Phantom

Better. Book 10 captured my attention because we really got to see a lot more of Kahlan and her struggle to remember who she was on her journey with the Sisters of the Dark. By her story becoming the central focus, the reader wasn't subjected to the overbearing speeches that have dominated the last 3 books in the series. It was a refreshing change.

Also, the side story of Richard going off to seek the book left by Baraccus was very good, as was the focus of Nicci. Her development as a character has been rather satisfying. Finally, book 10 is done!

I am beyond excited to begin reading book 11 and complete the series I started reading almost 15 years ago. I am hoping that the concluding novel will be as captivating as the one that started it all.

When I read the first book in the Sword of Truth series I was blown away, same held for the next few installments and then I started to feel like the reader was just being dupped into lining the author's (and the publisher's) pockets... it seems to me that this series could have been finished long ago. What's really problematic to me is reading a story and then having to wait for a couple years for the next sequel. In all honesty if I'd known in the beginning that it would be years between installments I would have never bought the first book. By the time the next book comes out I will undoubtedly have forgotten a good portion of this story (and I surely don't have time nor the inclination to go back and re-read the last book). I admit that I'm hooked now, and I have to know how this all ends (though it's really probably not all that hard to figure out). Mr. Goodkind is a brilliant writer (in my humble opinion), but so many of the pages could be done away with, I don't need a page long description of every room a character enters, most times I find myself just letting my mind wander until the next phrase of any real consequence. I do think that this book is better than Chainfire, Mr. Goodkind really just about lost me as a fan forever with that piece. In closing I'd like to say that this series had the potential to be truly legenday (in my humble opinion again) but I honestly think some greed got involved and it has been drug out in the name of the almighty dollar... I still have enjoyed lots of it, but it could have been so much richer and tighter... to me anyway.

Phantom was surely not Goodkind's best novel of the series, but it is most definately not the worst. If you've made it through the last nine, and are still satisfied with his writing, you shouldn't really have too much problem with this one.

Of course, "too much" and "none" are not the same. Goodkind, as many people have been pointing out for previous books, has begun to get "preachy." The first 200 pages of this book go on and on about how bad the Imperial Order is. If you haven't figured out that Jagang is a villain (and basically the devil incarnate) by now, you may have some issues. But Goodkind continues to beat readers over the head with it. He also goes on for pages and pages about various magic spells (such as the verification web that starts off the book) when he could easily have summed up the explanation in a couple of pages and lost the cheezy dialogue.

However, the rest of the book moved along nicely, with some new and innovative plot twists. Goodkind still has a lot to wrap up in his next book, and I really wish he had spent more time in this one working towards that end instead of rambling on with pointless dialogue, but overall it was worth the read and I'm interested to see what he'll pull out of his hat for the finale. Hopefully he'll cut out the sermons in the next book, but I'm not crossing my fingers.

Wizard's First Rule is a remarkable book. It's probably the only book in the series that should've been written (Faith of the Fallen is a possible exception, although with it begins Goodkind's fall into explicit, philosophical moralizing). I love Richard and Kahlan. As archetypal heroes they are perhaps the most numinous I've encountered in high fantasy. I just wish they'd been treated more respectfully. The tortures they've been made to endure have been difficult for me to bear (not only narratively, but also literarily [Wizard's First Rule aside]). I would rather he had written a trilogy than a... meandering hendecalogy.

In all, the series reminds of many I've seen on T.V. Shows like: Alias, Lost, Heroes. Each had great first seasons, but from there descended agonizingly into Soap Opera. It is appropriate, then, that the final insult has been delivered to the Sword of Truth Series and there is now a Legend of the Seeker T.V. show. Apparently Goodkind was excited about this (judging by the press blurbs on his website), but I wonder if he still is. I watched the first two episodes on Hulu and find it difficult to believe that such a great vision could be so handily slaughtered (it's as if they were handled by an anti-seeker, a master of destroying noble visions). But then, I've seen the many attempts at Dune, so I don't know why I was surprised. I get the sense, from the books, that Richard is in or nearly in his 30's. That before meeting Kahlan he was already a mature, quiet man, whose slightly older brother was the political leader of the region. In the series, however, he is cast as a muscle-bound 21 year old with a disproportionately small, immature face. In the book Zedd had been teaching Richard, covertly, his entire life. In the Show, Zedd was just a "crazy old man that talks to chickens". Kahlan is played by an actress without facial musculature necessary to express true depth of emotion or judgement. (I only speak of the T.V. Show to give a second example of the sort of betrayal the original vision has endured.)

I like the philosophy that Goodkind presents... within reason :) Having read Ayn Rand long before I picked up his books, I recognized immediately the sense of life he was portraying. But he falls into many of the same errors as she did. Not the least of which is shallow, unbelievable depictions of the "other side". I admit, the anti-life philosophy can be comical when stripped of its dressings and custumes. It can also be depressing to realize how many people really "live by", in essence, the abdication of the Self. But I don't think the sanctity of life is truly expressed by simplifying beyond recognition the complexities of the ways we fall into error and the difficulties we face in prising right from wrong. One dimensional representations of man cannot provide the necessary contrast for a true appreciation of the great achievement that is a truly moral life.

In summary, the trajectory of this series of books is as follows: what started as an archetypal human struggle against darkness has ended in the sado-masochistic catharsis of an author. Does Goodkind enjoy torturing the soul-personified with his agiel-pen? I don't know, but many times I've had to put my inner hero in'an inner box to protect him from this series' relentless cruelty.

-Jerome Meyers

Phantom is the tenth novel in Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth sequence and the second in the Chainfire Trilogy. The previous volume, Chainfire, set up the trilogy to end the series or at least to set up a conclusion that Goodkind has been slowly building to for the previous eight volumes. In Chainfire Richard Rahl was the only person still able to remember his wife Kahlan. Kahlan was the Mother Confessor, everyone knew Kahlan and Richard's friends and family certainly should have. But Kahlan was magically erased from memory by the application of a "Chainfire" spell that was set up for four Sisters of the Dark to steal the Boxes of Orden. By the end of Chainfire Richard and his comrades all remember Kahlan and have an idea of what happened to her. Now he needs to find a way to rescue her even if the rest of the population can't see her, let alone remember her.

While Chainfire was more from Richard's point of view, Phantom is told from the perspectives of both Richard and a Kahlan who doesn't remember who she is or her past (another effect of the Chainfire spell). This is Richard's desire to find his wife before she gets hurt and Kahlan wishes to escape and remember. But we are still in the middle of the war with Jagang's army and the Old World and Richard is the only one who could stop Jagang.

The major complaint with Terry Goodkind's work that I have seen from readers is that he spends too much time moralizing and not nearly enough time telling a story. I could see what critics were saying, but I thought that Goodkind had enough of a story going that the moralizing and philosophy was never overwhelming.

Until now. Hundreds of pages are spent, not in conversation, but in lecture between characters on the rightness and goodness of their point of view, of the right of the individual to exist and create over the wishes of an oppressive group. It's all fairly obvious stuff because Jagang's Army has been raping and pillaging and brutalizing their way up the Old World and into the New and is overwhelmingly an Evil, Twisted, and Sick Army and a Evil way of Life. Well, of course Richard's point of view and philosphy is the Right and Moral one, look at the alternative.

There is some interesting story points here and Goodkind does bring the story to points where events that happened much earlier in the series have a deeper signficance than we might have imagined at the time. There is much more going on, but for the first time in the Sword of Truth I felt like the moralizing was too much. It seems like we've heard all of this before.

I thought Chainfire was an excellent set up for the trilogy to end the series, but Phantom takes a step back. It is still a quick read, as is all of Goodkind's work, but there is less actual meat here than I've seen in some time.

-Joe Sherry

Reading Terry Goodkind has become a mind-numbing task that can require days, if not, weeks of convalescence. His writing is no longer entertaining, his concepts are not, and in retrospect have never really been, original, and the very fabric of his plot is a thinly veiled attempt at the dissemination of objectivist propaganda. The ultimate problem is that the reader has not even the slightest chance to expect a logical conclusion to the story or even fathom the direction in which Goodkind will next take his plot. Everything occurs at a purely random pace without any rules or logical boundaries, old themes can come back simply because the author chose to bring them back. For example, there was no hint or buildup to any of the themes employed in the Phantom, no one knew a thing about the night wisps which last appeared nine books ago, and about another witch woman who suddenly becomes a threat many years after the boundary of between the Old and New World collapsed. The last couple of novels prior to the start of the Chainfire trilogy did not introduce any of the concepts now being deemed as prominent, but they reiterated more of the mindless ramblings of an author who has become too narcissistically enamored with his own recurrent objectivist soliloquies, which he simply must have his insipid literary mouthpiece (Richard) spew out at every turn, thus needlessly extending the length of the book by several hundred pages. The horrors of religious fanaticism and communism have long since been depicted by real-world examples; it is not worth repeating incessantly how horrible people who blindly adhere to their tenets can be. However the problem is that if Goodkind did not focus on his deep rooted hatred for anything collective, he might actually have to come up with a cohesive plot-line where his once-interesting characters may have to face true dilemmas, as opposed to finding themselves in situations of mortal danger from which they will effortlessly escape by "being strong", holding on to "the sanctity of life" and "never giving up" no matter if they are beaten or apparently defeated at every turn of the page. Honestly, if one considers the times Kahlan has been struck senseless in the back of the head by one villain or another, she should have at best developed symptoms of recurrent concussions or at worst be rendered comatose. Oh hell, I'll settle for a few missing teeth, but no matter what the sisters or Jagang to do her she remains beautiful and stunning at every turn. This is truly hypocritical writing from an author who strongly states that his characters deal and overcome real-life problems.

Come to think of it, hypocrisy has been a strong theme for Goodkind. He is easy to cast the horrors of the Order upon his readers, while at the same time trying to stress the goodness of his idealistic characters, but in many cases he fails to re-examine his own premises. Here is another example: In one of her intense moments with Jagang, Kahlan notices that "In the end the belief [of the Order] was nothing more than fabricated divinity--unthinking nonsense repeated in a mantra in an attempt to give it credibility, to make it sound sacred." While at that particular moment this sounds very true, just a hundred pages later, hypocrisy appears again as we come to yet another example of "fabricated divinity" and repeated "unthinking nonsense" except this time it is called the devotion to Lord Rahl, and in this case it is described as calming and soothing as any mediation. In truth, while Goodkind openly derides the philosophy of communism, he is all for employing some of the most egomaniacal practices of communist states, such as the creation of a personality cult for its leaders.

There was some shred of hope in Chainfire, a means to probably salvage the end of this series, but Phantom has quickly destroyed most of the hope. By now, I have already heard that the final installment of this series is even worse that anything that came before. How can that be?

How many times do we need to be told about how evil the bad guys are. How many times do we need tens of pages dedicated to describing in excruciating detail the repetitive thoughts of victims as they helplessly await some unavoidable horror. The whole novel is an exercise in a single plot tactic (and a cheap one imo), the suspense of suspense for suspense's sake:

(spoilers)

BAD GUY:
"I'm going to cut your throat... but first I'm going to yap on about it for a half a blasted hour"
HELPLESS VICTIM:
"I'm going to die... I can't believe I'm going to die, I'm going to die... I can't believe I'm going to die... I'm going to die......."

DIFFERENT BAD GUY:
"I'm going to rape you... but WAIT... first I'm going to talk about it for HALF A BLASTED HOUR... but WAIT AGAIN... no... no... I changed my mind. Not about the rape of course... I'm still going to rape you (insert 30 minutes of detailed description here), but FIRST I'm going to wait until the perfect moment."

ARMY OF BAD GUYS:
We're going to rape all of you, and those we don't rape we're going to murder... but first we're going to talk about it for 30 MINUTES. We're going to spend extra time detailing how we hurt women and children. In case you didn't know - we're a bad army. But there are a LOT of us. Did we get a chance to tell you about our faith that is so evil that it makes it so we feel JUSTIFIED in being so bad? Only Once? WELL... we should probably go over it again...

