described are interesting in themselves especially when the Imperial Order arrives in Aydindril. I will not say any more except that the pace picks up a lot and the scenes are beautifully rendered and plotwise entirely gratifying too!
In a manner similar to the Robert Jordan's way of writing, several 'literary omens' and hints are thrown in throughout the book that unravel in a beautiful ending. I guess I am a bit frustrated in that, like Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, a character or sub-plot is often ignored in a particular book and so, along with the suspense of "what's going to happen next?" we are left insatiated with plot elements yet to be resolved. In this case the book does not at all mention Ann and the D'Haran army and how they fared in the crossing to D'Hara or what their next plans are. Also, we are given just a sneak peak at the elusive Nathan for whom we are always eager to find out more but are always left wanting.
The effect of the book is to leave us with new characters to
be looking out for and with a lot of suspense as to what Richard and Emperor Jagang will attempt next. A little hint is thrown in at the end of a book which leaves me to believe that Shota is likely to show up (and probably rather displeased as well!) in the next book. Needless to say I can't wait for it!

I don't see how other readers can complain about this book, and even sometimes skip books in the series for fear of the story lines not being good enough.

I just finished this book 3 minutes ago. I started reading this series a few months ago. This book was worth the read. My favorite so far being Soul of the Fire.
After the first six books this adding of new characters, and now a view from the Imperial Order side of the war was necessary to prevent boredom. Goodkind ties in all aspects of the storyline well. He ties in parts from Debt of Bones, and Stone of Tears with more mentions of the Grace.

It was good to read and imagine what the world, and see what the war is like from Jagag's point of view; especially when the Imperial Army made its way into Aydindril.

This book takes us down a side street of the SoT series. I did enjoy learning about the new characters in the book, how TG unravels the parts of their personality that make them unique characters. Although I liked the characters, they are not interesting enough for 500 pages. I would have enjoyed a longer book that kept switching between Richard, Kahlan and Cara and then occasionaly back to Jennsen and Oba (instead of placing R, K & C in as "minor characters" of their own story). I am hopeful that this is a "tie in" book for the series. Introducing new characters and then have them play a vital roll in the future releases. I am still anxiously awaiting the next book in the SoT series and I hope the end is on page 1100 of the next book. But if the next book is not more SoT than this I may jump on the wagon of the disappointed. Overall a very good book, just not what I wanted as a SoT enthusiast.

All right. This book was great, had an intresting plot, great new characters, AND an intresting perspective of the Old World's beliefs and the way their camp is run. But what I'm shure drove a lot of diehard fans up the wall was the fact that we didn't know what was happening to Richard and his followers! We only got to read about him in the story through the other characters in the story. I, personally, am greatly intreagued as to what has happened to him in the time between the end of "Faith of The Fallen" and when he saves the guilder from the heart hounds and what he has learned about the Sword of Truth that allowed him to Levitate the Sword to him. I hope that the next book in the series reveals all the details of his adventures

Having just finished The Pillars of Creation, I'm left wondering, "Is this the same story that's summarized on the dust cover?" It was excellent until the last 75 pages, where it all falls apart. It's as if Mr. Goodkind got tired of writing. I kept looking to see if I had missed entire chapters of Richard and Kalhan's adventures, which are only hinted at. A very disappointing ending to what had the potential of being on of the series best.

My first reaction when I finish The Pillars of Creation was disappointment. After the rejuvenating plot and story of Faith of the Fallen (an excellent read, by the way) I was expecting a bit more than what was delivered. However, the book is ust as captivating and enjoyable as all of Goodkind's works in this series.
It seemed to me that this book expected reader's to be fimiliar with the Sword of Truth world and characters, and this made me feel like I was reading a straight-up sequel, which I've never fely before in the previous books. The fact that most of the story centralised around Jennsen and not the star characters of Richard and Kahlan seemed a huge let down, although I enjoyed Zedd and Adie's small but important scenes.
I also felt that the book lacked the depth and length of the previous works. Perhaps this is just my opinon, but I honestly felt let down by Mr.Goodkind by this book. However, I recommend it to every Sword of Truth reader, but everyone else should just start at Wizard's First Rule.

When I first read this book I found myself disappointed in Terry Goodkind's choice for story elements. He strayed from his main characters for the majority of the story and barely pushed the main plot. However, a few months later I decided to re-read the whole series.
Upon doing this I was surprised to find that I liked what he did in the Pillars of Creation. In fact I would have to say it was the only way to bring a new character into the story and develop as much depth as he managed. By focusing on Richard's sister, Terry has brought us not only a colorful new character, whom we can deeply connect with, but he also brought us a new understanding of the Imperial Order and how it is that they operate and just why people seem to follow them. All in all I would recommend this book to anyonw interested in the series. In fact I would suggest reading this book first, than starting at the beginning as I believe it would add more power to what Terry has written.

I have grown to love Terry and his writing with books 1-6. This one, however, makes me want to push fast forward on the audiobook. Its just terrible. I hate the new characters. I find myself wanted to bash their faces in. They are inhuman, and just plain, NOT INTERESTING. Why did he do this? If he wanted to spin off some lame books, then do it. This really does not tie into the main story arc at all. I'm not even sure I want to continue reading this book (or the series), as it is THAT PAINFUL to get through. Its almost as bad as Book 10 of WOT. What were you thinking Terry?

I am not at all dissappointed with the change of characters in this book. Since I have started reading this series, Richard and Co have become like friends to me, and now, Jennsen has been has been added. Just like I felt the struggles with Richard and Kahlan, I feel the same for Jennsen. I understand this book is written how Jennsen perceives the world, and Terry Goodkind does great at giving the reader that perspective.
Overall, I enjoyed this, however, I gave this book four stars instead of 5 because of the goat, and I did not care much for Oba. Oba was twisted and evil, but very stupid. Between Oba, and the goat, I was going to give this book 3 1/2 stars, but, since Oba lost a physical confrontation to Nyda, that brought my rating up a notch. As far as the goat, if Jennsen really needed to have a pet, I believe a dog would of been more suitable. Overall, this book is a good read.

This book was a lot different than I expected. I liked Jennsen ok, but her obsession with killing Richard was weird.
And Oba? Hmmm. I don't have a clue about how to explain him, other then I don't think that he was competly human. He was to much like Darken Rahl for my taste.

I missed hearing from Richard, Kahlan, and Cara (who is my favorite, because she is the only one who seems not to be obsessed with love). They are gone until the last few chapters.

I gave this book three stars only because the main characters are there, but MIA through most of the book. Was still well written though.

This book is not about Richard or Kahlan. It took me a while to digest that, and I'm sure several fans can't deal with it at all.
After I got over it, though, I found that the book indeed is very enjoyable. In my opinion the only major flaw of the book is a character named Oba - he's really not too interesting a character. At times I felt tempted to skip all parts that dealt with him.
My guess is that Terry Goodkind knows what he is doing when he dedicates an entire book to a new character in the series. This book may be an important stepping stone for following works, sort of like "Blood of the Fold" was for "Temple of the Winds" and "Soul of the Fire" was for "Faith of the Fallen". I can very well imagine that the eigth book will be a real doozy again.

I found this book to be a refreshingly creative turning point to the entire Sword of Truth series. After Wizard's First Rule, Goodkind fell into a formula of doom with his characters: Bad guy separates Kahlan and Richard, Richard struggles to get back to his love, Richard overcomes all odds with the amazing help of a gift he doesn't understand, Richard and Kahlan get back together...until the next book. While some will argue that the series is about the Lord Rahl and the Mother Confessor, it is impossible to tell their tale time and time again without the entire story becoming stale. The issues are so large, the stakes so high, and the consequences so serious that the tales of grandeur and derring-do have become nothing more to us than usual standard fare with these characters. Nothing can defeat them, so we are no longer worried about them.

Having said that, however, Pillars of Creation has changed the formula. This book provides us with our first taste of what the New World (truly and aptly named now) is really like with Richard Rahl as ruler of the D'Haran Empire. Richard and Kahlan have decreed no mercy for those who side with the enemy. And yet, here is an innocent, misguided life being manipulated by The Imperial Order. She is on the "wrong" side of the war, and yet, she is far from evil. She merely wants the chance to live her life wihout constant fear. She is the common person that represents all of us: unique, simple, and with the potential to be a threat under the right conditions. We can identify better with her than with the main characters of the series, and I personally cared more about Jensenn and her plight than I cared about Richard and Kahlan getting back together...again...in the past few books.

