Confessor (Sword of Truth)

"Confessor" concludes the "Sword of Truth" saga, amazingly four years after the initial installment "Wizard's First Rule", by giving reiterated speeches by the same characters readers are accustomed to spouting the "life is worthy for living" philosophy. Regardless if it is Jennsen, Nicci, Ann, Richard, or Kahlan, the values are interjected at every possible opportunity, whether it is during a torture or a walk through some catacombs. The passable environmental descriptions and character interaction offer little depth in a world developed over twelve novels.

The awful editing repeatedly allows catch phrases such as "raptor gaze", "penetrating eyes", "coiled fury", and especially "value of life" and "living life" dozens of times, one might wonder if any grammatical variation even exists. Furthermore, the word "that" is applied so often I found it very distracting. "I doubt THAT you would believe all THAT was sparked on THAT day. When I first saw him THAT first day I swore to myself THAT I would become one of his teachers.", (Chapter 18). It is not uncommon for the author to use the word "that" four or five times over two sentences. I would change the above example to, "I doubt you would believe all the sparks the first day when I saw him and instantly swore to myself I would become one of his teacher." Of course I am not paid by the word or the size of my review but it flows much better after a quick adjustment.

Then the incessantly endless monologues provide little substance. Ann and Nicci discuss Nicci and Richard's relationship over seventeen pages in Chapter 18, there are shorter battles providing more plot substance than this minor conversation. Somehow the tyrannical and big-tempered Jagang quietly listens to Nicci lecture him on life for three pages in Chapter 23 without any narrative breaks of raised eyebrows, angry gestures, or deep breathing. Chapter 62 has a short paragraph of three lines within four pages of a babbling wish by Richard.

Outside of the author's idealistic protection of Richard and Kahlan's love and virtue, evil touches every other character in some cruel manner. Yet the characters basically argue the same, think the same, and behave the same other than Adie's strange manner of speaking. Even Rachel in Chapter 45 logically counters questions of which she has no education or foreknowledge, a trait notoriously found in Richard. Expect every character from Richard and Kahlan's past make an appearance in the series finale. Other than the surprise ending, Chapter 33 contains the best combat in a forest of mediocre events. No clue what happens with newcomer Bruce. Several anti-climatic deaths sloppily dispose of characters and plots.

What exactly is a War Wizard? I didn't ever witness anything of significance. Richard did not learn or utilize magic but used his gift for gab and magnificent powers of deduction. He's been handicapped throughout other than the occasional magic to remove a collar or other minor event. Might have been reasonable not calling him a War Wizard but a Weak Wizard or maybe a Babbling Wizard. This isn't fantasy with magic and monsters but fantasy with monologues.

The writing has degraded through the series. I no longer collect them in hardback and read the newer books from the library having to forego paying even though time is money.

Thank you.

Wizard's First Rule entered the world of epic fantasy with a bang. It was a novel in the vein of Tolkein and Brooks that was just the kind of jump that the world of adult-oriented fantasy needed. There were no bespecled youths with glasses and abusive parents, nor were there any silly incantations or other such items. Instead it was a fast, brutal, well told story. Richard's continuing adventures moved forward at a similar pace through the next five books, culminating in what is, in my opinion, the finest novel of the series, Faith of the Fallen.

It was after this story that Goodkind lost his momentum. Pillars of Creation was intermittent at best and did little to move the story forward. Goodkind seemed to regain some of the urgency of the story in Chainfire and Phantom. It was with some anticipation that I purchased Confessor. I was worried that the book would lose that same urgency and momentum. It did not.

Richard and Kahlan continue to be the 'perfect' representation of the potential of mankind that Goodkind has portrayed them as in his previous books. What some people, in my opinion, mistake in their characterizations is that Goodkind is setting Richard and Kahlan out to be supreme specimens. Yes, Goodkind does laude physical traits upon his characters and he does tend to dote on how handsome or beautiful they are, and that is rather non-sensical and was a trifle unneccessary. However, the fact that Richard is better than the soldiers of the Order is to be expected. Goodkinds ultimate purpose of Reason over Faith would dictate that he would be superior, and his characterization as such is consistent with the rest of the novels. He thinks, the generic peons that he faces in Ja'la and other circumstances do not.

The one significant dissappointment that I had with this book was the ending. Without too many spoilers, Goodkind moves past his typical preachiness that had been somewhat toned down and uses the conclusion of the novel to hit the audience over the head with his ire at the lack of reason that some societal elements are known for. If you hadn't gotten his Reason VS Faith standpoint by now, the conclusion will re-iterate it a dozen times.

Overall, Confessor is a good book. It has its flaws to be sure, and there are some plot elements that Goodkind has built towards throughout the series that are never resolved. Rather this is a result of purpose or editorial oversight, I doubt we will ever know, but if you are looking for a rousing conclusion to an overall well-written series, grab up Confessor when you get a chance.

The Sword of Truth series was recommended to me this past June, so I set out to buy all 12 volumes and succeeded after a few weeks. I started with volume 1, a novella called "Debt of Bones" and have just finished "Confessor". This was a memorable undertaking, which I found to be mostly rewarding. I have read some of the discussions on the the store web site and found some of them interesting; I would like to limit my impressions to an overview of the entire series.

First of all this series contains explicit sex, violence, and horror, it should be given an X rating, and is definitely written for mature adults, not children. Having said that, I doubt if mature adults will be too surprised by what they read; as a U.S. Navy veteran I encountered no shocking new revelations. In that regard, however, I do feel that Terry Goodkind, (TG) did sometime linger much too long on scenes of that sort that could have been dealt with by inference.

It became quite obvious that TG is a fan of words; he uses words with skill and creates mental images of both great beauty and gore with equal facility. There were some instances where I read some of his descriptions of forest beauty to my wife as he had painted word pictures of surpassing beauty.

After having TG's Sword of Truth series recommended to me; I did some preliminary research to try and find out about him before starting to purchase the series. I discovered that TG is an "Objectivist" and brings his Objectivist philosophy into his books. I found that of interest as I too appreciate many of the tenants of Objectivism. During Ayn Rand's lifetime I was a subscriber to the "Objectivist Newsletter" and have read many of her non-fiction books and at least one of her works of fiction. There is, however one major point of departure between the Objectivist philosophy and my personal life outlook, and that is I'm a Christian.

If one should take out TG's lecture portions on Objectivism, the length of the series could well be reduced by 30 to 40 percent. In spite of his devotion to Objectivism, he is a very good story teller and comes up with many unexpected twists and turns to his story line. I found the series, on the whole to be exciting at times and somewhat tedious at others. In all honesty I have to confess to skimming over some of the Objectivist lectures.

This is undoubtedly the longest series I have ever read that involves the same characters all the way through. Actually only one character appears, alive, in all 12 volumes, and that is First Wizard Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, generally known as Zedd. Generally each book takes up where the last one left off, sometimes in the same scene. As some have pointed out, the last three volumes are essentially one extended book, no effort whatsoever being made to suggest a conclusion in volumes 10 and 11. I can see how frustrating that would be to have to wait until the next book is written to read what is essentially the next chapter.

The length of the series permits extensive character development; this results in one getting to know the characters and really care about them. It was interesting to watch Nicci's development as she emerged into the light of Objectivism.

Objectivist writers find themselves needing a messiah figure; whether this messiah figure is called John Galt (Atlas Shrugged) or Richard Rahl, this character is needed to serve as the focus on whom the implementation of the Objectivist philosophy depends. Richard Rahl rises to the occasion in the conclusion of Confessor by doing all that is needed of a messiah figure in bringing full resolution to the Sword of Truth series.

Terry Goodkind fails to distinguish between Biblical Christianity and religion. Biblical Christianity is not a religion in that righteousness before "The Creator" is not attained by good works, but by simple faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Although TG identifies a life and an afterlife, only "The Keeper", the lord of the underworld, is presented clearly in the story as a serious threat. His version of "The Creator" is only referenced in an ineffectual manner by those to whom it is made to appear as a weakness or failure in their reasoning ability.

Having said all this am I glad I read it? I believe the answer is yes and I will, at some point, probably read it again. In spite of TG's efforts to fill the reader in on past action at the beginning of each book, I would stronly recommend starting at the very least, at book 10, the final trilogy starts there. Ideally I would suggest you start with book 1.

I have not thought of myself as a reader of fantasy, but I found the series, even with its Objectivist agenda, a generally exciting adventure. I think there is one thing we can count on, however; this series will never be successfully transferred to the big screen.

I'm done coddling Terry Goodkind. Yes, I loved the first 4 or 5 books of the series, just like most fantasy fans. And yes, I have read every other book in the entire series, although the latter additions were really against my will: I just needed closure, like everyone else. But let's be honest: these last couple books were like being hit with a giant dose of suck, then sucker punched in the throat for good measure. If you took out all the droning monologue speeches in the last 4 books and lumped together what was left, you'd have about a book's worth of good material. But, sadly, Goodkind felt it necesary to tell us for the 278th time that: life is precious, socialism is bad, and horrendously violent acts against evil people are completely justified. This last book acutally has some decent action scenes, but there is no way in hell I was giving it anything other than 1 star after the multiple 5 page speeches by Richard stating the same gargabe over and over again. Goodkind has gotten so condescending; it feels like he's writing for a 4th grade audience.

Anyways, at least the series is done now, and I can stop buying this garbage. I know, if you're like me, that no amount of negative reviews will keep you from finishing the series, but at least buy a used paperback copy. Don't waste a dime more than you have to on this crapfest.

Finally, it's over. And how anti-climactic it was.

Given the past five books or so, I wasn't really expecting something spectacular, but I was hoping that Goodkind would make a comeback and give us something as amazing as the first book. Especially the ending. I was expecting an intense, awe-inspiring ending (after all, we have gone through ten other books to get to this point), but it fell flat. Not much emotion, not a great surprise twist at the end, just an ending.

Another downside to this book is the way it's written. Most of the story is revealed by dialogue, making it seem more like a script rather than a story. The characters speak to each other as if they have hours to have a conversation (and we know quite well that the one thing they don't have is time). Nicci and Richard are prone to given sermon-like speeches about living life and making choices. I get that Goodkind wants to send us a message, but could he please not beat us over the head with it? Every time I turn the page, some character or other is telling another how they should have the freedom to live life.

It also seemed kind of rushed. Major events happen or things happen to major characters, and they're just kind of brushed off. There may be a line or two describing the consequences or effects, and then on to the next thing. And for as long as we have been with these characters, I think that thoroughness is necessary.

I will admit that there were some really good parts that reminded me of books one and two; when Richard plays Jagang's Ja'La team, for instance. But for the most part, I was bored.

When I first started the Sword of Truth series, I loved it. I hadn't read a lot of fantasy, and as a result I was surprised at the likeable characters and the adult drama that filled the pages (the Mord'Sith were kinky as all get out!). So I continued to read, and Goodkind continued to write. As I write this, he's even wrote another book after this grand finale called "The Omen Machine," a prequel about the First Confessor, and there's more on the way. This is a book you should NOT read on its own, as it is filled with cameos from characters throughout the series, and all sorts of references to obscure details and words like "Temple of the Winds" and "Pillars of Creation." The problem, of course, is that for being such a long series, not a lot happens, and the those interesting sounding concepts are in some of the worst books. As others have said on here, if I could visit myself 4 years ago and give advice on this series, it'd be something to the extent of "this series will disappoint you, more than half of the books are not good and the payoff is only average. If you insist on reading it, skip the bad ones and read recaps." I know that wouldn't work though, for the same reason I know I'll read "The Omen Machine," because I'm a fool that still remembers the few books in this series that I really loved.

Wizard's First Rule - This was a good first book, that unfortunately has been damaged by the end of the series. After reading Confessor, you realize a lot of what the characters believe in this book are lies and the drama was all for not. Still, when reading this one the first time it's enjoyable.

Stone of Tears - Another good book, "Stone of Tears" expands the Sword of Truth world more than any other book and leaves you thinking that there are tons of amazing and new stories to be set in the Old World and the New World.

Blood of the Fold - I also enjoyed this story, but it was also the first of Goodkind's books that I realized he is fairly limited as a writer. Recapping prior events and speeches starts to be a problem, and scenes of rape and violence against women are more prevalent than ever. The scenes themselves didn't bother me, but their presence had become a go-to plot device for Goodkind.

Temple of the Winds - I'd skip this one, and unfortunately the hallmarks of what ruins later Goodkind books are all present here. Temple of the Winds is a microcosm for everything bad in Goodkinds writing: the villains are all sadistic clones of each other, prophecy comes up out of nowhere that foreshadows the end of everything and isn't mentioned before of after this book, the magic ending and reveal of Temple of the Winds is a deus ex machina that constantly ignores the rules of magic set out in other books. Also, the way Kahlan betrays Richard in blood was about as close to me throwing a book away as I came in this series.

Soul of the Fire - Another book I'd skip. A lot of the same problems as the last book, but this book establishes a problem that had been present in the previous books but to a lesser degree. From this point on in the series, nobody knows anything about magic. Characters like Zedd, Nicci, both of the Prelates, Nathan, etc. will argue with Richard about what magic can and can't do. Richard will always end up right in the end, but characters will always doubt him. The solution to problems will always be something amazing that seems to come out of nowhere, but will conveniently be ignored afterward as Richard never knows how to use magic but always figures it out in the end.

Faith of the Fallen - I'll be honest, this is my favorite book of the series. It's also the preachiest, but the story and characters was enjoyable. In most the rest of the series, the characters are pretty static (good or bad) but at least here Nicci has a character arc. Unfortunately, the rest of the series has the same speeches recycled again and again and when combined with recapping prior events probably account for 2/3 of the total page count (not an exaggeration).

The Pillars of Creation - Probably the most average book in the series, if you've been reading along there are no surprises to be found here, and more of the same as far as character development. After reading later books, you'll see how little impact this story has on the rest of the series and how it could be skipped with no problem.

Naked Empire - Another bad book, filled with the problems from Temple of the Winds, Soul of the Fire, and Faith of the Fallen. I could rewrite all the crap that made the previous books bad, but then I'd be employing a literary technique called "Goodkinding."

Chainfire - The beginning of the end, surely stuff starts to happen. WRONG. Incredibly boring book, tons of recap and preaching, more magic rules violated that nobody's ever heard of, more prophecy out of nowhere. Kahlan and Richard are separated, not much else happens.

Phantom - Closer to the end, and still nothing. This book had maybe the least plot of any in the series. Kahlan's still missing, and oh yeah blood-beast. It's another magic thing that came out of nowhere, nobody's heart of it, and oh yeah, prophecy.

And that brings us to this book. You've probably noticed I gave Confessor 4 stars. Why? Well, it's his best book since Faith of the Fallen, but unfortunately all the books in between were bad. Although there's still a lot of recap and preaching, stuff happens in this book including the Ja'la match, a trip to the underworld, and the final use of magic rules that come out of nowhere and prophecy that don't make sense. 4 stars is grading on a curve. The end of this book conveniently tries to fix everything, and really there aren't many consequences for any characters on interest in this book. Cara and maybe Zedd have endings that wrap up their story, but the rest of the characters are pretty much left where the were since book three.

As a series, it's an OK finish where you at least see a ton of characters. Hardly anybody grows as a character throughout the series, Cara and Nicci being the two exceptions and their growth is all done by book six. Plot twists are out of left-field and not in a good way as magic is used to keep the main characters apart and then to fix everything (and negate much of the first novel). BUT, if you have read the rest of the series, I think you should read the last book because it is better than the few before it. I don't know if that's worth 4 stars, but that's where I ended up.

This was the worst and most anticlimactic ending to an epic series that I have ever read. For those of us who read the entire series, I know you will get this book no matter what to finish the series. However if you are considering starting this series i would not waste my time.

WARNING SPOILERS BELOW:

Have you been waiting for the final battle between good and evil? Oh forget that, I think instead have the main character wack a box with a sword and make everything better. And talk about anticlimactic, Richard and Jagang are finally face to face. Do they even have one final confrontation, no Goodkind would rather have Richard give yet another sermon to him and have Nicci kill him with the collar.

There are so many annoying things with this book.
1) What was the point of Six? You bring her in only to accomplish nothing and have Shota kill her in one paragraph.
2) How many times do you have to have your characters give the same sermon and speech?
3) Why did we have to follow the happy trail on quick run through all the people and places Richard visited throughout the series?
4) So Richard memorized a false copy of the Book of Counted Shadows? Oh and then it doesn't matter because they were all a trick anyway. This is so stupid. I am so glad that the Book of Counted Shadows was so important to the series.
5) Enough already, if you are going to use Magic to resolve everything, then why spend the last story arc having Richard separated from his powers. You should have put more time and effort into Richard learning his powers if Magic was going to resolve everything in the end.
6) I love how you have this epic search for the book to teach Richard to use his powers. Then it is blank and we never really find out why?

Well I could go on and on, but this is just me ranting after a terrible book that ends a series that I have been reading for months.

I finally finished Confessor, final book in the Sword of Truth series, and the experience was riveting, exciting, and somewhat bereft that Richard and Kahlan's journey has come full circle. I think that overall Goodkind did a great job in bringing the series to a close with this excellent trilogy.

Although the conundrum of Richard and Kahlan conceiving an evil child was not addressed, most of the loose ends are tied up from previous books. Several beloved old friends make an appearance, Gratch, Gregory, Rachel, Chase, Adie, Friedlich, Ulic, and Egan all made appearances. I especially liked how the Chainfire spell and the Boxes of Orden became integral to the sword being the key and how everything tied together with the first book.

This series is classic epic fantasy rooted in the classic fight between good and evil. Like most fantasy epics, the fight is drawn out for a very long time. There is a long section about the sport Ja'La, I found myself skimming through long descriptions of the rules of Ja 'La. The saving grace for me was Richard's clever strategy for winning the game, freeing Kahlan and defeating Jagang.

Despite Goodkind's narrow-minded rejection of all competing ideologies, he managed to reign in the Objectivist diatribes that saturated several previous books in the series. Richard turned out to be an admirable and compelling protagonist.

Confessor successfully builds tension as the action builds toward a dramatic climax and numerous loose ends are tied up along the way. I'm very glad that I held to my resolve to stick this series to the end because this trilogy was an amazing ending to an amazing journey.

I really wanted to like this book. The series was nothing short of amazing at times. Throughout many of the first 5-6 books, I couldn't pry myself away. As the series went on...and on...and on, I found myself skimming more and more. Goodkind became so repetitive in multiple was that it became difficult to maintain the same enthusiasm for the series. He continually re-told the readers what they already knew. Plus, he also continually beat the reader over the head with his ideals. Ok, we get it. The Order is bad.

What the series left me with was this...

1. He's a big fan of pushing his ideals... Sounds almost like what he Richard was fighting AGAINST, doesn't it?

2. He didn't know how to finish the series. The ending was nothing short of bad.

3. Goodkind's obviously extremely talented. The first few books were tremendous.

4. It seemed to me that the series was probably at least 3 books too long. I suppose fewer book doesn't do alot to help profits though....

5. It's obvious that the series was too long when he began repeating many of the same scenarios a bit too closely... So yeah, Nicci's captured again.. Richard is near death again... Rachel is a slave to Violet again.. He went to the well a few too many times.

I don't know. I guess I'd give the series a 3 out of 5 overall... Yeah, I couldn't put down the last book. I couldn't wait for it to be over. I don't know that I've ever been let down so much by a book/series.

After 9 books building to a finale, maybe the expectations for the final book were too much? Overall the story has been leading towards its conclusion, and I felt like I wanted a longer ending. It felt like everything got rushed in the last 100 pages, and could have been expanded. I think Goodkind wanted to wrap things up, and unfortunately left some threads hanging. Maybe the build up was too much, but after investing all this time with all of the characters, many of the secondary characters did not get the resolution I had hoped for. Additionally, it seemed like Kahlan's character seemed to become secondary versus Nicci. Overall a great series, I just felt like it was over too quick.

This book was a fitting end to the Sword of Truth series, and the author managed to redeem himself at least a little bit. Starting with Temple of the Winds, the series definitely seemed to center more around preaching Goodkind's particular philosophy of individualism vs. collectivism more than an actual plot. This horrendous abuse of fiction continued to increase until by Chainfire, I was skipping entire pages of long winded speeches by the main character.

Thankfully, Mr. Goodkind toned it down and this book was much more enjoyable. There were too many plot points to tie up however, and at times it was rushed and very jumpy. Some elements simply felt out of place (the Ghostie Gobblies for instance), as though he needed to tie up a loose end and just couldn't find a way to do it. There were several big jumps in the plot that left the reader wondering what on earth happened in the intervening time, but when all was said and done, he did manage to end the series on a decent note. The ending was a fitting one, and for once was not completely predictable.

While the biggest complaint about this book has been that it contains (gasp!) philosophy (followed closely by the fact that it contains not just a protagonist, but a hero, though the charge that Richard is "perfect" is blatantly false, as are most of the other criticisms), most of the critics seem to have missed most of it.

It is not just "life good, religion bad," as they claim--although that theme alone would make the book practically unique and well worth reading. Rather, as this final installment makes clear, the overall theme of the Sword of Truth series has been, appropriately, Truth. What is it? Is it gained by reason or faith? Self-fulfillment or self-sacrifice? Liberty or tyranny? These are important and complex themes, and Goodkind is one of a very few authors who is willing to come out openly and explicitly on the side of reason, self-fulfillment, and liberty. For that, he deserves all our thanks.

Perhaps Goodkind was mistaken to think he could sell this kind of story to the typical fantasy genre fan, but if you're looking for something more, then you might find this series highly interesting.

As for the plot in this book, again it lacks all of the typical fantasy trappings. There isn't a big final brawl full of magic and monsters and mayhem. What there is, is a well-worked out plot and a satisfying, thoughtful conclusion which simultaneously follows perfectly from what has come before and yet is unexpected.

While I'm sure I'll get mostly negative votes for daring to post a positive review, I view it as an act of justice.

Bottom line: if you have liked the series thus far, you will probably like the finale. If you haven't, you probably won't. If you haven't begun to read the series yet, I recommend doing so and judging for yourself.

Well it took me about 2 years, but I finally finished it. I had to, I always finish what I started, even if I know how painful it will be, and yes, I did know that this would be a horrible book, but now at least I can say so with certainty.

I have read all 11 installments of the Sword of Truth. At one point I had 7 of them on my bookshelf, now I have only three. I started Wizard's First Rule back in high school and I truly enjoyed it. After all, WFR is basically Star Wars in a fantasy realm: Darken (Darth Vader), Richard (Luke), Zedd (Obi-wan) and so on until it all fits together very nicely. Anyone who liked Star Wars (and I did) will like this book, it has broad appeal and raises false hopes. I want to say it all went bad from there on but in truth Stone of Tears is not that bad, it just rehashes some of the prevalent themes of epic fantasy of the time, in other words many "borrowed" elements from Jordan while still developing the characters. The rest of the books, until Faith of the Fallen, are truly unnecessary, for they do not develop the plot and introduce idiotic themes revolving around people who want to wipe out magic, blindly adhere to faith and want to kill everyone who "loves life". Faith of the Fallen is a good book, I happen not to agree with Goodkind's assessment of how society should function, but I grew up in Eastern Europe and I can understand what he warns against. Faith of the Fallen could have been a great book if he had chosen to end the series with it: Richard by his actions as a mere man causes the fall of the Order by leading a revolution at the very heart of the enemy. But it was not to be, instead Goodkind had to serenade us with more repetitive moronical sermons on how we should value life and how to hate everything collective (be that socialism or religion), he did this throughout the rest of the series, though nowhere as bad as in Naked Empire. I could say a lot more about Goodkind's downward spiral, but I already did so in other reviews of his books and I will not fall back on repetition, I'll leave that to Terry.

What actually makes Confessor a bad book is the fact that I had to wade through near 700 pages of literary sewage in order for Richard to say "that was all a trick" and so give us the most anticlimactic conclusion to any series that I have ever read. I truly think that there was no grand scheme on how to end SOT, after all, if Goodkind actually had a plan he would have come to a better conclusion than 20 pages of hopping all over the place just to have Richard stab some boxes and make a new world for all the bad guys (a world much like our own)...and so it dawned on me: this is not really the end, Goodkind promised everyone a modern contemporary series after SOT was finished, and what better way to tie it all together than to make a new magicless world...enter Law of Nines (read the reviews, it all makes sense). Shameful, I know, but what more can you expect from an author who disregards everyone but his sycophants. There is no redemption to be had in Confessor, there never was. Richard would not suddenly see the middle way, he is bound by the literary umbilical that joins him to his maker, Richard/Goodkind is a true believer of the objectivist crusade, his zeal is unparalleled, he is for objectivism what Richard Dawkins is for evolution, and they both have gone off the deep end with their fanatical pursuit of their idealistic goals. Regardless of his or her cause, and no matter how you cut it, a fanatic is a fanatic, prone to irrational behaviour and delusional beliefs.