BAD GIRL:
I'm going to reach halfway across the country with my super magic and steal your power.

GOOD GUY:
I don't even know HOW to use my power... but I've got this book I can't read that will tell me... if only I could read it!

BAD EMPEROR:
I can reach in anyone's dreams and take control of them.

GOOD GUY:
I seem to have lost my sword... I thought I left it leaning against the door.

BAD DEMON:
I'm INVINCIBLE!

GOOD GIRL:
I can't remember if I'm powerful or not... but at least I'm SUPER HOT! What? You want me to walk around naked AGAIN!

GOOD GUY:
"I'm going to now spend 30 minutes talking about the amazing awesomeness of my honey that I've spent about 3 minutes with over the last 6 novels. Did I mention that she's SUPER HOT!

USED TO BE BAD GIRLS THAT ARE NOW GOOD:
"We used to be bad with our pain sticks... but now we're good - so other than pining over the GOOD GUY (He's DREAMY) we're only going to be around for about 4 minutes in this book.

GOOD OLD MAGICIAN:
I'm a really powerful good magician... but for some reason the only guy I ever get to attack is invincible.

RAWL #3:
It's good to be king.

Good lord I could go on... this book is not Mr. Goodkinds best.

I got it Goodkind, there is not God, we need to live life for ourselves, and Kahlan is important. How about a new topic to tackle?

I keep hoping and hoping the next book will be more action and less preachy, but I keep being disappointed. I would have rather re-read Wizard' First rule 3x instead of reading the last 3 books.

I actually was listening to this one (which I had not done previously). For literally a half an hour Mr. Goodkind details the death and rape of the people of Galea (good to know, but we already know this from other stories, it's just more gory here) and then goes on a philosophical stint trying to pin religion as the root of all evil. I'm a rather liberal left leaning individual, but even I found what he was saying overly one sided and annoying at this point. We've heard this point before, like, A LOT. Ironically he is presenting his ideals with the one dimensional zealotcy of a religious fanatic. I miss when he switched up the enemies earlier in the series, now it's all about fighting what the author calls "Jagang's Army" but means religion and the belief in an afterlife. Yet if there is nothing waiting for the people of his world on the other side how come he keeps fighting things from "the world of the dead" and would get help from dead people in "the spirit world" such as with the Mud People and Denna? But maybe that was the old Richard, and the old Goodkind

Boiled down:
If you like God, this book very well might offend you.
Preachy, but not much more than the last one.
Still don't like Richard, he's an arrogant, quick to anger, bull-headed, preachy jerk (I keep hoping the old Richard will come back, or that he'll sleep with Nikki so I can just hate him already)
The books are no longer about the stories or even the characters, they are about a single ideological point, and the same one as the last 3 books.

Redeeming quality: more magic, but it's so technical that at times you tend to gloss over.

I like science fiction and fantasy, and I'd never read anything by Terry Goodkind until this month. How's that for a confession? I think his books must have started coming out when I was avoiding series (due to kids, lack of finances... who knows). But Phantom sounded really intriguing, with a female protagonist who can't remember who she is, and a husband who's the only person left who knows she exists. Throw in a little magic and global annihilation and I'm bound to be hooked. I decided, with a series this long, it had to be possible to pick the story up halfway through so of course I bought the book.

Terry Goodkind has certainly created a fascinating world, and I learned a lot about it as I read--its history, its mythology, the way its magic works. I particularly loved a scene where the protagonist looks at a magic spell and tries to explain how symbolically there must be something wrong. I guess because I'm a mathematician, and mathematicians work with symbols, the concept intrigued me. It felt like when I've tried to explain that a proof is false without being able straight away to put my finger on the reason.

The author fills in gaps in the backstory quite cleverly, bringing this new reader at least partly up to date. But I found the adventure much slower than I expected, with lots of paragraphs devoted to explaining and re-explaining the same feelings--thoughts that go round in circles repeated on the page. It was a fun story, and if the next really is the concluding tale in the series I will probably plan on reading it. But it was a surprisingly heavy read, so I may not go back to catch up on the earlier books.

I have struggled through this entire series, loving and hating it simultaneously. I was often tempted to just quit it and move on to something else but there was always one remaining question niggling the back of my mind, tempting me on to the next. So here I am, one more to go, and finally-I loved one. This was the best installment in the entire series. I didn't expect to be engrossed after so many where I struggled through just to find out about one or two things but this one had me. I'm entertaining the possibility that the last two in the series will make the whole thing worth it.

Let me preface my review by saying that I have been a fan of Terry Goodkind for over 10 years now. I fell in love with Wizard's First Rule and have not read anything that can compare with it to date.

That said, his books have suffered recently (starting with Faith of the Fallen) with his agonizingly long philosophical rants. Ok Terry, I understand that "people are stupid," but good grief, how many times do you need to repeat something before you think your readers understand? I GET the point. The Order is evil and will rape, pillage, and plunder anything in their path. Life in the Order is meaningless, life under Richard is the only moral way to go. Do I need to read hundreds and hundreds of pages of gory violence, rape, torture, murder, and repetitive droning to get the point across? NO!

I found myself literally groaning with agony at how repetitive parts of this book were (not even combined with how many times he's said the same thing in previous books). There were even times when he repeated the exact same sentence verbatim within a few pages (who is his editor anyway? I noticed several glaring typos and grammatical errors).

That being said, there's more plot in this book than there has been in the last three books combined. Goodkind is *finally* moving his plotline back to fantasy and away from the incessant indoctrination of his personal beliefs. There's lots of new magic and new twists, and he brings back a lot of characters and plot intricacies from Wizard's First Rule.

Personally I get the impression that his plot and character development has become so vast that he can't really weild it anymore. Characters will get a lot of attention in one part of the book and then will suddenly disappear and aren't mentioned again. (Case in point - what happened to Jebra???) He's starting to bring some the characters together for the final conclusion, but I suspect that he will leave a lot of the other characters from previous books without any resolution.

It seems like he digs his himself into a hole, puts his characters in a practically impossible situation, and then just creates a new character or new breed of magic to get them out of trouble. There's always some convenient magical cure for any predicament. It seems like Goodkind just makes it up as he goes along. The subplots seem to suffer from the lack of direction and purpose. It doesn't seem like there are any real clues as to what's coming next, which is great for surprise, but doesn't allow much room for the reader to try to put the pieces together himself (which is half the fun!).

All in all I thought this book was much better than Chainfire, but still not even close to the caliber of Wizard's First Rule. I'm hoping that the final installment lives up to my grand expectations, but based on how many pages he continually devotes to ranting about the Order's cause, I'm not crossing my fingers.

As I read and re-read this series, and more importantly as I read the reviews of the novels by Goodkind, I cannot help but feel a bit bewildered at how many people have a Love/Hate relationship with this series. Sure, not all of the Sword of Truth novels have lived up to the absolute thrills began with 'Wizard's First Rule'...but I would have to say as Mr. Goodkind has matured as an author, his plotting has become increasingly complex, and as a result, those people who have supported him over the years have slowly began to die off. I suppose if I felt that I could write a better series, than maybe I should get off my duff and go and DO IT rather than moan that the storyline isn't what I think it ought to be...however, I have to admit that I do NOT have that problem...and therefore I am 100% excited and anxious for the 11th and final installment inside the world of Richard Rahl and Khalan Amnell.

I felt that after a couple of well-meaning but plot stalling novels, Chainfire put the storyline back on track with an overall story that I absolutely loved. Phantom picks up where Chainfire left off, and in fact brings us into the world of Khalan and her struggle since a few particularly nasty Sisters of the Dark have invoked the Chainfire Spell. Not only has all but Richard forgotten that Khalan had ever existed, even she cannot recall who she is or more accurately, who she WAS. This struggle also brings to light Jagang's character in more focus, not that we needed it to be...let's face it, we know he's a really, REALLY bad guy, but the sheer creativity of Goodkind's writing helps to make even an old character seem much more fresh than he has since almost his introduction in the 2nd novel (Stone of Tears) some years ago.

I found several plot twists that left me wanting more, and surprisingly helped to put into focus just exactly HOW Richard plans on defeating Jagang's seemingly unstoppable army of what seems to be millions. I must admit, after setting the stage many novels ago, it seemed virtually impossible to defeat a foe such as the one portrayed within this series. No matter HOW many of the Order were killed, there were hundreds of thousands who would take their place almost immediately. As Phantom proceeds, we get a pretty decent idea of exactly how Richard will in fact pull off what seemed to be impossible 4-5 books ago. For that alone I have to give him credit...and not simply because within the realm of a Fantasy novel there are any number of magical possibilities that could be introduced at a moments notice that could spell doom for the Order -- nope...Terry has hatched the seeds of what looks to be a genuinely creative way to honestly pull off a victory that without using any magical means actually sounds like it could work (well, is there any REAL doubt that it will?).

I have loved almost all of the novels written by Mr. Goodkind (only two made me feel a bit cheated...) and I have to admit that while I am in it for the long haul, even if the series were to last another 11 novels, I'd be with him the whole way. As long as he can entertain me, I honestly don't care HOW many books it takes to get to the resolution. Cheers to Terry for keeping me entertained better than almost any other author has done for the past 10 years. I anxiously await 'Confessor' and the sooner it comes out, the better...

If you read this book, do yourself a favor - skim to at least page 300.

What is it with fantasy writers starting off with great couple of novels and then running out of ideas. This series should have been over 3 books ago. All I can figure is it's a money maker and the author and publisher are milking it for all it's worth.

As others have mentioned, there are pages upon pages, chapters upon chapters, of speech-making. That would have been bad enough, but what makes it worse is that we've heard them all before! Like a 100 times before!

We get it: Socialism is bad, and it must be fought at all costs, even if it makes you a "bad guy" too. Actually, we got it in the last 38 books.

The other problem with this series and this book in particular is that Goodkind is SERIOUSLY re-hashing old ideas. Not just the stuff he "borrowed" from other authors, but most of the plot (what little there is) is essentially recycled from previous books IN THIS SERIES.

What's really funny is that he badly rips off Robert Jordan to start the series (which I don't care about - the first couple of books were very good anyway) but is now displaying Jordan's worst flaws as well.

I gave it two stars instead of one because Goodkind DOES paint a nice picture when something actually happens, and the last third of the book or so is a reasonably fun read. But I will NOT pay for any more of his books. Got this one from the library and will do the same with the last one.

If you are a Terry Goodkind fan, you will have little trouble liking this book. Sure, the story line is somewhat played out, and many fans just want the final confrontation to resolve itself. But Goodkind has committed to taking us on a trilogy ride in the battle between the Richard Rahl side vs. the Jagang side. And guess what? Kahlen is in the middle of it. Again.

I think Goodkind got back on track since his last couple books, which were a bit of a side trip in the conflict, although Richard's time in the Old World (Altur Rang specifically) fits into the continuing story. Stand up for yourself and be free. Make your own decisions and own them, etc. It all plays into the climactic conflict, which will take about 2,000 pages to tell.

So if you have read all the previous books in this series, this is a must-read. If you are just tuning in to Goodkind, start with Wizard's First Rule and enjoy the ride.

The first books of The Sword of Truth were quite good; I enjoyed everything up through Faith of the Fallen, despite the obvious parallels to the Wheel of Time. Sometime during Faith of the Fallen however, Goodkind seems to have lost his mind: he books keep spouting useless drivel about how life is sacred and wonderful and worth living, yada yada yada. We get it. Sometimes little speeches of that nature add depth to the work, however in the last few books Goodkind has not wielded that tool with finesse but rather like a hammer that he needs to beat you with every few pages. This book seems to follow suit.