Although I'm sure many loyal fans of the series disagree with me, I found the character switch fascinating and refreshing. It's a brilliant change from the norm. As a writer, I'm inspired by Goodkind's daring attempt to pull himself out of the dark well of formulae to tell a good story again.

My advice: if you have an open mind and can accept this as a side story to the main events, you will be pleased with this book. If you just want to read about Kahlan and Richard, go back and reread the preceding books over and over. Either way, Goodkind has broken the mold, and based on what I saw in "Naked Empire" (book 8) he's not going back to the same, tired old storytelling. You must choose to either come along for the ride, or stop and get off the wagon now.

As for this book, I felt the best analogy to describe it is a foundation. If the next book(s) are really good, then they will have been built upon this foundation, but if they aren't, then all we have is a lot of rubble. I have faith in Terry to build upon this foundation into a mansion.
Also there are many characters I have been wondering what has happened to
-Chase (What is the most dangerous ungifted man in the New World doing now that the boundary has fallen?)
-Shota (Shota is always up to something, always)
-Prelate Annalina - (what exactly was her encounter with the Healers of Redcliffe?)
-Nathan (What is he up to at the People's Palace, and what did he do before he went there?)
-Sister Ulicia (Disappeared after swearing loyalty to Richard. I doubt the leader of the Sisters of the Dark has been sitting on her hands all this time)
-Nicci (would like to see what she's been up to since her "conversion")
-Gratch (what is that gar up to?)

You'll only enjoy this book if you dont like reading about Richard Rahl. This is because he is only in the book for about the last 50 pages. If you are like me and only want to find out what happens next then just skip this book out cause i'm sure it wont make a difference. It was clear that WFR (book 1) was meant to be a stand alone book. However it was a success and so Terry obviously felt obliged to pop out another and then another. The problem is that while 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 averged good to very good this last addition reeks of an attempt to make more money. It also drags and introduces and centres around a new character who i dont care about. If you think that Robert Jordan has been strertching with the wheel of time then you should read this book cause it is much worse. The point is this book has no consequence on the long term plot and you dont need to read it. Definitely dont buy it unless you think Terry needs a donation cause you certainly wont derive any value from the experience.

I think this book was very good. I am tired of hearing reviews that say they did not like it because it was not the sequel to Faith of the Fallen. Nowhere was it written that it WAS the sequel, so they should stop their whining. I think it is a very good book, but I wish Zedd, Richard and Chase were in it more. The characters the last couple books talked about are not in this until the few chapters so be warned

After reading the first six books, I just could NOT wait for the seventh one to come out. I ended up re-reading the entire series three times while anxiously waiting for "The Pillars of Creation." I'm sorry to say that, yes, even though the book is well-written, it cannot compare to the superb writing of the previous books. It is obvious that Goodkind is under some sort of contract, and has to make the series longer, but the storyline is just terrible! The main characters practically have no part until the end, and the book basically leaves off almost at the same place where "Faith of the Fallen" left off, except for a couple of changes. S.O.T. books are SUPPOSED to be about the main characters, Richard and Kahlan, NOT about the supporting characters alone! Mr.Goodkind, I will continue recommending your books to everyone I know, but PLEASE go back to writing like you did before! Otherwise, I'm afraid people will simply stop buying your books, myself included.

This book is as good a book as Goodkind has ever written, and yes it did follow the story line(sort of). But what it didn't do is include the main characters of the previous book in the sword of truth series. In this book Richard and his "companions" don't realy come in to the story except at the end. And even then they wern't main characters in this book. While I aplaud Goodkind for intruducing new characters to the main story, he kind of went overboard on that part. In his future books of this saga I request that Goodkind include the main characters of the previous books because they're what keep me coming back for more. I can't wait for the next book in this series to come out so please hurry Goodkind!

It's hard for me to write a bad review for Terry Goodkind, considering how much I've enjoyed all the other books in the Sword of Truth series, but I have to be honest here: this book is terrible. All it accomplishes is to introduce a new character to the story. I understand the importance this character may end up having to the story as a whole, but this book alone is simply 500 pages of character development; that's all. The ending is not worth the effort of reading this book. I read this book as fast as I could, just to get it over and done with. I found myself speed reading through chapters, in my mind saying "Yeah, yeah, get on with it", and I never do that for books I enjoy. And I enjoyed all his previous books immensely.
All I can say is that you will not enjoy reading this book, no matter how much you enjoyed his previous books. My personal opinion is that someone should just write a summary of the book, and post it on the web somewhere for the Sword of Truth fans to read, to spare them the agony of this book. In just one page, I could write a summary of this entire novel, and you would know everything you needed to know to be able to continue on to the next book that comes out.
Basically, this book is 500+ pages of character development, followed by 32 pages of enjoyable reading at the end. I never thought I'd say something negative about Terry Goodkind, but there it is. Anyone on here giving positive reviews for the book has either not read it at all, or is just flat out lying.

The first book in this series was the best, then they started going downhill. Faith of the Fallen was better than most of the ones before it, and I had high hopes for Pillars of Creation. Alas...
The book wasn't bad. In fact, I stayed up late reading it, which I usually don't do. But, unfortunately, there were so many problems with it that I wanted to tear out my hair at the end... and I didn't mind too much that Richard and Kahlan were absent, but some sort of connection to rpevious books would have been very nice indeed. Personally, though, I think it was doing fine up until the last, say, 50 or 100 pages. Then, it rapidly became unbelieveable.
First, the string of coincidences was just unbearable. ...
I enjoyed the book for the most part, and intend to read the next ones. But it definitely had some flaws that detracted from my enjoyment.

Being a Sword of Truth series and audible fan I am greatly annoyed and displeased that the folks reading the books can't seem to figure out how to pronounce names correctly or at a minimum the same from story to story. You'll have two books within the series and depending on who is reading the book, they pronounce names completely different. It's annoying !!!

I will not preface my review with caveats regarding how much I've enjoyed this series. If I'm reviewing book 7, that should be enough to know that I'm a fan. And since I know most of you who are reading this are already "in the series" I won't say not to buy it, because even if you believed me that the book is pretty awful, you would probably still go out and get it, if only to find out what happens to the characters you've been reading about.
Well, you don't really find out anything and this series is looking more like a season of Three's Company: episodic, bad writing, and plots that revolve around miscommunication. Terry has lost me as a reader and, to be honest, he should lose you too. He shouldn't profit from such obvious profiteering. Which is way too bad because the series started out about as strong as one that I can remember.

Yep, I'd have to agree with most of the other reviews on here.. I didn't truly care about this character and I was constantly waiting for Richard to appear in at least some form, but, nope.. He's in about 1/20 of the book and even then he doesn't have much to say/do..
The ending seems to come out of nowhere, the whole first half of the book is a small journey across D'Hara with few interesting developments and yet the journey to the Old World which should be 5-10 times as far is not even given one page to describe..
The ending also had a bunch of holes and didn't really flow with past descriptions of events.. But obviously jennsen was introduced to be a part of the series from now on.. However, she could've been introduced and fully flessed out in less than 500 PAGES!...
I read sword of truth to hear about richard and the sword of truth, this book contained very little plot moving events other than jennsen appearing..
It's too bad..

I have been reading Goodkind for years now, ever since "The Stone of Tears" came out. His first two books are among my top 5 fantasy. "Blood of The Fold", "Temple of The Winds", and "Soul of the Fire" are all in my top ten. Number 6, "Faith of the Fallen", is my favorite book of all time. I absolutely loved it. I think that Terry reached the perfect combination of war and philosophy in number 6, and I had extremely high hopes for "The Pillars of Creation". I even skipped school today to be one of the first people in Pennsylvania to get the book. But I have to say that I was disappointed. "The Pillars of Creation" really let me down. Richard and Kahlan only appear in the last 50 pages or so, and I was not enthralled by the 2 new characters that take up the rest of the book. To me it felt as if some other talented writer had read all of the Sword of Truth series, and then tried to write the next book to it. I didn't think that the story flowed very well, and there were more holes than in the rest of the series combined. I was very disappointed to not get to see Richard for more than a few pages. Although I recommend that everyone who has read the rest of the series read this book (just to keep up), I am depressed that this is what I have waited a year for. I suppose that now I start waiting for number #8, huh?

Wizards First Rule was one of the best books in the fantasy genre I have read and the subsequent books have done at best, kept my interest (2 and 3 were really good). God, I mean the main character seems to have become a more special and powerful person with every book. I did not mind the war wizard thing a while back, but the statue that made the entire city cry and revolt in the last book? Come on. This entire series just appears somewhat to cliche. This has just become a never ending tale of Richard vs. the big bad world (whomever the great evil at time seems to be).
Goodkind's writing really seems to have come down to extending the series and not doing high quality work. Don't get me wrong, The Pillars of Creation isn't a bad book and I think it is worth reading if you have read all the others, but it leaves alot to be desired.