So why did it take me two whole years to finish this book? Well, I bought it at a yard sale for 50 cents and placed it by my toilet, and I skimmed through parts of it every time nature called. I don't feel I wasted my time reading it, after all, for those brief moments, I had nothing better to do. So I can say, I stuck by my principles, and I finished this series, just so that I may lay the Sword of Truth to its final resting place...right down the crapper.

It appears that ,despite wonderful beginnings...action, intense emotion, danger, etc..., fantasy written by Goodkind and Jordan (Wheel of Time) degenerates into mediocre and mindless drivel badly in need of an editor.

Both series were very good up to about book four...then something happened to the authors...and something really bad happened to the readers. Even with misgivings about the writing, we all gritted our teeth and kept reading. We all hoped that things would turn around; that answers would be given; that there would be excitement and fulfillment; that the characters would... Well you get the idea.

So...lesson learned... Wait and get series to read that are completed and only have about three to four books in the series.

I was happy to read the last book in this epic series and it wasn't too bad. Looking back on the series, I wish that Goodkind had had kept writing more insightful Wizard's Rules, instead of preaching about the evils of Communism (Faith of the Fallen) and Buddhism (Naked Empire).

I know he's gone and written a new book (The Omen Machine) set in this world, but much as I like the characters, I didn't think I'd ever read it. There story ended in the last book, I feel. But alas, I have gone and read it and now that I have, I wish I'd never gone there.

Its boring, repetitive and after a few hundred pages of going around in circles as the plot laboriously plays itself out and everyone dances to its tune, the novel rushes to end itself and then in the final pages just sort of peters out inconclusively. Loose ends are left everywhere and its obvious there is another interminable novel on the way.

Please start something fresh. Recapture what you had in the first 5 books that I loved. Or if you have to stick to the same world, set a new trilogy about 1000 years in the future (or the past) and have a few old characters and themes show up as cameos. ;)

Since I have read the series long after it was introduced these comments have been related in reviews over and over....the preaching and dogma are mind numbing especially in the last book. The ending is so disappointing I could have shot the author. Nicci, for gosh sakes, one of the leading characters is ignored in the final scene and there is no mention of what happened to her. Kahlan, the supposed main character of the last 3 books ....isnt. Main characters are unceremoniously killed off... disappointing....(kind of like the scene in "Indiana Jones" where the Persian starts twirling the scimitar and Indiana Jones just takes out his gun and shoots the guy...funny scene there, but short and to the point)...sometimes the killings in these books of major characters is just short and to the point, no imagination, explaination or emotional embrace... I hated this book and just wanted it finished. But the preaching, preaching preaching goes on and on... very little action and more than 2/3 rds explaination on why things are the way they are, made this book very very very boring. I kept thinking during these passages...."shuuuut uuuuuup and WRITE for g*d's sake!!!!!!!" I hated the last few books of this very long series and so, apparently did a lot of others....always hoping for more, but seriously denied a great story.

Every time I read a fantasy series from beginning to end, I find that one of two things has occurred: either it held my interest throughout (The Belgariad, The original Shannara series, Codex Alera so far) or it hooked me early and then limped to a subpar conclusion. The Sword of Truth series, sadly, takes its place in the second category. It started off with a bang, despite its flaws (even back then it got repetitive - I can't tell you how sick I am of hearing what a "rare person" Richard is or about Kahlan's "green eyes") and maintained a decent level of interest through the 1st three installments. At some point along the way, however, the series became a platform for Goodkind's worldview and started preaching rather than telling a story. Ironically, one of my very favorite books in the series is also the one with the most opportunity for preachiness: Faith of the Fallen. Despite being set in the Old World, however, the story focuses mostly on actions large and small and manages to tell a good tale.

Goodkind is at his best during his action sequences. He describes riveting fight scenes and has some innovative ideas about Richard's powers and the ways in which they manifest. Ultimately, the emotions and conversational exchanges sound wooden or over the top, depending on the day, I suppose.

This finale felt like it came from an outline of many previous books in the series. Let's see, we need a reappearance by Gratch, cute little Rachel needs to take another indispensible action, all of the minor characters from the Mud People to Tom need to be heard from, all villains who haven't yet need to receive their comeuppance. Check, check, check and check. However, I still felt like situations went unresolved. What will happen with Nicci? Obviously no man other than Richard is her equal. What about Nathan Rahl - his siuation seems less than exciting. I thought the solution to the Imperial Order army was simplistic and farfetched. **SPOILER ALERT: Also, the reason given why the Book of Counted Shadows could not be the key to Orden is the same reason why the Sword of Truth should not be: both were created after the original magic. But for some reason, it's ok with regard to the sword but not with the book.** And finally, Terry couldn't come up with a better name for the monsters that threaten Rachel than "ghostie gobblies?" PLEASE.

I wanted to love this book, but in the end it was mostly just a relief to see the series come to a conclusion.

I feel pretty stupid for reading this entire series although the first book was pretty good and so was Faith of the Fallen so Goodkind did a good job of baiting me into it.

If Goodkind has driven you nuts in the past by his rambling philosophies, he might just put you in the mental ward after reading this one. Pages and pages are dedicated to this contstruct that he is totally fixated on, and not only that, but it is kind of bunk to begin with. Basically it is Richard's way or the highway, and by highway I mean wholesale slaughter. Sounds like a recipe for world peace to me. <Cough!>

On top of that, it is totally obvious that Goodkind thinks Richard is some kind of manifistation of himself - he's confirmed this in interviews. Richard has no less than 4 hot women wanting to bed him in this series, never loses a fight, has more power than anyone in a billion years, is never wrong with any hunch, is enlightened with the perfect notion of truth and justice, and is ruggedly handsome to top that all off. Every encounter Richard has with a new culture or civilization ends in him being crowned their king or chosen one. This is the kind of person Goodkind is. Oh and he's also fixated on rape. Not only rape, but child rape is mentioned a few times as well.

And just when you thought that was my only gripe, the book is really bad as well. If you're unfamiliar with the term deus ex machina, it means an artificial, or improbable character, device, or event introduced suddenly to resolve a situation or untangle a plot (thanks Wikipedia). This book is a textbook example of how to use such a device. Also:

**SPOILER WARNING**

there are a few scenes at the end that are downright ridiculous. Suddenly a witch woman can easily overpower Richard, the first Wizard, the Mother Confessor and a Mord-Sith, but is inexplicably routed by another Witch Woman, but we don't find out how this is possible. It just happens. Also, at the end Jagang waltzes into the People's Palace with a few bodyguards and the 3 boxes of Orden but no one thinks that maybe they could overpower him and just take the boxes right then. That would be too easy I guess.

**Spoiler End**

Overall, I'd say Goodkind wins this battle because I read the whole series. He loses my respect though by being a gigantic megalomaniac who thinks he himself is his God-like character. I recommend picking up Steven Erikson instead. He puts this series to shame.

As if there was anything else he could do after all he has managed throghout the previous ten books, Goodkind not only manages to wrap up his unforgettable series with logic and dignity (there isn't a single plot thread left dangling), he also accomplishes what other writers like the much-lauded Stephen King barely glimpsed at (in his "Dark Tower" series): he explains the origin of the universe!
There isn't any fantasy saga as worth reading as this one. Never have plot and philosophy been so expertly mingled. If you have grasped what Goodkind was accomplishing in his previous books, the ending won't disappoint you.

Wizard's First Rule may be one of the best fantasy novels ever written. In fact, I consider is second only to master Tolkien. But then something happened. The writing style deteriorated even if the stories were still good. The first problem I noticed was the endless recounting of the previous books. As the series progressed, the history lessons about the other books got worse. Then, the 'life vs. slavery' virus hit. This virus found its way into the rest of the series and became worse with each passing novel.

As I read Confessor, I found myself glossing over most of it. Not something I wanted to do, but I couldn't read anymore about how the Order were a bunch of commies and how good the New World was. In a couple of places I was sadly amused by the silly dialog about this subject, in the midst of horrible events. Maybe it is just me, but if I were in the presence of horrible torture and evil I don't think I would be thinking about political philosophy....

The problem with Confessor is that there is no real story to it. The first part is coverage of Old World Rugby, intermixed with side stories of the wizards and sorceress' doing silly things that mean nothing. Next, it turns into the preaching of Ayn Rand and is finally followed by about 50 pages of actual conclusion. The last laugh is that the ending is so contrived and leaves one wondering about all the loose ends that are unresolved that one cannot be satisfied. This is a disaster based on the wonderful endings in many of the previous novels.

Now, I have a theory that at some point Goodkind decided to 'live life' and not really put much effort into the rest of the series. Notice how most paragraphs begin with "Joe knew that..." where Joe is whatever character you choose. As I read the 700th iteration of this style it occurred to me that if I were a writer and really didn't want to work I could put a bunch of paragraphs on index cards and I could just shuffle them and put together a "book". Next, I'd just add about 50 pages to finish it off and shoot it to the publisher! Now this may sound crazy, but do this experiment. Choose a random page and a random paragraph. Read it, and then choose another random paragraph. On average you will have the same consistency as reading it straight through. Having said that, I am not accusing Goodkind of doing this, rather I am pointing out how the writing has diminished since WFR.

If you have read all the rest, you almost have to read this one to finish the series. Just don't expect it to be all that enjoyable or to have a wonderful ending.

Along with agreeing with most other reviewers, I humbly offer my take on yet another area where this book miserably fails.

*****SPOILER WARNING*****
In WFR, we meet Richard, the "boy next door" that many of us could relate to. He's not perfect, and he doesn't know everything. He falls in love with a woman that he can't have, and when he wins Kahlan in the end, it is a fitting reward for an arduous struggle. Then he loses her again, and the rest of the series chronicles his three-year battle to permanently reclaim his love and live happily ever after. That's what the last three books are about - Richard trying to save Kahlan. Even with all the violence, fast-paced action, and surprising plot twists, in the end I'm reading these books because I care about these characters and want them to be happy together.

So for me, the most disappointing thing about this book is that the most tender, romantic moment between Richard (who is now all-knowing and perfect) and Kahlan (who now thinks he doesn't love her), turns out to be nothing more than a ploy by Richard to end the Chainfire event. TG has gone on and on (and on) about how much Richard loves her, he's brought us to a campfire in the night (remember WFR, when Kahlan tells Richard what she is?), there's a moment that might have brought a tear if TG had written any emotion into it, and then later you find out that Richard really recreated the Spirit statue to make certain that Kahlan would accept it. That was the main purpose of his trip to the underworld, too. He didn't go to the underworld and back for her; it was for everybody else.

The last book ends as the first, with a kiss, but then there's nothing. I have read some 6,000 pages to get here - more than a few of those pages being extremely tedious - and that's all I get? They kiss, and there are just enough pages left for a tender reunion; but no, there's nothing more said about the vast love between them. Richard barely appears in the book after that, and then it's just to make one last speech about loving life. What about their love life? He was nearly overwhelmed with joy when he just happened to run into her in the wilderness between the Mud People's village and Tamarang (what luck!) - was a kiss all he wanted?

I'm not talking about a steamy sex scene (although a non-violent one would be a nice change, I don't need to see anything more detailed than Richard carrying her off to his big bed), but what about the children they both want? There are pointless cameos by minor characters to tie off loose ends; what about the fact Richard's parents, stepbrother, and all but one half-sibling are dead? Kahlan is even more alone in the world. Would it have killed TG to write a scene two years into the future where they finally have a family? It would have made a better ending than two more helpings of `Richardism'.

Confessor has its good moments, and if you've come this far you should read it. Many questions are answered, there is some satisfying revenge taken during the Ja'La games, you get to see the Richard's prowess one last time, and it completes the Sword of Truth/Chainfire satisfactorily. But, in his quest to convert us all to his way of thinking, Goodkind has forgotten fiction's first rule - you must entertain your readers.

I've enjoyed the Sword of Truth books. Sure, some have been better than others, but the overall experience has been fun. This book wraps the two story arcs (the overall series & the Confessor trilogy) up nicely. Richard has come pretty far over 11 books and I wish it could just keep going.

I'd like to see Terry Goodkind try his hand with fantasy again, but it looks like his next book will be a mainstream novel.

If you've read the other books, of course you will read this one. It's been a journey of 14 years to get to this point. If you haven't read the other books, start with the first one. Characters that seem like old friends to long-time readers won't make any sense to new readers.

Whatever you do, be sure to read it, though.

I'll keep this brief. Here are the pros:
Everything finally ends. Loose ends are tied up, Jagang's reign of terror is ended, people get married, people die, and life moves on. One nice touch was that many beloved characters from previous books whom you thought you wouldn't see again make cameos.

The cons: Easily the least enjoyable book of the whole series. Those of you who have been following this series from the beginning know exactly what I'm talking about when I say that a lot of the "magic" has gone out of the series. The first few books were stuffed so full of action, colorful characters, and strange and interesting spells and creatures that I literally couldn't put them down. However, in the latter books, that creativity and fire has given way to pages and pages of philosophy and convoluted explanations of spells and magic, and I'm sorry to say that this book is definitely the worst offender of the bunch in that regard. Read it to find out what happens to all the characters you care about, but get ready to do some serious skimming when the book gets bogged down in monologues and lectures.

Like most of the reviewers here I started with the "Wizard's First Rule" when it first came out, and fell in love with it. In all honesty you could probably read just that one and let it go with that. Maybe "Stone of Tears" as well but anything beyond that your going to have to be prepared for the good, the bad, and the really repetitive.

Because the truth of the mater, at least for me, is that, as tired as I got with hearing the same themes repeated, as much as I found myself mumbling, "I get it already," there is still something undeniably compelling about the story itself.

I just finished reading "Confessor"and as much as I hate reading page after page of the same drivel the characters have been spouting for the last 4 or 5 books, I actually found myself enjoying the book non-the-less. So much so I almost reached over for my well worn copy of the "Wizard's First Rule" Stopping just short of actually opening it up to read. It's like there is a chalk drawing of me in a cave somewhere reading these damn books!

Honestly I kind of zoned out on the parts that were less than interesting but there was enough there to keep me going. Even if some of it did feel forced. The time and care that was put into the rhetoric could have been put into connecting some of the scenes a little more coherently.

I think that it is fairly obvious that the author's passions for his subject matter overrode his storytelling. So mush so I am wondering if he didn't fire an editor as I kept stumbling over typos.

You've kind of got to hand it to him though, he accomplish quiet the story epic... now do I really want to wade through all that crap again for the gems that come fewer and far between as the story draws out...

Maybe I can just stop after "Pillar's of Creation"... who am I kidding.

Sigh. The first few books were so good. I got hooked on the characters in books one through four, which were quite good. Then I had to read seven mediochre books after that because I wanted to know how the characters ended up. What happened?

The downfall of the series started with book five, _Soul of the Fire_. Here, Mr. Goodkind spent half the book developing a character who contributed nothing and died suddenly and without reason. It was in this book that Mr. Goodkind seemed to run out of new plot devices. But by that time the damage was done: his readership hung on through six more plotless books just to read the ending (even though we all knew what was going to happen anyway). With this book in particular, Mr. Goodkind took his leisurely time to have his characters spout out a repetitive, repetitious, redundant (did I mention repetitive?) sermon for the first five hundred pages, then sprint through the actual plot (contrived as it was) in the last hundred. The story was filled with miraculous interventions and plenty of deus ex machina.

Why did you do this to us, Mr. Goodkind? Why did you hook us in with such captivating storytelling in the beginning and then leave us high and dry? Why did your characters cease to be heroes of action and become boring, failed preachers? Why did you make us care, and then cease to care yourself?

I suppose I have no one but myself to blame. I stopped reading the series after book eight with no intention of picking up another volume. Then I learned that Mr. Goodkind had decided to end the series with a three-book set. "In for a penny, in for a pound," I thought. Surely I could wade my way through three more books just to see how the story ended. I tell you now, I'm disappointed, and I may as well have saved myself the time and hassle. Nothing new, exciting or even unexpected happened.

Long story short: if you've just started the series, let Dante be your guide: "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." If you've read books one through ten, I guess you may as well read _Confessor_ and be done with it (although you don't lose credit if you just skim the first couple hundred pages...you've read it all before). I hope that if Mr. Goodkind writes another series he will begin with the end in mind and not subject those who still care to read him to the kind of aimless drifting we experienced with the latter part of this series.

Abandoning the spirit of your art simply to sell more books should be a crime.

I really do feel a little dirty after reading this, mostly because I actually liked it. More than liked it really. I thought it was a great book and once I started reading it I didn't want to put it down.

I did find this a satisfactory ending to the series. I liked how Terry tied everything back to the other books in the series and I was very happy to see some favorite characters of old make one last appearance.

If I were going to point out faults - and who are we kidding? I'm going to. - it would be that Terry still feels the need to ram his political philosophy down our throats. This time I think he decides that he can fit tirades on faith (ok, blind faith) in there too. It's almost too much to handle. Actually, Richard waxes rhapsodic in the one of the final chapters, and it was really too tedious to pay attention to.

Still, in spite of that, this was a good read. I may have to re-read the Chainfire, Prophecy, and Confessor back-to-back-to-back so that I can evaluate it all as one book. I'd tentatively fit this in as number 5 in order of good reads from Terry. Not as good as Stone of Tears, better than Blood of the Fold. Doesn't even come close to Temple of the Winds, Wizards First Rule, or Faith of the Fallen.

If you are still reading the Sword of Truth, then you will probably like this book. There were some truly great moments, some dialog that went way too long, and more philosophy. When I read some reviews of Faith of the Fallen, I was surprised to see a reader complain about the endless "preaching". I didn't pick up on it in that book, or at least I did not have a problem with it. This book was one big sermon, and I was truly disappointed with the message and conclusion. What church did Goodkind attend to get him so anti-religion (try another one dude - not all of them ask you to check your brain at the door)?

On the plus side, there is some really good character development with Jagang, some good manipulation from Richard, and (thank goodness) significantly less rape, torture, and otherwise disgusting topics that went on for many pages in the last few books. The bad guys are still bad, we just don't hear about it for page after disgusting page.

At one point, it looked like this book was headed for a glorious ending, one that was shocking and poignant. However, it never reached that point, and I was left disappointed with Richard - someone I had come to love throughout the series, the book, the series, the whole 11 books I had invested.

It seems to me that since Mr. Goodkind is such a fan of Ayn Rand, he felt he needed to copy her manner of having characters going on and on for pages with dull speeches. After a bit of this I just started skimming when these monologues popped up. I was satisfied enough with the ending, but getting there was not much fun. It is quite accurate to say that this series ended not with a bang, but with a whimper.
Several characters died - good and bad - and every single death was anti-climactic. There was no big battle - either on a macro or micro scale. The best we got was where Richard was playing the game - once that bit was over, there was not much left to hold one's interest. I really think that these last three books could have been condensed into two with no problems - making it a set of ten and not eleven.
I gave it two stars instead of one because all the lose ends I was interested in were tied up, but here is the real kicker. With most series like this, I am left sorry that the story has ended and hoping that the author will find some way to revisit the characters that I have known and loved. I leave here with no interest in more Sword of Truth books and knowing that I will never re-read the books - something that is quite rare for me.

Now I know that reading a series to the end doesn't make sense. But I honestly hoped that the writing would improve or he would catch his mistakes. I guess I was being wishful and live in a world where people would actually review what they had done and try to improve. Hrmmm.
Anyways...this last book was to be a great tie up of everything that we had been reading. Instead we get a great deal of monologuing and we are slowly learning that Nicci is really good at following other people's leads. My goodness. This was just sick.

I mean I followed the series cause it was good. Up until just before Chainfire I think. What is really weird is that unlike most great villains. Jagang does not monologue even though he is brilliant. Instead it is our hero and his compatriots who prattle onward and onward continually to our dismay. Horrible stuff. Plus as a series ending...very very sad.

Don't think I will pick up another Goodkind book again....I am fearful and disappointed.

After coming so far, Richard Rahl knows he must risk all to free his beloved wife Kahlan Amnell, who does not recall much of her past including her husband, from the destructive Emperor Jagang and his Imperial Order that has destroyed freedom like a CHAINFIRE encircling everything. Now the Order has reached the final destination of pandemic destruction the People's Palace.

Richard must escape, save his spouse and prevent the Order from completing its quest while knowing the Beast will assault his body and soul at almost every turn. His only avenue he sees is to forge a team to challenge the undefeated champions, the Emperor's squad in a game of Ja'La dh Jin. If he wins the contest the females select the rewards; he does not want to dwell on losing.

Going into the final book of the Sword of Truth saga, the probability of Terry Goodkind wrapping up all his subplots from the previous ten tales is one in a googolplex, but the author seemingly has done so, but at a cost. The above is critical, but does not reflect most of what is going on from battles to campsites, to the siege, etc. At times the myriad of sidebars seem overwhelming and force a final sprint to the finish line. Still this is a powerful conclusion to what peels down to its core of a war between truth and deception with readers wondering will Richard succeed on his quest that is personal yet universal while breathlessly waiting the revealing of the final wizard's rule.

Harriet Klausner

If you're reading this review, you know what to expect and you're probably willing to live with it. Yes, Richard is preachy and reiterates the same message over and over. Yes, he's still flawless and never makes mistakes or suffers from any bad emotions like hate, jealousy, or anger. Yes, there are long explanations about magic that don't seem to serve much point except to show us how proud Goodkind was about his own system of magic. And yes, people are saved by weird coincidences and deus ex machinas.

But...

Like I said, if you're reading this review, you've likely already read most of the series or have read other reviews and know about this. So on to the good of the book. For starters, the entire second half is pretty darn good. There really is some good action. As well, Goodkind isn't afriad of killing off some big characters. Kudos. Most authors suck at that. Just about everything big gets wrapped up pretty well and the ending is satisfactory, if a bit rushed. If you're a fan of the series, you know it's a love story at heart and you want to see that prevail. Great. Goodkind delivers. Lastly, there are some amusing - if superflous - tiebacks to older bits.

So I give it 4 stars. I don't regret reading it because it was honestly entertaining. A classic of fantasy? No, not really. But at the same time, it wasn't the steaming load so many other reviewers seem to think. If you're willing to look past Goodkind's faults as an author, there's actually a decent story here. And hey, there honestly aren't many long running epic series' that don't have pretty big flaws after 3 or 4 books.

I've been reading the "Sword of Truth" series since I was 15 or 16 years old. (I turned 28 last month) Even though I've been disappointed in several of the books, I knew I had to finish the series (if there had been no end in sight, maybe not).

I guess you can say I wasn't disappointed with this book though, because I really wasn't expecting that much. The endless rhetoric between the characters, repeated time after time after time, caused me to skip entire pages (discussions between Ann and Nicci, any kind of Jagang rant, Richard at the end), it is all stuff we have heard 1000 times over.

The ending, while not completely awful, was basically the same as every other book in the series. Richard has no idea what to do, acts out of instinct at the last minute and saves the day. In 11 books he never really learns how to use his powers, it is in fact revealed that a war wizards power is in his emotions.....a huge cop out IMO.

There were some exciting parts, such as the Ja la games (sp) esp. right after the last one, but it was a struggle for me to get through this book. I'm glad its over.

Two of my friends and myself have read this entire series. And much like the three bears we all shared varying degrees of like for the series. Friend one loved the series. Friend two liked the series. Fried three (me) loved the series books 1-4, tolerated books 5-8 and didn't care for first installments of the chainfire trilogy books 9-10.

So here we sit at book 11. The three friends read it and what happens. None of us liked book 11. In fact friend one and two are so bitterly disappointed with the book that they will no longer recommend this series to anyone. I actually had the least violent reaction, perhaps because I was already tainted and had the lowest expectations so my disappointment was not a hard to take.

As other reviewers have stated. It's tripe. It's horribly written, it's flat, it's rushed, it's boring, and those are unfortunately the book's redeeming qualities.

At its heart, this book is simply a pulpit for a self-centered, self-serving author. It's nothing but a poorly veiled lecture on Mr. Goodkind's personal philosophy. Sadly this is more of an annoyance than what is truly wrong with this book.

That brings us to Repetition. Apparently Mr. Goodkind feels his audience is a bunch of simpletons incapable of understanding his personal philosophy, or is looking to convert his audience to his personal philosophy, because the repetition of said philosophy is so horrid, you begin to dream the words in your sleep. Did I mention the book was repetitious?