Similarly good fantasy, like good science fiction, sets rules for How Things Work. A good author doesn't violate those rules once they have been established, as it leads to discontinuity. Goodkind does this frequently with magic in his later books, and again in this one.

Overall, I'm disappointed. It's something to read while you're waiting on the final book of the Wheel of Time to be finished, but unless you're dying to know what happens to Richard and Kahlan I'd recommend you find something else to read.

The tenth book in the Sword of the Truth series (although the Sword doesn't really make an appearance here) is somewhat better than the drivel that has come from Goodkind since the Temple of the Winds. The last five books have been quite painful to read for those of us who really enjoyed the first four books. It has been pretty clear that this was a six book series that the editor extended to 11 for financial reasons.

I won't again rehash the plot line. Goodkind had finally gotten back to magic and the discussions of this and thus the parts with Zedd, Nathan, Ann and Nicci and dealings with the Wizards of old is quite refreshing. A few new characters and old friends--Rachel and Violet appear and enhance the story. The sad part of this is that it is now tediously painful to read about Kahlan. Previously it was tough to continually go through the together/not together plot lines with Richard and Kahlan. Now with her memory gone, Kahlan may be the most boring character in print. Thus her dealings with the Sisters of the Dark and Jagang slow down the story significantly.

Finally, while this book has perhaps only 1/3 of the propaganda garbage that existed in "Naked Empire" the worst of the series, there are still long-winded diatribes regarding choice, freedom, individualism etc. It is interesting to me that the Fellowship of the Order now appears to have morphed in Goodkind's eyes into fundamentalist Islamic radicals although I get more of a feeling of the stupidity of the Catholic Church of the 13th century (life is focused on the next life not this one)when I read this.

Finally, this does read like a middle part of a Star Wars trilogy in that there is no conclusion to anything here. Nonetheless I think this is the best work from Goodkind since either Temple of the Winds or perhaps Soul of the Fire (solid but not great book)

I have a sneaking suspicion that the last book is going to involve the end of all magic and have it "fade into legend," as is hinted at in the book. I also have a bit of a hunch that somehow the last line of the book is going to be something like "'Dear Spirits,' Kalahn whispered. 'The Order has been replaced by a new religion: Christianity.'" or something bizarre like that which ties in to our current world, indicating to us that this is Earth's past.

Anyway, he expounds upon the same things he always does... only more so, and much more frequently. It's truly maddening. Zedd and Richard picked up stupid little phrases that they've never used before... and then use them several times throughout the book, like "you did good."

The love dialogue is more painful than usual, which is really saying something. "Dear spirits I love you!" is said way, way too many times, as if it wasn't ridiculous the first time you saw it. They say things no normal human being ever would.. people react to pretty trivial things by turning white with fear. And he's adopted the stupid "suddenly she gasped in realization" for very insignificant things- many of which we KNOW the character already KNEW. And he does it over, and over.

And the descriptions! There were several instances where what should have been a two-page incident/description took thirty.

Richard loses his power. Again. What the HELL.

The development is sort of interesting, which is why it gets three stars, but not nearly as good as Chainfire was, and is a huge rehash anyway.

He loves to re-explain things that every reader who's read a book within the last five years will have remembered, and he doesn't even incorporate them into the character's thoughts, he simply explains away as a narrator.

If you're still interested in the series, this is of course a necessary read, but I found my eyes glazing over words and having to go back and look at secions I found myself involuntarily skipping due to extreme annoyance/disinterest.

And his whole character-has-a-spark-of-realization-and-goes-on-for-pages-without-cluing-in-the-reader is tiresome and vexing. It works in movies, when things happen quickly enough, not in books where it drags on for pages.

Oh, right. And it's another damn cliffhanger.

continues to obscure a reasonably rousing and well-plotted story. Goodkind has been making a comeback from the low points of this series over the past several novels, but he's still needlessly indulging himself in "political/pholosophical" exposition. However irresistable he seems to find this, it's not.

Hello, Mr. Goodkind! Let's assume for a moment that this really is a philosophy that, to your mind, critically underlies Richard's character and the world you've built up around him.

(We could, of course, go the other way, and assume instead that these maunderings represent your personal views about issues that strike much closer to home--OUR home. That folks, is known as allegory. Whether you happen to agree with Goodkind's take or not, it makes for readable stories ONLY if laid on with a very light trowel. Message to Mr. Goodkind: we get it, already! We've read all the other volumes to get to this point! Very few readers are going to dive into an existing eleven-volume series by picking up the last volume of the set! The few who do deserve to be rewarded, not buried in verbal sludge!)

So bring in the political philosophy only when it's legitimately needed to advance the plot, to "educate" a new character as to what Richard and allies think is happening in their world--but, please, however much the new, unenlightened character may need to "catch up," THE REST OF US DON'T. Keep it short and punchy; illustration and action over talking points. We'd rather you move the plot forward with meaningful, surprising developments and character-driven confrontations, sequences, and surprises--your true forte here--than plow through yet one more wordy rant.

And, please, be sure the new character and his or her need to know really are required by the plot, rather than serving as yet another excuse to deliver the whole harangue ALL OVER AGAIN. Drive the plot forward rather than driving your loyal-thus-far readers further away.

I also think Mr. Goodkind needs to ease up on the violence-and-torture-porn. We understand that these are gritty novels and that the bad guys and gals do very bad things to good people. Some strong scenes of this kind may well be necessary, in the right time, place, and amount. But the nerve endings are beginning to callous over as the bodies and entrails pile up. Sure, the Order is an overwhelming force, but that doesn't require you to overwhelm and desensitize the reader. Slip in the needle occasionally; give the battle-ax and the meat cleaver a much-needed rest.

Underneath all, there IS a worthwhile plot here. We can begin to sense, beneath the mind-numbing brutality and the head-dulling sermons, that this grand cast of characters and far-flung web of story-lines is converging toward a powerful climax. Pull that off, without further retarding the momentum with tedious, recycled muck, and you will have constructed an overarching fantasy monument--its shakier sections bridged with insight, action, drama, surprise, and grandeur.

Treat us to still more sludge and you'll end sullying a creation that once promised to open fresh and unsuspected vistas.

This is only teh second book of Terry Goodkind that I have been brave enough to try. It was definitely a mistake. This author has some major flaws in his works.

1) OVERWRITING
Does this authro not have an editor that goes over and tightens his writing? Instead of saying it once and saying it well, he takes three sentences (at least), to convey even the simplest fact. You read a paragraph, then two lines down, you read the same thign again, written with different wording. Very tiring.

2) TELL NOT SHOW
It seems like he never did a writing course, because there is hardly ANY show (where you let the reader find out through what the carachter's actions and speech, his faxial expressions etc). He "tells" almost everything!

3) PAPERCUT CARACTHERS
Most likely beacuse of the above, the people in the story feel very flat and unrealistic. In fact everythign in the story feels totally unrealistic. Fake.

4) SICK VIOLENCE!
What is it with this author and sick violence - described in detail!! It is extremely disturbing and serves no point at all. Sick. Sick. Sick.

5) TERRIBLE DIALOGUE
The dialogue is terrible because there aren't any. Mostly the carachters go on in endlessly heavy and boring monologues. The quoting of one person can stretch over pages!

I struggled so badly with this book I didn't even make it to the end. Do yourself a favour and get another book!

Although I have to agree with the people who have pointed Goodkind's fascination with torture and rape, I'm still reading. I'm to the point with these scenes, though, where I'm skimming and kind of saying, "Yeah, bad guys, torture, aggravated assault, got it, next scene/chapter/book." Had enough of this in the second book. I've reviewed several of them and the one thing I've left out is CAN WE PLEASE HAVE A NEW MAP???? The one in Wheel of Time has enough detail it lasts the whole series, but for gosh sakes, the ones in Phantom and Confessor still have the stupid Boundaries up, miss places that are hard to pinpoint from the narrative while maintaining map points that haven't been important since the first few books. Caska? Thought I had it nailed till Ulicia started looking for it. Altur'rang? Clueless other than it's in the Old World. Bandakar and even the Pillars of Creation? Off the map where there be dragons, I suppose. If Tor is going to keep the bloody thing, how hard is it to add a few map points, lose the Boundaries, and compress it a little so we can see what some of the Old World looks like?

OK, in all fairness, Goodkind is a lively, imaginative writer whose plot twists are creative and suspenseful. He is also obviously intelligent and clearly self-educated, which can produce interesting results in thinking outside the box (a trait which he admires in his characters). For these reasons, I will read Confessor. But any recommendation I might give for this author's work comes with a caveat: be prepared to slog through the bog of redundancy and self-indulgence. Goodkind likes to hear himself think the same thoughts over and over again and treats us to his unedited ramblings shamelessly. He could have written these books with 30% fewer words and gotten his message across quite admirably. I confess, I skipped over lots of it which was not germane to the plot nor expansive on the philosophy of the good guys and the bad guys which he has already shared (at least once already). Unlike those who have forgotten Kahlan, I can remember what he has written earlier, either in this book or the former; but he seems to think otherwise. Fair warning: the level of testosterone is high, and if you like gratuitous descriptions of torture, you'll read with relish. After the first few twisted entrails and ugghhly rape descriptions, I'd read enough. I'm no psychologist so I won't extrapolate some deep wells of rage in this man, but it does make the self-educated portion of my readers' mind wonder. Enjoy, but tread carefully -- or not!

For a series that started with the amazing Wizard's First Rule, pulled me back in with Faith of the Fallen and has gone on and on and on (not as long as Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, which I could not stick with, but on for a while), Phantom finally picks the pace back up.

Many of the past few books have centered on too few (or just one) of the characters or plotlines. Phantom brings them all back together (albeit some of them do not remember who they are), and manages to introduce a few new ones without getting us too off track.

I still enjoy most of the us (we are here to enjoy life) vs. them (this life is for suffering, the next life is better) back and forth bantering. This book makes me draw comparisons to what I understand about ancient times where suffering was what the church/shaman called for, similar to what the Order is calling for here in the Phantom. The depictions of the violence inflicted by the order (real and in dream sequences) is vividly described(Crusades, anyone?).

Most every character is either very bad or very good.And, after all, this has come down to good vs. evil, us against them, so there is no time for any fence sitters, is there? But I like characters with conflict. For that reason, I enjoy the brief moments of Shota the witch, who is out for her own purposes and is sometimes one of us, sometimes one of them. I used to enjoy the character of Nicci for this reason, but she was pure evil in the first few books, now she has been converted by Richard and is pure good.

I do look forward to the Final and Concluding book in the series, and tip my hat to Mr. Goodkind for such an epic work.

I loved the early Sword of Truth Novels. Unfortunately, TG has taken a good plot and turned it stale. I know what I am saying has been said before, but I have to vent it because I am so disappointed with how these books are written.

How many times does Richard and Kahlan's love for one another have to be tested? I am sick of every book being another trial for their relationship.

How many times does TG have to repeat what was read only a few pages ago? Not only do we continually hear about Richard's longing for Kahlan, Nicci's thankfulness of Richard, etc., but we also have to read pages and pages of the same Objectivist philosophy expounded over and over again in the same way! TG adds nothing new to his continued arguments about the sanctity of one's own life that we haven't already read a hundred times in the last 5 novels. It is like he is a wanna be Frank Herbert or Ayn Rand.

Furthermore, we have to read the same conversation over and over again. Richard convinces Nicci of something, and then later, Richard has to convince Zed or Ann or somebody of the EXACT SAME THING! One run through the same argument is enough. Making a different character raise the same objections to an argument as a previous character adds nothing to the story.

Ok, we get it. The Empire is bad. Do we need Jebra to run through what happened to her, only to have Shota cause Richard to see more of the Empire's genocide? The graphic descriptions are not titilating or shocking. They are burdensome and boring.

TG needs to spend less time sermonizing, and more time thinking up original ideas for his story. An actual plot line would be nice.

So there you have it.