I've read all 7 in the series so far and can't wait for the eight 'Naked Empire'. This book takes an unusual view point of The sword of truth world. You see a poorer side of the world from richard's half-sister and half-brother Who unlike richard do not have magic but instead can not be affected in any way shape or form by magic.Both siblings believe that richard is as evil as there father and go on a search for richard, when their parents die, in the girls case to seek the truth and in the boy's possiblly to kill him. I won't say any more cause I can't give all the fun away.
The 'Pillars of Creation' is a fantastic read and gives new insight into the main cultures and kingdoms that have featured before. Not his best one but v.close to it. The best I think was 'Temple of Winds' and a joint second between 'Faith of the Fallen' and this one.

I have to add mine to the list of negative reviews of The Pillars of Creation. Having become an avid fan of this series, I expected the same powerful command of the language exhibited in prior volumes. Mr. Goodkind is capable of spinning a compelling and intense story. The earlier books in the series kept me awake nights unable to resist turning the page. I had to struggle through this story.
Beyond the disappointment of not having my thirst for the main characters quenched, I found the writing was not up to Mr. Goodkind's par. There are entire sentences repeated almost verbatim. There are references made to actions by the characters that have never occurred. Whoever edited this book was asleep at the wheel and drove it off the cliff.
My biggest fear is that now I'll wait another two years for news of Richard and Kahlan only to be disappointed again. Terry, take 3 years and really do it well the next time.

I must say I was pretty disappointed when I heard that Terry Goodkind was to release 7th installment for "The Sword of Truth" series. "Faith of the Fallen" had a perfect, non-Hollywood, ending, where it gave hope to a new beginning. Unfortunately, it seems that the writer could not just end it there, but instead started a completely new story that somehow lamely ties into the existing one. Seems to me like greed was the motivation for the book, not a new brilliant idea. And new plot is not what really bothers me. It is the quality of writing. It is repetitive, silly and obnoxious, and it read as fast as a bad romance novel. I do hope he will go back to the writing style which made the previous books in the series such good reads.

I loved the first four books, abhorred the fifth and was ecstatic about the sixth. PofC is in between. I began reading the book knowing that Richard was not going to be in it. Though it was dissapointing, I was at least not frustrated. Instead I enjoyed the character of Jennsen and am sure that her role in the future books will be important. I hope her relationship with Tom will continue. I enjoyed the D'Harran and Old World back stories. The ending was predictable, but satisfying. Better than any of the Wheel of Time books. Can't wait till next year.

I found this book to be a fresh breath into the world of Terry Goodkind. He showed more detail in this world with a different point of view, by creating several new characters and telling their story. I couldn't put the book down until I had finished it, just like all of his others. I am truly looking forward to his next installment of The Sword Of Truth series.

I think it was innovative to write the book from the perspective of new characters, but I read these books because of Richard and Kahland and with the hope that they will dipose the Imperial Order.
From that perspective, this story fell flat on its face. Mr. Goodkind's story-telling is still exceptional and it was an interesting story. However, this book should not have been touted as part of the Sword of Truth series (even though there were a couple of chapters dedicated to Richard and Kahland).
There we several plot flaws that can't be discussed without revealing spoilers. But they mostly happened near the end, like he was rushing to get it done, and forgot some of the pieces that had gone before. Even so, I did like the over-all ending.

I have generally been a big fan of Terry Goodkind's work. I greatly enjoy his characters Richard, Zedd, Kahlan, Chase, etc. Too bad this book wasn't about any of these characters. Richard's character appeared at most on 25 pages of this 550 page waste. I must say, I really don't care about Jennsen, and the description on the inside of the dust cover is really the only good fiction to be found anywhere inside of this book. There is more written about Richard and Kahlan there, then anywhere else in the novel. I love this series because of Richard and Kahlan, I was hoping to read more about them. This book might be good, as a stand alone novel, with a vague tie in to the Sword of Truth series. But in no way should it be book seven. I bought this book expecting to read mostly about Richard and Kahlan, instead I got page after page of Jennsen. This book might have done the impossible and completely turned me off Terry Goodkind for ever.

If you're like me and have read all books in the series up till now, I would recommend re-reading Wizards First Rule, and Stone of Tears. No possible way can you read in order WFR, SoT, and then Pillars of Creation. Comparing the best to the worst. But over the last few books the quality has seeped out, almost to where the Pillars of Creation is acceptable. Almost.
For all of you(300) that say to us(300,000) "get over it, he's introducing new elements. This series used to be beyond greatness. It had wonderfull characters impossible to forget. Chase. Chandalen. Denna. Now Richard, Kahlan, and we the readers need to dust ourselves off from the past few books and remember what it once was. I've never been able to commit myself to a series of books before this. Don't let it wind down like this Terry.

If I hadn't known that Richard and Kahlen wouldn't enter until near the end, I might have been disappointed, but knowing that ahead of time, I decided to judge the book on its own merits, and I REALLY enjoyed it. In a way it reminded me of WFR...compelling story telling. It's been awhile since I stayed up 'till midnight to finish a book. The end was certainly rushed, but I think that is one of TG's weaknesses, and this book wasn't more rushed than any of the others. I'd recommend that SOT fans go into this with an open mind and forget Richard and Kahlen for a bit so that you can enjoy a great story.

I will start out by saying, that I am sure this would have been a good book, had the series been complete or if this was a side story in one of the books that actually mattered. Unless your desperate there is no reason to buy this book. You can wait for the paperback or skip it and wait for the next book if there is a next book.
I am very dissappointed in Terry Goodkind, I had enjoyed the series up until this book, and I had looked forward to this book being available for almost a month. I honestly believe this is the first book that he wrote that was only released based on money .. in attempt to stretch out the series as to maintain the readership. When will authors learn that this is not the way to maintain readership. There are so many side books that could be published after this series is complete, that he will be able to write for a very long time. I would love to read about kolo and the war, but now I may never by another Goodkind book, oh well there are always other authors.

When I read Goodkind's first book, Wizard's first rule, I loved it. A nice world, good characters, and other nice touches. The next two books were also ok. A bit further, and with less depth, but still nice.
A then the struggle with the bad emperor really started, and it made everything worse. Armies with a hundred thousands of men in it. Does mr. Goodkind know how much people that are, how much they eat, etc? And Richard is just flashing through the world. Without any sort of transportation! It all got very unbelievable!
And then the Pillars of Creation...
For me the only reason to buy the book was to follow Richard.
And we don't meet him until the last pages, which is very annoying. And then the lead-characters, she is realy stupid and
also very flat. And he is EVIL, he almosts breathes it!
At the start of the book I figured out what was going on, and
most annoying part was that I was right! The story just follows the line and all characters behave just the way they should and don't do anything interesting...
If mr. Goodkind is writing more books about Richard Rahl, I hope he will take some more time to write because the last books weren't worth something!

Although I have been a long time fan of Terry Goodkind I found this book to have taken a very large side track to the main storyline of the Sword of Truth series. I found it frustrating reading each chapter hoping that the story would get on track. Each chapter I read made me more frustrated, not knowing what was going on in the main story line.
I am not saying this book was bad, but it felt like it had no conection to the main story. I was hoping for some continuation of the the war with the Old World.
I love the the Sword of Truth Series and I hope that the next book will continue with the war. In truth, this book could be bypassed while reading the series. I do not think that this book will have a tremendous amount of impact on books to come.
I ecncourage everyone to read The Sword of Truth series, but I did not feel this book was worth the time and frustration that I endured.

I don't like Jennsen. Richard doesn't even show up in the book as a character until page 500. This book is basically Wizards First Rule rewritten with Richard being Jennsen. It's a good book, just redundant. I think this book was just written as a preview of what the next one will be like. I was disappointed in it. I hope R & K are in the next book. It's more interesting with them.

ok, i know this has been said over and over, but one more time, this book was a huge HUGE waste of my time and money. The previous reviews said this was basically a book to introduce a new character. Well i disagree, it was a book about nothing. Jennson wasn't interesting in the least, and i have no idea what oba the boring oaf was even doing in there. And who couldn't see the whole tom was actually a lord Rahl agent all along? I love the SoT series, and it saddens me that mr. Goodkind felt he needed to write this novel like this at this time. I agree with the others when they said he needed to address what happened after they took Jagang's home city. With that said i'll just say that I would have given this a big fat goose egg for a rating but the store doesn't go that low in it's rating system.