But in the end it was not the horrible writing, the endless mind numbing speeches, the endless repetition that ruined not only this book but also forever tainted the entire series for the three friends. In the end what totally nullified the series was Richard. With one choice he became a hypocrite, he became what he preached about. He became judge and jury. All the talk of freedom, choice, etc is only for Richard or those who believe just as he does.

Final thoughts - If you blindly followed Mr. Goodkind in this journey and eat up every word he crammed down your throat, you will love this book and praise it highly. If you actually have read the words and formed your own opinion of Mr. Goodkind's personal philosophy you will not like this book. In a twist of irony Mr. Goodkind's final installment of this series, a series which was simply a cover to preach his personal philosophy to the masses, to encourage the masses not to be sheep, is the exact thing that will cause some of his greatest fans to be forever disappointed by him. In the end it was not about freedom or personal choice versus the evil sheep. In the end it was about Richard's sheep are right and just and all other sheep are wrong and vile.

If you can find the review from Brian Hawkinson, he sums it all up quite precisely.

I will add that unlike previous SOT novels, Goodkind's rants and too-long raves are not centered around reminding the reader of past events in the series, as they used to be in earlier books. His too long ramblings in this book are super monotonous - I must have skimmed through a third of the book. I am not good at remembering details and would have preferred the prior to the later as occasionally in the past these reviews proved helpful. The places where he does do review are basic, repetitive and not pertinent, as are his rantings.

My conclusion is that he was under contract to provide so many books of so many words but was creatively done with the series back when we all thought he should wrap it before it headed south. (it's a little like a TV show that runs on for 3 too many seasons...) waaaaaaayyyyyy too much filler and pages that go on and on where one paragraph would suffice.

Suffer through it if you need the conclusion, but the meat of this book is equivalent to a chicken liver (earlier books contained multiple sides of beef...). Oh, and don't waste your $25-30 to buy the book - get it used or from the library... find another good book to get invested in...

You probably already know that Goodkind is preachy. I knew it going in and I can deal with that, even though it kills the feeling of the book. It does bother me that an author will go to great lengths to try and tell a story and wrap the reader into a different world, and then just totally bash the reader in the skull with childish monologues that go for pages where I guess we are supposed to believe that all other characters just patiently wait for the speaker to finish and reach their point. It doesn't matter how many people are present for these tirades, or what the circumstances are (like maybe a tense moment with tempers flaring). We are just supposed to stay wrapped up in this story as if it's plausible. Sorry Mr Goodkind but it isn't. You might as well have said Richard pulls out a gun and starts firing at people because THAT is how plausible your character tirades are. How can you create this rich world and not get something basic like how people interact?

So anyway, I can skip those and keep going. I don't mind that much as long as I can keep the story going. And it worked for much of this book like his other recent books. But what really killed it for me was the ending. It has to be the dumbest ending ever. I can only think that panic sent in with a due date looming so Goodkind just whipped up something to get it done. In a manner of two or three pages Goodkind explains the entire secret to all the magic being used as "one thing was wrong because it was after a key date" but "the correct thing was correct even though it was after the key date".

Why you ask? Well the first thing was wrong because it was illogical because how could it be part of the solution if the timeline was wrong. So how could the second thing be correct if the timeline was also wrong? Ahhh dear reader the answer is .... it was a trick. Yes folks, logic prevails until the author gets tired head and decides that logic won't work so we fall back on "it's a trick".

You know, that might work if there were some space between these revelations, like maybe a book or two or even a few 100 pages. But no, it all comes in a one or two page span.

Let that sink in a bit. It's the last 5 pages of the book dear readers. XZY was false because of a date, simple logic. But ABC is true even though it falls under the same date, because it's a trick.

A trick. Really Terry? Really?

So yes, I enjoyed the book even with the smug speeches and preaching. But I feel so ripped off because of the ending. I'm ashamed I read the book and gave Terry money.

Although I enjoyed wrapping up the story, the monologuing got a bit out of hand. This is the first of the series I just couldn't read every word and at times would skim through the endless repetitions of how life was good. If it had been properly edited, it would have been a few hundred pages shorter and a much better story. Too much heavy handed philosophy to enjoy completely.

Still, a nice ending.

I've told many people that Goodkind's Faith of the Fallen is perhaps one of the best books I've ever read. I find Terry Goodkind to be a...let's say "off-putting"...person, but I can't argue that his writing in that book is anything less than genius.

It was all the books after FOTF in the Sword of Truth series that really made me question my assertion. If I had to hear one more rant about Objectivism, how "bad" The Order is or how much Richard loved Kahlan I was seriously going to burn my book. Like, I GET it. I got it by the end of FOTF, actually, so stop beating it into my head. It also made his characters' dialogue completely unnatural. A made-up example,

Person one: "People should be allowed to succeed as individuals and reach their true potential."
Person two: "Why should people be individuals? That is a sin to the Creator.""
Person one: "Individuals can succeed whereas groupthink holds people to the lowest common denominator."
Person two: "I like succeeding."
Person one: "Me too. Have I told you all my views on individuals reaching their potential?"
Person two: "No, please elaborate."

Enough!

Anyway, so I was a little concerned that Confessor was going to continue along the same path. I'd read some fan Q&A with Goodkind and a reader expressed that a lot of people complained about his long rants, and Goodkind basically told him that anyone who didn't like his long Objectivism rants were haters of mankind and life.

But, I was pleasantly surprised with Confessor to see that the rants were kept to a blessed minimum, as were Richards laments over his love for Kahlan and descriptions of the Order's badness. Perhaps his editors finally asserted some control.

There were some sections where the rants still leak through, as well as a few lengthy sections where characters discuss the science behind the magic they're using to the point of exhaustion. I'd care more, except that the magic in the book doesn't really exist so I feel no motivation to understand the exact scientific principles behind it. I want the magic to make sense, to be logical in the world Goodkind created. I don't want paragraphs that use language only found in tax law and medical journals.

With all that said, this book certainly redeemed the series. There were scenes, one in particular between Richard and Kahlan, that renewed all the power I'd felt come from FOTF. That's the genius of Goodkind that keeps me reading and that I've been missing since FOTF. He creates such monumentally powerful scenes, and makes you care very deeply for the characters. The action moves swiftly and I plowed through the book in two days.

In the end, it was worth suffering through the rants to reach the conclusion. I hear tell that Goodkind plans to visit this world again in future books, I can only hope he does.

After reading first four books, I was excited that a new series was out that would keep me entertained (possibly) for years. Unbeknown to me, I was about to spend the next 13 years irritated by the preachy, holier than thou messages that were shoved into these books, seemingly with no regard to the reader (with the exception of book 6 which was phenomenal).

Confessor promises to end the decade plus of wondering if Goodkind was ever going to get to the point. He does in Confessor, and finishes the series well. This one is not as good as the first four, but Goodkind proves that he still has some modicum of storytelling left when he talks about the Ja'al games and some of the fight scenes. There are still droves of Objectivist drivel being spewed, but for the most part, the book ends the series well.

Readers that have faithfully stuck with Goodkind over the last 13 years will be pleased that the series is finally over, if you have not and are looking for something good to read, try the first 4, skip too six and finish off with 10 and 11 (10 is only so you understand 11).

The Good ones are:
Wizard's First Rule (Sword Of Truth, book 1)
Blood of the Fold (The Sword of Truth, Book 2)
Stone of Tears (The Sword of Truth, Book 3)
Temple of the Winds (Sword of Truth, Book 4)
Faith of the Fallen (Sword of Truth, Book 6)

I first read this book about 3 three years ago, and really wraps up the series. Each book brings something new to the series, and this one ended. The main two characters get back together, and Richard defeats the Imperial Order by sending them to a different world where magic doesn't exist. It does a very good job of ending with out the future being all spelled out.

A great series save for the super frustrating explanations of what has gone before, couched either as a reflection or just a plain explanation. I KNOW ALREADY! I read it in the last 10 books, over and over and over again. Perhaps the thinking is that it would be of value to a person who picked up book 11 first and chose to read that. It would be better if it simply said in the front cover, “this is book 11 of a series of books”. At least 30 percent of the last book was explanations and its so frustrating to have rubbish that I know from reading a few days ago come up and waste pages of the book. Overall, a nice story thread when the book gets to the story, but frustrating to get there.

I did like the first books of this series, but the later books became progressively more boring due to dialog repetitiveness. I had hoped since this was the last book of the series that Mr. Goodkind would go back to his earlier style, where characters actually had more than one dimension and spoke like human beings, unfortunately this book was probably the worst of the entire series.

Characters, especially Richard. go on and on, saying the same thing over and over again. I found myself skipping over these long monologues that went on for pages. The characters were pretty much cardboard cutouts. The dialog was really stilted and character interactions just seemed so unreal. This book was long on speeches, short on character development.

I'm glad the series is over, as the creativity that it started with is long gone. I won't be buying anymore of Mr. Goodkind's books, just too lame... I'll wait for George RR Martin's next book - There's a guy who knows how to develop good characters, even though I find it sad that he has no problem killing them off!

Greetings, fellow readers.

Terry Goodkind (his last name nonwithstanding), has crossed over to the "dark side" now for several sequels in this mammoth exhibition of repetitive and preachy monologue.

Save your money and avoid migraine, eye strain, and utter disappointmeint by resisting the urge to wrap up this series.

Many of us (myself included) have spent years collecting and reading these books in the hopes of reaching a satisfying conclusion.

It does not happen.

Just swallow this bitter pill and move on to more worthwhile authors.

That's the way I see it.

~Mindhaunt

Samuel and Brian's reviews each describe the book and the deterioration of the series perfectly. Richard has become a preacher and there are so many scenes where someone almost died or got killed, but they still go into monologues like they'd really ever do that. ALSO, the book is riddled with TYPOS and GRAMMAR mistakes. I stopped counting after 30. Just stupid mistakes that a junior high kid would fix on a paper he was turning in. It gave the book a half-a## kind of feel. The series was great in the beginning, but has been dragged out for profit or Goodkind is just a poor writer.
Besides all this, I still liked reading the book because his first few books were so moving and engaging. I take whatever I can get, but I have to say that the only scene that is reminiscent of the old days is the fighting after the final Ja' La match, but just barely.

If I had read this book anywhere but on some long plane trips I had to take, I'd have been seriously angry for him wasting my time.

Even though my review will likely hurt my ability to resell this book, I have to say DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME.

I loved the fist three books in this series and then Goodkind turned into a televangelist with his preaching. I stopped buying the books and read them (skimmed them actually) from my library. If you were following the series - then by all means finish it (from the library of course - do not spend you hard earned dollars!!). This book was as disappointing as were the last 9 - how many was it again I forgot???? I have lost count as they are all the same - blah blah blah!! If this guy writes any more books I will not be wasting my time - the only positive is that he did finish the series (i.e. Robert Jordan!!) - weak as it was. No need to rehash the plot (was there one) as other reviewers have done so - in a nutshell - if you didn't start this series THEN DON'T - IF YOU DID - YOU MAY AS WELL FINISH IT.

Let's be honest. If you've made it this far (10,000 pages plus) into Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, you're going to read this one too. There is something about his writing that is addictive; we know it's flawed, we know it's repetitive, but, darn it, we read them anyway. The same problems that have plagued that later half of the series are present here too, though the action keeps up and the pacing is much better than some of the other books. All the big threads are closed off and most of the memorable characters from the series make an appearance. All-in-all the ending is a little "out there" in a very special Goodkind kind of way, but there are far worse ways to wrap up a series.

There are a few standard Goodkind annoyances to deal with: too much time spent focusing on unimportant events (Richard spends half the book playing sports), rambling arguments that end with the other character saying "I see that you are right now. <repeat everything the other person just said>", and Rachel keeps using the term "ghosty gobblies", which wouldn't be nearly as annoying if she wasn't written to sound and act like a 25 year old 90% of the time. There are also a few repeated words and phrases appear just a little to often to feel comfortable (you know what I mean if you've read his past work). If these little peccadilloes haven't put you off the series yet, then this isn't going to be a big deal - this books isn't the worst offender in this category.

I will say, however, that this book is really only for people who have been following this series. It probably isn't worth reading through 10 other books just to get to this one unless you really love Goodkind's writing style. Enjoy the first novel (Wizard's First Rule (Sword of Truth, Book 1)), which can stand alone without the books that follow, and move on with your life.

All negatives aside, Goodkind is a unique author that obviously knows how to grab his readers attention. I think his books would really shine if he took on a lighter story in a trilogy format. Of course, If you're like me, you'll buy whatever that man puts to paper, regardless of what anyone says.

I viewed the final book in this series with a certain amount of trepidation. The books in this series have been very variable. In my opinion the first one was the best, and very much a stand alone book. The earlier books in the series were still very good. Then there were some ups and downs in book quality, some good, some bad, some average. So it was hard to know which category this one would fit into. Now having read it, I would say Confessor is not the worst book in the series, but neither is it among the best. I would rate it average, verging on bad.

Probably the most important things to know about this book are:

1) The rants and repetitions continue. Whilst not as bad as those in the rant-also-known-as-the-Naked-Empire they still form waaay too large a proportion of the book.

2)Richard continues to become more and more powerful (and annoying - sad since he was once so likeable). Richard seems to have completely lost his ability to see shades of gray (not that he was very good at that to begin with) and everyone is still either US or THEM.

3)If you've stuck with the series so far you're probably still going to read this book. It is nice to have a final resolution to the series even if the ending feels like a bit of a copout by Goodkind to me. The plot device used is a little deus ex machina as it conveniently negates many of the rules set out in the first few books.

Confessor does an excellent job with tieing up almost all of the loose ends in the Sword of Truth series. (I didn't see a recurrence of the Temple of the Winds). However, I found the dialogue to be too repitive and too wordy. The author spent a great deal of time retelling the view point of the protaganists from various points of view. I found myself skimming through pages and pages of dialogue that explained the characters reasonings and thoughts for why they felt they way they did. The fact is, I read all the books, I already knew why they had these feelings. I did not need them retold to me over and over again.

There were alot of action sequences that would have been great additions but where left out. Rachael's freeing of Richard's powers was glossed over through a flashback. I would have loved to have read about it. The dream assault was also handled in this fashion.

The ending was a vast disapointment. While unexpected and refreshing, Richard's closing dialogue almost put me to sleep. He explained his choices over and over and over and over again with logic we were already accustomed to.

All in all, a good closing if you can get past the regurtitated dialogue.

The worst in the entire series, which is saying a lot considering its downfall since Naked Empire.

If you're into gratuitous and exploitative descriptions of rape and sexual abuse, as well as long-winded and not-particularly-clever-or-insightful political diatribes, you're in for a real treat.

Otherwise, stay away.

My daughter lent me all 12 books (ending with Confessor) this summer. I read straight through to almost the end. Then I was paralyzed with anxiety. I didnt want to leave my favorite people, my new family. What to do? I needed to know the end, but then it would be over. <SIGH> Finally I googled you Mr. Goodkind and discovered you kept writing!!!! I cant wait to rush to the book store tomorrow. THANK YOU THANK YOU. I am 71 years old and cant remember ever being as involved with fictional characters as I have been with Richard, Kahlan and their friends. You are my hero and the magic against magic. Now I finished "Confessor" and really liked the ending. To the naysayers that didnt like repetition, an author has to provide for those who have not read previous books. I noticed the repetition and simply skimmed over it.

This book wasn't as bad as "Chainfire" or some of the other books in this series that have now blurred together in my head. It actually did follow a plot from beginning to end. A nonsensical, silly plot, that by this point was totally dependent on coincidence, but still a plot. You know how at the end of a book that got too complicated, they wrap everything up a little too quickly and a little too neatly? Well, imagine a series so complicated that you need a whole book to tie it together (badly), and here it is. There are so many loose ends to tie up, the whole book is mostly showing how each character gets exactly what's been coming to them, at exactly the right time (when someone isn't being repeatedly and brutally raped).

There are, of course, the obligatory discourses on how much Richard loves LIFE! and the straw man arguments against the enemy who espouses some sort of silly collectivist philosophy. (Meant to represent what? communism? rape-ism?) In the end there are at LEAST 5 deus-ex-machina type rescues right in a row to get everyone where they need to be. But, come on. You are expecting literature, at this point? Puh-leez.

An almost serviceable end to what was once a promising series, but which now I would not recommend to anyone. I read this book in the bookstore over a total of 3 visits and about 45 minutes of skimming. I don't regret the time I spent reading it, I guess. But any more would have been too much.

Without giving any plot points away just let me say this was one of the most rushed, boring, and obviously "phoned in for the contract" books I've yet read. And I say that as someone who greatly enjoyed the Sword of Truth series as a whole.

Nearly every other page it seemed some HUGE plot point that previously encompassed the plot of an entire book was wrapped up or a major character was killed off with little fanfare or acknowledgement. Barely ANY time was given to flesh out any of the story, and what little there was added nothing to the overall storyline.

Talk about an ending gone wrong.

Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth Series has been excellent. He's one of the few authors I buy in hardcover the moment his books hit the shelf. Most author's are worthy of paperback only, and all too many series of this length simply lose my interest over time. I would give most of the books in the series 4 stars, with a few getting 5 and one or two only getting 3 stars, I'd give this particular installment 3 1/2 stars - definitely worth reading, but not quite as strong as some of the others.

In the Sword of Truth series, Goodkind accomplishes something quite rare - he writes a cohesive story, and actually brings it to a satisfying conclusion. I've just read all 11 books of this series for the second time, from beginning to end. What surprised me is how well they flow and are consistent with one another. Most amazing of all, the loose ends are all neatly tied up by the end of Confessor. Yes, it is a bit anticlimactic in the last chapter or two. But still, well worth the read.

And there is a hint that another story may yet be coming...set a generation or two in the future.

I have been a Goodkind fan since '94, reading and rereading the series more times than I can count. I started struggling at Soul of the Fire, was rejunvenated at Faith of Fallen, started the struggle again with Pillars, and waited hopfully for that last rejuvenation at book 11. I am disappointed to say that I left the series deflated.

Goodkind is an incredible writer, he proved it time and time again with previous books, but his final volume lacked his characteristic character building, scene work, emotional intesity, and action. He slowly became looooooong-winded over the course of the series, and as many have noted, the preachiness and repetition is unneccesary and frustrating.

I will go onto more details below but please be aware that there are some spoilers. Overall I rated Confessor 2 stars. I admit, part of this rating was simply from my 13 year dedication to the series. Part of it also stems from my recogition of how supremely difficult the conclusion to this story must have been. But the overall disappointment of the book just can't earn it the rating that I wish I could have given it.

***Warning: Spoilers***

First the good. I liked that Jagang simply died, no martyring, I was very pleased with this. I appreciated the parallel of Ann dying similarly, no ceremony. I'm glad that Kahlan was restored, I would not have hated to see the loss of her and Richard's love. I wish that could have been expanded on a little more. Cara's wedding was endearing but should not have earned the place it did in the ending. Unlike some, I did enjoy the technical aspects of magic explained...BUT, why the ENDLESS explanations of it?? Neither the readers nor the characters are mentally challenged Terry.

The bad. Confessor ties up many loose ends, though I feel unsatisfied. The solutions were reasonable enough for several things, but Goodkind never got me invested enough to really care. Characters much loved (Zedd, Chase, Verna) made cameos, but they were weak and did nothing to advance the character or plot. The monologues/speeches...DEAR LORD! Too much rape/violence towards women. We all know Jagang and the men of the IO are evil, violent men, we know they abuse and rape women. There was no need to drive this fact home again and again, I highly doubt anyone forgot. The beast, which Goodkind had set up as a pivotal "character" was FAR too easily dealt with since he chose to bring it back. But quite frankly, it could have simply been left out since it was all but forgotten after I closed Phantom. I have always liked that Richard magic seems commanded only by instinct rather than training - the rawness of it is a great contrast to all of the other magic. I was let down by the fact that once his magic returned, there were only two raw moments (breaking the Rada'Han, "killing" the beast) but otherwise, in the most important magic ever used in the book, he was guided through by another gifted (Nicci)rather than by his instinct. Hmmm.

My very biggest problem, however, was not the writing or any of the above - it was what Richard did with Orden, it left a bad taste in my mouth. No matter how I cut it, I can only see Richard's actions with Orden as contrary to the beliefs that he has preached throughout the entire series. Am I happy that magic didn't die in their world? Yes. Do I think the parallel world concept was creative? Yes. Was it a good solution for Chainfire and the Chimes? Yeah, I think so. BUT, in the end, I feel like Richard did exactly was he professed to hate. He stood before all people (literally all) and dictated that those opposing his view of right had in turn lost THEIR right to life in his world. Did he kill them? No. And no, I don't feel like he was "ruling with an iron fist" or even hatefully. But there was a discontinuity in his actions throughout out the series and his final action. It did not ring true. And leaving me even more frustrated is that the way Goodkind set of these final stories, I can realize a better solution! If he could banish Chainfire and the Chimes to another world, why send all of these other people with them? If you believe so wholly in your version of right, isn't that powerful enough to ultimately overcome the warped beliefs of the Order? The ungifted asked to go to the other world and they still could ahve done so. In fact, it would have been a good failsafe for the protection of magic goal. Those who hated and feared magic could have also CHOSEN to go...and it would have made sense for them to do so! And if they didn't choose, so be it. The ending was just a little too pretty to cover an ideological flaw.

I am a pretty big fan for Terry Goodkind I was very excited to read confessor. Everything was set up right and I was hoping for some sort of epic battle where all his creatures and what ever else Richard ran into would fight. We have a huge list. The mud people, dragons, the tribe in the old world, and all the sisters and not to mention all the millions of people. On top of that I want to see him use his magic. He is the first person in three thousand years and he still hardly uses it his advantage. Overall though it was still tense. Once again everything seems to go wrong but each individual follows what they believe they have to do and they all miraculously come together and come out on top. I wish they would have gone further into each person life and not to mention
(SPOILER)

Richard brings back the temple of winds!!! the same one where he remade the sword of truth with the snap of his fingers. Why would you put that at the end!!! Its almost unfair.

I very much agree with several reviewers that TG's first 4 books were well written and there was a good story going. Then, it all went downhill with what seemed and felt like "filler talk" of never ending monologues about good vs. evil, and technicality over how this kind of magic works against the other several kinds. I couldn't help but give up, and just skimmed over those boring monologues. It was an immense relief to get to the final chapter and see the bad guy finally get what's been coming to him for ages. And although the book is just as long as all the previous ones, it really felt like TG just gave up and came up with some really quick fixes to place people at the right place at the right time. My advice is, if you haven't started reading the books, don't bother and just find something else. There's plenty out there to choose from.

I was hoping, like many SOT fans, that Confessor would turn around and conclude a great epic fantasy that has been suffering from mid-series. Nothing has changed; it's basically just as disappointing as the last several novels. I agree with the sentiment posted here (1-3 stars), but here are two more specifics:

**SPOILERS STARTS**
The narrative is often unbelievable, even in the context of TG's fantasy setting. It leaves the reader thinking, "Yeah right, there's no way that would ever happen." Take for example how a bloodied and exhausted Richard finds the strength to start a revolt in the IO camp. OK, I'll buy that much of it. But then he starts cleaving dozens of trained killers coming at him at once, and at the same time keeps an eye on Kahlan and Nicci in the middle of this free-for-all, and then finds time to shoot Jagang with an arrow. Not done, he finds the two women after returning to cleaving dozens of men at once, then gets taken down with painful magic, but he amazingly can still rationalize a plan to save Kahlan via Samuel. Almost done, after the dust settles, he still has the strength to lead his band through miles of heavily guarded underground tunnels to safety while caring for Nicci who is holding out in agony for hours (even though the collar kills Jagang in two seconds). Oh yeah, all this without his gift or the SOT. It was like reading a comic book. TGs first books weren't like this. This is but one example, there are many other places where characters in the most grave situations would stop and have inconceivable inter-monologues about values and life, all the while I'm thinking "whatever."

The ending was OK, but I thought it was too rushed, and too contrived. Making the Boxes of Orden the counter to Chainfire, the SOT the key, the BOCS false, etc. all seemed like convenient additions to make the after thought Chainfire plot viable. Why make The Book of Life at all? Darken would have figured something out in WFR. Why make the Boxes all powerful just to fix a specific constructed spell? And then make their use next to impossible except for one person not born yet with a key not made yet?? Again, there's just too many big leaps in believability, even for fantasy.
**SPOILERS ENDS**

If you've read the previous 10, I suggest you borrow the book from a friend like I did and put a nail in this disappointing mess. At least it's closure of sorts, thus the two stars.