This book started out with a lot of promise then after getting half way through it started to really drag and it had a lot of preaching still. Even the gory scenes of the order killing people got repeptative. We get it the order is bad. I found myself skipping ahead and not reading several pages just to try to keep the momentum of the book going. This book reminds me of a musical that has too many show stopping numbers. A phrase that all good writers should follow is don't use 100 words when 1 would do. Mr. Goodkind should follow that saying more often. But all in all the book was better than chainfire. I really do like the series but there should only be about 8 books. Then a 2 book collection of the wizards philosphy.

honestly when I picked up this book I knew in some ways it wouldnt come to a conclusion but it not only didnt come to a conclusion it didnt resolve anything. the only reason I am giving this five stars is because terry goodkind has always provided a good read. and the same is true here if you can handle rape, gore, and death. i personally think terry goodkind and martin are the best thing to happen to fantasy. but im getting off the subject. basically buy this book it is awesome and a fantastic read but by the time you are done the feeling you will come away with is that you have finally finished the long drive on a roadtrip and you are finally at your vacation. but now you have to wait another year and a half to actually walk into six flags. but over all a good purchase but if you cant stand drop off's then dont read this until the next one comes out. but terry goodkind proves he can still work his magic. my real rating 4.5

i really DO UNDERSTAND that life is worth living, etc....SO, in the future...can we please bypass the whole 40+ page richard speaches? and let's all be honest..i do that already. my fav book of ALL TIME is wizards first rule...and i also like the 2 after that, a lot. but then he started filling in all these pages with speaches...and MORE speaches! i just learned to skip them. he says the same thing over and over again...i i find i am not at all missing any crucial info, or thumb back through saying "huh? what did i miss?", so really...it's ok to skip the speaches. another book i LOVED even though it was very dark was pillars of creation. i found it very very good, right up there with wizards first rule. but i do love khalan and richard, and even though goodkind has put them both through hell, i am impressed that they are not both insane or in need of theropy...and i just HAVE to know what happens to them!

This book is ok and with book 9 it makes some decent strides on the 3 book plot. However, there are 2 things that would have made this trilogy better:

1. Cover only the past that hasn't been covered in the last book.

2. While any one of the books in the series can be read alone, in this 3 book trilogy there is a lack of real completion. As a result, at the end of chainfire and phantom there isn't a satisfactory closing to make it a stand alone book though I suspect that book 3 will provide a full resolution.

This brings me to one conclusion. TG should have waited until all 3 books were done before releasing them.

That being said, I like where phantom takes the trilogy. It is a good build up for content in the 3rd book. I just hope the 3rd book will not restate what happened in the other 2 books.

Like so many others, I have loved this series from the get-go. Wizards First Rule, followed by my favorite of the 10 books, Stone of Tears, set solid precedents in the very fabric of the fantasy genre.

Then the slow decline ensued. Some books were better than others. Richard started yammering about his belief systems in large sums of paragraphs, making most of us yawn. But still, the overall core of the story and its characters were good.

PHANTOMS is without a doubt, the weakest of them all. I prectically skimmed the entire 587-pages of this vast volume of which about only 10% of it was interesting. What a shame.

Just when the series has 1 book left in it, one would think that Terry Goodkind would put his very best into it. And perhaps, according to him, this is! (Lord, I hope not.)

There are some good scenes in the book. But they are unfortunately few. I hope the very last book in this once great series ends with a bang. It truly needs it.

In his seemingly never-ending Sword of Truth saga, Terry Goodkind's Phantom (book 2 of the Chainfire trilogy) continues where Chainfire (book 1 of the trilogy) left off.

Richard has finally convinced his compatriots that `something' is seriously wrong with the world and that it is connected to everybody but him having forgotten the existence of Kahlan Amnell, his wife and the Mother Confessor.

Kahlan is currently under the (sadistic) guardianship of the Sisters of the Dark who hope to bring about the return of the keeper. For this reason they've set off the Chainfire spell which among many, many other things wiped out tons of prophecy and everybody's memory of Kahlan (except of course for Richard).

Do I need to continue? Does it sound like a pretty convoluted plot? Are there any good things to say about the book? Well, thank goodness Goodkind preaches a little less in Phantom than in Chainfire. But that's about it. I read the book because over the years the main characters have come to mean something to me and even if their lives turn weird or boring I want to know what's going on.

There was a short time when I perked up when Rachel was re-introduced as a major minor character but soon that perkiness turned to resignation when the new thread was just too much like the original Rachel thread (little girl being tormented by her princess play pal while trying to do the right thing).

Overall, I was disappointed but not enough to not read the next one when it comes out. I have too much invested in the characters to be able to ignore them.

My first gripe might be seen as trivial... though not to me. There is no place on the book's cover (paperback) where I was warned that this book was the 2nd in a trilogy (I haven't read the first). Terry has written some decent fantasy so I grabbed it. Imagine how annoyed I was upon realizing that much of the story was referring to things and issues about which I had no idea and then, to get to the end without any closure at all. For the price of this book, I had to weed through some of the most pedantic, bombastic and verbose nonsense I've ever read since reading Stephan King. Since finding out that this is book 2 of 3... I can't imagine what this one added to the whole story except to sell more books by stretching 2 into 3. I suspect those who read book 1 could skip to book 3 without missing anything important. Definitely not up to Terry Goodkind's usual standards. Ptooey!

In Phantom, TG rediscovered his story-telling ability, which was missing-in-action for several books in the series. Phantom is good, but not as good as the first three books in the series or Faith of the Fallen. The overarching series plot does advance and the principle characters seem more devoted to their original causes and don't get side-tracked as much with philosophical meanderings (most of them occur in a 100 page stretch between pages 115 and 215). Without giving away anything, I will simply say that, over all, the book is a good read and certainly the best since Faith of the Fallen. Anyone who has read the first nine books will enjoy Phantom.

Perhaps Goodkind has come to believe that his talents lie in writing. They do not. His prose is cheap and gaudy, his dialogue is obvious and his grammar is questionable. Mr Goodkind's talents do not lie in writing, but rather in story telling. When he tells a story, trivialities like spelling, punctuation and sentence construction become irrelevant. He writes characters with whom we can relate, plots that strike our hearts, themes that persuade our minds, and a narrative that propels us forward as on a well-crafted vessel.

Remember that paragraph in Wizard's First Rule when Richard first used the Sword of Truth to kill that D'haran soldier? As a grammatical edifice, it was tragic. As a storytelling device it was a wonder. How about Zedd's surprise, indignation and pride at being tricked by Richard's use of the First Rule against him? Do you remember in "Temple of the Winds" when Kahlan "helps" Richard enter the Temple? I can still see that scene where the lightning flashes oh so vividly. How about in "Faith of the Fallen" with Richard and Cara waiting hopefully beneath the window - waiting to see what Kahlan would do? There are so many moments like this through out the series.

Phantom holds none of those moments. Goodkind no longer seems to care for his plot or for his characters. The plot has been replaced by contrivance. Dialogue has become monologue. Theme has become diatribe.

Rachel. Adie. Chase. Chandalen. Verna. Nathan. Cara. Zedd. Kahlan. Richard.

These people, fictional though they be, are all my friends. Not one of them appeared in "Phantom." Their names were there, but their personalities were not. Even Richard, who was the focus of the plot and the theme and the action, was merely a mouthpiece, a vehicle, a literary puppet for the infomercial that the author believes to be a complete and riveting philosophy.

The idea that "Life is the goal and that Reason is the means" has been the underlying theme of the Sword of Truth saga. I agreed with it back in WFR and I agree with it now. Unfortunately, Phantom is not a novel that conveys its message through action and consequence. It is an ill-defined monograph that contains little thought and even less reason. It is a master's thesis written by a sophomore. And for this reviewer it is sorrow, loss, anger and betrayal. It is bad.

Will I read the last book? Will I be able to stand not knowing? Will I be able to withstand the further depredation of what began as a mighty work? I don't know. I can't tell. Passion rules reason.

I agree to the comment made below by Mr. Daniels. Wonderful review. However, as I was reading it, I promised myself that I had to put a fair review of this book online so that others would know what to expect, so I will just add my own two cents to his review.

The first half of the book, I had to put the book down and mourn path Goodkind's books have been heading to lately. Along with how often Richard (and everyone else now) lectures on how wonderful life is in this book, I had to hear, four of five more times in this book alone, how terrible the Imperial Order is. I think that, back 4 or 5 books when the Imperial Order was first described, that we all heard how horrible it is. I don't think that we had to hear it a dozen more times. Does long, drawn-out, graphic description of the atrocities the Imperial Order commit do anything but make for difficult and increasingly boring reading?

I had to keep convincing myself to continue reading so that I would finish a series that I had loved at the beginning, and to be honest, this is the first book I've read for pleasure that I have ever skipped even so much as a paragraph in; I am embarrassed to admit I skipped whole pages during the long lectures.

With the magic, it seemed that Goodkind was attempting to dazzle us with the scientific approach that Zedd and Nicci were working on. They used this "internal/external perspective," without explaining it, in a way that was just confusing.

One last critique on this book was that it recycled characters and plots of previous books. Just when you thought that a hated character (I won't mention names) is completely done with, out pops an obscure and mortifying plot twist that against all hope brings them back. To be honest, however, by the end of the book, I was again interested and happy with the story. The book, all-in-all, is worthwhile to read only if you are convinced that you need to finish the once-proud series (like me), or if you tolerate repetition and stale ideas enough to enjoy a good ending.

Goodkind lost me after book number 7, faith of the fallen. It was then that I realized that every book is the same. The group get seperated, richard finds a new power, the group gets seperated, richard finds a new power: repeat 10 times.

Goodkind likes to make the reader incredibly anxious for the entire book because we are waiting for the group to get back together, and then at the end richard uses his new found wisdom to save the day. Each of the last 4-5 books have been useless because they do NOTHING to progress the plot, they just waste time while richard finds a new power.

This book is no different. It frustrates the readers for the ENTIRE book because everyone thinks richard is crazy and we are just waiting for it to end when everyone figures out Richard isn indeed sane and he gets his wife back-- in the mean time, the plot goes no where and the book seems like a shuttle with no other meaning but to spout off Terry Goodkinds philosophy with a resounding lack of any magic at all.

Give the readers some freaking resolve already and finish the stupid series.

Phantom (2006) is the tenth fantasy novel of the Sword of Truth series, following Chainfire. In the previous volume, Richard found a copy of the book Chainfire, describing the spreading effect of the Chainfire event. Nicci solicited a confession from Tovi and learned the method used by the Sisters of the Dark to abduct Kahlan. Richard then returned to Wizard's Keep and confronted Zedd, Nathan and Ann with the real situation.

In this novel, the Dark Sisters Ulrica, Armina and Cecilia compel Kahlan to accompany them in their search for Sister Tovi. When they ask for Tovi at the White Horse Inn, the innkeeper sees Kahlan and the Dark Sisters are greatly disturbed, for none are supposed to see her other than the Sisters themselves. When the man starts to address Kahlan as the Mother Confessor, Sister Ulrica cuts him in half with a blast of power.

While the Sisters are questioning the innkeeper's wife, Kahlan takes their daughter aside and holds her. Soon the woman dies during the interrogation and the Sisters turn to the girl. She tells them that Tovi has gone on to Caska and then the Sisters kill her so as to leave no witnesses. Kahlan tries to protect the girl, but is paralyzed by her slave collar.

Richard notices something wrong with the air in Wizard's Keep. Tracking the odd smell to a little used room, he finds Zedd, Nathan and Ann watching a motionless Nicci within a cage of green lines. The others tell Richard that Nicci is checking the Chainfire spell from an interior view, but he suspects something is wrong with the procedure. Tracing the lines of the verification web, he detects an extraneous line.

Despite objections from the others, Richard releases Nicci from the spell by nullifying it line by line. As soon as Nicci is released, however, Richard is attacked once more by Jagang's beast. Nicci reinitiates the distorted verification web and generates an energy void that zaps the beast, but she is now trapped again within the spell.