There was no development of the characters beyond a couple of people. I would have liked to have seen and heard from the characters from the first set of stories before page 600. Only a few key characters were mentioned at all.
This is one of those stories you can skip 10 or 50 pages at a time and you have not missed much. The author stayed with basically a one-person story line the entire book, which was not entertaining. It was mostly monolog (he thought this, she thought that and so on and so on), not much dialog or real action.

I looked forward to each installment of this series with great anticipation and was never disappointed. After finishing this book, I am worried that the well has run dry. It is very disturbing when the main characters from the earlier books, COLLECTIVELY, appear in less than 10 percent of the book. Yikes!
I am hoping that this book was a necessary interlude to set up the future of the series. If not, it will be the disappointing end of what has been a very good fantasy saga.

While I am a fan of Terry Goodkind's series started with Wizards First Rule, I was disappointed with this installment in what is otherwise a fantastic series. Perhaps it was due to the long delay since I read Faith of the Fallen, but many of the references were obscure. Further, the adventures of Jennsen, while action packed, frustrated due to the obvious end of her plight. The story could have been half the length of this novel, told the same story, and been better for the thinning. Few new revelations appear in this novel, little interaction with old friends, and seemingly little impact on the overall plot arc. Perhaps the main character will play a greater role in future installments, we can only hope. As it stands this novel is a long, nearly dull aside that I worked to finish.

While not utterly terrible, I found this book to be greatly inferior in quality to the early books of the series. It simply didn't grab my attention. Wizard's First Rule, Stone of Tears and Temple of the Winds are full of twists and turns, and you feel like you've ridden a roller coaster as you watch characters you actually care about go through suspenseful, and sometimes disturbing events.
This book fell far short of that mark. The main character simply wasn't very interesting, and the entire plot was plodding and quite predictable. It also did not advance the overall plot line of the series in any way. So I'd recommend skipping this book. I will probably read the next one to see if the series picks up again, but this book (and book 5, Soul of the Fire) certainly show that the series has dropped several notches.
The endless Ayn Rand philosophy is becoming very tiresome as well. Hopefully Goodkind will surprise me and recapture some of his earlier magic in book 8.

Of the first 7 books of this series, this is easily the most unexpected. I give credit to Terry for having the guts to do what his fans would least expect: write a Sword of Truth Book that doesn't feature Richard and Kahlan as the main characters. After the sixth book I almost didn't read this one. I'd had enough of Richard and Kahlan. I was ready for something different. Once I realized this book isn't focused on Richard and Kahlan I gave it a chance. I'm glad I did.

To enjoy this book you must be willing to take a leap of faith. My advice: take a break from Richard and Kahlan by reading this book. Once I got to know the new characters I couldn't put this book down. It's fantastic. In the end Terry blends this book in beautifully with the overall story line of the series.

Many would call this a setup book for book eight. Yes, I'd presume it must be, but it's an excellent book in it's own right. It doesn't require book eight as justification.

I feel sorry for all of those who started reading this book and gave up on it before finishing it.

This wasn't a terrible book, it was just a builder. I miss all of the old characters as much as anyone, but I guess I am trying to be optimistic and hope that Jenssen will have a purpose in the future novels. Oba, however, was a bit too sadistic for his own good. Though I was a bit dissappointed, I thought Goodkind did a great job of presenting the characters' perception of everything through a different point of view. The ending was a bit sketchy; it seemed thrown together and sappy, with the corny goat reunion and all... but I just can't help but hope that there are still great things to come in this series. I loved the first four books, and found book five to be a bit of a slump. Six was better... now let's hope Terry has the grand finale still up his sleeve...

This is an awesome story, but it does not really fit in with the series that well. This story does not really enhance or evolve the story line of the series.. The main characters are only breifly mentioned. This book can be better described as a story parrelling the characters in the Sword of Truth saga.

However, it was well written and a great story. Goodkind developes new characters with the depth that few authors can give. If you are willing to view this as a stand alone book and not part of the Sword of Truth series, it is a good book.

Edit: The next book Naked Empire expands on concepts devolped in this book, so it is kind tied into the series a little more.

I totally understand how people could be disapointed with this book. I dont want to hear about Jennson or Oba, I want some Richard and Kahlan. So instead of being disapointed about that I looked at it from a different perspective. As readers you toatally get a different perspective of Dahara and ultamatly Richard. People in Dahara actually back the dude up. You also find out that Richard has a sister, which is pretty cool(even though shes not a very spectacular character.) But I also really liked how Terry Goodkind describes the Order and we find out how Jagang is actually a big pansie.
After tredging through all the garbage in the beggining the story starts to unfold and you can see an opening for a great installment to the Sword of Truth series. He had to add a few characters and stuff to make the series more solid.
Yeah, and for all the punks who bag on terry goodkind, i'd like to see you right a better book. T Goodkind knows what hes doing, and hes still the best Author on earth.

I have a love hate relationship with Goodkind. On the one hand, he is incredibly imaginative and original. On the other hand, he can't write dialog to save his life, and often, he just repeat himself over and over and over and over and over again.

I suspect if I deleted all the repetition, particularly about the stupid knife (Yes, we get it early on Terry) you could cut about two thirds of the book out and not change it at all.

The previous book, Faith of the Fallen (book six), was very good. Another brilliant original twist placing the main character Richard deep in enemy territory, stripped of his magic and his sword, with only his mind to fight back. Excellent. So what happened Terry? How did you go from such brilliance to the pedantic, plodding, mind-numbing pap of book seven?

I found myself skimming through this book. In truth, you can read the first few chapters and probably the last two and get the entirety of the book.

After waiting months for the next installment in the Sword of Truth saga. I was deftly dissipointed in what I read. While the story line was excellent, I began to wonder "What happened". It seems Terry Goodkind is starting to follow in the footsteps Of Robert Jordan. We're getting off the track of the story here. Where I was expecting the continuing story of Richard and Kaylan I got Oba and Jennsen? Richard wasn't even brought into the story (other than mentioning his exploits)until the very last chapter.
A great series has turned away from what's important to it's loyal fans. To, as we see it, a way of dragging out the story to sell more books. But in my opinion, it's a good way of losing your audience

This has been, without a doubt, the worst book I have read in at least ten years. I agree that plot is Mr. Goodkind's forte, but in relative terms, that doesn't say very much for him. Absurd and unexplained coincidences (e.g. J and S coming across the woman and her sick child, Tom riding up with Betty out of nowhere), sickeningly stereotypical characters and development (e.g. big, beautiful, strong heroes, beautiful, voluptuous, and ultimately subordinate heroines; Jennsen's schitzophrenic mental condition (trembling one second, exuding supreme confidence the next), Jajang "the Just" (what the...? Better names needed please) - emperor and genius - not understanding simple descriptions of magic), exhausting descriptive narrative to the point of frustration and personal insult, distracting reliance on cliched language, as well as strange overuse of certain phrases (e.g. "the reassuring metallic click...")...
I could go on.
If this is the kind of writing fantasy readers expect, and apparently enjoy, it does not speak well of them. New and better writing is needed, urgently. Not only was it boring, it is insulting to the intelligence of the readership. Shame on you, Mr. Goodkind. And lose the ponytail. It's 2003, for God's sake.

If you're buying this book cuz you love richard, kahlan, zorander, adie, nathan, and cara, save your money until the next one. They're barely in it, I could count, but my guess is they appear on maybe 10 pages.
If you want to
1)see a young innocent girl deceived by the bad guys in boring detail for 557 pages, 2). be preached at with the same (not new, the same) tiresome dialogue that's begun to drag down the other books, and 3). see Mr. Goodkind explore the torture and maiming of innocents in a manner that would make a method actor proud, then this is your book.
It would also be nice if Mr. Goodkind would stop reading Robert Jordan....of course both refuse to end the story cuz they are making too much money. Shame on them!