First let me say that I am a huge fan of the series. I think the ending was creative (a bit rushed) and I was for the most part satisfied.

Call me crazy but I think things really changed for TG after 9/11. Let me explain....Look at the time line for his books. For the most part fans agree that Wizards First Rule through Faith of the Fallen were great. Everything we wanted and more. Then came Pillars of Creation??? ... which was crazy. I don't know what he was thinking with that one but since he had some many good books prior to that we will give him a pass.

Then 9/11 happened. The first book that he released after 9/11 was Naked Empire. That is when the endless speeches started coming. Thats when Richard the humble woods guide turned into the "Kill them all machine". In that book Richard started killing the towns people just for being in the Old World and subject to the Order. This was TG talking about terrorist and the Muslim world. 9/11 enraged TG and he has not stopped since with his preaching. Think about it... the Order believe they are doing the Creators work... their reward will be in the afterlife.... they hate free societies....sound familiar?

TG post 9/11 turned Richard into his symbolic fighter of terrorism.

I agree with what pretty much everyone else is saying. The final trilogy could have been one book if all the unnecessary preaching and repetative monologues were taken out. It just got painful after awhile. How many times do I need to hear our beutiful Nicci is or how valuable life is!!! You can just skim through pages and not miss anything. And I felt like he just keeps making everything go wrong but then suddenly at the end everything turns out great not because Richard was smart or worked for it but because that was the only way it could go. Stupid ending... Sad because the first 3 books were so awesome and then FotF was awesome, pretty much all the others could be skipped.

I enjoyed this book and had a hard time setting it down to sleep. I read what some other reviewers have said and can see if you are looking at this book to be a literature masterpiece where you may be disappointed.

It tied up many of the loose strings but left the world open to create other books in the universe if other authors so desired. This book was definitely better than the first 2 parts of the Chainfire series. I found myself slightly bored with the two books that came before. This book ties up many of the prophecy's and lets you know what the author had envisioned as the true meanings of his prophecy's.

I won't go much into the plot because I think it is worth reading and do not wish to spoil it for anyone. I still have to say you can not help but feel sorry for Richard again in this books because he is always being pulled in many directions and all he wants to do is have a nice settled life with wife.

The end of the Sword of Truth series - and not a bad ending at that. This series had a lot of highs and lows, but fortunately ending on a relatively high note. Richard is a prisoner of the Empire, forced to play a deadly game in order to survive. Kahlan still has no idea who she is. The magic of the realm is being destroyed and the main characters are all losing their memories of the past. Only Richard, who understands the situation can use the boxes of Orden to set things right.
This is an action packed book, and resolves most - if not all - of the major plot lines. We see the return of several characters from past books for one final appearance, and the ending nicely brings the series full circle. However, Goodkind does drop into his preachy mode on more than a few occasions which caused me to skip a few pages. I just cant read about how precious life is anymore...That aside, long time readers will enjoy the closure of at least one of the major fantasy series.

Thanks for the tale Mr. Goodkind. I hope the upcoming movie does your world justice.

Relic113

Book 1 was amazing. Richard saves Kahlan with his love for her, Kahlan saves Richard with her love for him.
Book 2 was pretty good, Richard gets angry and learns to never doubt Kahlan's love.
Book 3 Richard gets more angry, starts New World vs. Old World, they save each other with love etc.
Book 4 Richard doubts Kahlans love, learn Richard is (supposedly the most morale go-getter out there) a whiny retard. Boxes of what? Series should end.
Book 5 should not exist, Richard can do no wrong and teaches lessons.
Book 6 should not exist, Richard can do no wrong and teaches lessons.
Book 7 should not exist...
Naked Empire was pretty amazing... Debt of Bones is some pretty good back story.
The "Grand Finale" book was a major letdown, finally got to what everyone was thinking since the 2nd-3rd book, "Why not just use the Boxes of Orden?". Pretty much disregards anything established in previous books and in the early parts of the book itself (if there was actual content in the beginning 80% of the book besides preaching ideals). I agree with the first post, this book has pages and pages and pages of random characters talking about the same crap over and over again. Every time Nikki started talking I'd get bored and flip ahead to see how much I had to put up with... it was always at least 8 pages. They spend a good 30-40 pages going over specific details of the ChainFire spell in this book, very boring SPECIFIC details, and at the end the readers are almost literally told that they don't matter at all.... They also take out one of the best things in the series, learning a sweet Wizard's Rule in (almost?) every book!! I won't say what the one in this book is but don't get your hopes up...
2 stars because it finally ended the series.

The Sword of Truth series was a great series ended up spending several books collapsing in mediocrity. The book itself is not "bad," especially when compared to most of the recycled popular fiction selling in stores now. But, it was a great series that has declined precipitously due to preachy monologue inserted at awkward times which occurred post 9/11 in and was directed at the American people in an overly blunt way. The plot, while getting the job done, was not inspired and about 50 pages of monologue could have been removed. It should be obvious to the reader the shift in both creativity and verisimilitude that that occurred after book 6. Books 7-11 occurred post 9/11 and in those books it becomes easy to detect the seeping hatred that Mr. Goodkind holds towards various elements within western society mingled with a sort of fear for its future. This last book was his attempt to redeem the series but he could not give up his podium. Had he stayed more true to the first books of the series such a theme would have came across, but it would have been allowed for great thought provoking literature that could have been more effective by using a nuanced message. Do your characters, modern fiction, and yourself a favor and go back over the last five books with a sharpie. Redact, redact, redact.

Needless to say I was very disapointed with this book. The action was lacking, and the story seemed rushed. It didn't have the same feel of Goodkinds earlier books.

Since I don't want to spoil it for anyone, I'll try and be as brief as possible.

In Confessor Richard is trying to save Kahlan. Hasn't he been trying to save her in the last 3 books? Yawn. Seems a bit repetative. Not to mention the ending of the story was a bit stupid. I know some people will disagree with me, but come on! How cheesy of an ending can you get? Everything just magically falls into place, poof!

I would have been much more interested in the book if there had been an actual battle between good and evil. *spoiler alert* Yes, we all know Jagang would die, but like that? Give me a break.

Yes, that was a harsh review. Don't get me wrong though, I loved the series up until Chainfire. I actually thought Phantom wasn't too bad. But I felt as a fan I was let down.

I know some people will disagree, and if you do, that is totally fine. I know people will buy the book no matter what. Why wouldn't you buy the last book in a series? lol.

I apologize if I let anything slip. This is the first book review I've done.

oh the dissapointment, i waited 9 books for this? There has always been blaitant anti religion and pro democracy propaganda sprinkled in the books but goodkind couldn't resist bringing it to a glorious crescendo in confesor. For all the people that have possibly missed his endless ravings on the subject in the first 9, 75% of the 10th is bursting with it. the endless anti religion(order) monologues make up the gist of the content. it all comes to a miserble end with richard's 5 page rant. the funny thing, normally i'd agree with that sort of sentiment (about blindly following an idea) but goodkind pushes it down your throat untill the rest of the content is reduced to background noise, 2nd to the main agenda. i can just picture goodkind in person, his self rightuos manner, enjoying the sound of his own voice.... his problem is that somewhere instead of telling a story, he switched to pushing his personal views and agenda, and not in a subtle way, but cramming it down your throat. you get attached to the characters and then....sigh

This series went a bit too long. In my opinion, Temple of Winds was the last of the tightly written books in this series. The rest devolved into Soliloquy fests. Having said that I'm glad I got this book, it gets three stars because all the major plot threads are tied up, but for not much more else. A lot of the resolutions leave a lot to be desired, abrupt, being the most charitable word to use, and I agree with the previous review on that all the major characters here need therapy.

All in all, buy this book if you slogged through all the previous ones. Other than that the second half of this series has very little re-read value.

I started this series sometime in the mid 90's. I stopped after Pillars of Creation and waited for the series to end before picking up the final books all at once. I finished the series simply for the sake of seeing how Goodkind would wrap it up. I had no real emotional attachment to any of the characters or concern over who would live or die. He had built the good main characters to all be strong and independent so they didn't need me and the bad characters were beneath contempt and would suffer no matter who won the final battle. Thankfully the preaching dropped off quite a bit after about 100 pages into Phantom and did not return though there did seem to be more emphasis on the anti-religious facet of Rand's philosophy which I have always found to be her weak link. This was probably formed during her youth in Russia. This same unbridled egoism gave rise to some real horrors in the early-mid 20th century in the form of secular Socialist and fascists. Religion can be a force of good or bad, it's up to man to decide but if there is no higher power who sets those rules the decision is limited to the generation currently alive. Rand may have though this as ideal but without some moral code it's anarchy.

Yeah this is a review of Goodkind and not Rand but this story is an extension of her philosophy so it's only right that her affect on the story line be analyzed. Goodkind has a gift for creating complex plots, keeping them flowing and connected then bringing them together. In his next series I hope he keeps the strength and depth of his characters as well as the message without the preaching. Note to Terry, Atlas Shrugged was a great book, it's even better when you cut out the multiple page speeches.

I forced myself to choke this book down if only for some closure. However, there was no feeling of satisfaction at the end, only a feeling that I just read the rough draft of an entirely different book, with ample filler to produce a proper paperweight.

I am now filled with regret, knowing that I could have been happier if I just stopped at book 6 (Last one I actually remember enjoying).

I do not recommend ever purchasing this book--rent if you must. It was, however, an excellent exercise on skimming or skipping entire passages (of monologue).

What started out as one of the more entertaining series in the fantasy genre, has degenerated into one of the most formulaic, repetitive and useless waste of print around.

The author's main focus for the last 4 or 5 books of the series has not been entertainment or to even tell a good story. Rather the focus is to promote Ayn Rand's Objectivist philosophy. This is a philosophy that worships reason over faith and views the idea of a heaven or afterlife as abhorrent. The philosophy also stresses the individual, and personal achievement, which has it's merits, but it views the idea of self sacrifice, the cornerstone of christian thinking, as evil.

The evil empire in this book, the Order, is a twisted mix of christianity, sprinkled with perhaps some muslim philosophies as well. The author devotes page after page to nothing but preaching his atheistic screed and attacking 'faith'. In fact all of the 'good guys' in the book repeat the same arguments over and over again, so that there does not appear to be any significant character development. They all take the voice of the author.

The author also waste some pages developing his 'perfect man' Richard Rahl into his dream god of Objectivism, armed however with various wizard powers. No doubt his own personal wish list is at work here, since the hero wins the love of two beautiful women, his wife Kahlan and his 'friend' Nicci. Since Nicci is the loser in the love triangle, she's permitted to be repeatedly raped and tortured for the sake of the Objectivist god Richard.

Meanwhile the plot tension that 'builds' is the same formula used in the past. Our hero(s) get captured by the bad guys. Hero escapes, bad guys all die thanks to the last second intervention of some obvious allies. Yawn.

Since this book is really a philosophical tirade, it should be criticized for it's flaws on this basis as well. Last time I checked atheism, in a couple of centuries has slaughtered more innocents then all the other religions put together. Just look at the atheist heros, Stalin, Mao, Robespierre, Pol Pot, Kim Jong Il, etc. Maybe the author feels these dictators did the right thing since so many of their victims were christians.

Brian Hawkinson's review is right on! I think Goodkind is either paid by the word or he believes we are all idiots. I LOVED this series at the beginning, but the last 4 or 5 books have been HORRIBLE. (I literally dreaded having to read it, but I just had to know how the characters I loved for their first 5 books would end up.)

We get it already, Richard and Life good, the Order bad. Goodkind repeated that same information in six different ways at least a hundred times. If you took out all the repeated information and preachy monologues, this book would be a quarter of it's size. I honestly hope that a new writer will emerge with the promise that Goodkind started out with and be able to fullfill it. I am actually embarrassed that I recommended this series to so many people during the first 5 books!

After Phantom (see my review), I swore that I would only read this novel if I was stranded on a deserted island, with a free copy and had plenty of natural kindling. Well, I succumbed out of curiousity and nostagia for the early books, and broke my oath. At least the copy was not mine.

As expected, this was a horrible book. At first I thought that he was going to pull out a story at least as good as Blood of the Fold. He had action, adventure, and was showing his point more than he was telling it. But no. Somewhere in the midst of his overly detailed depiction of the archetypical Big Game, he broke down and began to rant objectivism. Mr Goodkind, it is not that complicated a philosophy. I do not need my hand held to "get it."

After that, it was very little except his philosophical ravings and pointless cameos of previously beloved characters. It was like watching a movie version of an old tv show where the original cast have cutesy bit parts. Uhg.

The ending was just a sad and disappointing artifice.

Curiousity killed the reader.

THERE ARE SOME REVEALATIONS ABOUT THE BOOK IN THIS REVIEW SO DON'T READ IT IF YOUR HAVEN"T READ THE BOOK.
Terry Goodkind is one of a number of authors that I enjoy. I have to admit I looked forward to each of his books but that is the same of some of the other authors, notably Robert Jordan, Lee Modesitt, Dave Farland, David Drake, and George Martin. I'd like to make several points in my review.
First, I am one of the fans of Goodkind that has gone to Las Vegas to meet him at a gathering. I have written reviews about his works and Jordan's.
Second, I am confused by the ability or inability of some of the authors mentioned above to get books out in a timely manner. Goodkind, Martin, and Jordan are not timely; Modesitt is a shining example of being able to tell a story and get it published quickly.
Third, I wonder what the HELL are the editors at TOR are doing. To allow repetition and lengthy preaching tells me the editors are not doing what they should be doing.

Now to this book, it had some flashes of the past brilliance Goodkind had shown in his first three novels of this tale. It had some overly lengthy rehashing of preaching which we all got in previous books. An editor worth his/her salt would have directed an abbreviation of the convincing speeches from Richard as in the following passage which I think could have sufficed.
Richard explained his views and thoughts on life and the Order to the men on his team, and after some questions and answers, they began to see what he was talking about.
I enjoyed the "football" game narrative and the subsequent riot. I would have thought Goodkind could have taken this incident further to show a degradation of the Order.
The complaints from other reviewers about the deus ex machina incidents to wrap the ending up are, in my opinion, not without merit. The incidents could have been more cleverly woven into this closing trilogy...taking the place of some of the preaching.

However, at least Mr. Goodkind told us a complete story, wrapping up most of the subplots and not leaving us confused. The late Mr. Jordan could not make that claim!

What can I say that hasn't already been said by others. What began as a promising, if derivative, series, by the end was little more than hundred of pages of preaching a simplistic, heavy handed philosophy of life. The irony is that, in the end, Goodkind becomes a one man "Order", trying to brainwash his reader by repeating the same themes over and over and over again. Those who have said you can skip ahead 10 pages at a time and not miss a thing aren't exaggerating. You really can. To top it all off, Goodkind manages to make magic about as much fun as calculus class.

What started out as a fun series, in the end, turned into a project. It was like swimming across the English Channel. At a certain point you've just gone too far to turn back.

George R. R. Martin, I blame YOU. If you weren't taking so damn long to finish A Dance With Dragons I might never have waded into this literary drivel.

It always is hard to come up with a good conclusion to a fantasy/science fiction series. I thought Terry did a great job of wrapping things up. I find it interesting that many of the complaints are about him being "preachy". Every good book has important lessons about real world situations. The ecology theme of Dune was pervasive throughout the book, but few people complain about Herbert being too preachy. In his next 2 books, his message is that people need to rely on themselves, not a "superman" (Paul, in Herbert's case). Actually, a very similar message to Goodkind's when you think about it. I believe he did a very good job of presenting the dangers of blind faith without reasoning. Very few people view themselves as being bad and it was important that the Emperor never changed his views. His attitude towards Nicci "you forced me to do it" is unfortunately very real. Virtually every husband who abuses his wife rationalizes his behavior the same way. I also am surprised that people are put off by the end. This is fantasy. It is unlikely that the solution would be non-fantasy. Did Lord of the Rings suffer because the only solution was the one source of heat that destroyed the ring (which conveniently meant all the bad problems went away)? It was clear in the last 3 books that the Boxes were going to be the key. I personally enjoyed the return of many characters that had been introduced throughout the series. Richard is one of the best fantasy characters I have every read and I will miss him.

This book was great. There were some parts that were a tad repetitive, and honestly I was a little disappointed about some things. But I love the series and knowing now that it's going to continue, I now understand why it was written like this.

Be sure to read it so you can keep up with the next ones!

I'm very disappointed that I didn't get the cover image when I purchased this book for my Kindle. Customer service could not find a solution to resolve this problem. It's like the publisher felt the cover image is not necessary as this is a digital copy of the book. It felt like I purchased this book new at the book store, but the cashier ripped off the cover before giving me the book, but charged me full price for the damaged book. Not having the cover image diminished my enjoyment of the book.

First, the good news: Jagang's end was very well done. It was pretty believable and Goodkind showed admirable self-restraint and only used a tiny soapbox to moralize during Jagang's final scenes. It worked quite wekk.

Now, the bad news: What Goodkind gave up in the soapbox department for Jagang's final scene, he made up a thousandfold throughout the rest of the book. When boiled down, it amounts to this: It's okay to engage in terrorist acts as long as you're committing them in the name of freedom and self-preservation. Rather than giving a serious and considered answer to the question of "What means are acceptable to justify the ends in the Old World / New World war?", Goodkind consistently gives a non-answer ("All means are acceptable as long as they're justified by love.", etc) Then, having crafted a moral foundation with all the complexity of a two-by-four, Goodkind proceeds to pound the reader with it over and over throughout the book. Over. And. Over. Again.

And. Over.

Finally, the worst news: The resolution to the problem of the Order has got to be one of the worst I've ever read. It's reminiscent of the conclusion to The Reality Dysfunction series. It's completely out of the blue. There's no foundation for it anywhere in the series and there's no way Richard should be able to accomplish it given what we've been told about his knowledge and abilities. But, hey, he's the Seeker so he can do anything.

I realize that Goodkind was trapped by the sheer number of loose ends he needed to tie up - a condition that plagues any series whose volume numbers enter the double digits - but he took the easy way out. If Richard Rahl were here, he'd be sermonizing about how some authors want riches without having to perform any serious work for them.

anybody who has followed the sword of truth series will not be at all surprised by anything that happens in this book. it was more ranting about how bad the order was more richard being the greatest man that ever walked the earth and more punishment to characters around him on the side of good. i disagree with some of the other reviews where they say he kept his rants to a minimum and will only say that there are complete pages of the book you can skip and you won't have missed anything. i would have wished for a more imaginative ending than what was given in the book but i guess when you have read the other books it was the only way to end it. i was very impressed with the middle part of the books with the game of life and everyone escaping but that is only a small section of the book. the rest just drones on about how bad the order is and why they needed to be defeated. to anyone that is going to read this book know when he goes into a rant don"t be afraid to flip the page he will still be ranting on that one too. best of luck to you

Granted, it would be hard to tell Robert Jordan anything given his current state. Dead, that is.

But having read Confessor, I'm not really sure it's over. I was completely anti-climatic.

This is another of the fantasy series that I started reading in the early to mid 90s. I was young, full of it and unfortunately recovering from an excess of needed surgery. I started this series, Eye of the World by Jordan, Feist' s series (and a spinoff into Janny Wurts and of course George R.R. Martin.

Each had their virtues and flaws. I thought Wizard's first rule moved a bit slowly, but it was clearly a scene-setter requiring a bit more work. I wasn't terribly busy and I liked some of the layering of detail. The trouble was the same (although to a different degree) as with Jordan. The extraneous plot lines and sub characters got infernally complicated and too much ending nowhere. It was like Billy Connolly's stand up comedy which flies in eight thousand directions at once, but somehow, when you're convinced that he can't pull it al together, he does and then the show ends .. on time.

The minds that can carry complicated plots are relatively few. Most writers need an outline and it has to get more detailed as you lay out the basis of a series of books. Goodkind went in too many directions and didn't pull it back together. Certainly things change in the mind's about where a book is going. Tolkien changed the Golem when he decided to go beyond the Hobbit.

We have not seen the best part of Goodkind in a while and he needs to get back to it. The irony of this is that Legend of the Seeker on television streamlines most of the plot lines and limits the characters. In truth, some of the extra characerters are something a nuisance. Scripts for television have to be short to fit the 40 minutes between commercials. And the character's dress identifies them, i.e, Cara is the regular and the small core group is away on weekly adventures. This didn't need that much brevity, but it certainly could have used a clearer view of where it was going.

At last it's finished.

The Eye of the World and the world that Jordan created was first rate, so far. but it's hard to believe Jordan was not over the edge on some substance because the books became incoherent and at least two of them were dust balls that tried to gather the strings together and failed. Having started the series in 1990, I don't believe Jordan had any better idea of where he was. Martin and Feist wre good and both, as with other long term producers of books managed to stitch them toether in clumps of perhaps three that were a whole, But you didn't leave you wondering after book 4 when the damned thing would be over.

Obviously, there are others, but these four took me from early middle age to retirement and I was afraid some of them were going to ghouls telling me to come back because this time they really would finish. As we've seen, one way to finish a series is to die. So while I haven't read Jordan's conclusion by another wrtier, I don't have to worry about Jordon piling out more sheets of drivel.

I have two main complaints about this book.
It seems to me that Goodkind took what would have been a great story and threw in a "the moral of the story is...". I know that he's done this in all of his books, but Confessor was worse than the rest. So much of the book was dry unemotional dialouge about the nature of a just and moral person. The reader is told what to think, not shown by the example of the characters interacting. I could not make any emotional connection with the characters because they never seemed to have real emotions.
My other issue was just story construction. Goodkind had spent so much time building up the hopelessness of Richard's situation that Goodkind had a hard time digging his way out. The hopeless situation isn't overcome in a series of small triumps on the way to the ultimate goal. It's Richard getting beat down after beat down and then some miraculous meetings, discoveries, and coincidences. The bad guys take solid steps forward advancing towards their goal, while the good guys, who proclaim themselves as the true workers and inovators, get lucky, finding just what they need, provided by someone else, at just the right time. I kept expecting the good guys to invent something, build something, or through reason and insight find magical solutions to problems. Unfortunately, that never happened. The good guys didn't even seem to follow their own philosophy.
If a person took out most of the moral lesson, squished down the first two thirds of the book taking only the basic story line, and then expanded upon the last third of the book, they would have a great story. I'm glad to have found out what happened in the end, but I'm certainly not going to recomend starting the series to anyone again. The first couple of books don't make enough of case to read the rest of the series.

To preface this review, I have to say that I haven't read any of the books after Faith of the Fallen. I recently re-read books 1-4 but remembering my disappointment with FotF I didn't want to wade through the rest of the series, so I just skipped to the end(blasphemy, I know).

I sat down and read the book from beginning to end in a couple of hours. I am sure about a hundred pages of backstory could have been cut out. Helpful for someone who hasn't read the proceeding books, but I imagine it would be tedious for someone up on the series. Seeing as how I jumped from the fourth book to this book, I noticed a pretty marked difference in Goodkind's writing style. The discussion of magic tend to be more complex, but didn't feel that the system was fully developed, more that Goodkind was just slapping complex words onto it to make it seem more than it was. Also the emotional life of the characters was discussed much less. I was originally a fan of the series because of the romance between Richard and Kahlan, the sword and sorcery elements were just a bonus. However at this point in the series Goodkind has trouble setting any new obstacles in front of their relationship. The reader knows that they will magically find a way to be together in the last fifty pages of the book no matter what heartbreak is going on now. Thus I felt that to some degree the story was just going through the motions until the convenient ending summed everything up.

I was surprised at how little sermonizing was in this book. I had been lead to believe by other reviews that every few pages was an obnoxiously long diatribe from one of the central characters on the value of freedom. I really only remember two or three instances where I felt like skimming until the action resumed. Beyond that, you either agree or don't agree with Goodkind's politics. I don't feel he makes much of an argument for his stance as an accusation. I never felt that he really gave the opposing view a worthy mouth-piece for their beliefs. They are simply evil and degenerate commies.

Overall I find myself wishing that Goodkind would have thrown in the towel eight books ago, when the characters and their challenges were still fresh. For me I hated losing the emotional energy that was watching the relationship of Richard and Kahlan play out. In that sense, the first book is still my favorite. However this as an ending isn't too too bad and the narrative is pretty tight and engaging, if a bit repetitive. If you weren't a fan of the series after book 3 or 4, I wouldn't buy this one, just check it out from a library.