When Nicci recovers consciousness, she finds that Richard has released her as before, but that she has been greatly weakened by these events. As she is recovering, Richard discusses the ongoing incidents with Zedd, Nathan and Ann, gaining insight on the nature of the threats. Of course, Ann initially refuses to believe his theories, but he gradually overcomes her objections and the others begin to believe his explanations.

Shortly after that, Wizard's Keep receives a visit from the witchwoman Shota and the seeress Jebra Bevinvier. Zedd is not happy to see Shota, but greatly pleased by Jebra's presence. Shota lectures Richard on his duties (which he already knows) and has Jebra describe her experiences within Ebinissia when the Imperial Order took Galea.

Then Shota enabled a vision within Richard of the events after the invasion of Galea. Although terrifying, the vision did open Richard to a truth that he has been reluctant to face. He takes Nicci and Cara with him through the sliph to the People's Palace. From there he rides to the D'Haran army and proposes a new strategy to its leaders.

In this story, the Dark Sisters discover that their assumption of immunity from the dream walker has been somewhat flawed. Kahlan learns that she is important to the plans of others and therefore has a certain amount of protection from their threats. However, there are other forms of extortion than death threats.

Richard still misses Kahlan, but everything he learns pulls him away from efforts to locate her. Then the beast attacks him within the sliph at the same time as Six, another witchwoman, is trying to work magic against him. He is ejected from the sliph and loses his powers; now he is without his magical abilities, yet he has never depended on them anyway.

Other reviewers have blasted the author for his preaching to the choir. Although the readers realize the worth of living, Richard is facing the Big Lie that only the afterlife counts. As with the dogma of religions and the propaganda of socialist states, such statements are convincing after a few hundred repetitions. Laying out the truth about the Imperial Order is a necessary part of Richard's leadership of those who are unprepared. Of course, the readers don't have to hear these details over and over again.

This tale is the second in a mini-trilogy. It is a direct continuation of the previous volume and will be followed by another following the same storyline. Indeed, the next volume is billed as the conclusion of the series. Since everything is looking rather hopeless, the final novel may be the best of the lot.

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

-Arthur W. Jordin

"Phantom", the supposed second to last novel in "The Sword of Truth" series, haunts the fantasy genre with philosophical diversions and sickening brutality directed at women and children. The series is a brilliant representation of the Wizard's First Rule stating "people will believe a lie" or in this case readers want to believe the raving critical reviews.

After ten books in the series, Lord Rahl remains untrained of his magical abilities and the High D'Haran language. Richard refuses to accept his responsibility and dedicate himself to learning any magic but rather be an idiot wizard wannabe and haphazardly wander in ignorance. Yet the spontaneously all knowing and all powerful Richard has the intuitiveness to inherently understand magic symbols without any teaching, point out mistakes within a three dimensional spell which has not ever been cast in known history, and teach Zed, Nathan, and Ann new fundamental methods into magic utilizing poor analogies. The impulsive and reckless answers to critical questions leave a huge void in any storyline growth and flow.

Unfortunately there are several problems with the developments and progression. The obvious Richard and Kahlan continue to remain apart as with every recurring theme in the series. Deployment logistics and company coordination on the vast Imperial Order Army isn't fully addressed. Over a million individuals require a continuous supply of food and water, repairs on equipment and travel gear, and sanitation requirements yet are arbitrarily resolved with a supply train from a great distance away. Two unnecessary pages (Chapter 8) of revolting war horrors found inside a city, where in contrast powerful magical individuals argue like children. Another individual recounts the horrors during a fall and the aftermath in a city (Chapter 12 through Chapter 14), presenting nothing insightful other than disgusting descriptions. Entire chapters are dedicated to mundane topics, such as the lengthy canons behind the Imperial Order or the futility of confronting an overwhelming force complimented with an occasional page of idealistic rant. If Jagang can enter individual minds, there is no need for scouts and sentries reporting to him directly. It is unclear how Kahlan does anything in Chapter 39 without the Sister's knowledge. No explanation or character development is provided regarding the reason behind Six's interest in Richard.

Another major problem is the distracting behavior by not only the former woods guide but also other inconsistent characters. Every thing reminds him of Kahlan and how he cannot live without her, when the leaves rustle it reminds him of the time when they were walking in the forest (insert memory), when someone touches his arm it reminds him of her touching his arm (insert memory), when someone smiles it reminds him of the way she smiled at him (insert memory), and so forth. Every few pages there are sweet remembrances interrupting the flow. Richard constantly repeats to powerful individuals the affects of the Chainfire spell and how it influences secondary memories. Richard as well as other characters enter a library filled with books, grabs what they are seeking, and doesn't browse on the way out the door when maybe something else might be of use. The book titles are asinine, might as well have Richard hunting for "War Wizard's for Dummies". Many individuals have no clear distinctiveness such as Richard, Nicci, Shota, and Zedd behaving too similar with a dismissively flicked hand, repeatedly solving problems but run off with a "will tell you later" remark, and have the same philosophical introspection.

The atrocious editing could use more diversity in the vocabulary, often finding the word "that" (note my first usage the entire review) every sentence in a paragraph if not 2 or 3 times a sentence or the same adjective a couple times within a few sentences. The novel would also be more tolerable if more time was spent developing the characters and plot instead of spouting philosophical ideology. Suddenly the sluggish plot advances several months the final couple chapters without warning.

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. As with many readers, I will see how characters I once greatly enjoyed retire.

Thank you.

For some reason, this book of the series completely entranced me! I could not put it down. Having gotten this far in the series, I felt like I was going to know everything, it would feel a little stale, and as always, there would be editing issues. To my pleasant surprise, there was a certain freshness to some of the twists. I would love to see more humanity to Jagang...but I understand the need to keep him the way he is. In spite of his countenance, I wanted him to "break" under the presence of Kahlan. To truly loose himself in her, twisting his mind to his own agenda. I wanted much, much more of the hesitant reverence he so briefly had for her in the one scene. He was almost tender. To have fleshed that out, would have been an absolute delight to read.

On to the next!

Despite other eviewers grumps and misgivings about this author, (including my own!), Terry Goodkind always still gives readers an exciting and different fantasy tale.

All of his books are either good, or bloody excellent. Chainfire was one of the better - and different ones - of the entire series. And Phantom continues in that vein. Instead of somewhat comcluding any particular novel's story thread, like in Chainfire, Goodkind leaves you hanging and wanting for more.

My favorite novels of this series are the first 3. The 2nd being the very best thus far. But as a whole, all of the books are good. I've neve read one that was horrendously bad. Yes, there are areas where I skip through Richard's long diatribes.

But overall, Terry Goodkind is a hugely gifted and solid writer in the fantasy realm. Thus his popularity and sales figures.

I admit, after Book # 4 or 5#, I gave up reading Goodkind for awhile. I didn't want to read the main characters turned into side characters. I didn't want Jagang hanging around so long without some kind of final confrontation from the deadly duo - or trio - of Richard, Kahlan and Zed.

But after a couple of years or so, I picked up Pillars of Creation, and enjoyed it immensely. And then quickly picked up the other two or three, and concluded the series until this one.

I look forward to Terry Goodkind's final farewell novel to this series - and can't wait to see what new he has in development in the future. Will he stay in the fantasy genre? Or will he turn to sci-fi? Or will it a be a mix of both? Or none?

Despite all the bad or mediocre reviews, people will still come back to see what Goodkind writes next.

Terry Goodkind, Phantom (Tor, 2006)

We're now one book away from the end of the twelve-year saga that has been The Sword of Truth. And I, for one, couldn't be happier. Four books of absolute brilliance, and then a slow descent into the quagmire that the series has become today. At least things are looking up, if only because you can see Goodkind putting the pieces onto the board for the big final battle. It's impossible to give a plot summary without major spoilers for Chainfire, so I'll avoid it.

The bad news: the twin monkeys on Goodkind's back, the endless repeating of information from previous books and stopping the action to speechify, are still here, and in full force. Actually, the speechifying isn't quite as bad here as it was in the series' nadir, Naked Empire, but it's still pretty overbearing. The good news: the story arc that Goodkind started in Chainfire is still interesting, and when he's not beating you over the head with his twin monkeys, this is good stuff. It's a shadow of its former self, but you can still catch glimmers of why we all started reading this series in the first place. ** ½

It has already been said by others, but TG Sword of Truth books have gone downhill. Not only does NOTHING happen in this one (you could skip it right to the third book in the trilogy and you won't have missed anything) it basically feels like a lecture on TG's philosophy that we have already heard many times with very little story.

Has he ever heard of the actors quote 'show don't tell'? He repeats the same points over and over again. Very little character development and the plot barely moves forward. I am so tired of experiencing all the characters being tortured relentlessly, it just feels like the same old, same old, Richard is lost, Kahlan has to find him. Kahlan is lost Richard has to find him. I would have loved something new and different that further developed their characters and the story.

I LOVED this series, I READ every book eagerly and was waiting and hopeful for this one and excited about it, so needless to say I was very disappointed! I would have quit reading except that since I have been so involved with the series, I am determined to finish it! Hopefully the next one will be new and fresh and interesting.

Wow. The only negative comment that I have on this book is that it makes my expecting for the final volume so more difficult.

In "Phantom", Goodkind picks up the tempo again and more than makes up for "Naked Empire" and long philosophical discussions and distractions in his last books. The intrigues, action, emotions and suspense are back in the game.

The only other thing... I almost forgot how violent were these series. I had to skip some descriptions, to keep my sanity.

On a different subject, I don't know if Goodkind intended it to be, but the described battle between Old World (ex-communist block of Naked Empire) and the New World has become different, more disturbing and much more relevant battle that we witness nowadays all around the world and watch in daily news. One more point for Terry Goodkind.

I've been following the Sword of Truth series faithfully. I have been both critical and forgiving with the overall story. This is a review for Phantom however, book 11 in the series and second in the concluding trilogy, so I will make this a review of Phantom. It was better than Chainfire. No need to give away spoilers in stating that this book was good. Deserving of five stars, it has its exciting moments and its share of twists. It does leave you feeling that a great deal of the conflicts started in this book will wait till the final book to be resolved. There was far less philosophy crammed down your throat too, if that's something that bothers you. Again the book was good, very interesting one of uncommon books out there that actually deserve 5 stars. If I may I'll leave you with a comparision with the other books in the series to give you an idea of what about Sword of Truth is great, and what is lacking.

1. Wizard's First Rule. (One of the best books I've ever read)5 STARS

2. Stone of Tears (Fantastic, nearly equal to the first)5 STARS

3. Blood of the Fold (Still good, introduces the overall plot that still won't be complete until the final book) 4 STARS

4. Temple of the Winds (Really good, just good enough for)5 STARS

5. Soul of the Fire (Good but not as great that you might expect)barely 4 STARS

6. Faith of the Fallen (Best after Stone of Tears)5 STARS

7. Pillars of Creation (so pointless I suggest skipping)2 STARS

8. Naked Empire (also very pointless not very fulfilling even though at last main characters are back)2 STARS

9. Chainfire (Good, Goodkind is getting back to style)4 STARS

10. Phantom (Better than Chainfire. Setting up for the final and hopefully best book)

OK, so to some extent I agree with the spotlight review by Craig Daniels. I too, am getting a little tired of yet another book of magic that Richard has to find to solve his problems. Still, I think it is necessary to give credit to Phantom because it is actually quite a good book. Here is why:

The main strength of this second volume in the Chainfire trilogy is the writing. By that, I mean the effort Goodkind has made to come full circle with the initial installment Wizard's First Rule. Goodkind weaves in old themes but with a new twist. We find out, for example, why Richard's mother died in a fire - something that seemed an inconsequential but sad fact of Richard's past that turns out to be quite an important clue to how Richard might save the world (we still don't quite know how, of course).