I picked up a copy of Wizards First Rule whilst having Coffee at a bookstore, read the first chapter and was hooked. Something in the imagery conjured up Goodkind in the first chapter just enthralled me and I've been a fan ever since.
I've read all the books in the series and in general have extremely high regard for Goodkind. Wizards First Rule was great. Thought that the last 200 pages were accelerated a bit too much. Stone of Tears was good and so was Blood of the Fold. These first three brought the characters and plot threads together quite successfully. Temple of the Winds was fairly good, however I thought that it dragged a bit. Soul of the Fire did too at the beginning, however it came together quite well at the end and led quite nicely into Faith of the Fallen, which I thought was excellent. No swash buckling stuff... focused on the nature of the relationship (bond) between Richard and Kahlan. Also explored how far Richard could be broken. Kinda very real world especially with regard to bonds between individuals.
In my humble interpretation of his work Goodkind focuses heavily on characterization and the relationship between Kahlan and Richard. He would devote an entire book, like I believe was done in Temple of the Winds, to make a specific statement about a character or of the nature of the relationship between Kahlan and Richard. He's generally quite effective in doing this, however in Temple of the Winds, the story tended to meander without an immediately obvious purpose. All in all though, he is very effective with his characterisation.
Pillars of Creation however is an oddity. Did Goodkind write this? What was it's purpose? Well there was a new character... explored very poorly... and I say that because the characterization, unlike the preceding volumes, was extremely truncated. There was a secondary character, who featured prominently at the beginning, then failed to make a significant impact through the book and finally made a spectacularly fizzled appearance in the last chapter. Richard... our central character... doesn't make an appearance (significant anyway) until the last couple of chapter. Everything was rushed, rushed, rushed! This book is a severe departure to Goodkind's usual careful characterisation.
In general the book was really short... it just lacked direction... and the plot was vague. I'm not certain what Goodkind was attempting to accomplish. The introduction of a new character is my only guess... but it's unlike Goodkind to rush things so!
The imagery that I found in the other books was missing... generally very flat. All in all... very disappointing.
Hey look... I loved the others... there was so much of great stuff there... and more great stuff that Goodkind can explore... I consider this a dip... nothing more (I hope!). I will be the first to buy his next book... Waiting in eager anticipation for the resumption of the real SOT.
-A fan.

First, let me say that this was a decent book ... and decent is about all I can say for it. This is not so much that it wasn't a good story, but more of a ... Ok, we get the whole capitalist system versus socialist system argument you are making! We get it ... really we do. The problem is that BOTH of the main bad guys were essentially socialists, so it almost seems like Terry killed off Darken Rahl, a socialist, just to put in another socialist bad buy. This is causing a bit of redundancy in the overall story, a bit of boredom with the over-arching storyline. While Terry certain weaves a great story, I'm finding myself growing bored with the series itself. Unless something DRASTICALLY changes with Naked Empire, that will probably be the last book of this series I read.

The first third is fine, but then goes downhill....to the totally stupid ending. Trite bad guy ruins the basic story line and the "hero" does not ring true. Lots of repetition.
On the good side; a nice story concept, the descriptions of animals are nicely done.
Don't bother to spend the money.

Agreed. SOT is a great series, but save yourself time and grief and just read the summary on wikipedia and move on with the rest of the books. You won't miss out on anything and still enjoy the series, I promise. It's not even good in and of itself, and it certainly doesn't add to the series.

After creating such a masterpiece of epic fantasy in his first 7 novels; a world that is unparralled in its depth and width; to suddenly abandon it and choose another character is a mistake - in my view. This book is difficult to accept in that it does not flow with the first seven. I felt betrayed. Not only is it much shorter than the previous (the print is huge - not at all the closely set type from the previous) but it spins a tale independant of the main characters and then - right at the end - has those main characters show up, put all to rights, and save the world. Are Richard and Kahlan now nothing more than a technique to end one of these novels? I bought this book to read more about them - these characters I have so come to understand and love - and am left feeling betrayed.

Ok we spent time, money, and effort reading the all the other books getting to know the characters. Then what happens? They all disappear. I found myself skipping 10 to 20 pages at a time of drawn out boring dialogue from characters that we don't care about. (And this occured alot throughout the book) Ones we know will end up dead. It also seems that every book brings out a new sister of the dark briefly then we kill her off. All of his books are delightful even though they all seem to borrow everything from other fantasy and fiction writers. The reason I read books in series' is because there are a cast of characters you grow to know and love, Goodkind might as well have killed them all off, you only hear about them in the last 30 pages or so of this 550 page book

Goodkind is a good writer, but this series has been based on the main characters that have been developed in the first 6 books. Those main characters are absent in this book !
Richard and Kahlan were hardly in the book at all. None of the themes from the other books were carried over. In fact, there seems to be no continuity. This book is not really part of the series, it should be a standalone book that takes place in another universe.

This it not Terry Goodkind's best work, to put it kindly. I know there is a reason for him setting up the background on the characters, but it could have been done in a chapter. It's awful. For those that thought Soul of the Fire was awful, it was about 10 steps above this one.

When I read Terry Goodkind's seventh book in the Sword of Truth series, it seemed to me that I wasn't quite sure what was occuring in the story. As I was reading through the first seventy pages, I hardly got any information about the main characters from the previous books. It is instead revolving around a woman who comes out of the blue, apparently a hunted person. However, there was a mention of her in the 4th book The Temple of the Winds (if you have read the books). I do think however the it was very well written and tied in to the rest of the books at the end. I also liked the change of perspective in the story.

The thing that irritated me the most about this book was
that the type and word spacing were so much larger than
all the previous books. Did the publisher think that we
were so dumb that we couldn't figure out that if you use
larger type and more spaces between the lines and the words
that you may end up with the similar amount of pages as the
previous books but you actually get a lot less words.
The story was shorter than all the other books and it bugs
me that they tried to cover it up by using larger type usually
reserved for kiddie books. This book was a sell out by both
the author and the publisher. If it takes more time to do it
right, then take more time !

I think other reviewers lost sight of the fact that there are only so many bad guys and so many things to fight. The last two books have kept the series going while examining other ideas and I see that as being very bold on the authors behalf. Also we get an interesting view from other peoples perspectives. These last two stories have been unique and have't had to depend on over used items. We already know Richard can fight better than anyone, we know he has magic, now we see him use other resources and develope. Its nice to see the author not magic everything away ala Eddings last books

This book filled in some gaps in our "sword of truth" world. It explains about Richard's half-siblings, and his ancestors. Also we see the utter insanity of the dreamwalker and his followers. let me break it down-
Pros:
-553 pages (nice, healthy size)
-expands on Rahl history
-there's romance (always appreciated!)
-major plot develops further
-and did i mention magic/otherworldly beings/villains you really hate
Cons:
-sexual violence (that stuff is tough- emotionally- to read)
All in all it's a very good book, and quite enjoyable.
btw- you will understand the title by the end of the book, or you didn't read it properly.

While I am not one to beat a dead horse, I still would like to say I was SEVERELY disappointed with this book. The plot could have been forseen by a child of three, the characters lacked much needed definition, and I felt that the story went nowhere. After a year of waiting, I feel like a man would after visiting a prostitute, the service recieved was not worth the money spent. I'm sorry to say that one of my favorite authors has let me down with a sidebar that, to me, had no meaning. This book felt more like one that would come after an author has finished a series and was trying to float a few books by on its reputation. I hope that this book is not a forewarning of the future of Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. I look forward to a better book to come.

The book itself wasn't that badly written. I feel, however, that it was to far from the story of Kahlan and Richard. The story line itself was choppy; I thought it rushed ahead and then slowed down when it didn't need to. These are just things that i thought when i read the book. What disappointed me the most was that the other books were so good and offerred interesting parallels... this one didn't.
The two characters were very good. but that doesn't matter because they had little relation to the other stories. The most intersting of characters aren't even in the story; they just come in at the end to save the day. Oh well; i will still pay my [money] on the next book which comes out. as will everyone else who loved the first books in the series.

I have been an avid reader of Terry Goodkind's books. I am truly stunned over how much paper that has been wasted on this particular story! I do not know what he was thinking, but he has lost me in more ways than one. I don't know why he wasted so much time on these two new characters. I didn't buy this book so I could read all about Jennsen and Oba. I bought it so I could read about Richard and Kahlan in the Old World. Yuck! It is not the money that I wasted that makes me so mad. It is the time that I wasted. That is more valuable to me. I am through with this story. It is just too frustrating to hope that Terry will get his act together and tell a story that we would like to read.

I just finished reading this book. I was so excited about getting it, especially after reading Faith of the Fallen. In fact, I re-read Faith of the Fallen the weekend before Pillars came out, just so the storyline would be fresh in my mind.
Wow, what a disappointment this was. In a 559 page book, Richard didn't show up until page 500. Even then, you have no idea what happened from the end of Faith of the Fallen until he shows up in this one. The cover of Pillars lets you believe that Richard and Kalhan are main characters again. In truth, they are in only a handful of pages.
This book is a filler book. Nothing more. (...) It is so disorganized and off of the original story-line that anybody who is a fan of the Sword of Truth series will be ashamed to have purchased this book. I know I am. (...)