Well, after reading the whole series, and not being a huge fan of it, I ended up with the same level of disapointment with this last book as many of his last book. The series started off fairly well, even though I did not see much originality with his ideas. The first few books were easily readable as I waited for other authors to complete books. The last 5 have almost been painful. I guess i'm a glutton for punishment when it comes to a series. I rarely like to quite when I've started it. The last book was good for wrapping up the loose ends, bringing back some of the older characters that I have missed, even though they were very short appearances, but I really expected more. I wanted more from the final confrontation with Jagang. I was just not satisfied. I found my self skimming many parts of the book when Goodkind would take 30-50 pages to discuss the same subject that we understood after 2 pages, but no, he would have to beat it into us in normal irritating style. The preaching was not as bad as other books but it was still there. I just hope this is not a forbiding look at what we will have to deal with having other authors write the last of the Wheel of Time series by Jordan. Maybe Mr. Goodkind can start a new series that will be better and give us less preaching.

Like most others, I loved the first few books and despaired through the final ones, each seeming to get worse than the last. I'd rate the concluding book the worst ever and compared with the "final battle" of the first book, this one was lame. There's no other way to describe it. It seems he rushed through it in about 75 pages and had no action, twists, good storytelling or imagination. Like others, I was compelled to finish out the series since I was so hooked on the first few and always had hope that maybe one of the books would be as good as they used to be.

I'd have to look at the books/dates published and verify this, but his preaching didn't seem to start until after 9/11. It seems that real life moment altered his writing and turned him into a "preacher" of morals and lessons, which made the series really go downhill.

Let me just say that anyone who gave this (or the last few books in the series) anything higher than 2 stars is crazy. The series started out very good, but throughout the course of his writing Mr. Goodkind apparently forgot he was writing a fantasy series. Many of the coolest characters and extras, like Gratch the Gar and Scarlet the dragon are completely forgotten until brief cameos in Confessor. Goodkind repeats himself so much in these final books that I actually felt my intelligence insulted. He would literally have paragraphs that were the same sentence paraphrased 4 different ways. The imperial order is by far the most uninspired, unbelievable, simplistic enemy I have ever heard of. Not to mention the seemingly racist undertones of the evil dark-skinned brutes from the "Old World" attacking the nice white folks of the "New World". Anything worth reading in the series has long since been left in the dust. However, if you are like me you have to finish a series once started, just make sure to get it from the library.

Well, so it's over...

At this point, I just wish that Mr. Goodkind had never gotten his hands on any book by Ayn Rand. It is obvious he has been very affected by her philosophy. Through the last couple of volumes, I felt that he was force-feeding the reader objectivism, and quite determinedly. He was like a devout priest trying to convert a group of heathens or something. At the end, those characters who did not come to his way of thinking are condemned to thousands of years of hell. New generations of those evil people -who were basically innocent of the wrong-doings of their fathers- are banished to a meaningless existence for "a thousand years" and our hero Richard has the temerity to call that justice.

The thing is, it felt like according to Goodkind, the problem is the concept of faith itself, not the particularly vile and evil type of drivel he dreamt up and told over and over again in excruciating detail through multiple characters -most of whom either got raped by men of the Order or committed unmentionable atrocities in their name and then repented, or both. That type of faith is truly evil, yes, but I don't know of any religious or political system that preaches those kinds of things; except, maybe National Socialism in Nazi Germany. In the end, as a person who believes in the afterlife and in the concept of working towards happiness in it, this part left me cold. But that is a matter of philosophies, so only peripheral to the enjoyment one can get out of the storytelling itself.

Unfortunately there are problems there too. The biggest of them being the frequent sermons carried out by all of the main cast of characters on the good side which take pages and pages and which just repeat the same things and ideas that have been told in the last five volumes by the same characters, in the same words and covering about the same number of pages. The last two books I got so fed up with them I started to jump ahead, something I generally never do because I am obsessive that way.

At the beginning though... The last five-six books do not diminish in my opinion the superb storytelling Goodkind delivered more or less consistently in the first four-five books. I just wish he had never taken his characters to the Old World (which raises so many red flags in my mind. Does he mean Europe, Asia and Africa by that? Is the New World America? With it's magic, and dragons and heart-breakingly beautiful woman who all fall in love with the same man? Yes, I am in Europe and I am bitter). I just wish I had not been hit over the head with the hammer of objectivism countless times. I just wanted to finish the story, and now I have.

Sorry for the rambling. It's just that I am mourning for what this series could have been...

This was the most awful ending I ever read in my life!
And worse because many of his books in this series were so awesome.
I really loved most of his books.But...I just read finished the last book last night.I got it from the library. I'm thanking God I didn't buy it.When I got it from the library, I noticed the spine was all broken and torn. I was intending to fix it...but now I realize it must have been because the last reader threw it against the wall.
I was tempted to as well, but didn't.
It was as monotonous and amateurish. Where the heck was his editor??
I should have listened and not read the book and just made up my own ending.

The one thing I think I hated the most was the way he ended it the whole boring slog.... It was COMPLETELY obnoxious.

His theme in most of the books was to protesting religious zealotry. Those in the Order where following some misguided notion that they were killing in the name of the creator and lived under very communistic conditions.

As I read Confessor the preaching and reminding got so irritating I ended up simply skipping pages and pages of 'reminders'.

Through out the series there seemed to be an acknowledged basic natural(and good) desire to connect with the Creator and the spiritual connection in all of us. And that there was indeed an afterlife and he seemed to be pointing out that those killing in the name of the Creator are wrong.

Also, Goodkind spends many chapters explaining the 'theology' of his fantasy world....how magic works and is connected with the underworld etc etc..But then he completely trashes it AND connects his fantasy world to our real world!!! The whole effect was disconcerting and took away from the 'fairy tale ending'...because you know in this ending the Creator is dead, or consigned to some corner and told not to bother anyone ever again.

In the end Richard destroys the entire afterlife for those banished to the non magic world, where he conveniently alludes to those formally of the Order are now the 'building churches'!!! What?)
Not mosques, not temples, not circles...but CHURCHES! (and not just any Churches, but CATHOLIC churches because they use medals and 'talismans'. What?
Excuse me? Is Terry Goodkind really this ignorant, or is he just another patsy for the secular order that is encroaching with the culture of death?

Does anyone want a link to pictures of happy young muslims brandishing the hands of Christians they collected for allah???? Those of the Order where more like militant islam and the Saracens of history and militant communism and nazi's rolled up in one!! Knowing that as of this minute while I write this thousands of Christians are being executed for 'blasphemy' and oppressed with well documented sharia dhimmi laws in muslim countries or as in communist China's case, having children ripped from their wombs because they value life and would want to welcome a new child among them,...but it's against the godless of laws of china. Or what about the mass graves of Orthodox and catholic priests and nuns from Communist Russia and it's former satellites??

What an insult to those really truly have and are suffering on behalf of the values of life and liberty.

Ugh. I was completely irritated that I even read the series to begin with. I will not bother to watch the TV series.

My advice is save yourself aggravation and money and skip this series.
It's a garden path to nowhere.

M~

As much as I love this series, these past three/four books have disappointed and the Confessor novel is no different. The positive thing about this book is that there is far more action in it than there have been in the last three. I don't like that Jagang is defeated so easily by Richard when it was almost obvious that Richard had no chance and frankly, I hate that most of the characters except for Richard, Nicci, and Kahlan have no importance and have complete personality makeovers.
The ending to the series just was not what it should've been.

Tear the last one hundred pages out of the book and ask your local retailer if they'll sell you the story for 1/6th the price. The first 500 pages are the continuing saga of characters who do not grow or change. The final 100 are deus ex machinas and happy lil coincidences that propel you through the finale.

There at the end you'll realize that all the plot lines that have been building throughout this final trilogy are never handled properly. Which is the right Book of Counted Shadows? Will Shota's vision come true? Will the imperial order complete their ramp or be defeated? What happens to magic? Does Richard learn how to use his powers? Will Kahlan regain her memory?

Every question is answered through either a)a deus ex machina b) reliance on the very details Terry Goodkind once frowned upon c) dropping the plot entirely or d) happy coincidence.

As it works in every story by Goodkind, the good guys will always win because the bad guys are the straw men of a philosophical debate.

If you feel you've invested too much time and thought into quitting before this final volume, then go ahead and read it. The more dedication you have, the further your disappointment.

When I buy a book, I nearly always read all of it. Not this time Goodkind. I enjoyed Phantom. But seriously there is no redeeming value to this book AT ALL. Here is why: NOTHING HAPPENS.

TG: action is the key to your writing and for some reason on this book you dropped it. Falling instead into droning dialogs between characters. What were previously well developed characters turned into a poor version of "Waiting for Godot." What a waste of paper.

I loved all of Terry Goodkinds Sword of Truth series, like the majority of people.
...however I recommend reading the prequel to this book and letting your imagination finish it. The ending is just that bad in my opinion.
I can't and won't spoil it, but do yourself a favor do not finish this series. I would have been much happier if I hadn't.
It makes me sad because I loved this series so much.

Okay, so we're as far as book 11. Not only that, books 9 and 10 were the beginning of a trilogy to end this part of the story. Now, for those of you who whine about how bad the series was after book 4, why did you keep reading? Because you were invested in the storyline, and probably in at least a few of the characters. So, mission accomplished for Mr. Goodkind on that front. The truth is, if you expected Confessor to be anything other than what it is (in a general sense, not down to the details), you are either very young, or lacking much intelligence. We've had 10 books to get to know the author. It is what it is. Personally, I was glad to see the end, tie up some loose threads, and also know that there will probably be more.

It's not Martin, or Gaiman, or Rothfuss, or even King....the prose is not beautiful...the series is plot driven...and the characters are not extremely deep...but the plot was good, and the resolution was what it should have been. The fact is, after reading some more experienced authors like Martin, where the story IS the characters, and the plot just happens to be what's going on around them...Goodkind is not quite as good as he was when I was a bit naive...10 years and a lot of reading ago. When I revisit WFR, it's not as good the second time around, because I know what happens. The characters are still interesting, but there is not a lot there that I didn't get the first time. Contrast that with A Game of Thrones, by Martin...wow. I've been through that on at least 5 times and it's better every time! Nothing against Goodkind, or those who didn't like the book, but it was what it was supposed to be. A little preachy...yep. A lot of monologue...repetative...yep.

So Goodkind isn't the best writer...so what? His worst quality is simplicity and redundancy. He simply tells you exactly what's happening, or has a character tell you in a monologue, as opposed to other authors who paint complex pictures with words, subtly. You get much more information out of the subtlety and details that explain what's going on, than an actual depiction or explanation from a character. His redeeming quality? Richard and Kahlan. They're likable. If you've read the books, you do care about them, and Cara, Zedd, Adie, Chase, and the rest. For those of you haters out there...why did you keep reading? Why try and ruin others experience by writing a scathing review? You read somewhere in the neighborhood of 8000-9000 pages of this story, so if it was so bad, you either were invested enough to finish it (which means you liked it, at least a moderate amount), or you have no life. Because it takes time to read that many books. So if you have a life, what's with the 1 star reviews? You read almost 9000 pages! It couldn't have been that bad.

My four star review is for the entire series, and the last book. If you're 10 books invested, read it. If you've never read Goodkind, it's a good story, possibly great the first time through, depending on what kind of writing you like. I happen to be a fan of a little more depth, like King or Martin, but I enjoyed the SOT books, and am glad I read them.

The first book of the series was layered with huge potential. As the series continue to develop the author seems to be in constant search of plots and things to write, he probably did not have a define plot of the overall story but rather wrote his own plot for every book and used "prophesies" to somehow tied it all together. The potential of the series lessened as the story continued. The author revived the story somewhat when he wrote "faith of the fallen" and built the characters as revolutionaries from oppression. Unfortunately, the author tries to use the same idea in the following books and as a consequence destroys the interest of the story. All the books after "the faith of the fallen" seemed to be more interested in presenting speeches of freedom that tediously filled page after page of the books. "Confessor" is no different an fails to reach any expectation. The book is filled with long life and magic structure speeches that force even the most devoted reader to start skimming. The book is highly predictable and provides the "happy ending"; it lacks interesting twist and developments making the plot discernible by just reading the summary of the book. It pained me to finish the books, but after reading most of the story I decided to give the story one las chance. It failed.

I can't believe it's over. For better or worse...I was in love with this epic series. The ending was expected, and wanted, by me. *spoiler of sorts* I was terribly disappointed that a love for Nicci was not given! If you're going to make it a happy ending...do it up right!

I'm on to 'The Omen' now.

Thank you, Mr. Goodkind! I was thoroughly entertained. I submit for your consideration two things. One; better editing. Two; The pre-qual story of Zed to be released for Kindle!

Not done reading but so far a solid story with and excellent beginning about how confessors began. Some parts drag a bit but some parts are page turners. This is typical Goodking story telling. He can really turn it on when he wants.

The review of Confessor and, indeed, of the latter books of this series are generally negative. Yes, there are some things which annoyed me about this final book, but overall, I think it was a good book. I'll get through the negatives first. Goodkind sometimes has the same events explained a number of times particularly when characters are learning what has happened. For instance, something will happen to Richard when we read about. Then when Richard is telling another character who wasn't there during the events, we get the same events narrated once more. Some of Richard's preaching is also long winded, but I do not have the negative reaction toward that many people do. maybe Goodkind could have included less preaching, but I do not think it really detracts either.

I believe Goodkind is concerned with helping us understand why the characters do what they do. Take Lord of the Rings for example. Although I really like it, it has some flaws. Why is Aragorn king? Because he was born in the right family. Although he is a good guy, we know nothing of what he stands for really. We know he opposes Mordor but that is about it. He is a good king because he is the legitimate ruler. Why are orcs evil? Because they are orcs. they are supposed to be orcs and so they are supposed to be evil. No orc questions. No orc wonders what destroying everything beautiful will actually do to the world. None of the bad guys really consider the consequences of what they do. In that sense, many of Tolkien's characters are one dimensional.

Goodkind at least attempts to give minds to the people involved. The bad guys have beliefs and motivations. We know what Richard stands for and why he stands for it. Richard does not just fight evil so he and his loved ones will survive. He fights because he believes in something.

Also, in a realistic sort of way, Richard needs to convince others to fight with him. In order to do this, he has to preach. A dynamic charismatic leader does just that. J. F. K. did it. Martin Luther King did it. Martin Luther did it and the list goes on and on. The mind leads actions and in Goodkind we see actions governed by mind, right or wrong.

This book is good too because it does resolve most things in the series. It's nice after 11 books to have an end. I always felt when the networks axed Gilligan's Island they should have made one last episode in which they were rescued, instead of waiting over a decade when Tina Louise refused to play Ginger. Hogan's Heroes should have had an episode in which the war is over, like M*A*S*H did. When you follow characters for years, as I have with this series, I want resolution and Goodkind does this in grand fashion.

The story kept me interested and there were some scenes which were extremely good. Goodkind gives his characters minds and I think he should be congratulated for doing this.

I have followed the series from the beginning, and while I was disappointed in a couple of the books, I am quite thrilled by Mr. Goodkind's belief in personal reliance, hard work, and moral values. Knowing that he follows the philosophy of Ayn Rand, and although I am a practicing Christian, I think that the theme of the Imperial Order seeking to remove magic from the culture and its belief that anything is permitted if some nebulous common good is reached speaks of what is going on in our culture. I mean the attempts to remove Christianity from society, and the idea that we must submit to oppressive taxes so that those who will not work can have "what they deserve." So more power to Mr. Goodkind.

I just published my review of the newest Richard and Kahlan novel, 'The Omen Machine' (great read!). Having finished that, I thought back to the 'Sword of Truth' series and, particularly, 'Confessor'. Simply put, this novel is not my favorite by far. It is often "preachy" (common complaint here) and dialogue seems to go on page-after-page.. after-page. The net effect is the book feels even longer than it already is and that is not a good thing.

All of that is why this book is currently hovering around 3/5 star reviews. Understandable.

But taken as a piece of a greater whole, that is the 'Sword of Truth' series and the world of Richard and Kahlan overall, this book is stellar and cannot, should not be missed. You would do yourself as a reader a terrible disservice to not complete the 'SoT' series and then continue right into the new storyline found within 'The Omen Machine'. At the end of this novel, you will be exhausted. You will be breathless. You will even be a little antsy and possibly frustrated. But then you will look back at the entire scope of what has been played out within these books and you will be amazed. Touched. In love with the world and the characters within it like never before.

My truest and most honest review for this novel, viewed equally as a stand-alone book and as the conclusion to the 'Sword of Truth' series, is 4/5 stars. While I simply would not recommend anyone pick up just this book and start reading by itself, as the completion to an amazing chain of events and stories, it is damn near masterful. Read all of the books and enjoy.

Really enjoyed the series thus far fot the most part, but this book leaves much to be desired. Half answered questions, hastily and conviently concluded plots make me wish I stopped at previous book or at most half way through this one. Creating a parallel world for the "evil forces" and hinting at attributes like religion, faith and final death of that world makes you think it is meant to reflect our own. Unfortunately this is a reflection of Terry's belief so its unavoidable. Read this book only so that the story concludes.

If you've already read the previous Goodkind books no review is likely going to turn you away from reading the final trilogy. However, please do yourself a favor and don't waste your money and look for a used copy somewhere.

To me the last quality Goodkind book was #4, Temple of the Winds. Since then the writing has still been good but the storyline quality has greatly diminished. The final trilogy entered a completely new low for this author. Endless repetitive preachings, blind chance instead of creative solutions to overcome obstacles, and an extreme let down of a final solution to the Order problem. My gosh 3 books of pages and pages of how terrible the Order is and only 5 pages on the final, need to meet my deadline, solution. There are numerous inconsistencies with both characters and plot as well. Please heed well the reviews 3 or lower that you see posted here. The Truth is out there and it is not very pleasant.

And it was quite satisfactory. Everything gets wrapped up and taken care of, with no pesky plots threads or mysteries for the reader to puzzle out. I enjoyed how Richard took care of the Imperial Order army and Jagang, especially because I didn't see it coming; I was expecting Richard to go crazy on Jagang with the Sword of Truth after all that the Emperor had done, but the way that Jagang was executed makes a lot of sense in retrospect.
Now, what I didn't like: the paragraphs, sometimes going over into pages, of explanations of the Imperial Order's ideology. Yes, yes, they hate life, they want to extinguish magic, they think that they are on a divine mission from the Creator and that makes it okay for them to rape and pillage. The readers have known all of this since Stone of Tears, when Kahlan came upon that entire city full of molested and slaughtered people.
I don't know why Mr. Goodkind felt that he needed to reiterate the beliefs of the Order; those were the parts of the book that dragged and I had to remind myself that something better was waiting on future pages in order to get through it.
This was a good way to end the series, but Mr. Goodkind could've pumped a little less of his Objectivism into it.

I've been reading Goodkind's series for years. At first, I thought it was pretty good stuff. I liked Wizard's First Rule (a little cliche, but oh well). I liked Stone of Tears even more. It was decent all the way until Pillars of Creation. And then it just went downhill.

Confessor was worse than Phantom. I'm not sure what could be worse than Phantom. The book is filled with loooong drawn out explanations of every possible thing (magic, Nicci's feelings, Orden, prophecy...again, everything). They all sound a bit like summaries of every theme covered by the entire series. That is a LOT of summaries. Most of it is covered in strange, drawn-out, dull dialogue. The only part I really enjoyed was the Ja'La games.

I wanted to quit by the second chapter, but I kept going for the sake of finishing the series. Confessor just left a bad aftertaste in my mouth.

While the biggest complaint about this book has been that it contains (gasp!) philosophy (followed closely by the fact that it contains not just a protagonist, but a hero, though the charge that Richard is "perfect" is blatantly false, as are most of the other criticisms), most of the critics seem to have missed most of it.

It is not just "life good, religion bad," as they claim--although that theme alone would make the book practically unique and well worth reading. Rather, as this final installment makes clear, the overall theme of the Sword of Truth series has been, appropriately, Truth. What is it? Is it gained by reason or faith? Self-fulfillment or self-sacrifice? Liberty or tyranny? These are important and complex themes, and Goodkind is one of a very few authors who is willing to come out openly and explicitly on the side of reason, self-fulfillment, and liberty. For that, he deserves all our thanks.

Perhaps Goodkind was mistaken to think he could sell this kind of story to the typical fantasy genre fan, but if you're looking for something more, then you might find this series highly interesting.

As for the plot in this book, again it lacks all of the typical fantasy trappings. There isn't a big final brawl full of magic and monsters and mayhem. What there is, is a well-worked out plot and a satisfying, thoughtful conclusion which simultaneously follows perfectly from what has come before and yet is unexpected.

While I'm sure I'll get mostly negative votes for daring to post a positive review, I view it as an act of justice.

Bottom line: if you have liked the series thus far, you will probably like the finale. If you haven't, you probably won't. If you haven't begun to read the series yet, I recommend doing so and judging for yourself.

As all giant series come to an end, expectations run high and many are disappointed when their specific wants are not met. Pulling together an eleven book series is tough, especially with fans who have dedicated countless hours of their lives into this world he created. I admit that the ending of this book lacked some of my own personal wants, but who am I to say that my preferences were what was needed to make the story "grand"? Bottomline, the ending was fantastic and everything was summed up quite well. I couldn't help but have the largest smile on my face upon reading the last few chapters. Let all readers do what they want with their own expectations, setting themselves up with disappointment, but I can't thank Mr. Goodkind enough for creating the best fantasy series I have ever read.

I've read the whole series and was hoping for the last book to save it, but it definitely did not. The author is redundant and preachy in his writing. This book, and the series for that matter, could have been finished a long time ago. Based on this series I probably won't buy any more of his books.

You know, most of the bad reviews I see in this list are people who READ THE ENTIRE BOOK! If you absolutely could not stand the book like you claimed, then why did you read the whole thing? Or how about this...why did you say it's a page turner???? Wow!! WHINERS! It's either entertaining or it's not....hmmm!!

I'm confused as to why people get all worked about him reiterating something that happened in a past book. I bet the people who are not genre freaks and only read one of his books every once in a while can appreciate this.

Also, I thought this book was very entertaining with a very unexpected plot. If you are reading this, BUY THE BOOK! It's really not that expensive and it's a good book.

I think the first book in any series is the best, but this book really doesn't deserve the harsh assessments that have been given. I think most of you are just nit picking because you have too much time on your hands.

The series started strong, with so much potential. It's really a shame that the author got caught up in his own philosophy so much that he lost sight of the plot and the piquancy that was originally present in his writing.

He did wrap up the series thoroughly, if not deftly (it was a lot of railroading with little explanation). It's a shame he brought back Kahlan's memory, though, since she was pretty unredeeming after the first few books.

I hope people don't think the same person wrote the later books as the one who wrote the first few. Unless that original person returns, I won't read anymore of him.

Well Terry Goodkind finished his Sword of Truth series. Some parts of this book was the amoung the best he has ever written, other parts seemed like he just wanted to tie up some loose ends. Most notably was the deaths of some of the bad guys like Samuel, Six, The Beast and even the Emperor. Perhaps a better scene would've been Six and the Emperor get killed by the Beast as it was hunting Richard and then Richard kill the beast. Anyway some of these villians should've been harder to kill. In fact the first 1/2 of the book was kinda slow and the second half was used to tie up all the loose ends. The game was amoung the best he has ever written and almost worth the value of the book for that scene alone. Some charactors should've had more to do, like Chase and Zedd. Ann died too easily and the catacomb scene could've been left out, the same with Nicki back being a prisoner of the Emperor. Those scenes distracted from the main story.
But beyond a few things that I wish would've been better, I am glad I bought and read this book. The whole series was nice to read, even with the long monologs at times. The first four books are amoung the best in fantasy, Soul of the Fire was good, not the same league as the first 4. Faith of the Fallen was for me the one I was the best, I had a tear in my eye when I read Nicki's viewing of the statue, first time a book touched me like that. Naked Empire and Pillars of Creation were both ok, but if you don't have much time to read, then skip these two since they don't really forward the series. The final three books are also good, although it does get a little tiring having no one believe Richard about his wife over and over again. The beast was a good addition, although it's death was too quick. All and All the series is a great series with good parts and not so good parts and if anyone hates it, then please do what Terry did and write series of books. I look forward to Terry's next book which I hope deals with the Male Confessor wizard child of Richard and Kahlan.
And I look forward to the mini series.