Other themes that are reiterated include the magical cave paintings that trapped Richard in the first book, and do so again here. But luckily, Goodkind does not fall into the trap of repeating Richard's fate. This time, Richard escapes although in a quite unexpected way.

Not everyone is painstakingly beautiful. In fact, Ann is described as quite plain (sorry Craig).

There is substantially less philosophical/theological drivel and much more focus on the story, characterization and relationships. It seems to me that Goodkind has been talking to screen writers, because many of the chapters end in a sort of da-da-DAH cliffhanger fashion (in a "wait till next week to see what happens" TV show manner). This is somewhat annoying, but it's the current trend in writing, so I'll forgive. The entire book, of course, is a cliffhanger, but we knew that since it's the second volume in a trilogy. The point is that more actually happens, and characters actually have conversations that move the plot along - something that was missing in previous volumes.

The plot, in fact, is quite interesting with a few twists. Richard losing his magic altogether for example. I suspect this sets him up so that he can sneak in under the radar with the enemy. Richard's dark, almost prophetic dreams (thanks to Shota) are equally intriguing. I also like the play on the title, phantom, for it doesn't only refer to Kahlan's situation (no spoilers here). Better yet, are what I suspect to be the magical "holes" who can see Kahlan - I hope this gets used to its full potential in the last book. And best of all, the very power penultimate scene (as I said, no spoilers here - you'll have to read it): all the more powerful because it is so simple.

Still, some negative critique is also due. For one, word count is a prime commodity, that was wasted on the sheer number of sub-plots and characters. Apart from Richard and his immediate gang, Zedd, Ann, Nathan, the Mord Sith, Nicci (whom I'm still not quite convinced is on his side) and even Shota the witch, there are the characters around Kahlan (the Dark Sisters and Jagang), the characters around Sara (Violet, Six, Chase), and let's not forget Samuel who has the Sword of Truth (and no-one seems to know what he might be doing with it), and the pixie-twinkly and other magical creatures such as the sliph. Each time, Goodkind has to spend precious pages reminding us who they are, what they do, and where they are, before he can move on with the plot.

Another problem is that Goodkind has taken to adding in magical drivel - sentences full of complete nonsense, with no logical flow whatsoever and loosely based on mathematics and statistics but without the insight, that supposedly lead Richard to come to some conclusion about how a spell works. Even though it's "only" magic, it still has to make sense. If you're gonna get into complex theoretical mathematics, do it right. That's Fantasy's First Rule.

Oh yeah, and the Wizard's Tenth Rule was so lame that I don't even remember it.

A last issue I had with the book is the lack of believability of some of the claims, such as:

- Richard still doesn't know how to use magic (if he didn't he'd be long dead)

- Jagang decided to change his mind about raping Kahlan when he'd already beaten her senseless, ripped her gown off, had his pants down and his privates between her legs (yeah, right, the insane, extremist maniac has the emotional maturity to control his rage, anger, jealousy and need for power and dominance ... it's too logical for Jagang. Maybe Jagang is even more scary than I thought, but I am not sure that was the purpose, or if I believe it).

I have a strong idea of how this story might - it's probably less subtle than Goodkind imagines, but now that he's hanging out with screen writers, perhaps I'll be surprised by more last-minute twists for shock value. It would be a shame if this were the case. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. While I honestly thought that Goodkind had lost the plot with Naked Empire, I'm so very glad to see that his latest trilogy is back to his old strengths - just solid writing with an interesting, original story.

Nice job Terry!! While still not the same type of yarn typical of the earlier books in the series, this book is pretty close. Not as many pages-long speeches. How does Richard go about finding Kahlan??? I don't want to spoil people with my review, so lets just say that now that some people believe him, things really get rolling. With only one more entry left in this series, this book serves to set the stage for the finale. If you love the supporting characters the way I do, you may be a bit let down. Much of the book focuses on the newly discovered Kahlan, and her struggle. Its a rewarding read for those of us who have been with Richard and co. since Wizard's First Rule.

So I really only have one or two interesting things to add to the scathing reviews that go before me. One is that this book has tipped completely over into irrelevant destructive horror fantasy. There is no way that a conquered people would stand for the atrocities that Jagang visits to those he defeats. IT SIMPLY WOULD NOT HAPPEN. Humans have enough of a drive to live that they would never give up. Period. They would die fighting instead of endure the hours and hours of torture, rape and violation that seem to happen.

Also the gratuitous violence and rapine has hit a new low. Really, we get that The Order is the epitome of evil. So get on with it. Can anyone else tell that authors are paid by the page?

Also, besides the strange parallels with fascism and socialism, the book has a very puritannical view of sex that disturbs me greatly. Richard and Kahlan are the only ones with a valid sexual union, and they have only ever done the deed a couple of times. Everyone else that has sex is an awful person or the woman is abused. Come now, is marriage really that bad?

The book is well written in a technical fashion, but the story is more of the same.

All along in this series, I've been troubled by Goodkind's use of violence - both regular violence, sexual violence, and the way he kills horses off. (Apparently, concern for life doesn't extend to animals)

But this book is over the top with violence. I'm only about halfway through, but was it really necessary to have Jebra's graphic description of life under the Imperial Order? or to have Richard's vision of being one of the people about to be killed? As Richard thinks at one point "we know all this". It does nothing to advance the plot, it's merely page filler.

It's possible Goodkind was looking for something to make the book longer. I think Chainfire & Phantom could have been combined into one book if a lot of the redundant "this is what happened in the first few books" passages and the graphic violence were removed.

Hopefully he eases off on that stuff in the final book.

I've read some of Goodkind's work before. I know he can write better than this. The story of this book was so short but taken up by a lot of dialogue filler, it's as if he wanted to make a trilogy so bad he put in a bunch of nonsense.

673 pages for no movement in the story line. I'll not be reading the sequel as I barely finished this one.

What happened in this story?

The queen was a slave to evil Sister and didn't know who she was at the beginning. At the end she was a slave to the evil king and didn't know who she was.

The king, her husband, was searching for her, discussed a LOT of things about magic (Boring), decided there would be no final battle, lost his magic and got captured by who? the evil king. 673 pages.

The Sword Of Truth series has been woven with repetitive themes in the last four books: freedom, choice, life...are all precious and should be preserved at all costs. TG has expressed these themes to the point of utter exhaustion. You can probably skip about 100 pages of Phantom, because you read it in the past three books...this book simply allows all of the characters to express their feelings on the same themes again, and again, and again... These "lost" pages could have been used to involve more characters and events that where cursorily at best, read it and you will see what I mean.

This book is truly lacking of an epic adventure that was evident in TG's first 7 books. I understand that TG has a message and wishes to express some philosophical and ideological viewpoints, but he needs to assume readers have some intelligence and understood them the first 40 times they were mentioned.

This book is missing the pragmatic facets and character interactions as one would expect from an epic adventure. I understand that magic is at the heart of this adventure, but it simple lacks the believability factor. TG's use of Richard in Phantom's to solve and teach profound magical principals contradict the previous books. Worse, is TG use of prophecy as a solution for the placement of people and events to "magically" save the world. It contradicts TG's basic premise of freedom and choice because Richard is forced, yet again, by others... When I say Richard is forced, it is to the point of pre-destination, where no matter what he does, he will do something predicted thousands of years ago...

That being said, I still love this series and can't wait for the next and concluding book. I just hope TG delivers on the next book, because Faith of the Fallen was the last exceptional book by him.

I have to agree with much of what Craig said. I liked the Sword of Truth series and the characters he created. But my biggest complaint isn't how he rambles on about theology, freedom and free will. My complaint is that he is redundant in many places in this story and in "Chainfire." Goodkind keeps talking about how Richard wants to find Khalan. Not only does he repeat this in different parts of the book, but sometimes on the same page. That's when I start skimming. I hope he avoids the redundancy in his next book because it really is annoying.

Another thing I see in this book, and in the genre, is the use of collars for people to control and punish people with magic. Robert Jordan in his Wheel of Time series uses this idea, and frankly I am getting tired of it. I wish Goodkind and other writiers would get away from using this idea. I start getting confused over which author I am reading.

That being said, it's a good book, and I like some of the twists in the story. Witch Woman Six is a cool character. It's kind of a shame she is introduced in the series near its end.

I am about ready to give up on this series, but I think I can make it one more book. This one was again disappointing. It rambled on and on over the exact same tired ground covered in other books. Then there would be a bit of action that was interesting and might have a good twist. Then it would ramble some more. I skipped whole paragraphs and pages and missed none of the plot. If you have stuck it out this long with the series, sure, so ahead. Otherwise don't bother.

I have been a fan of this series for some time now and i have felt that after faith of the fallen the series started going down hill. first there was pillars in which the main characters werent even introduced until the last couple hundred pages. then naked empire where by the time i was finished, if i had to read one more prolonged lecture on the greatness of your own life and about your responsibility to fight for it i would light the book on fire. After naked empire came chainfire which was a little better if not a little confusing. Phantom however appears to be a step back in the right direction for goodkind. First of all many good well known characters are finally brought back into the plot, namely Chase, Rachel, and princess,or now Queen violet, but unlike in the last few books, the time spent with these characters seems to be better paced. In phantom you dont find yourself reading one plot line for two hundred pages to the point where your sick of it and just want to see whats happening with everyone else. I found it was very possible to read this entire book in a couple of sittings because i didnt get bored of particular plot lines, that said, some parts did seem to be a little redundant like when we must here from jebra once again just what exactly it is that the imperial order does when they take over a city. in addition the whol theology of you life is yours and its worth something is still driven into your brain a bit excessively. Good points however are that the action we all love out of goodkind has finally returned this book is an action packed page turner and i found myself not wanting to put it down. If i could i would have probably given this book 3.5 stars as opposed to just three. Any way i greatly recomend this book to any fan of the series and to anyone who hasnt started it yet i would say start with the first book as it is the best, i think there is to much back story for this to be a standalone read.

The sword of Truth series has been a very imaginative series all in all, however the style of writing of Mr. Goodkind is perplexing to me.

The content of his novels seems to be targeted towards adults (rape, torture etc...), however the style of writing seems to be targeting 7 year old kids. It drives me crazy.

This latest book is no exception. I loved the storyline, it had me gripped from beginning to end, but why must he drive a point over and over again as if he's reading to a 7 year old? Why not leave anything to the reader's intellect?

Another thing that drives me crazy is the constant preaching, which in the past, was limited to the main character "Richard," but now seems to have infected other characters as well. Yes, we get it, life is valuable, say it once and move on!

As to this particular book though, it is definitely back to his best writing (in terms of storyline), I feel he drifted in the last few books and is now back on track to an interesting story.

First of all, an overview of the series as a whole for new readers. I've always been a big fan of this series. Like many others out there, I'd probably say he's my favorite author. His writing seems to provoke strong reactions from people -- either adoration or contempt. This is doubtlessly because his story isn't just about the characters, the world, and the conflict; it's about philosophy, namely how life should be valued and treated. In a way, every good story out there dips into this subject, but Goodkind does so with a kind of single-mindedness that tends to either put people off or inspire them.

I can appreciate the way Goodkind defines, illustrates, and explains each side of the struggle. However, Goodkind's work isn't for everyone; even if you do agree with his philosophy, you could find his means of expression abrasive. His characters often go on long, repetitive explanations, rather than trusting the reader to intuit the point himself.

In any case, I recommend that if you consider yourself an intelligent and thoughtful person, you give this series a try. Worst case scenario, you lose patience or disagree with the philosophy, but giving the subject some serious thought will help you figure out what you believe in. The plot, characters, and setting aren't half bad either, although they can suffer from taking a back seat to the philosophy.