I do agree with many people, that this is not what we expected. That does not take away from the amazingly immersive and wonderful world Terry Goodkind continues to create. The new characters are interesting and fun, and I'm sure since he was contracted for at least a 10 book series that it will get better.
The story ran amazingly smooth, with very few dull points. I do agree that I missed Richard, Cara, Kahlan, and the rest, but hopefully in the next books that will change. I would not say this is the best book he's written but it definately deserves a spot on the shelves with the others. Terry Goodkind is amazingly grand at writing books with a similar consistency, and I promise you, this one will not let you down

I bought this book because it was the newest in the Sword of Truth Series. I was surprised to find new characters playing major roles... and I was a bit miffed in the beginning. My faith that Goodkind would deliver, however, and his ability to create characters that absolutely draw me in, kept me reading - avidly. At first to hurry to get to Kahlan and Richard, but soon because the new heros/villans captured me. And the way Goodkind ties it all together in the end... masterful. But of course! How else would he be but masterful!

I just want to agree with most of the reviewers: this book was certainly not what I expected (...). The fact that the two main characters, Richard and Kahlan, are barely in the book, is indeed disappointing. With the conclusion of Faith of the Fallen, I assumed(obviously incorrectly) that Pillars would be the story of Richard's retaking command of the D'Haran army, as the people of Altar'Raug proved themselves to him. Instead, Pillars was about a young woman we had never heard of and a sadistic, animal killing, "oaf" named Oba. Also, I was very curious to see what Nicci's role would have been in the fight, now that she had found the answer to the question she was looking for in Faith. Overall, the book was disappointing and I can only hope that the 8th book(the next one) gets back to the fundamentals.

I started out reading The Pillars of Creation with high expectations, but after the first five chapters, I was deeply troubled by what was occuring. Not only was there little of any literary value in this book, I found it boring, long winded and generally poorly incorporated. A similar task was undertaken in the fifth book (Soul of the Fire) but it was done much better than this one. I must say that I hope Mr. Goodkind returns swiftly to the handful of characters anybody will ever care about in this series and leave extra garbage like this on editing room floor. I sorely wish I could rate this book better based on it's predecessors, but sadly I cannot. It is a sad day indeed.......

Lets be honest about the book. Goodkind did two things in this book.
1: different perspective instead of Kahlan and Richard, you have Richards sister taking the lead. This made a little twist from the first 6 books which focused on them.
2: Set the foundation for the next book Faith of the Fallen. I am not going to ruin the plot but I will say that Richard sister is not as unique as everyone thought.
Goodkind was brilliant for doing this but lets hope he does not make the mistake of too many characters. Ada, Kahlan, Richard, Zedd, Cara now Jennsen are all major characters to follow. If Goodkind is not careful he may fall into the same cycle that Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series is doing. Too many characters doing too many things and there are either gaps or blatant dismissal of minor plots that make the storie seem less then what the series started with.

Not to say that this wasn't well written, it just wasn't what I expected of the book. I was seriously let down when I discovered that it wasn't a follow up to Faith of the Fallen.
Though emotional, I think Mr. Goodkind spent too much time explaining the hatred his sister felt for him, and despite hearing from the various people she meets on her travels that Richard Rahl was a good person, the anger and prejudice stay until the very end of the book.
I found that aspect of the story rather tiring, to be honest. It seemed too repetetive for my tastes.
If one is not seeking a sequal to Faith of the Fallen, this isn't a bad read. Just don't expect anything spectacular.

Okay so it may not be as good as some of the others. So what? Terry Brooks continues to shine! I have truly enjoyed reading these books. I'm not disappointed that I plunked down for hardcover either. I'll admit that I was disappointed that Richard or Kahlan were not the main characters but I soon grew to love the new characters. The Pillars of Creation gives us a new look at places we've visited as well as new. We larn that brute force will not always bring victory in war or battle. In the next novel I think that we can all imagine the mischief Jennsen and Richard Rahl will bring for Kahlan, Cara and all the other characters we've grown to love.

This is probably the worst book I have ever read.

I've loved the first 6, and from this book onwards - and especially with this book - I find Goodkind's work to be totally empty and denuded of interest.

I can't begin to understand why, as one of the other reviewers wrote "did he even write this book" ?. I personnaly believe that success made Goodkind fall head over heels into self-admiration and lust to sell more, to the detriment of his books' quality. The plot is staightforward, the characters unsurprising and simple, the "philosophical" (I would rather quote this term in this context) statements simplistic, boringly long, and frankly laughable.

I read the two following 'Pillars of Creation' : 'Naked Empire' and 'Chainfire', which are a little better. To tell the truth, I felt that I was taken hostage and forced to read these books because I so much liked the previous ones that I bought all three at once.

These will definetely be the last Goodkind I read

... if your idea of fun is bludgeoning yourself in the face with a frying pan for 5 straight hours. How can I put it any plainer than by saying that this book SUCKS! I know it's really hard to stop reading a fantasy series once you get hooked on the first couple books, especially if they're really good (like in Sword of Truth), but seriously, after book 6 the series is absolutely terrible. Goodkind turned retarded overnight. Books 7-9 seem like they were written by a none-too-bright 8th grader who just learned what communism / socialism is. Subtly I laugh at thee. Goodkind doesn't exactly have a deft hand or gentle touch when it comes to inserting his political dogma into his writings. No, he prefers to beat the reader bloody with a big stick. Good luck dodging the bullet.

So what exactly sucked about this book? Well, how about if we just make Richard and Kahlan disappear? Is that enough for you? Because that's what happens. No exaggeration, they are not in the book until the final 10 or so pages. Sound like a good idea? I thought not. Instead we are introduced to the oh-so-lovely Jensen, Richard's half sister by Darken Rahl. Sounds interesting right? It isn't. The entire story is about her idiotic wanderings and her dumbass goat. That's right. I said a goat. Goodkind went with the old rule: "If your story sucks, insert a lovable animal". Except the goat isn't lovable. It's just stupid. I wanted it to fall off a cliff so many times. I mean, a goat! Could we pick a stupider animal? A dog I could see. Or a wolf. Or even the baby Gar Richard had. But a goat? How about a cow? A blind llama? Or a three-legged pig! Those always make great companions for life and death adventures! Goat burgers anyone?

And the worst part is, Jensen proves (in the subsequent books) to be completely useless! Absolutely no point to her! An entire book for her character creation, and guess what? She serves no purpose. Sweet...

Terry Goodkind is an autistic gorilla. I hate him.

Basically 50 chapters of all new characters. Richard and everyone from previous books do not even enter the book for 50 chapters and are only is a few of that last 10 chapters.

I've started the next book and have decided that this book can be skipped because the only thing you need to know from it is

... SPOILER COMING...

He finds his ungifted sister, Jenson. And she was duped by the order for 50 chapters.

Terry... get on with the story... I was SOOO frustrated by this book. I am starting to think we will never see Richard be a true Wizard... or the Order squashed. Get on with it please.

Well I've been a good time reader ever since the 1st book: Wizards First Rule came out.I have to say that pillars of creation wasn't what I expected from Mr. Goodkind. Richard and Kahlan were not in the book as much as they should have been. Jennsen and Oba were the main characters of this book.Even though that the Jennsen and Oba story was good and sometimes entertaining, I still felt that there need to be more.If you read all the other Sword of truth novels, don't stop and not read this one, cause even though I was dissipointed with this book, it's still very good.Read it and it's up to you if you want to buy the hardcover or wait for the paperback edition to come out.

good book, as goodkind is a fabulos epic storyteller. my only complaint? the book gets a bit churchy. not necessarily in a bad way, just not interested as he was. fabulous continuatin in the series, and it all becomes more important as the series comes to a close.

Sure, this book might not be 100% about Richard/Kahlan, etc. like the majority of the previous books were, and though I found it odd at first, eventually I came to enjoy the book as thoroughly as I had the others. It was nice to start with "new" characters for once--getting to know new faces in the series is always interesting. Keeping so many characters balanced and well written is no easy task--yet Goodkind has done it again! ;) A superb book for any die-hard lover of this series.

A very engaging story, I wanted to know more about what was happening to the main characters... But I got so engaged with the story of the new chracters that I didn't mind much!
I'm waiting for the next book impatiently!!
Please Terry write more & more about Khalan, Richard & Cara ++++

Many people have said they don't like this book, but I found it higly enjoyable. Sure, you don't see Richard and Kahlan until the very end, but I was left with the feeling that the next book would tie in very well bringing everything together. If you are a diehard Terry goodkind fan, and, like me, are hesistating to read this book because of all of the bad press you have read, then stop hesitating right this instant. It is well worth the time it will take to read.