This book is pretty much a 603 page lecture on the absurdity of communism and theocracy and how important personal freedom and defending your right to it is.
Oh, and there's a sub-plot about some guy named Richard Rahl and a woman named Khalan in a struggle against the evil Imperial Order and their emporer.
I noticed as the last few books in the series came out that they were turning more and more into lectures than enjoyable stories, and this book takes the cake from all of them put together.
If you want "Communism and/or theocracy=bad and capitialism and personal freedom=good" pounded into your head for 603 pages, you totally need to buy this book!

I happen to agree that personal freedom and the right to live your own life is a value that everyone should hold dear, but it DOES NOT take that many rambling monologues to get the point across.
I almost became a socialist after I finished this book in an attempt to annoy Terry Goodkind as much as his book annoyed me.

Goodkind finishes off his series in a less than spectacular manner. While the plot/action that takes place is good, the endless preaching got wearying. I honestly don't know what happened halfway through this series, where did the gripping excitement go? Read this book to find out the end, but save yourself some time and skip ahead whenever you see Richard (or any other character)starting yet another bland/repetitive monologue.

I'm not sure if there is any point writing a review as people who have read the first ten will surely read this one regardless, so I will address my review to Terry (as i'm sure if i ever wrote a book i'd read its the store reviews...)

Terry, first of all please learn to spell or change your editor. The word you were searching for on all those occasions was 'ensure' not 'insure'. Insure means to buy insurance, ensure means to make something happen. Also, speech marks need to go at the end of a paragraph of speech as well as at the beginning.

Finally - what are you doing?! I feel i've lost a decade of my life to this series, I agree with other reviewers about the first several being absolutely superb; gripping, frightening and really quite innovative for the genre. But this strange, vaguely defined secular religion you seem to be trying to establish is quite frankly vomit inducing. I think i might have got the message that my life is my own and only i can lead it etc. etc. etc. round about book 6 when the storyline at least made the homily interesting. But this is book eleven Terry, book ELEVEN.

If there were to be another Richard book, I am ashamed to say that yes I would read it, in the desperate hope that there is any chance you could write like you used to. We want an exciting plot line, we want developed characters and we want a bit of fun! It would have been great if there could have been a party at the end, or something more interesting in the Big Reunion (Kahlan goes evil for example), or... I don't know Terry, you tell us. Write another one, cut out the sermon, get rid of Richard the priest and create something exciting. Please.

This man is truly a terrible, terrible writer. Trite and simplistic. I found that reading this book, one only has to read one page in every eight to get the gist. The other seven pages are him repeating the same thing over and over and over and over... The first two in the series roped me in, then everything went downhill at an exponential rate. The monologues are insufferable. Guess who doesn't need the books moral theory repeated every other page? Anyone that can read! You insult your readers Terry Goodkind. I promise that we can remember what was said on page 238 by the time we reach page 241.

Having read several reviews-just to find out if others had the same reaction as me... I have to add my comments. Wizards First Rule was one of my favoirte books and up until the first 5-6 I still enjoyed them-although I have to agree the gratuitous violence was awful and at times made it hard to keep going-however, the growing amount of preaching with each novel really did culminate in one boring diatribe. I read the entire book in 2 days and I know that was accomplished because huge sections I just skimmed since they did nothing to further the story. What happened to the wonderful characters and all the promise of the first few books! What a waste!

***sorta spoilery***

I could tell there was a difference in this book when I found that I could put it down and walk away to do other things. When I started this series I was "wowed", and couldn't put the newest book down...until I reached a about midway through the series. The creativity had taken a downward turn and I found myself skimming through anything too "preachy". I must say that this book was no different. When I purchased it, I was instantly surprised at how small it was. I expected something huge, massive... something that actually took the time to truly end a series and made me stay up all night to read it. Instead I got a speedy trip to a happy conclusion without much substance. I wanted to feel for the characters and get emotional over the characters I had learned to love. Yet all I really got was a bunch of monologues/description about what we already knew about these characters, they love life and the bad guys want to crush them.

After all that build up to a battle and how Richard had decided the "no mercy" angle... Terry pretty much threw that out in this book to get to a quick end apparently. I got the impression Terry was done with writing this series and couldn't wait to just get this one over with. This was the series ender and he should have taken the time to describe it all, or at least describe it better than he did. We were left with 'quick fixes' and almost instant jumps in travel and plot. While I wasn't completely unhappy with this book, as it was continuing the story of characters I truly enjoy, I was let down overall. Me, like so many others, have been invested (both monetarily and emotionally) in this series that we deserved something better than this. I find it a shame that here's an author who actually got to finish his series, had the time to finish his series (unlike poor Robert Jordan, who didn't want to leave his fans hanging) and it landed with a thud.

For a book that finishes an entire series, it was sorely lacking in many aspects.

I hate it when the endings of books consist of less than 10% of the pages. This is especially true when a book is suppose to end an entire series. I was let down by the book. Many pages were re-telling the previous books and the dialogue was "childish" as another reviewer puts it. There was very little action and a lot of talking. And, ***spoiler*** the way Jagang was dealt was... unbelievably poorly written and short on description. Considering that Jagang was the bad guy in for 10+ books, I was surprised when Jagang was dealt with with, I think, 3 to 5 pages. Anyways, the conclusion is:

too little action, too much re-iteration, too much dialogue, short ending.........

I'm so happy it's over. Terry Goodkind is the most frustrating author I've ever read. The main storyline could have easily been handled in a trilogy had he not felt the need to explain every minute detail to death, over and over again. Where it not for all the brutal and sadistic rape, and torture
you might think they where written for children the way he beats what could be a subtle detail and spells it out for you around 20 times to make sure you didn't miss his clever turn. The endless preaching is just mind bending.
I read a lot however and have to admit I felt connected to the main characters and wanted to know how it resolved. I can't tell you how many times I almost junked it though. I had various apoplectic fits of cursing and swearing Terry Goodkind. I don't really know of course but I'd be willing to bet he's an egomaniac. I've learned some valuable lessons however. One is to never, ever read another Terry Goodkind novel. Second is even if I like the characters, if I hate the authors writing style to put down the book and run. But man, Wizards First Rule really only hints at how insane Goodkind is going to get with his endless ranting.

It's over. I don't have to spend another minute of my life reading Mr. Goodkind's interminable pap. A good friend got me started on this series several years ago. He agrees that he owes me at least a good dinner for the lost hours spent trying to get to the end of this series.

If you want to read the original series this was ripped off from, look for the "Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan. If you want to read an even better written series, "Song of Fire and Ice" by George RR Martin. Both much better books and I don't know why Mr. Jordan didn't sue Mr. Goodkind for plagiarism. He had a case...

After I got hooked on the the first 2 books written by Terry, I wanted to believe he would get back to his original form with each new book. But alas, at the end with Confessor, I was terribly mistaken. Terry Goodkind was more interested in showing how well he could spout out philosophy than write a good story. I found myself skipping chapters because it was just too boring. If you want to buy this book, my recommendation is to not waste your money. It's that awful.

I have been waiting to finish this series for years. I really liked the beginning books...the middle ones got to be a little drawn out, but the story flowed. The biggest problem was that as each book came out, I had forgotten the previous storyline and where it left off. So I finally just bought each book as it came out and left it on the shelf waiting until the series was complete. After years of collecting/patience to gather the series, the final book finally arrives in "Mass Market Paperback" (I do paperbacks, not hardcovers). So I get to a book store (sorry, not the store this time) and I grab the book off the shelf (the new Confessor books are all in a special display, not mixed with others). I get the book home and low and behold...its a 1/2 an inch taller than all my other paperbacks! What is that all about? Luckily, I didn't read it yet, so its going back, until its published in a normal paperback size.

So if you collect as well as read these "paperback" books, be careful at this point. :-)

Folks,

I realize that many folks have many problems with this series. I too felt that the story ran aground quite frequently in some of the prior books. I'm not sure in the least how anyone has the patience to dribble on like Terry does... I certainly don't.

But, all that aside, the final 2 books, frankly, are phenomenal. I see no problem with a slight change of style. What is wrong with having the story itself sweep along the narratives/action? I mean, after all, with all of the plot details that are opened by the time book 10 hit the streets, it is only natural that you try to pull it all together. This he does in a most entertaining way, regardless if it seems a bit contrived at times.

So, I haven't even finished the book yet, but I can say I'm certainly pleased that the series is ended, in such a fine way.

The thing that bothers me the most about Terry Goodkind's books is that he over explains. God, does he ever over explain. It's like he has a character say something, then he says it another way, then he makes a little analogy, Then they explain it once more, and then finally the character will talk about how smart they are for figuring it out. Does it seem to everyone else that Terry Goodkind thinks his readers are incredibly stupid. Why does he need to constantly remind us at the end of the book what happened at the beginning.

Everything is black and white with Terry Goodkind. The antagonists are evil incarnate and the protagonist are divine. It's annoying in its simplistic view of the world. It just all seems so artificial.

I sincerely wish that I had never picked up the first book in this series. Although, I believe I enjoyed the first few (but it's been so long I can barely recall a thing about them), It seems like every book became steadily more preachy and boring I couldn't seem to make myself stop reading them though. I guess I'm just not the type of person who can read the first few books in a series and then stop. I always feel the need to see it through. What a colossal waste of time.

In what is absolutely the worst ending to any book I have ever read, we see the biggest deus ex machina I can even imagine. A character literally becomes completely omnipotent for a moment, fixes everything that is wrong with the entire world with little more than a snap of his fingers, and goes back to normal. Thus are eleven books rendered utterly meaningless.

How big of an idiot am I that it took me until the eleventh book to realize Goodkind doesn't know what he's doing anymore? Maybe I was waiting for something of a glimer from the first six books. Maybe I simply read through the series to fast and never stopped to think. Maybe I just didn't want to believe that the author of Wizard's First Rule (such an excellent book) had gone completely off the deep end. If you read the other negative reviews you'll hear about Goodkind's sermons and the cardboard characters. You'll be forewarned about the endless amount of useless pages and the outright horrible monologues by just about everyone in the book, but the only thing you really need to know is that this book just plain sucks. I am just utterly distraught over how much I hate this book. And that "Final Battle between Good and Evil"??? What a joke of an ending.

I read the entire Sword of Truth series, and this was my favorite book of the set. If you chose to read this book, you should read the others first. Goodkind builds upon the previous novels as he goes forward really well unlike other authors I could mention. Worth buying.

Confessor (Sword of Truth)

Plain and simple: the book was a let-down, both as a novel and especially as the final book of an 11 book series. Prior to reading WFR, I had never read any Fantasy. After reading WFR and SOT (volumes 1 & 2), I was a Fantasy junkie. Unfortunately, after book 2, the series went down hill and stayed there. Each subsequent volume became an effort to even finish. Endless speeches about philosophy and the same speeches over and over again in each book. Moreover, the plots from volume to volume didn't change much: either Richard was getting kidnapped or Kahlan was and no one could use their "gift." Boring. I am sure that Goodkind meant to make Richard a complex an interesting character, but he made him so perfect (almost Jesus-like) that the character was flat.
This final volume was an opportunity for Goodkind to reclaim his early glory, but he squandered the opportunity. The first 75% of the book is filled with endless ramblings about magic and life and freedom and how holy Richard is, along with play-by-play scenes of that horrible sports game. I am sure Goodkind meant for the game to be metaphorical for all of the philosophy he shoves down the reader's throat, but these scenes only served to act as filler. I found myself counting how many pages left until the sports action stopped.
What started out as a fantastic series by a talented writer ended as a fizzle by a writer who appears to have grown tired of his creation.

If you have already commited the better pasrt of last decade and a half to this series... you are gonna read it but if you ahv enot started the series DON'T Save your self the dissapointment... You want to know why.... read all the other 1 star reviews and trust in that they are telling th truth... it was a truely unremarkable ending which I can not even remember after a few months.... and honestly I didn;t even ready most of the book because he just kept going on and on about tthe same darn thing.... we get it now...no need to say it again.... and to Terry...if youa re seriously going to write more about them.... in fact please don'tI am tired of spending the money... I admit you win i will probably buy it you write just because... So disappointing...

I think the 10/11? books could have been reduced to about 4 books at best. After the 3rd book, I feel like the author spent more time reminding the reader about previous books then adding to the story. I also think that the last 3+ books were mostly spent rambling and repeating himself in regards to the value of individual freedom and the importance of life. I think he must have read Atlas Shrugged by Anne Rand somewere in the middle of writing. I kept reading in the hopes that the end would be the payoff. No such luck. The writer must be laughing as the cash roles in.

I will agree with a majority of my fellow reviewers here: the first book in this series was phenomenal. So was the 2nd. But then Goodkind evokes Zeno's paradox and the books slowly start becoming half as good, until we come to this. Essentially, Chainfire boils down to Atlas Shrugged with magic. That's pretty much the sum of the final book.

Goodkind takes Rand's Objectivism and totally embodies it into someone who is perfect in almost all that he does, even over-shadowing the First Wizard in magical theory (while Richard has had no previous experience).

Was the book worth the money? Sure, if you are a bibliophile like myself, having the collection works out. But if you are an avid reader, just go to the library and get it. Cheaper, and it culls Goodkind from getting more money to drag on a series.

Goodkind seems to have come up with every possible way to convey each separate idea and instead of sharing the best one with us he included all of them. Maybe if a fan of his has a lot of time on their hands they could select the best sentences for him and create a new readable version for us to enjoy. Not only was he unbearably repetitive but the magic descriptions were so boring. He would go on about symbols and the magic of Orden but he didn't actually share what any of that was with us. It was like saying nothing at all. You would think if a lone man is a captive in an army of thousands of his enemies exciting things would have to happen. But mostly there was a lot of pining and worrying and monologuing about freedom.
Richard seemed to give his sister the choice to go to the new world and all of the Order people were forced to go. Where's the freedom there?
I just wanted to add how glad I am to see that so many other readers felt the way I did and weren't fooled into thinking this was good writing.

The writing is just awful, but the story is strangely compelling although hopelessly derivative. It's easy to anticipate and recognize the long passages of sophomoric pseudo philosophy and just skip by all of that drivel and pick up the story when it resumes. The characters are reasonably well developed up until the point they begin babbling Ayn Rand doctrine, and then again it's time to quickly flip some pages. I'm a couple of years older than Terry and yes, we all read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged when we were in high school (and not because it was required reading, but because we read then) and yes and we were all fearful of the red menace, but her words were shallow and the message was hollow. She said her piece and has been dismissed, and now Terry has provided his pointless echo, but if you can skim past the crap, there is a tale worth hearing. But, I'm sorry, I wasn't inspired, I was just annoyed.

Good for a summer read, but I did expect a lot more from the series. The end just didn't fulfill me as I had hoped it would. I still intend to read the Omen Machine, but I'm going in with a bland taste and hoping to come out feeling a rise. I think that this story could have been a bit better and while well composed, it just didn't fully deliver for me. None the less, worth a peek for fantasy fans. Cheers!

What started off as quite possibly one of the best fantasy series ever with Wizard's First Rule and continued until Faith of the Fallen has finally dwindled down to an anticlimactic end. It seemed Mr. Goodkind was more concerned with getting his personal beliefs out rather than giving us compelling story about characters we all loved. In his pursuit to constantly remind us how evil faith is, Confessor, as well as Chainfire and Phantom, became preachy and in the end lost all reason. I'm glad the soapbox sessions are over.

I know a lot of people get hung up on the repetitive ideological rantings that litter the series, but I still found myself caring about Richard and the gang up to the end. The plot threads were all satisfactorily tied up in a logical, consistent manner. The book was well paced, making it a fast read, as I wanted to see what happened next. Throughout the series, even in the weaker books, I found the characters to be more mature than in most other fantasy novels I have read. I want to thank Mr. Goodkind for a very entertaining series of books. One side note. I would hesitate to ask him his opinion of our current President. Laugh.

Goodkind gives us a good ending to the series and I would recommend it. He seems to have made a conscious effort to work all of the important characters from the series back into this final book, but he manages to do it without its feeling "forced".

Unfortunately, the repetitive preaching that has characterized his recent books is continued here. At times, I found myself wondering why we needed a 10,000 page allegory to tell us that communism is bad. Everyone should be free to live his own life and keep the fruits of his own labor. We get it, ok? It wasn't necessary to remind us of that so many times in paragraphs that were virtually identical to each other.

If you are a fan of the series, though, don't let that stop you. Goodkind, as usual, does a great job of making you care about the good guys and hate the bad guys. Also, as usual for his books, the plot is quite good. I would definately recommend the book, despite its flaws.

The previous installments already showed that Goodkind has definitely a taste for lucky happenstance and for the power of moral suasion as a weapon against evil but this went too far.
The characters proceed through the story jumping from a lucky encounter to ... an even more lucky one, wielding goodness against their enemies more often than a sword, scyting through insormontable problems and incredible odds with ease while transforming water in wine at the same time.
The gory fights and odd spells are there but become secondary to the core concept: acting for the good of others is the real weapon, the one that defeats all foes.
If you made it so far with the story you wil naturally want to read it to its conclusion; only, do not expect much, you will be less disappointed.

Not. Ok, seriously, this is beyond ridiculous; Goodkind has lost all ability to produce engaging prose.

100 pages in and I've had to endure writing such as this:

(p. 83) Richard, upon seeing Kahlan's bruised face, thinks, "he knew if he did nothing Jagang's abuse of her would continue. If he did nothing, and Kahlan suffered worse, Richard knew that he would never forgive himself. Despite how desperately he wanted to do something, though, he could do nothing."

Gag... Oh, let's not forget Kahlan's eloquent thoughts on Jagang hurting Jillian, from page 107: "Jagang, as advocate for the corrupt beliefs of the Fellowship of the Order and the champion of unjust justice, would be the cause [of Jillian's harm]. The twisted beliefs of the order justified, in their minds, any injustice in aid to their ends."

Sorry, folks. That's not good writing. My college English prof would have had a field day with this book. It's like Goodkind just stopped giving a rat's a*$ about anything but putting this drawn-out affair to bed. Can't say as I blame him, though. It's got to be almost as unbearable to write this tripe as it is to read it.

Ah, the eagerly-anticipated conclusion to the Sword of Truth books. I couldn't wait to be absorbed into the epic, climactic story.

I should have waited for the paperback. Or borrowed it from the library. Calling the book a disappointment would be a gross understatement. Oh, there were parts of the book that had me on the edge of my seat, but they were all too few and far between.

The book was satisfying in that it wrapped up most of the major loose ends and conclusively ended the story. It was not satisfying in the way it was written. It felt rushed and half-hearted. Damn, Mr Goodkind, was it THAT important to meet the deadline that your writing had to be second-rate? You are capable of exponentially better writing than this. I don't know who to wag my finger at in admonition -- you, your editor, or the publisher.

The last few chapters in particular were beyond terrible. I very much got the impression of rushing to cram in a bunch of bits from the other books. The final chapter was horrifying. It was like watching the celebration at the Ewok village at the end of "Return of the Jedi." This is how you ended the series? Seriously? Too bad Chainfire isn't real... we could use it to erase the memory of this book.

As a huge, huge fan of the series, I desperately hope for a complete re-write of this book -- call it a special edition, "unedited", whatever... just please, in the name of all that is decent, do something to fix this turd of a book! Of course, if you as the author are satisfied with how it came out, then by all means let things stand as they are.

Terry neatly wraps this book up, and from the beginning you can see this is the end, as all the knots are tied into nice packages. Overall, I give this a 4 of 5 stars because it wasn't up to par of almost all the previous books. It wasn't a book I couldn't put down till it was finished, but overall it's a clean ending.

spoilers here, reviewing the writing and the experience
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The Good: This story raps everything up. Terry does his best to mention as many loose ends as he can and get them over with. The final chapter reviews as a list in a lot of ways, going over each character and what happen to them very briefly (some may argue the good in this, I am not complimenting his method, just amazed and surprised that he actually did it, uh...BRAVO!). The ending was interesting and made me think a bit about how the world he sent away was possibly his interpretation of our own world, even with some hints at wearing symbols around people's neck. All in all I am glad I read through the whole series, I definitely remember moments of joy and excitement throughout the series.

The Bad: Ugh...where to start... In many ways Terry Goodkind began this series painting a Van Gogh and ended it by scribbling with crayons. The characters have no depth, they are simply husks of people. Generally speaking there are four types of people in this world.
A. The supremely good, Jesus like character, aka Richard
B. The unknowingly good person who believes everything Richard does, but just doesn't really understand why, giving plenty of opportunities for long monologues, some other B, or if they are lucky, A himself, will too willingly relay to them
C. The unknowingly bad person who is the hand of evil in everything they do, but are basically children in mind, not understanding anything.
D. The supremely evil people, Satan like, aka Jagang.

There is no real gray here, like in real life, everyone is in one or two categories which works well because then the author (if he felt inclined) can reasonably put all type C and D people in one world, and all A and B in another (oh wait...).

If characterization wasn't the final nail in the coffin, the fact that as a writer he is unbelievable is. The reader doesn't really BELIEVE that these types exist. How is Richard so great? Hes great because everyone thinks he is and cant stop talking about how perfect he is. And yet, for most of the novel all he does is kill people. Richard is simply always angry and using his anger to deal out "justice." Why can't Samuel be forgiven for the wrongs he has committed? Why can there be no redemption for someone who may have a rough life but ends up bring beauty into the world? What about all the people who have rough beginnings and need years of growth to embrace the greatness that is inside all of us(Not that there are many major characters like this...oh wait...Nicci)? Goodkind launches constantly into his rhetoric on good and evil but doesn't elegantly deliver it to you as his favored character would in his dance with death(but its not evil, its justice), no, he delivers it exactly as the Order would, by mercilessly bashing it into the reader's skull over and over and over again, simply chanting something with no thought or reason attached to it (I am not saying the author's view is something I disagree with, it just appears he hasn't thought about it much).

This book is simply unbelievable, I as a reader, like to experience the story; not have the experience told to me. There are no twists, no surprises, the ending is wrapped up in a way that feels like reading a McDonald's menu, with no emotional connection at all. A writer who literally tells you one thing and does another eventually loses his credibility. Case in point, you need a sterile field, actually not, Six is a powerful sorceress who is able to easily dismiss the First Wizard and Richard, actually no, Shota can kill her easily. Orden has power over life or death, actually, as a side note, you can also create whole other dimensions and worlds with it. After awhile, the reader pulls away emotionally form the writing and characters and you might as well be reading a geology textbook.

In ending I ask Goodkind this, please just write a story, a magical story, like the first books, that take the reader's breath away and gives an experience all its own. If you are true to this, then the philosophy of good triumphing over evil and all the wrongs of unoriginal organized thought will be apparent. If you ram your ideas down our throats like Big Brother, even if your message is a wise one, you will be seen through as an angry imposter with no grace or wisdom to speak of.

Lucas

Finally the series is over!!!! Honestly this book could have been probably 200 pages shorter and didn't get intersting until 250 pages in. And oh man did it get exciting!! I couldn't put the book down. A book finally reminescent of Wizards First Rule. The ending was quick but adequete filled with plenty of "Life is yours, live it freely" banter. If you are reading this review you are going to buy the book anyway to finish the series so what's the point? Buy read it enjoy it because it's over.

I'll keep this short and sweet. Goodkind knows how to weave an intriguing tale, no question. Even if he is very repetative and formulaeic, it is still a great story with characters whom you genuinely care about. This last book was not a story, though. It's a manifesto! I have never read such a preachy book in all my years. 10 pages of monologue and 2 pages of action or conversation is not my idea of a good time. Goodkind took something that I thought of as an annual treat, and turned it into a poorly structured lecture. I graduated college and grad school. If I want to be lectured, I'll go for my doctorate. I read these books to have fun, and he ruined the previous 10 books for me. Unfortunately I don't think that he'll refund my $.

If the truth be told I am not a big lover of sci-fi, fantasy adventure type books, apart from Terry Pratchett and the current author. His books have been pure exhilaration and have kept me occupied for many a long evening. It is amazing the number of books the series has taken to complete and not just a couple of hundred pages per book. These have been large volumes.

When I knew the latest book was being published I could hardly wait for it to hit the shelves, but now that I have read it and know that there are no more to come, I must admit to feeling a little sad. On the bright side I can begin to read them all again from the beginning.

Anyone who has read these books needss nor wants a synopsis on this final volume and I would never dream of giving one anyway. The books are a fantastic tribute to the imagination and writing skills of the author and I take my hat off to him.