Now, for experienced readers. If you're like most I know, you really fell in love with the story at Faith of the Fallen, the novel that in my opinion was Goodkind's crowning achievement in illustrating a human's right to self-worth. It also sparks hope and belief that even those who seem lost can find the truth. A wonderful book, but many people are disappointed with the way the series has gone since then. However, it's important to understand that for the purpose Goodkind seems to have in mind, it was just one step toward the conclusion. You can't just stop seeking the truth because you've come across something you like. The journey isn't over yet, although what lies ahead may not be as pretty, inspiring, or easy to swallow. I don't blame you if you just got tired of all the monologues, though.

So we've reached the second to last novel, the middle of the concluding trilogy. And we can get down to the nitty-gritty reviewing of this book.

I wouldn't say there's a lot of action. For the first third of the book, the main group doesn't even go anywhere. There are a lot of discussions about the way magic works, and I admit I didn't really care enough about the details that I thought so much time should have been spent on them. It's magic -- I'm already suspending my disbelief, I don't need arguments and explanations. It's like Goodkind is trying to cover his, um, rear when in fact the people who would jump all over him would be the silly ones.

Additionally, it bothered me that at this point, Richard's closest friends and loved ones still express serious doubt and even scorn when he suggests something new that goes against their beliefs. I understand that any self-respecting person would question something that seems improbable to them, but I find it strange that at this point, even characters like Zedd still turn sarcastic in defense of their beliefs. In my opinion, the people closest to Richard would have more open minds by now, and if they didn't, I'd expect a lot more exasperation on Richard's part. I know it's a device to further expound on the philosophy, but it grates on you after awhile.

I did find the characters to be at least a little more believable overall in this book than the last one, because that problem was more pronounced in Chainfire. Our protagonists act a little more realistically, although sadly, some of them seem a bit pushed to the background. Interestingly, some characters get more attention. Nicci in particular is getting very developed as a character, understandable in the absence of Kahlan. I'm interested in what she will do next, and what will happen to her.

The story picks up as we perceive a new threat, and begin to understand the way our heroes' staggering problems are intertwined. The Order's invasion, the machinations of the Sisters of the Dark, the fading of magic, and more... They all start to become linked to one another in some grand scheme we can't quite see yet. And Richard's journey -- literally and philosophically -- isn't nearly as direct a path as it has been before. Things from the past, new discoveries, and sudden intuition are all mixed together for a story whose twists can be difficult to predict; maybe it's just jerking loose ends together for the final book, but some things are entirely unexpected. As the book comes to an abrupt stop, I'm left dangling with no idea really how it will all work out, but the sense that forces are inexorably coming together toward a fateful conclusion... with the story more than the philosophy, because the path the latter is taking is much harder to discern.

I'm looking forward to the final book in this series. I love the characters and the world, but I love more following their realizations and their fight for what they believe in. I recommend this series to all my friends. For some, it can be a life-changing experience, but at the very least this series makes you think. As long as you're patient, anyway.

I am tired of the series mainly being about keeping these two people apart. The inventiveness is wearing thin.... why would anyone bother? Not through 10 or so books. What about the other characters? Chase is interesting in his own right, what about his love, his life, where he learned to be such a fighter all on his own?

But no, we just get Richard, being beaten and tortured or just plain captured, or everyone finding his girl "invisible" because of a spell. Duh!!!!!!!!!! Get on with the story line and quit with the cliff hangers! I would buy the story line just as it is, I don't need such methods to get me to the next book. This insults the intelligence of the reader to keep doing this over and over. What about some of the other fantastic cultures out there he covers, so briefly? They make a book apiece if he just had the two of them traveling through them.

If this final "trio" ever get's done, I won't buy another of his books again.

...does it ever set up for what will surely be a spectacular conclusion! I can't wait for the next (and, sadly, final) book in the series.

This book contains several great new characters and plot developments, including Richard's new foreign policy direction for the D'Haran empire (it's about damn time!) which is highly relevant to the real world today, and a shocking twist at the end.

Highly recommended.

...does it ever set up for what will surely be a spectacular conclusion! I can't wait for the next (and, sadly, final) book in the series.

This book contains several great new characters and plot developments, including Richard's new foreign policy direction for the D'Haran empire (it's about damn time!) which is highly relevant to the real world today, and a shocking twist at the end.

Highly recommended.

...does it ever set up for what will surely be a spectacular conclusion! I can't wait for the next (and, sadly, final) book in the series.

This book contains several great new characters and plot developments, including Richard's new foreign policy direction for the D'Haran empire (it's about damn time!) which is highly relevant to the real world today, and a shocking twist at the end.

Highly recommended.

I was an immense fan of the beginning of this series - thought it was only rivaled at the time by two or three other epic series. But then he missed a shift and has been sitting in neutral for far too many books. I almost didn't read this one, figuring I'd probably be best off just waiting for the last one. And I was right.

I love Ayn Rand, and Faith of the Fallen was where this series lost my support. While I also espouse the beliefs, there are only so many ways to say the same thing over and over. And it's been one long continuation of the same ever since, and this book has the majority of it's pages just being more repeating of the same thing. There's not much new in here, a few bits of information, but by the time I got half way through the book, all the relevant parts could easily have fit in two or three chapters. The rest was just more of the self serving space filling flood of words to justify making a few more books out of an idea that didn't stretch far enough.

He started out so strong, and just fizzled... I'll get the last book just to finally have some closure, but far too many of the books inbetween were just killed trees...

Goodkind is a very talented author, I enjoy his books overall, but come on, how many different people do we have to read about who think nothing of heinously torturing helkpless victims? We have Jagang's army, we have the evil sisters, we have that queeen and the witch Six. After awhile, reading repeatedly, in gory details, about rape, castration, mutilation, degredation, etc, becomes very mind numbing. Goodkind seems to have a fascination with this kind of stuff. Just like way back in the series when Richard was tortured endlessly by the Mord Siths. After awhile it gets very tedious and repetetive and sickening.

First of all, I agree completely with Craig Daniels. There are many repetitive writing techniques that Terry Goodkind uses over and over again ad nauseam. For example, I really don't need to read yet again how Richard is the king of the world, while at the same time, he is just a simple woods guide. Got the picture, Terry, please move the story on.

In my opinion, this series could be cut down to about 8 books, and I haven't even read the last one (obviously). Goodkind needs to focus more on plot and plot development rather than character development and pages upon pages of useless descriptions that as an experienced Goodkind reader, I skip at will without regret. There also needs to be a significant decrease in symbolism and philosophical rantings. I am awfully slow in discerning symbolism in novels and movies. However, even I can tell from TG's most recent book and the characters' rants contained within, that the Order seems to represent Christianity, but Richard the savior comes equipped with a philosophical mess of deism, existentialism and some form of New Age garbage that seems to elevate man to the level of deity. Goodkind, if you've got something personal against Christians, go vote for Hillary Clinton. Otherwise, just write a story for the story, not your own personal vehicle for political, philosophical or religious cartharsis.

Again, I agree with Craig Daniels that the sixth book is an amazing piece of work. After that, the books seem to be a desperate search for more things to introduce into the plot for the purpose of twisting things and adding yet another element into the puzzle. From the last two books (Chainfire and Phantom), the Pillars of Creation don't seem to play into it much. Granted I haven't finished Phantom yet, so maybe they come into it later on, but all it presented in Chainfire was a few paragraphs of character recollection, which seemed to be rampant in that novel.

One more time, Craig said it perfectly: we get the idea about living your own life, and life is worth fighting for! Richard doesn't need to have that in every explanation he gives!

It is getting to the point where I only enjoy his books for the story, of which I am getting impatient to hear the end of it. Look at your first book, Terry. It used the rules of wizards effectively, but not too much. Lately, each and every book has to be an overall manifestation of the wizards' rules, which appear as "pedantic drivel" (thanks Craig) to support your "life is precious" philosophy.

Terry, I am only reading your books for the end of this story because I mistakenly got caught up in it. There are many other issues I'd address, but after this series, I won't be making the same mistake. You haven't reached Robert Jordan bad, but I'm hoping the last book is filled with action, adventure and none of the redundant explanations of your philosophy. The sixth book explained it well enough, just finish the story thank you very much.

I really liked Wizard's First Rule and the following 2 books by TG -despite his dark world-vision and sadistic-masochistic centrepoint, but this series is heading steadily down, this being the climax so far. I will second "Craig Daniel's" review and go beyond it. I mean, let's be honest, who has the time and nerve to read the same stuff over and over again, just because it's expounded over and over again in the book, without any plot movement? Every single ideological or theological point is not just stated and let alone, we get a whole diatribe on it every few pages, as if TG suspects the reader to suffer from Alzheimer's or of being dumb. I really don't have the time for this. It's even worse than Robert Jordan for J... sake!!! And that's saying something. And can't we do without the chapter-long detailed description of the horrors and atrocities performed by the Order? I really had nightmares from that. This is one book I am not finishing or at least skipping chapters of and that would be a first one for me. Sheesh!!!

I've been hooked to this series ever since I grabbed part 1 by accident while trying to find a good read for a long flight. The series has its ups and downs, but Phantom was an absolute minimum for me. Some of the very interesting characters like Nathan Rahl, the Sisters of the Light and the Mord Sith are now no more than almost useless side-kicks. Most characters have become stereo-typical and predictable. Especially Richard is but a shadow of his former self that almost jumped out of the page. In that sense, the title is highly appropriate.

What irks me most is that the book is filled with long philosophical lectures on the principles of the sanctity of life. For 300 pages I get the feeling I'm being lectured like a toddler. After reading through 9 books of this series which are based on exactly the same philosophy, I feel I deserve better.

The actual story is predictable and can be summarized in a few lines. After slowing down the timeline to almost a 100 pages per day (to accomodate the lectures), the book suddenly makes a couple of huge jumps in time over the last few chapters. Why bother to lecture for days, stress how time is running out for the characters over and over, then suddenly jump ahead by months? More should have been done to balance this episode in philosophy, story-line and character development.

I do hope that the conclusion of the series will again improve on this. I would hate to see such a wonderful work of fantasy drown in philosophical whining.

I liked this novel quite a bit, but I think Goodkind kept trying to reinforce how bad and evil Jajang is. I also felt that there was a bit too much exposition, repeating what has been said in the previous novels. Don't get me wrong, this book is building up the suspense for the final book, but was almost too detailed in it's description of Jajang's methods.

Goodkind's first Wizard's books were great, but then he lost his dynamo in 2 major ways: 1) he started pounding the pulpit over his philosophy, a put-me-to-sleep act, and 2) he started padding his books with recaps of prior books. This last book "Phantom" had about 200 pages of new stuff and 500 pages of review; in fact, the last 5 books could have made 2 books if all the redundancy had been removed. Like others have said, I skimmed over page after page off recaps and pulpit pounding. Mr. Goodkind started off his series good, but he has really trailed off to nothing. For the last book, "Confessor", I'll wait to find the paperback in a used book store someday.

After reading Chainfire, I had some hope that Terry Goodkind had regained some of the creativity that had been lost in his later books. Frankly, the story has been declining after the Stone of Tears. Unfortunately all the things that have made the later books fail to entertain is here. Richard continues to be the lecturer instead of leader and there are long drawn out lectures on the meaning magical symbols. Much of the arguments have the feel of just being made up to fill in space in the book and not really taking the reader anywhere.

The book has many of the flaws that you come to expect in the middle book of a trilogy. It's meant to put the players in the right place for the ending. This could have been done in about the third of the pages, but I guess people would feel ripped off if the got a book of 200 pages in stead of 600. Instead we are bored to death.

It's a good thing the series I coming to an end. It should have long ago when the creativity started dying out. Time to move on to other books and authors.

What a looser,and a thief.Still couldn't come up with but one chapter of new material for the whole book.After all these books in the series came out the publisher should have trimed it all down to five(5)books as of book four(4) there is but one new chapter in each book.Who wants to read the last book?I don't,and I have them all except the last.It's boring Goodkind.