I was a little apprehensive at frist when I had read that this book contained almost nothing about Richard and Kahlan in it. Well, I can say that my timidness was swiftly diminished. I actually read this book more feverently then any of the previous 6 in the serious. I cleared the entire novel in two sittings. What I can say is that with the different perspective that Goodkind places in this book is a welcome freshness to the same focus on Richard and Kahlan. He blends them in well so that the reader always feels that Richard and Kahlan are still present and just loom around the corner. In the end Goodkind's last two novel's Faith of the Fallen and The Pillars of Creation have stood out as his best so far, and hopefully the forthcoming will live up to his continuing improvments.

I am so utterly depressed about this book. After waiting so long to find out about Richard and Khalan, and how they will deal with the impending war, the out come of the rebellion, and the rest of the lose threads....we get this! This is a lame book about a lame character. I have been a devout reader of this series, but this has got to be the worst disappointment I have had since I have started reading. Richard and Khalan are only after thoughts in this book and only come into play the last few chapters. This has to be joke, this can't be the real book right? I can't say enough about how badly this book s!@#s, so I have to stop before I get really upset!

Well fantasy lovers the wait is finnally over, and I think that I could just have kept on waiting..... I gave it three stars just because it was written by goodkind or was it?
This book would be a great book for someone who has not fallen for all the previous characters in the sword of truth legacy. The pilliars of creation is well written and well thought out I was just let down after the great work on the last book. We have a recreated Defram and a Kahlan want a be running around with a Richard wan a be. Only they don't have any magic.......
well hurry up with the next book and don't make us wait another year for it.

It took me months of reading bits of it, until I gave up in defeat of ever finish reading this book. It is truly bad. Only one book that I have read is worse than this out of thousands of books. I would rate all of his previous books either a 4 or 5. And it has nothing to do with having Richard there or not. It was simply boring with characters I couldn't give rat's ... for.
His next book will be out in a few months, and instead of pre-ordering his hardback books like I have before. I will wait until it is released, so I can read a few pages first. I have simply lost my faith that what he writes will be any good.

I was actually disapointed with this book, I always look forward to the next installment in the Sword of Truth series. Terry Goodkind is one of my most favorite authors, his style makes you love the characters and even feel for them. This book is well written, but the introduction of and focus on the new characters is a sad departure from the series. I suppose the next book in the series will show what Mr. Goodkind was attempting to set up with this book. In short, it is well written but if you are looking for the characters you know and love, check in the last couple of chapters and skip the whole first part of the book.

Many people would disagree with me, but I don't care if Goodkind writes 2000000 books that just go on and on about ALL the people in SoT, because if I finished reading those books, I'd still want to know what would happen next! Heck, I've read books where the main characters die and go into the book's version of the underworld and wondered what would happen in the underworld, what would happen everywhere, so I wouldn't care if this book were the most boring in the world! But I personally love the drawn-out beginning and rushed end (Which I don't find at all confusing). It's a nice change from the Kahlan;Richard scene.

That's what I want to know. Those guys are so awesome, I have no idea why Mr. Goodkind would purposely want to leave them out of the book. Jennesen is soooo pyscho, she doesn't even understand what is happening around her. She is so brainwashed it makes me sick to read. Oba is a sadistic little welp that should get a soldiers' pike upside the head, that'll open his eyes to what he really is. This book is missing key ingredients: ALL THE MAIN CHARACTERS FROM THE PREVIOUS SERIES. Mr. Goodkind, give the people what they want. Not some thought up on a whim stupidity that you've written.

Do you know the feeling you have right after Christmas? After the presents are opened? Well, that's the feeling I had after I was about half-way through the book.
I've read all of the Sword of Truth series so far. (...) However, this book really disappointed me.
Why? Well, though Mr. Goodkind had a story to tell, he did so in a choppy, hard-to-follow way. It seemed that the ending was hastily written. Instead of an enjoyable read, I had to struggle through the book - something I am not used to in a Goodkind novel.
(...)

The Pillars of Creation - Too many inconsistencies. Too many coincidences. Weak story. 550 pages of fluff, maybe 50 pages of content. The characters are unbelievable and not very intelligent. Not on par with Goodkind's early books in this series - not even close. I don't know whether to be happy for you or feel sorry for you if you enjoyed this book.

basically, i begin to wonder if Goodkind simply wants to make more money. Seriously. This book managed to forward the overall plot of the books not ONE bit. Not only that, but he creates these "null" characters that are WORSE than worthless and are completely unlikable. One is a villain that is dumb and the other whines every other page about losing her mother by USING THE SAME SENTENCE! Of all the books, this one showed me the depths of Goodkind's mind. Unfortunately, I would not be able to drown in a pool of water that deep. I personally think that you could likely skip this book and pick up the next one when it comes out and have very few problems. It is that bad!

I was very dissapointed with The Pillars of Creation. The book falls far short in the intricate relationships set in the Sword of Truth saga. The entire book was set, with few exeptions, in a world that could exist completely outside Richard and Kahlan's realm. Richard and Kahlan are vaguely mentioned and Zed has an extremely small part. The series did not progress at all, and I feel cheated. A minor saving grace is that we get a more in-depth look at Jagang.
Overall, I felt the book did very little in regards to the Sword of Truth. I only hope that the next book will get the series back on track.

On it's own, this book stacks up well against many books in the genre. The plot is interesting and generally manages not to fall into a stereotype mold. I do recommend this book to anybody who likes a well written story.
That being said, I was somewhat let down by this book. I've read the preceding books, and was delighted by Faith of the Fallen. Sadly, Pillars of Creation doesn't live up to the standard set forth by Faith of the Fallen or Wizard's First Rule. Mr. Gookind has some brilliant work in this series and I'm hoping that this book is a set-up for another book like Faith of the Fallen.

The book it's self was decent enough. As a part of the series it was not only disappointing, it was treason to the original storyline. There were more than enough problems in the world that needed answers but instead he completely drops all the main characters for a new set and only at the VERY end do you get to see the original cast, and only briefly. SO, if you have not read the other books in the series, this is a good book, full of adventure. If you are a fan of the series, you may as well pour salt in your eyes instead of wasting the time to read this. This is a sad day, the seeker is dead!

......well, like most people who have reviewed this book, I ran out the door of my work and drove like mad to the nearest bookstore to pick up the book and once I finally got to my house to read it I was thoroughly disappointed. It was great to see new characters introduced, but I didn't want to have to learn about them for the whole darn story! I wanted to see what was going on with Richard, Kahlan, Cara, Zedd, etc. What's happening here? Nothing of them til the book is almost through! Yuck! :( Book was still "okay", but REALLY, REALLY upsetting since the main characters were just not even really in it....Hopefully Mr. Goodkind will do MUCH better on the next books.........

I love the series, but I loathed this book. Putting aside the fact that the book doesn't include any of the 'main' characters from the SoT series, I found it largely boring. The only parts I found worth reading were the ones dealing with Jagang, and the last 50ish pages of the book. Goodkind sold out, and instead of actually continuing his already long story, he's added this book just to make some extra bucks. It is extremely frustrating to have waited for a book to complete/continue the SoT story, and instead be given this piece of....
If this were the first book in the SoT series, I would NOT have purchased the second.

Do not buy this book in hardback!!!!
I have read everything he has written and have enjoyed every word and have waited year after year for each edition, and when I read this book it was nothing more than a let down. The characters are not likable or intersting, the plot is weak, and it was only my respect for his past writings that I kept on turning the page. Our beloved characters and reoccuring themes (Wizard Rule #7) are written in a flat and baffoonish manner, they are a punchline, making this book a 500+ page joke. The ending was similar to an ending out of Threes Company or some other cheap comedy in which a lame joke is told, the cheap music starts, and the credits roll.

While I understand the value of looking at this world from a completely different perspective, this story is flat. Seeing others struggle through the world that Richard, Kahlan, Zedd and the others are stuggling to uplift lends a new angle, but I agree with many others that Jennsen and Oba are flat, one dimensional characters, and the pace of the story has peaks and valleys like a bunny hill. Still, I do look forward to the following books in the series. This installment, however, can be summed up in one word: FLAT.

Meh. Poor world building. Idiotic villains, Unsympathetic and poorly written lead character... but readable.
unfortunately suffers from one of the worst 3rd acts i've read in a while, and terrible, terrible, terrible dialog.