The book Confessor, which is the final book in the long running Sword of Truth series written by Terry Goodkind, is a fitting and spectacular end to this amazing book series! I am writing this review in hopes that I may convince and attract others to reading these books. During this series of books which has eleven volumes each as good as the last, coming to a final conclusion in this book, the story centers around the War Wizard and Seeker of Truth Richard Rahl, and his wife Kahlan Amnell, and there struggle to rid the world of the evil emperor Jagang and this hordes of the Imperial Order army. With its unimaginable numbers of troops and almost limitless supplies, these forces have come to invade their continent after conquering all the land from the place they come from the `Old World'. Richard is named in prophecy as the one to lead all in the Final Battle with the Imperial Order and in this the final chapter that battle is almost at hand. Armed with only his magical gifts, his powers as the true Seeker of truth, and the help of his friends, he must fight this final battle, all the while tirelessly searching for the woman that no one but he can remember, his wife Kahlan.
Richard has lost his magic, sold his sword for information to find his lost wife, Kahlan, and captured by his mortal enemy Emperor Jagang the Just. He must find a way to escape his capture, rescue and restore everyone's memory of his wife, and stop Jagang's army from enslaving them all. Many of Richard friends are along to give him invaluable help, his grandfather, and also first wizard Zeddicus Zorander, his body guard Cara, and also the very powerful sorceress Nicci, who once fought for Jagang but turned against him when Richard showed her the value of her own life, As Richard says in this book "To exist in this vast universe for a speck of time is the great gift of life. Our tiny sliver of time is our gift of life. It is our only life."(Page 603.) All these characters are very well developed through this series and you feel like they are real people with real feelings and thoughts, each with very distinct personalities, and opinions on different problems that arise throughout.
Overall, this book and more so the series as a whole is excellent! The story is very detailed and unique, it creates a very rich and magic filled world that almost seems real, all very continuous and never a dull moment weather it be action with dragons, magic, fighting, or just the very well done dialogue, you are never disappointed. The story is also very unique showing how Richard can use his mind rather than brute force to always triumph over impossible odds. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a pulse, as this series with its many cliffhangers and clever solutions to problems that the characters face with have your heart pumping and you on the edge of your seat waiting to find out how Richard will overcome his problems. As Richard's grandfather Zedd always told him "Think of the solution, not the problem!"

Let me begin by saying that I started the Sword of Truth series late. "Soul of the Fire" had just been released when someone handed me "Wizard's 1st Rule" and needless to say, I've been hooked ever since. I've read in previous reviews of how "the first 3 or 4 books were good, but it went downhill from there," but as I read the books again for about the 4th time each, I fail to see what people mean by that. In fact, the only book that I had a problem with was "Naked Empire" as it seemed more like a side story rather than a continuation of the series. But other than that, I found it all entirely enthralling.

Throughout the series (Confessor included) you get to see Richard evolve from a man thrust into a world he knew nothing about, scrambling for answers, to one of great wisdom and a drive to do what is necessary to survive. Too much have I read of how "preachy" Goodkind's books have been. While it may be a device to spread his beliefs, it fits perfectly into the story. Throughout the last few books especially, you find Richard doing the only thing that could keep his army together; making his word law and taking the fight directly to the Imperial Order.

Confessor is no different from the rest of the series. It brings to a wonderful conclusion the story of Richard and Kahlan and if you don't bring outside influences into the story, it can be a wonderful experience. I give Confessor 5 stars for making this wonderful series go out with a bang.

Well all I can say is that I was very disappointed in this book. It seemed as if around page 500 (of 600) the author realized he only had 100 pages to tie up an entire series and he did so by bad plot devices and hack writing.

To anyone that has not read this series I would recommend you go no further than book 3 or 4. After that you can save both your time and your money as there is nothing more you will get out of this series.

Let me be clear up front: For those of you who have enjoyed (by and large) the SoT series all the way leading up to and including the Chainfire Trilogy, Confessor ought to be a compelling and wonderful end to a fantastic series. For those who have only sporadically enjoyed this series, mostly liking the first two, maybe three or up to maybe even the fourth novel, but have only tolerated the morjority of the rest will feel mostly the same after finishing Confessor.

While I have enjoyed almost totally every single novel in this series (other than 3-Stars for Soul of the Fire and 3.5 for Pillars of Creation) I found Confessor to be wonderful in almost every way. The action is some of the most compelling Goodkind has ever written. The plotting is brisk and regardless of how original you may or may not believe the ending to be, as one other reviewer noted, I seriously doubt anybody saw it coming. I LOVED it.

I also see it from the side of those who have had the same complaints beginning almost exclusively with Faith of the Fallen. The philosophical rants of Richard, while I honestly see a genuine reason for why they are included, I also see those who find them to be less than brilliant storytelling. I disagree -- but I can see their point. Again, if you've had a problem with the last 5-6 novels, Confessor will do little to change your opinion (IMO).

Personally I found Goodkind's resolution for this series to be quite imaginative and -- for a series widely considered to be Fantasy -- quite acceptable given the circumstances set out since Emperor Jagang was introduced way back in Stone of Tears over a decade ago. The Sisters of the Dark, back under Jagang's control, have unleashed the Chainfire Spell on the world--something that threatens all life as a result of the Chimes and how it slowly is unravelling the very fabric of magic and how it affects the world. Richard is a captured slave without the help of magic, having lost that power as a result of the actions of a mysterious woman named Six. Richard competes with an all-slave team playing the game of Ja'La telling everyone his name is Ruben, to avoid the obvious. Still under the Chainfire spell, Kahlan--also a personal slave to Jagang--does not know who she is, and yet makes a connection with the Ja'La player called Ruben with the piercing grey eyes. Kahlan picks up on the fact that Ruben tries his best to hide his true identity, but she isn't sure why. After Nicci is captured and horribly tortured by Jagang, some details about Rubens true identity come forward. Earlier on however, Nicci discovers that in order to ever possibly correct the Chainfire spell using the three boxes of Orden, nobody--not even Richard--should do anything to clue Kahlan in on her relationship with the Lord Rahl, otherwise a chance exists that the lost memory of them as a married couple will never resurface. Nicci is understandably torn at this situation...on the one hand she owes her very life to Richard and over time has grown to love him with a devotion she never thought possible...but knowing he is a married man, she realizes that she can never have him in THAT way...and yet on the other, should Kahlan's memory never come back, it presents an opportunity to take advantage of that may offer that chance after all. Nicci KNOWS that should she ever make advances on Richard he would rebuff her because of his intense and unbreakable vow to Kahlan, and in part she also understands this is one of the reasons why she is drawn to such a man: he has the greatest moral character she has ever known.

I found this situation quite interesting, but mostly because it was Prelate Ann who opened it up to Nicci in the first place. Once again, the resolution at the end of the novel is one that you will more than likely simply NOT expect. The re-introduction of so many characters we have come to know over the course of this epic 11 volume series was welcome, too, and I found myself wishing some had been back earlier on for a longer duration, but I'll get over it.

Some have noted the finality of the ending and I echo that opinion as well. Unlike some series that continue book after book moving the plot about as fast as a slug attempting to cross through super glue, Confessor brings to a close a fantastic Fantasy series that has held me capitve as well for roughly 11 years. I have (mostly) been a giant vocal supporter of this journey and feel almost lost without the prospect of looking forward to another novel in this universe. Goodkind will no doubt continue to write and whether he comes back to this universe he created or whether he tries something more contemporary, as long as his name is on the front, I for one know that I'm gonna give it a try. HIGHLY recommended.

these novels start very strong and are so amazing. but they slowly get more and more tiring. i tried to keep up for years and then finally gave up. these are better for young adult and also read with more continuity. i started reading them almost ten years ago when the third or fourth one just came out. if you have the stamina to slog through some of the more tedious installments, go for it.

Goodkind seems to have risen to a new level of excellence. While I'm sure some may find a slower pace from time to time, I felt it flowed very well. The Ja'La games were spectacular and well written. Jagang was as always true to form. The precepts of the Imperial Order are for everyone, except Jagang. He shows just how little regard he actually has for the "everyone is created equal" talk when he cheats to win.

It was great to see so many story lines come to a close and to see so many old friends. I loved hearing about Gratch, Scarlet and Gregory. I especially loved when Richard fell out of the underworld right into the Mud People's Gathering!

I thought Richard showed great restraint when he created a new world for anyone who wished to could go into that world. He could have simply killed the IO and rightly so! It was the IO who brought war and killed innocent women, children and the elderly with out cause. Richard showed great mercy and offered up to these dogs of war a place free of what they hate the most.

I thought it a fitting ending to one of the greatest series of our time. I shed a tear or two, I laughed out loud, I even became angry at Jagang's manipulations, as it reminded me so much of the politics in our own world.

The most poignant moment was understanding "The Rule Unwritten" It is from within that man gains his strength, from where courage comes. A man has but to only look into himself for what he needs to survive. I especially loved how, again true to form, the Sisters of the Dark and Jagang could not understand the significance of the first words in the book of life. How they could not grasp what love is. So much like our world it really makes you think.

Kudos Goodkind. I hope you continue to write. This world needs more like you.

Alan

Fans of Goodkind's larger than life storytelling, colorful characters, and positive values will not be disappointed by Confessor, the grand finale to the Sword of Truth series.

Through Chainfire and Phantom, the concluding trilogy gathered speed and momentum, and that trend with continues Confessor, packed chock-full of action, revelations, and plot twists. Goodkind juggles these elements deftly, with frequent point of view shifts that emphasize the breakneck pace of the action. It was difficult to find a good stopping point, because there is always something happening.

Being the third in a trilogy and last in the larger story arc, Confessor depends on and refers to many events and characters from earlier books. Overall, Goodkind draws them together very well, sometimes in unexpected ways. Some of the cameos work better than others; a couple are simply too brief to carry a lot of impact, but one in particular is very poignant.

While I did not expect the resolution Goodkind supplies, it follows from what has gone before. The keys to the solution go back all the way to the first book, and there are also hints of what may be to come.

As someone who has followed the Sword of Truth closely, I liked it a lot. I would not recommend anyone start with Confessor, but for those who have enjoyed the series to date, it should provide a very satisfying finale. The best conclusion to a series I have read in a long time. I found Confessor, like the books it follows, to be a really fun read with something worthwhile and uplifting to say.

Mr. Goodkind has tried to use his wizards first rule. I thought the book was well written up until the very end. At the end of the book where Richard is condemming all people of Faith is where he lost me as a fan.
I wrote to his web site and explained to him that though there are some people who twist God's word for their own greed there are those of us who walk the walk. There are those of us who help our fellow man, our neighbors and those in need. I also told him that when he was ill I Prayed for him. If someone asks me about the Lord I will tell them what I know. I will never force my Faith on anyone. In his book he tries to make all people of Faith sound evil. Mr. Goodkind People are not as stupid as you seem to think!

To me, a great book is simple to define: a book that stands up to repeated readings with no loss of pleasure. I have read Confessor four times (so far) and enjoyed each as much as the first. Therefore, Confessor is a great book.

MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS
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I was not impressed with the book. I thought there were too many places in the book where Terry was trying to mention almost every major/minor character without any real plot purpose. The fact that we saw Richard in the beginning, but then not again until the latter half of the book was a waste of my time.

I thought the ending was unrealistic (in the nature of the world that Terry built). The fact that Richard created a separate world was not the climax I was expecting or that I liked once I read it. I felt it was just a way for Terry to wrap things up without being that creative. Also, we were always being reminded that Jagang was not only a brute but very intelligent. How is it that Nicci captured him if he was a brilliant as we were led to believe?

Another problem I had with the plot line was that we were told that Kahlan needed to remain sterile for her memories to reappear. Then all of a sudden, we are told that love conquers all and that she re-fell in love so therefore her memories were returned.

The Six resolution also rubbed me the wrong way with Shota pretending to be the mother (if I read the passage correctly and did not misinterpret Shota as really being Six's mother) and then Six, who supposedly killed her mother acting all scared.

I am glad Ann got killed because she was always trying to shove her viewpoints down the other characters' throats. Another plot line that I thought was ridiculous was that we were always told that Magic is neither good or evil yet Orden clearly would not work for someone trying to use it for evil. Come on now, this contradicts everything we were told up to the end.

I thought that Faith of the Fallen was the last good book in the series, and Confessor did not prove me wrong. I am one of those people who will re-read books, but as far as I am concerned, Pillars of Creation and Naked Empire never existed. I think that Terry preaches too much and it was evident in the latter half of the series. Although the Confessor kept me entertained, especially the Ja'La sections and even the sections regarding the camp of the Order, I was disappointed in the fact that the bad guys/gals were easily dispatched (the Beast, Six and Jagang).

I am glad the series is over and that there is a resolution; however, I am not sure if I will purchase another Terry Goodkind book. Only time will tell. I am sure that some of you will bash me for this blasphemy, but this is my honest opinion and I hope that you can respect that.

So of course all the other books in The Sword of Truth series I read in break-neck speed, I was excited and couldn't wait to read what was next, but not this one. I held on to every word, couldn't bare to turn the page because I knew it was drawing me closer to the last. I let myself absorb and enjoy every bit of it not wanting to miss a thing, I was completely satisfied with the way good ol' Goodkind chose to end this adventure. It came to a nice slow end, exactly what I was hoping would happen, did. The only thing that saddens me is that indeed it did end. I encourage anyone who is interested to read them all so you can end up here with The Confessor.
Brittney

I really like these charecters and have endured the final books in the series to see what happens to them but really, someone buy this man a thesaurus, "I understand" "raptor gaze" and other repetative phrases not to mention the prolonged sermons, diatribes against the "order" and all too frequent recaps made reading this a frankly painful experience. There was very little charecter development other than Nikki whose charecter felt somehow unfulfilled at the end. Save your time and money.

I TAKE ALL OF THE STARS FROM ALL OF HIS REVIEWS AND CRAM THEM INTO MY MAW, DEVOURING THEM EVEN AS, PERFORATED, I DIE.

This is literally the worst book, and Goodkind is literally the worst man.

I hope seals eat him.

The only disappointmnet I had with this book was that it wasn't a complete copy. Pages 225 - 256 were repeated in the copy of the book I received and Pages 257 - 288 were missing. Check your book before beginning to read, otherwise, like me, you will have missed some important information to the story line.

Spoilers below.

I have to admit, after reading the last five books and being relatively un-wowed by them all, the first half of Confessor really lifted my spirits. I really enjoyed every scene that took place in the Order camp. I was entertained by Jagang (and Nicci's attitude towards him), I loved the chemistry between Richard and Kahlan even when she had no idea who he was or what her connection to him was and I thought the action sequences were exciting. The build up of a final confrontation between Richard and Jagang at the games kept me on the edge of my seat and the climax at the final game was awesome...UNTIL...

...The magical, spur of the moment, coincidence easy fixes began to occur. I figured Adie would happen to be there as soon as she announced she was leaving but the random appearance of Samuel was almost too much. Why would Six have Samuel bring Kahlan all the way back to Tamarang just so she could bring her all the way back to Jagang? It didn't even make sense.

A lot of things began to happen very quickly and I was left very disappointed with the ease in which Richard returned to the castle. I was disappointed that he suddenly managed to get his gift back right when Nicci needed it (even though the part with Rachel was interesting) and I was disappointed that everyone managed to figure out everything without it being obvious to the reader how or why this sudden revelation occurred to them. I can't even count the number of times Nicci, Kahlan or Richard gasped with sudden understanding as the answer to all of their problems suddenly became abundantly clear.

Everything was just too easy and it seemed as though the end was being wrapped up in a rush. The way Six was easily dispatched by Shota was ridiculous. The way everyone simply touching the Sword of Truth cured them was odd. The fact that there was no final battle, even though its been built up for years, between the Order and... well anyone or Richard and Jagang was incredibly disappointing. After everything that happened, Jagang the powerful monster was simply taken down by Nicci with a collar... and (why would he even let her get that close to his neck?) all of the baddies were shipped off to another world.

The beginning was good but the ending did more than disappoint. After 10 years of investing myself in this series, I am truly let down. Also the sheer amount of typos was kind of embarrassing. That and the fact that I once again had to skip all of the monotonous love life, enjoy life, organized religion is bad, speeches. (and as a side note-- it's always bugged me that every woman in Richard's life is incredibly breath takingly beautiful and that he is perfect from the beginning and to the very end.)

You know, I read this entire series and I read through Confessor twice. I think this is a great finale to a great series. However, I'm a little unclear as to why Richard has such a problem with Jagang and the Order. It would be nice if he explained this somewhere within the story.

I have to say I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed it for the simple fact that Terry Goodkind brought everything together. Faithful readers have been waiting for the final end to come about, and rooting for the Rahl cause. We knew the ending would be a "live life to the fullest" in the happy-ever-after (or for the next 1,000 years) kind of way. We expected it. Yet, it was how he tied it together that we've been waiting for. It may not have been as expected, but it did not stray far from the original ideas. For Richard to have opened "Secrets to a War Wizard's Power" and suddenly become this massive force to destroy all of the Imperial Order, it would not have been as fulfilling- though it would have been an excellent read. It ended with a message- we all have something to learn, including Richard. A war wizard cannot control his ability, and we must accept that as readers. If Terry Goodkind changed this aspect at the end, it would have been an irritating gesture that he could not discover his power earlier.

While there have been disappointing segments in the series, the ending was as we expected and hoped for. [I do have to say that the moment of the final Ja `La fight, I couldn't put the book down.] It would have been very unrealistic to the series if all of a sudden Richard gained power and destroyed the Order. Richard always relies on the help of others, and he continued to do so.

Any series this long runs the risk of losing its way and becoming a third rehash, a third filler and a third story. Most series' fans suffer through the two thirds to get to the one-third. Goodkind's Sword of Truth series had a couple of books that almost fell into this ditch, but not the Grand Finale, CONFESSOR. This wraps up the Chainfire Trilogy and ties up nicely the loose ends all the way back to Book One. And, finally I understand why our own world is so eternally dismal and why we continually seem to turn to new forms of the Order. Hey Creator, it isn't my fault, I vote Libertarian. I want a ticket to Goodkind's world. CONFESSOR is the perfect finish to a great series. Outstanding.

I noticed several people complaining about the series and how Terry likes to go on these monologue type rampages. Well, I think this is a gross exaggeration. Sure, there were 2-3 times when I skipped over a page because it dwelled on the Order and how it sought to take mankind into the dark ages of evil and all that. So, I skipped over about 6 pages...the rest was joy.

There are certainly a few books in the series that were less than we all would have hoped for, but Confessor does a great job of wrapping up the saga and does it with page turning excitement. It has been so long since I read the first few books (the ones everyone agrees are the best), but I feel it is safe to say this is one of the best since. And, since it is the last book, which usually brings extra scrutiny, it is particularly good because it does not let us down.

Enjoy!

When I started reading SoT, book 6 (Faith of the Fallen) had recently been released and I was still in highschool. For the most part I like the serries especially books 1, 2, and 6. But as the remaining books were released, I went through college and my reading tastes had evolved considerably. Like most of the other reviewers who gave this book a mediocre rating, I too thought that this conclusion was full of too much fluff that could have been edited out for the sake of the reader's intellegence. Much of the plot-points throughout the whole serries were reiterated, a technique that is sometimes helpful if the reader has the memory of a goldfish, but extremely anoying when a simple plot synopsis prefacing the novel or an apendix of characters would allow the writing to be more eloquent and direct to the point. Another aspect that was iritating was (as another reviewer put it) how TG has to chronically re-establish certain character traits, when a reader who has been with this series since the begining probably has them chiseld in his/her imagination.
These other criticisms aside, the thing that infuriates me most about not only this book, but the serries in general, is how flat TG's characters are. They barely even have two dimensions. Richard is probably the most zero-dimensional, uniteresting main character in the history of fantasy writing. Throughout this entire 11 part serries we never see Richard evolve as a person through any internal strife, self actualization, or personality restructuring. All the difficulties that Richard must face are external, he has no internal flaws to remedy. Richard enters the serries perfect and he remains so through the course. Sure he learns some important lessons in his adventure, but, especially toward the conclusion, the reader will reallize that Richard is ultimately infallible and omnipotent no matter what "difficulties" befall him. Maybe if TG was not so busy bludgeing the reader with constant diatribes (both from character speaches and naration in general) of his ethical philosophy, he could have focused a bit adding a bit of depth to his characters. By the time of this conclusion all the supporting cast have blended into the same personalities of either Richard or the Order/Jagang. If one were to just take the dialogue and remove all names, one would be unable to decipher who said what. The one exception would be Jagang with his "darlin" catch-phrase. TG almost succeeded in adding some depth to Jagang in this book (like when he worries about causing too much harm to Nicci when he has her captive) but then ultimately reverts back to portraying him as an oversimplified villain. Nicci in books 5 and 6 had some depth but once she becomes a "good guy" her personality is assimilated into yet another facet of Richard's/TG's.
If one has been an avid reader of SoT, this book is necessary purely for the conclusion. To TG's credit, he has done a good job of providing closure for many of the characters, especially those not seen in a while. Of course, as may other reviewers have stated, the conclusion of this plot is riddled with holes, examples of "deus ex machina", and contrived resolutions that demonstrate a lax imagination, probably brought on by being short-winded with telling the story and desperatley rushing to conclude it. The ultimate conclusion was well-done and moderately inventive, it could have had a far worse one.

I read this book and others by Terry Goodkind and loved every page. My brother in law is a big fan of Terry Good kind as well and I bought this for him as a Christmas gift. He was over the top happy to get this book

I have the same feelings as most so I won't rehash, but I too felt this book was rushed. My biggest problem with Goodkind is how he went from writing a great fantasy series to a philosophical one. All of a sudden the dragons, gars and other creatures were gone. And what's with Richard and his non-use of magic? If I recall he used wizard's fire to kill 1000 men at the end of Pillars but he can't even light a torch?

This series started with a bang and didn't even finish with enough strength for a whimper.

How any true fan of Goodkind's epic series "Sword of Truth" could do anything but shout for joy after reading his latest and seemingly last novel in the series, "Confessor" is beyond me! I was satisfied at the culmination of all the side characters that were such a help to Richard in the previous books, such as Scarlet, the Red Dragon, Gratch, the gar Richard saved and in turn saved Richard numerous times, Rachel, the luckiest little girl alive (so to speak), & the Bird Man of the Mud People. I suppose some could call the ending where Richard stands in the Garden of Life a little preachy, but that's what Richard would do! I'm no professional critic, but I had a great time reading the book. I laughed, cried, moaned with disgust and cheered when the good guys won! I'm not ashamed to say, I loved it!

I have read the books, gotten caught up in the adventures of Richard and all of his friends an survived to tell the tale. I find Terry Goodkind one of the finest writers of the time. His charectors are well created an come to life on every page.

His writing is rather adult with the pillaging an acts rape, but he balances that with acts of great courage an valor. These books lead you through a series of human failings an accomplishments and now having read Confessor I am saddened that the story has ended.

Is this book worth the read. Heck yeah. They all are. No writer is perfect the entire length, so if your expecting that, then move on. Goodkind isn't A.R. Salvator in making fight scenes or Terry Brooks in making a world so undeniably beautiful, but Goodkind is a master storyteller. The entire story is as original a tale as you will ever find.

Yeah he tends to make things happen in a just in time fashion. Sure He habitualy uses the same ways of describing the main charectors. I find the explanations of why magic did this or didn't work like that sometimes overly long an more times a bit confusing, but more times then that you hang on every word.

In a nutshell, This final journey is about being human. Compassion wins over hate. The human nature to kill must be balanced by the strength to love. Goodkind, does his job to keep you wanting more. To keep reading until that book you just opened is finished. Can you ask anymore from a storyteller.

Spoiler....

My only true disapointment was the fall of Six. There were chances to make it a great battle battle instead so quick a end. Jangang being tricked I understood, but that could have been a bit more prolonged as well.

Enjoy the read. RISE UP AN LIVE IT!

I think this is a great end to a series I love, though there are a couple thing's we could have done without.

1: Pillars of Creation: I don't get this at all. He departs from the story for two insipid, unnessary new people. Who, by the way, don't even matter in the story. Stupid.

2: Confessor: Great end, but Richard spends the first two-thirds of the book as a ball player for Jagag! What the heck?! Dumb!

And while "Naked Empire" may have bad preaching, it DOES have an exciting premise, cool "Rule" and a realy nasty villan. Worth reading I say.

The ending of the book was a huge letdown. I never once associated the Order with the Christian Church in the past. They seemed way more Socialist and Muslim with their extreme beliefs.

Now all of a sudden we find out that our world with medieval times and "churches springing up everywhere" is actually the Order's twisted anti-paradise they were condemned to live in, without "heaven and hell"?

Pure garbage and a big disappointment to see this kind of intolerant Anti-church propaganda in a fantasy series many enjoyed. I read all the books and liked it way better than the "Wheel of Time", inspite of all the stlen elements.

Wizard Rule No. 0: You can further philosophy without insulting others with prejudiced intolerance.

Was an excellant finish for the series - but there still could be another book or two written on what happens after all is said and done. How do all the characters resolve their many new lives and relationships and what becomes of each. Still a lot of unanswered questions hinted at.
However had to read the book in two sittings. It cetainly holds your interest.

For followers of the Sword of Truth, one will find that Goodkind's ability to relay a story to an audience is uncanny, exhilarating to say the least. His style is slightly above a whisper at times, and yet that is exactly where the beauty lies for as one reads one can sense the storyteller there with you, always being built into his excited conversation. Confessor allows one to feel as though you are learning everything intended from the very beginning, yet teasing to the very end. Confessor tells us what we all believe we already think we sometimes understand, that is our own consequences of being able to freely and rationally choose for ourselves. Those who may not understand his expressed intent may be confused by what appear to be sudden resolves when the series will show up to this point the problems in crux, that they are reasoned to their own ends. Don't be discouraged by the availability of these answers! It has been what we have all been waiting for and it will surely keep one up at night! Goodkind shows us in his finale the closing of many open loops, answers to all the questions asked over the entirety of his series and he doesn't allow the reader to stop at any point easily. I've recommended this to friends and respected competition alike, parties who have thanked me to no end for this advice, yet when in the end all I can do is thank Terry Goodkind for his time.

The fast-paced action and frequent plot twists in this book make it an awesome read! The conversations can get a little lengthy and repetitive, but the action makes up for it. Of course, the plot is slightly predictable: the good guys win. But what else could happen? And the predictability only applies to the very base of the plot: There's a war. The good guys win. The bad guy gets beaten. The end. But the rest of the plot is unpredictable, and one never knows what's going to happen.
Over all, the excitement and seuspense that fill this book made it well worth the wait!

Confessor was very good reading and is a stopping place for the series. It will be interesting to see where Terry Goodkind will perhaps take this series now or start a new spin-off. There is almost always trouble in paradise. Now I can put this set of books into the "Been Read Shelf".

The Sword of Truth series is incredible, and this final book did not disappoint. The moral thread running through these books relates so closely to todays world, which is amazing since this is "fantasy". These books grasped me in a way that has not happened to me in years. When I finished the last page I felt lost, and somehow disjointed, the so real characters had become my friends and family, and I was going to miss them. Definitely a series that I plan to read again, and again. The Confessor is a perfect ending to an incredible journey.

While the biggest complaint about this book has been that it contains (gasp!) philosophy (followed closely by the fact that it contains not just a protagonist, but a hero, though the charge that Richard is "perfect" is blatantly false, as are most of the other criticisms), most of the critics seem to have missed most of it.

It is not just "life good, religion bad," as they claim--although that theme alone would make the book practically unique and well worth reading. Rather, as this final installment makes clear, the overall theme of the Sword of Truth series has been, appropriately, Truth. What is it? Is it gained by reason or faith? Self-fulfillment or self-sacrifice? Liberty or tyranny? These are important and complex themes, and Goodkind is one of a very few authors who is willing to come out openly and explicitly on the side of reason, self-fulfillment, and liberty. For that, he deserves all our thanks.

Perhaps Goodkind was mistaken to think he could sell this kind of story to the typical fantasy genre fan, but if you're looking for something more, then you might find this series highly interesting.

As for the plot in this book, again it lacks all of the typical fantasy trappings. There isn't a big final brawl full of magic and monsters and mayhem. What there is, is a well-worked out plot and a satisfying, thoughtful conclusion which simultaneously follows perfectly from what has come before and yet is unexpected.

While I'm sure I'll get mostly negative votes for daring to post a positive review, I view it as an act of justice.

Bottom line: if you have liked the series thus far, you will probably like the finale. If you haven't, you probably won't. If you haven't begun to read the series yet, I recommend doing so and judging for yourself.

Richard and Kahlan started out as such wonderful characters in Wizard's First Rule. Somewhere around the end of book 4, Goodkind switched from storytelling to preaching. I never quite figured out what straw man he was preaching to, but I kept hanging around hoping that he would recapture the sizzle of his earlier works. It never happened. A huge disappointment, but at least its over!

Thanks to Goodkind and R. Jordan, I have learned to never, ever start reading a series until it is finished! I have also learned from both that any series longer than a trilogy should be sold with a warning label. Something like: "CAUTION! Production of another book in this series does not mean that there is more story left to tell. Side effects from consumption include headache, nausea, and indifference to fate of protagonists."

After reading a bunch of the posted reviews for this book, I can't help but think that all these people missed the point of the series. I don't know how you can make it to book 11 and still think that Goodkind is writing an epic tale of magic. The series has been about reason, and the people who choose to use it or turn from it, from the very beginning. Did Richard triumph over Darken Rahl using superior magic and force in Book 1? No, he used logic and his ability to reason. Magic and fantasy are the tools that Terry has used to preach his message, not the point.

If you take offense to many of the things goodkind has to say, I can't help but wonder why. If you have a disagreement with one of his views, and you have a rational understanding of the disagreement, then you'll be confident enough in your own view to not care. If you don't know why you disagree or your disagreement is based on wishes and whims...well, to quote Zedd, "People who for whatever reason don't want to see the truth can be acutely hostile to it and shrill in their denunciation of it."

That said, I found Confessor to be one of the more action packed novels of the series. I never felt it dragging like Pillars of Creation or Naked Empire. I was thoroughly entertained throughout, and I really enjoyed the Ja'La tournament. I thought the book was a fitting end to a fantastic series.

For any of you who enjoyed the concepts and idea's presented in this book, I would reccomend reading Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. I think you'll find that the latter half of this series is severely influenced by her writings. Richard's monologue at the end of this book (the one lots of people are complaining about) is basically a condensed version of John galt's speech towards the end of Atlas Shrugged.

Between endless repeatings of events in previous books the rantings of mindsets and almost too complicated explainings between characters how certain magic would or could work I finally battled myself through to the end of the book. I have never been this bored by a book from the hand of T. Goodkind.

SPOILERS ABOUND

This could have easily gotten 5 stars out of me, but I think Tor and TG have some sort of agreement that no editor is allowed to touch his work. They could have cut out about fifty pages of grinding repitition (and a few typos) and the book would have been flawless as a wrap up for the series. Its all been said before, mostly about the last four or five books; the characters becoming cardboard cutouts of themselves, the rehashing, the endless explainations of just how evil the Imperial Order is, and the fact that Ayn Rand's ghost has apparently taken to haunting Tor's printers. I think a good editor could have easily exorcized her, but its not exactly hard for me to glaze over the speeches anymore anyway(although Rachel's still made me facepalm a little).

Blah blah blah. Despite all that, I still count myself one of the series biggest fans, and the last thing I want to do is to turn people off to it. The good parts still blow me away, and there are plenty if you look for them. The middle 250 pages had me reeling, like I was back in the WFR days. Its exactly what I look for in genre fiction. I think the globe-hopping near the end is excusable, as it was just about the only way to fit all those ancillary characters in. I also think he did that really well; it all fit together like he'd planned it for a very long time, not just threw some crap together to get Richard where he needed to be.

Some Confessor-specific things I think could have been a bit better (REAL SPOILERS):

1. A couple of anti-climactic character endings. This book was the big finish. I wanted to see a witch war. I wanted to see Jagang's gifted clash with Richard's. I wanted Richard and Jagang to go hand to hand in a blazing ring of fire. I knew they couldn't take on the whole order through combat, but a few fireballs could have been hurled, a few Gars and Dragons could have snacked on some soldiers. As good as the big action sequence was, not a whole lot really happened. The good guys did their business, and a black sister got her face kicked off (hardcore), but I think it could have been better.

2. I love Zedd. Zedd did nothing. I was sad.

3. Did Richard actually cut all those people, including his sister, from having any sort of afterlife? WTF?

For all that, it was still one of my favorite books this year. As far as long-series enders go, this one is ahead of the game. Some of the other critics on here are judging Confessor a little unfairly, or expecting too much from what is essentially just a wrap up. I found the conclusions for the most part very satisfying, and I think it is a great cap for a great series. I especially loved all the cameos from all the minor characters of books past. The good definitly outweighs the not-so-good, with this book and with the entire Sword of Truth.

The failing of Confessor is the same problem exhibited by the latter half of the SoT series. There seems to be two different authors writing this book. One, who writes well paced action sequences that provide plenty of exciting plot developments. While the other, provides filler complete with a standard "form letter" dialog between Richard/Nicci/Kahlan and ignorant old person/Mord Sith. It has been said that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, but Plato certainly doesn't need it. The most anguishing thing about this series is how great it could have been. A great editor could and should have reduced this last trilogy into a novel reminiscent of the swashbuckling adventure that is Wizard's First Rule. Sadly these great characters are buried under the weight of unwieldy attempt to craft some epic philosophical argument. Terry's latest work is an example of an overly ambitious and intellectually underpowered writer, who seeks to browbeat his audience into his own point of view.

At last! The final book of this series is an exciting page-turner, a worthy (although predictable) end for the 11 book Sword of Truth saga.

I personally enjoyed "Confessor" very much, and hope that Mr. Goodkind might be persuaded to set some of his future stories in this interesting universe of magic, love, and the political inevitability that results from the basic conflict between Good and Evil.

This book is the final book in a trilogy. If you read the series up to the trilogy with the exception of "Pillars of Creation" it was a good series. This book was the absolute worst. If you take out all the repitition and all of the over explanation this book may have a hundred good pages out of six hundred three pages. For all of the over explanation and how every minor detail is just gone over and over and over all of the major events are under done. I think that the climax of the book was very unimaginative. I felt like Terry was just ready to be done with this series and just spit this book out with a lot of information from previous books. And for GOD'S SAKE couldn't we have seen Richard learn how to use his powers and go nuts on the Imperial Order. COME ON MAN! I read thirteen books to get to a climax that never happened. I want my money and my time back. I have watched and listened to a lot of Terry's interviews he believes he is the best out there. I read a lot and I am here to tell you he is not. My advice steer clear of anything from TG.

Confessor was a good book, but I was a little disappointed with the ending. ****Spoiler Alert***** I feel he was taking a swipe at religion and the after life.

The imagery was still amazing! I was happy to know what happened to everyone. I do think the loose ends could have been tied up a bit better.

SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't get me wrong, as an aspiring fantasy novelist myself, I admire Goodkind and the SoT series will forever be my favorite books of all time, HOWEVER, I have to say that after Faith of the Fallen, the series started slowly going downhill for me. I was kind of disappointed with the way the series ended. Jagang seemed to go out with little more than a whimper. I was expecting a huge brawl/confrontation in the end between Richard and Jagang for all the hell he put everyone though. The book was also EXTREMELY preachy, and all this preachiness seemed to start in FotF, but it got really bad with the subsequent books, especially this one. I found myself skimming through some of the lectures in the book to get to the good stuff.

I wish there has been more to the ending of this series. There were a lot of things that still went unexplained, and yet other things that were tied up too quickly. The ending was touching, but again, it seemed like Goodkind was in a rush to wrap things up as I was reading. While I was satisfied that it was a "happily ever after" type ending, I was still expecting more from it. I am looking forward to the next books Goodkind will write, to see what happens to these characters.

This book was similar in style to the Chainfire Trilogy. The books starts a little slow gets you wound up and then stalls in the middle with a PHD in magic . It seems a little forced , but in classic goodkind style, the end picks up and you don't want to put the book down. The end of the series was a little disapointing, but goodkind has kept us entertained throughout the years.

Terry Goodkind, Confessor (Tor, 2007)

The best thing that can be said for Confessor, the eleventh and final volume in Terry Goodkind's long-running Sword of Truth series, is that Goodkind had so many loose ends to tie up, so much actual story to work with, that there's a residual effect that dampens, ever so slightly, the substandard-message-hokum he's been pumping out since around book seven. The second-best thing that can be said for it is "thank the good spirits he's finally laid this thing to rest."

It's a terrible thing when a series that started off with such promise and wonder degenerates into work where the message has totally overriden the story. Until now, the nadir of the series was book eight, where the narrative would completely stop for pages at a time while Richard and Jagang doled out useless homily. Now we get to the final volume, and guess what? It's time, since it's the final volume, for all the rest of the useless homily to come out, and believe me, there's a great deal of it to be found in these six hundred pages. Someone should have sicced a good editor on him, because this book could have easily been half the size it is. As well as all the message stuff (if you didn't think your characters' actions were imparting the message well enough, Mr. Goodkind, did you ever think of rewriting?), Goodkind's tendency to use the first hundred fifty pages of each Sword of Truth book to reiterate stuff we saw in previous books is back in full force here, except we get three hundred pages of it. Bags, Terry, d'you think we forgot?

Still, despite all that, and if you skim the unnecessary bits, the fact of the matter is that I, like so many others, have been following this story for well over a decade (if I recall correctly, Wizard's First Rule came out in something like 1994), and we're all going to get sucked into reading this one because we want to know how it all turns out. And, again if you ignore the unnecessary bits, it can't be argued that when he wants to be, and when he doesn't let the message run roughshod over the medium the way the Order does over any city that stands in its way, Terry Goodkind is a fantastic storyteller. Okay, he could use a bit of refinement in his fight scenes (as much as I enjoy a good spot of gore, do that many limbs really need to be sheared off? And, for that matter, do they all need sheared? Why can't a limb here or there be lopped?), but he does have a sense of pacing and dramatic tension, even if he does his best to undermine himself at every turn by tossing in the sermons. It's that which kept me going with this series long after it stopped being anywhere near as good as a number of others out there. If you've invested as much time in the Sword of Truth as the rest of us, you'll want to read this one to find out how it all ends, even if you fear, as I did, that it will all end up being a Lifetime Original Movie on an epic scale. Is it? You'll have to read it to find out. ** ½

I hope that I can spare a few people from the torture of reading this book. If you have read the previous 10 then you do not need more trite, repetitive, embarrassingly simple "lessons" from Goodkind. In case you are worried about missing the few paragraphs that are storyline and not lecture, let me save you many hours of your life: the good guys win.

This book was not as explosive as Wizard's First Rule was in the first few pages however, I feel that Mr. Goodkind did a great job with this book. I liked the end, assuming that magic is real you can understand why we don't have any magic in our world. I liked how everything played out. How each action created the slow turn of events. How the Order's way of fighting was grand and Richard's was subtle.

I'm trying not to give the ending away. So, read the book, there are many pages that entice you to continue to read.

If you are going to copy another authors' work at least try to improve on it. This terrible ripoff of the Wheel of Time actually makes that stretched an redundant series look like a great literary work. Just garbage, do not bother.

The last book from the sword of truth novels. 10 books total, not including the short story collection such as Debt of Bones. A great read for young and old alike. Terry Goodkind combines the world of myth and magic to the world we all know together in a way that makes you wonder. Very enjoyable, very real characters. Situations we can all relate to in one way or another. A must read series if you are into fantasy books.

I have been following this book series for over a decade. What started out to be a fantastic fantasy series, ended with Mr. Goodkind spewing out his political and religious views. The story was inconsistent, hurried and frustrating. Goodkind did tie up all the loose ends, but in "all of the sudden" ways. However, I was pleased with how he dispatched Violet. Props on that one.

My biggest problem with the book was his "Final Battle". Firstly what happened to Richards Righteous Anger? After opening the correct box he CREATED a new world for people who didn't like magic. What happened to the NO Mercy, these guys don't deserve to live because of their lack of love for life speeches? The implication was he created our world, which he filled with Man hating, raping, pillaging people. Oh, and The Pillars of Creation, who will "Keep each other safe and away from the bad guys."
Lastly is the overt slam on the Primary Religions of our world. He strongly implies that anyone who believes in an afterlife with a Creator is a murdering rapist. Shame on you Mr. Goodkind for using a fantastic setting to shove your views on Religion and Politics down peoples throats. If I wanted to read about your Philosophy on Life, I would have picked up a copy of "Atlas Shrugged."

This was such an awesome series; so many good stories and insights into society. The ending was completely unexpected yet fit so well. It leaves you wanting to say "eh heh." To fully grasp the story though you need to read all the books.
Check out the new show based on the series [...]

This book had everything I expected from Goodkind. Awesome battle sequences,spectacular magic, couple of unexpected twists and very easy to read. My only objection was the ending as it sort of finished two chapters before the end of the book and then waffled on with a huge monologue by Richard. Very reminiscent of Drizzt in the Salvatore books. Interesting to read but sort of deadened the end of the book.

Apart from that though one of the best in the series and I am looking forward to the next series Terry Goodkind writes.

This book..... I was waiting for it for a long long time, and when I found out it was finally being released I immediately pre-ordered it. I spread the reading out over two days and enjoyed this book thoroughly. Throughout the book, Goodkind makes sure there is plenty of action to keep the reader entertained/interested. Each concurring event has a greater and greater impact on the story and makes the reader think "Wow, so that is what that was about!" As for the ending, I found it somewhat predictable (not the exact end, but certain things that led up to the end) as well as other parts throughout the book (Goodkind tended to have certain tendencies/patterns), but overall I can't wait to read this book again! One word of warning... if you didn't read the previous books in the series... DO NOT READ THIS BOOK YET! Make sure to read all of the previous books first! For the rest of you, happy reading!

I am a fan of the series and I waited a long time to see what happened in this story. The conclusion was average. So if you just need to see how the story ends then read this book.Confessor: Chainfire Trilogy, Part 3 (Sword Of Truth, Book 11)

Confessor finally wraps up one of the most amazing series of any genre. After years of thrilling readers with often inhuman struggles of an incredible cast of characters, Goodkind finally ties the knot at the end. This would get a five star rating if he hadn't rushed the ending a bit, but after 11 books and countless years of writing, I cut him some slack for the incredible journey he led us through for well over a decade.

Confessor (2007) is the eleventh fantasy novel of the Sword of Truth series, following Phantom. In the previous volume, the Sisters of the Dark found that their clever ruse doesn't really protect them from the dreamwalker. Richard allowed himself to be conveyed to Jagang's camp where Kahlan was located.

Kahlan noticed something familiar and exciting in the strange man with gray eyes who called her name. Jagang believed everything was under control, yet strange reports have been coming from the Old World. Nicci activated the third box of Orden, giving Richard a year to select the correct box.

In this novel, Richard is point man of Commander Karg's Ja La dh Jin -- Game of Life -- team under the name of Reuben Rybnik. Like almost everything about the Fellowship of the Order, the Game of Life is more like a Game of Death. Even off the field, the point men are subject to maiming and death. Richard is attacked twice on the night before the start of the Emperor's tournament.

Then a specter appears and announces that Richard has been named as a player and has one year from this date to complete the cleansing. Richard assumes that the specter is referring to the selection of the correct box of Orden to reverse the Chainfire sequence, but he does not currently have access to any of the boxes. Besides, he needs Kahlan -- last of the Confessors -- to select the correct copy of The Book of Counted Shadows and she is presently being held by Emperor Jajang within this camp.

The next morning, the players of each Ja La team in the tournament are lined up for the Emperor's inspection. Suddenly, Richard realizes that both the Emperor and several of the Sisters of the Dark will recognize him. He takes an immediate facedown fall into the muddy ground. Although laughed at for the fall, he is now unrecognizable.

Kahlan recognizes the gray-eyed man that she has been looking for, but wonders why he has deliberately fallen on his face. She deduces that he is trying to hide his features, but has no idea why he should do so. The next time she sees the gray-eyed man, he and his whole team have red painted symbols on their faces.

The opposing team laughs at the paint job, but ridicule quickly turns to respect after the red team scores time and again. The opposing point man decides to whittle down the red team and Richard's left wingman is killed. Shortly thereafter, the opposing point man is dead of a broken neck at the hands of Richard.

In this story, Nicci and Zedd are having their usual arguments within the Wizard's Keep. However, the witch Six intervenes and steals the single box of Orden possessed by Richard's friends. Nicci learns something from Zedd about fighting witches, but too late to prevent the theft.

Rachel flees from the Wizard's Keep, pursued by ghostie gobblies. In her flight, she encounters her birth mother, who gives her a small gift. Rachel ends up back in the caves of Tamarang. Chase follows her.

Nicci, Zedd, Cara and the others in the Keep are forced to abandon it due to deterioration of its magic by the chimes. Nicci and Cara return to the People's Palace, but Zedd and the others go to the caves of Tamarang. They intend to restore Richard's powers to him.

Emperor Jajang now possesses all three boxes of Orden. Then he is presented with the original of The Book of Counted Shadows. He had everything necessary to select the correct box and open it, except a proper containment field such as the Garden of Life. He opens negotiations with Lord Rahl for the surrender of the People's Palace.

This story concludes the trilogy and many threads within the series. Any subsequent volume will probably have to open new territory. But the author has promised that this series will continue.

This trilogy emphasizes the contrast between the liberty supported by Richard Rahl and the tyranny run by Emperor Jajang. In particular, Lord Rahl points out that his people have the freedom to behave as they want, but the Emperor's people only have the words of liberty, but not the behavior. Even the term Imperial Order shows the contradictions between the words and actions of the Fellowship of the Order.

In several respects, the criticism therein of the Fellowship applies to all religions. Faith is an individual choice, but religions are social mechanisms that almost always include dictation of the behavior of individuals. Even Buddhism -- one of the least dogmatic religions -- has been used to dictate individual behavior. Obviously, the religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam have been used time and again for such purposes.

The Imperial Order is a theocratic state much like the Byzantine Empire, although even more religiously motivated. No rival religions are tolerated by the Imperial Order and every priest of the Fellowship has the power of death or torture over anyone accused of heresy. Of course, death while assisting in the spread of the Fellowship grants instant rewards in the afterlife. Does any of this sound familiar?

Highly recommended for Goodkind fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of great prophecies, creative thinking and perseverance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Yes, this is what you expect from Terry Goodkind. He wrapped up the saga of Richard Rahl and The Confessor in a neat package. I personally hoped to have a more dreadful demise to the vile and despicable Ja Gang, but Goodkind made his point well with the swift expunging of this villain, and that is that he was not worth the effort!
It was a good read.....I highly recommend.

this book tries to tie everything together in the very end. it seemed a little strained to me, but I'll have to re-read it. I just remember laughing out loud at the absurdity of some of the turns. however. I did thoroughly enjoy it---I think I finished it within a day. It arrived in a timely manner in extremely good condition.

While the series did bog down at times with Goodkinds preaching it is still a fantastic series and well worth reading. I really liked the final book and the first 4, as anyone reading the last 3 knows, are among the best books of this genre ever written!

don't read the books if you stopped liking them 5 books ago!

for the rest of you: I enjoyed the book thoroughly. Certainly, the long monologues in support of the "philosophical" did a wonderful job of describing the nature of totalitarian ideas that take root.

How else to explain the horrors committed by whole populations of seemingly normal people?

Another analogy to this would be the highly descriptive nature of the abuse of someone that the abuser claims to care for. This could have been almost cliche, but I thought Terry did a great job of illustrating such a bizarre combination of ideas.

That said, Terry - thanks for the series. Obviously, many of us have stuck with you throughout - Stone Of Tears still stands as one of my highest recommmendations. Whenever I get someone to start Wizard's First Rule, I make the promise me they will get through that and into SoT, first. Not that WFR is lacking, but there are too many people that start and stop a book...

And I look forward to your next endeavor.

Question: What's with the movie? :-)

Over the years, I have shamelessly allowed myself to be taken advantage of by Terry Goodkind. I would say about 8 too many times. Unfortunately, I was an addict, so I guess this is both a warning and a cry for help. Personally, I'm considering trying a 12 step program: reading all 11 books out loud and recording myself doing it. Step 12, you ask? Listen to the tape. I'm sure I'll begin to question my own worth as a human being by the end. I do think I saw something on the Terry Goodkind website in the 'Careers' section: something about submissive poolboys with talented posteriors. Maybe I should apply, I mean if I'm going to let him do it, might as well get paid for it, huh?

Though none of you will listen to my advice, please don't make the mistakes I've made. Stop, put away your credit card, do not buy this book. I mean please, save yourself the trouble of hating yourself. Or why not just apply for the poolboy job, but bring plenty of Vaseline and a bottle of Ibuprofen, because the Sword of Truth is one big bad boy and you got it coming eleven times.

I did enjoy the conclusion of the Richard and Kahlan saga, however, I do still have some questions. Other than that, I was very pleased in reading this book and thought Goodkind did a great job. He brought back old characters which was totally awesome. Well done.