Yes, I agree it would've been nice to see more of the story focus on the characters of Richard and Kahlan. Goodkind seems to be writing around them here, more or less toying with the world he created. While not driving the plot of the Sword of Truth very far, he manages to weave a tale that is equal to the other books in the series. His talent as a writer is undeniable and will certainly shine through anything he writes. Rather than nitpick through this, like some of the reviews have managed to do, those of us that enjoy his work should be grateful he is producing books for us to read.

I started reading this book whit great joy, and expected this book to give me the conclusion from Faith of the fallen.
But Mr Goodkind should be ashamed of himself. This is not up to his standard, considering the other 6 Sword of the truth series.
I was extremely disappointed with this book. A disapointed formely fan.................................

I've read this whole series. When ever a friend wants to read this I tell them that I love the series as a whole but this book can be skipped and the plot summary will suffice. While an enjoyable read, it was not up to the level of the rest of the book.

I have read all books previous to this one and I was put off by the change in characters. I can understand the reasoning to do so, to give the reader a different point of view of how people perceive Richard and his army but I've found since the 4th book that there is a lot of "philosophy" and "rambling".
If you liked the previous books this will probably be slightly disappointing.
From the reviews I've read about the next in the series, I now realize I am going to put this series to rest.
Thanks for the ride but this is my stop.

Pillars of Creation is an okay book. It really is. There is nothing terribly bad about it. But, it is not terribly good either. It is not a tough read, but for me it dragged because I am heavily emotionally invested in the other characters who do not show up very much in this book. Approach it with caution and resignation. If you love Richard, Kahlan, Cara, Zedd, etc. ...realize that this book really has barely anything to do with them. I think if I had known how little it would be about them before reading the book it would have been easier for me to get through. So, if you are reading these books and got through Soul of Fire... just get through this one and go on to Naked Empire which gets really amazing. And it's not entirely without merit... just Pillars of Creation was not the most enjoyable read in my opinion.

I was surprised at how bad this book was. I like Goodkind and I loved the rest of the series, especially Faith of the Fallen. It was a real shock to me, therefore, how disappointing this was. Some of the other reviewers have already mentioned some of the points that the book lacked. Richard and Kahlan were not to be seen until the end, the plot had huge, gaping holes, the book did nothing to carry on the general plot line Goodkind has established in the previous books. Much as I do at the end of a bad movie, I just wanted to get the time I wasted on the book back.

As everyone else has already stated, I was a little disapointed that we dont get to see Richard and Kahlan as much. But besides that fact I had a hard time putting the book down. I liked how it tied in to the main plot with stuff about the war. A lot of people say it didnt flow with the rest of the books but I disagree I thought it flowed well.
Overall Im rating it a 4 out of 5 because of the lack of the main characters but I still recommend it as a good read.

this book was a sort of side story used to intruduce the new charater of richard's sister. people gave it bad reviews because of this but it was worth reading and i liked this side story different from the others. Don't be turned off by other reviews it is a good book, not the best, but good

This was a very well written book and I did enjoy it a lot. However, this whole book introduced and was based off of new characters. It wasn't until the very end of the book that we got to see the characters that have been around since the begining of the series. That is why I can give it only 3 stars. I do recommend the book if you don't mind a whole new set of characters though, I didn't.

Now i am not going to give some over elaborate explanation of what happens because that's what the thing up top is for. I like the SOT series and this was a refreshing book. It was not refreshing because it was new and astonishing, but because for once the bulk of a book was not centering around just Richard and Kahlan. Some call this a way to extend the series, but i call it a prevention against the reader getting bored with the characters and the plot falling into a predictable rhythm. Keep up the good work Goodkind. If you don't like me, what i said or anything else just click the no icon right beneath this.

Well if you wanna book about the main characters in the "Sword of truth series" you can just skip this one. I don't think you'd miss much if you just went to the next book, when it comes out. I found myself skipping entire pages becase I already knew what was happening, Goodkind was just stretching it out. (Really, really streching it out.) Not to knock Goodkind, i love the rest of his books but this one is my least favorite, I'll even go on to say that it was a bad book. Just my opinion....

The way that the Goodkind tells a story is absolutely amazing. I have read very few if any science fiction books but if they all are as engrossing as this book was I might soon find myself hooked. It would have got 5 stars but do to my lack of experience with the genre I only felt comfortable giving out 4 stars. Do not hesitate to read if you have the time, its well worth it.

Like Craig I loved the first 6 books in the SOT series. I have anxiously awaited Pillars of Creation. I went straight to the bookstore, grabbed it off the shelf, and was reading it as I walked out the door of the bookstore. Five chapters later there was still nothing on Kahlan, Richard, Cara, and Zedd. So I furiously scanned the book for their names and was disappointed to find them darn near the end of the book. I love the guys work, I just wish he could have woven what they were up to throughout the story of the offspring he was weaving. He had done that well in the past.

Goodkind had potential with his first two books (although the writing was a bit juvenile). His writing style improved with his later books, but the series has taken a turn for the worse. He doesn't seem to have a particular goal for his story or even a plotline unlike Jordan who at least seems to be getting somewhere, even though it's taken 10 unnecessarily long books, not to mention the fact that Jordan is also a better fantasy author.
I don't think I'm going to finish the series. I'm tired of reading about good or evil archetypes and don't care much for Goodkind's "the moral of the story is" type of novels. He's disappointed me with his last four books which I could hardly finish, and as hard as it sounds, he's just getting worse and worse. Or perhaps it's because I'm reading a far more superior and intellectually complex fantasy epic, George R.R. Martin's ASoIaF, which I highly recommend to those not squeamish about graphic violence, grey characters, and unpredictability in that no one character is guaranteed to survive. To me, Goodkind's storytelling and characters are too cliched. Besides, we all know Lord Richard Rahl, the ultimate hero will end up defeating whatever evil forces are thrown at him and conquer the world, living happily ever after with his benevolent Queen Kahlan and their morally sound Confessor/Wizard son, or maybe he'll just go back to being a woods guide, I've ceased to care. The end.

This was the book I started with in the SOT series. I just picked it up off the shelve in my local library, (Not paying attention to the fact that it was the seventh book,) and I think, after reading from the beginning and being on book five that it was the best. It was good that he took a break from Richard, Kahlan, Cara, Zedd and the rest. They're all good characters but I've had enough of them, so if I hadn't read TPOC already, I'd find it a welcome respite from the rest of the characters and their ENDLESS struggle. It was a short, fun book and I wasn't confused because Goodkind didn't have to describe every single bit of the last books. Thats what I skip, is the parts where he regales the reader with page after page of stuff he puts in to stop confusion. (Not that I could be confused, I don't have short term mempry lose, I can recall everything from the other books.)I guess for those people who had been following the series when he was still in the process of writing it, TPOC could have been very frustrating, so I can understand their disappointment when Richard and Kahlan only made a short cameo at the end and the book was hardly even about them.

I'm going to read FOTF/6 soon, and I've heard nothing but good things about. I'm looking foreward to it and I hope it's better than SOTF/5.

First, I believe the book could have been written in under 200 pages. That being said, I found the book to be repititious and very uninteresting. I believe that the Sword of Truth series is losing its momentum like many series do. I also failed to see much continuity between this book and the last. If you must read it, get it at the library. Even better, read George R. R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series.
P.S. I at times thought that a child wrote this book. I know Mr. Goodkind can do better.

It was boring and the scenarios were unbelievable. Once Richard, Kahlan and Cara finally showed up (at the very end) the dialogue between the characters was cheesy. I was very disappointed in this book.

What I thought was interesting about this novel is that even though I was unfamiliar with the series and this is my first time reading this author, I was able to pick it up cold and enjoy it cover to cover.

Ugh. Please don't tell me that Terry Goodkind is losing his way like Robert Jordan. This book might as well have nothing to do with the rest of the series. It is bland and preachy. Once again, I say Ugh.

I was very disappointed with the plot of this book. When you see that a book is the next volume of a SERIES...you expect that it would continue with the original plot. This book however goes off on a completely different tangent with only a "cameo" apperance of the original characters.
I can only hope that the next one does continue the original story, but I will be sure to skim through it BEFORE I buy it.

What IS this? IF Goodkind is going to abandon the story he was telling and throw a couple of chapters of Richard and Kahlan in to officially make it a SOT book, how can anyone think this is a continuing series? What a ripoff!
These books have really been losing steam since STONE OF TEARS which was the apex of the series at book 2. THe worst was probably Soul of the Fire, until now. The last one, FAITH OF THE FALLEN, had some signs of redemption, though it was a lot of political ranting and raving based on Ayn Rand. I can't believe I preordered this book, and I will never do it again.