Reading through the the store reviews of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, the average reader will come to find that apparently this is both the absolute best, and absolute worst, fantasy series of all time. While some will bestow glowing reviews detailing how every part of this series is the culmination of everything a fantasy novel could ever aspire towards, others will divulge that all Sword of Truth novels are nothing but a ridiculous rip off of Tolkien, filled with horribly offensive imagery and cardboard characters. The Truth of the matter is that both parties are entirely, unequivocally incorrect.

While the Sword of Truth series can stand on it's own as a decent fantasy series, it's never actually been about straight forward fantasy entertainment. These are books on philosophy which happen to use fantasy as their method of delivery, which is an excellent idea, because who wants to tread through long boring, dry books about philosophy, when they could be reading a rousing tale of adventure instead? Terry Goodkind has been preaching a modified version of Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand, reformatted to fit his particular world view. Overall, it's worked out pretty well. Each novel manages to be both emotionally engaging and philosophically enlightening, if the reader is willing to open himself up to some new ideas. Objectivism is necessarily either wary of, or outright hostile towards, standard organized religion, as it rejects the idea of a metaphysical outside Source that must be accepted on faith and has no basis in logic or reason. Goodkind generally is rather tasteful or light-hearted in his treating of this subject throughout the series. There are few snippets here and there that tip the reader off about the ideas, though, such as how certain characters reject both the Keeper of the Underworld and the Creator of Life as irrelevant powers, and in the previous novel Chainfire when the wizard Zedd explains that the Imperial Order's blind faith in their beliefs is what truly makes them the enemy. When writing "Phantom", Goodkind took the gloves off, and picked up the brass knuckles and a spiked bat. There is no question here about where he stands in regards to the monotheistic religions that rule the modern world. The highly religious, or those who are unwilling to question their beliefs, should probably stay far way from Phantom, as they will most certainly be offended.

Phantom progresses the story towards the inevitable end that must occur (unless we are to endure the dreaded Robert Jordan syndrome), and it does manage to sustain and propagate the overall feel of the previous novels acceptably. The authors tendency to recap past events and re-explain key ideas does become a bit tedious here, however. While the rehashing was generally done just enough in the past to keep everyone up to speed, it gets a little out of hand in Phantom, which is unfortunate, as Phantom is shorter than most of the previous novels. Hopefully the final tome in this series will be massive enough to make up for it. Some of the characters we thought had been forgotten about are thankfully either present or are at least talked about. As the series gets closer and closer to it's end, things start to get more brutal. While there has always been adult material, from violence all the way to rape, all the stops are pulled out here. You won't find Goodkind pulling any punches at all in his depictions of the atrocities that are occurring in this final war to end all wars.

Phantom is a passably entertaining fantasy novel that fans of the other novels will certainly enjoy. When viewed as it was intended however, as a method of delivering ideas and challenging beliefs, Phantom becomes much more. If Goodkind drops the endless recaps, the next and final book should be the best yet.

I was a new TG reader and picked up Chainfire in the airport and was instantly a fan and eagerly awaiting the next, but come to find out Phantom was nearly 600 pages of NOT the end of the story. Thought it was a little slow in parts and not nearly the page turner or have the deep philosphical undertones that I felt Chainfire had. Was mildly disappointed... not sure if I will pick up the third. Chainfire is a definite good read though. Phantom had its good parts and near the end it finally started to become a page turner....

I've been an avid Goodkind fan from the beginning. And honestly, the last few books have just been a downward spiral. If he's not overtly spouting out his political views on current politics through his characters, then he's graphically describing again and again the evil and carnage of the enemy. It makes his books frankly much longer and much more difficult to read than they need to be. I most likely will read the next book because it is the last in the series, but after that, I'm done with Goodkind.

Like many here I quite liked the first 5 books in this series. It was a little derivative of other, better, authors in the fantasy genre. But it was exciting with good characters. Sadly something went very wrong with this series a long time ago. As with Robert Jordan's WOT series the books were padded out and the main plot was advanced less and less and, a new addition, masses of rather simplistic philosophy was added to the mix.

Added to these problems the plot became increasingly implausible. The Grand Armee which invaded Russia at a time when Napoleon controlled most of Europe was only around 600,000 men (and even that relatively limited number mostly starved to death due to supply problems) and yet we are to believe that an army of millions is being kept resupplied from a homeland hundreds of miles away while in the middle of a barren wasteland!

I find the universal evil of the Order troops very unrealistic as well. I imagine their behaviour is based on that of the Red Army which overran Germany. But despite having a valid grievance (the slaughter of millions of their countrymen) they were like angels compared to the soldiers of the Order.

This book isn't bad, but it isn't the best in the Sword of Truth series either. I would have given it 4 stars if not for a couple of things that really bugged me:

1. The scenes with Shota where she convinces Richard to really fight against Emperor Jagang. Yes, we know that the Fellowship of Order is evil, Richard knows that it's evil, you don't have to go on for chapter after chapter describing the horrible things they do! This is Book 10, for Pete's sake!

2. Nicci's speech on why the Order is evil, which is just a thinly veiled speech on why Terry Goodkind thinks organized religion is evil. There are ways to write allegory that aren't so obvious and offensive! I don't like being pounded over the head with an author's philosophy of the world.

3. Why did Terry Goodkind feel it was necessary to use the word "phantom" every 20 pages? It got to the point where I giggled every time I saw it. Maybe I should have taken a shot every time I saw it instead...

The first third of the book drags, but the rest of it is actually very good, more like the beginning books of the series than the more recent ones. I just wish Goodkind would lay off the "life is sacred" spiel.

I'm not going to repeat what all the other reviews say. I'd just like to voice my opinion on Terry Goodkind's nature and why I believe he tends to rant..."Life is worth living..." x 1000 per book...

I've read all the books, and believe it or not, I really like them. I just think you could cut 25% of the pages out of the whole series and not miss a single plot point.

I don't honestly think Mr. Goodkind really thinks about the books from the audience's point of view. If he did, I think he would simply ask himself this question: "Would readers rather listen to Richard go on and on and on for 30 pages about how life is worth living and how the order is bad, or would they like to read about a nice fight...." I believe his agenda is two-fold:

1)I believe he is trying to make a point in favor of the Iraq war, and our occupation of the middle East. Politics aside, I just get that feeling when I read the books, especially "Phantom".

2)I think Tor, the publishers of the series and Goodkind know that people will buy whatever he writes, so sometimes he just puts the computer on auto pilot and it spits out page after page of the same stuff. It works - like I said, 25% of the content of all the books could be removed. People want to buy a thick book, and I believe he's running out of ideas and probably hates the characters by now, so he's just got to stretch it out. There are probably 200 pages of plot moving story in "Phantom".

Please, by all means Mr. Goodkind, prove me wrong in your final book. I am just begging you on my hands and knees not to tell me to value my life 1000 times in the next book. I get it - I already did before I started the series and I still do. We all get it. Everyone. Get over it. Your readers cringe when Richard starts to talk. "Will he babble on for 20 pages while Mr. Goodkind takes a coffee break and the computer takes over?"

Like I said, controversial, but I'm just expressing what I think many people believe. I really love the stories - I just wish I didn't have to wade through many pages of filler material everytime I read one of his books, and I think people should hold him accountable. His readers pay the bills, after all....

I love the series as a whole, which is honestley the only reason it gets 3 stars. I started reading the series while I was deployed to Iraq and read 1-8 straight through in about 3 months. Of course there are some parts that drag a bit or are just straight cheesy, but overall it kept my fingers glued to the cover. Since then, these last few books have disappointed me quite a bit.

Chainfire bothered me a lot in the fact that it takes an entire book (and TG's books aren't exactly thin) to accomplish ONE goal. Richard proves that Khalan exists. Well, to be more exact, he proves that there is such a magic that could make everyone else forget her. Congratulations. That could have been done in about 3 chapters. Combine that with the final third of this book and you might get a solid novel out of them. He does a great job of setting things up without you noticing so the twist can actually surprize you, but trim it down a little please. The rants are getting longer and longer with each book.

Also, the magic is getting more obscure with every novel. Not only is there an exception to every rule of magic, there are exceptions to the exceptions. Some of them are stretched a bit too thin to carry the plot foward with, let alone base an entire novel around.

I can only hope redemption comes with the final book. If these last two were just a set up for it and make everything come together, I'll be a happy camper. But if it's just more of Richard's endless rants about the horrors of communism (aka the Imperial Order) and how important it is for people to stand up for what they believe in, I may have to burn the last 3 books and never read another book from TG again. This is too good a series to let it die off like this.

I'm just crossing my fingers.

Well, what can I say. Ill tell you all my story and hopefully it will give you an idea of how much these books have helped me envelop myself in reading.

It all started back in highschool about 6 years ago now. I was in my english class and was asked to write a book report about a book of our choosing. Now I never liked books, im not a big fan of reading boring literature. So naturally I was devastated to hear about what we would need to do for a final. So i picked a random book, since i was always into MMORPGS (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) I was a bit of a Fantasy fan. I went to the library and saw Terry Goodkinds second book Stone of Tears. Now it was on paperback so the book was around 1,000 or so pages. I figgured if i read a few chapters in the begining, middle and end I would be able to write a report about the book easily. Now I first started reading to book that night so I could get rid of the book report fast. After I read the first few chaptors I noticed that time stood still, when I was in the world of Terry Goodkind and the characters that he produced I was in a different world alltogether. Without looking at the clock I kept reading, eventually I stopped because I noticed my friends going to bed. It was 3:00am in the morning and I started reading at 8:00pm at night. Now I finished Stone of Tears, within one week because I wanted to know how it ended, ofcourse much to my pleasure I found out that the book was part of a series. I purchased every book and will continue to do so untill the series ends. I went back to my class and completed my final and received an A, ever since then I keep reading and at times, re-read certain books. This book like the many he has published is like his others, however also different as he tends to add more emotion and complication to the story as he goes. I just started reading this book 2 days ago I am only 200 or so pages into it, however every chapter forces me to keep reading because I now have feelings for the characters I have come to cry and laugh with. If anyone reads this review they should try picking up this book, keep in mind it is not for everyone, there are graphical descrptions so I suggest it for any fantasy seeker over the age of 18. If you love fantasy games, or medevil type movies then you really need to read these books they are great!

P.S. Thank you Terry Goodkind for books that have helped me see things from other perspectives, and for giving me characters that I could grow with, and that in-turn helped me grow.

Phantom starts out as a really...really...slow...book. What's that? The Order brutally kills everyone and rapes all the woman? That's shocking...wait, didn't i hear that in Stone of Tears? and Blood of the Fold? and...every book after Wizard's First Rule! Wizard's First Rule was awesome, it had an awesome villain, cool story, and wasn't tedious. The rest have been...the opposite. Do I care that Jagang has secretly been controlling Ulicia and the rest? Not really. How about that Princess Violet is a magic artist...nope. Richard thought up an amazing strategy of...starve the enemy? As Brilliant as that was, still no. The only interesting thing is that: Richard has the potential to control the power of Orden, gain mastery over his power, and finally kill Jagang. Which reminds me, this is the shortest of all Goodkind's books, at only 500+ pages. He could have easily stretched it out another 200 and finished the series, but no...gotta get that last 30 dollars from all the suckers I've raked in. I miss Nicholas the Slide.

Well, this one is giving me a hard time.

I enjoyed all the other Sword of Truth books, but Phantom leaves a bitter taste.

I am tired to read again and again about the religious ideology of the order and how bad and cruel Jagangs army is.

Come on, this is interesting the first time, it is also ok to mention it again briefly in another book, but if I have to read it a third or even a fourth time in great detail it gets boring and annoying.

You could easily cut out 200 pages from this book without loosing any new information.

Don't get me wrong - I think Terry Goodking is a great author, but I think Phantom does not meet the high standards of his other books. He just did not focus enough on the story. There were too many detailed descriptions of unimportant things and too many repetitions.

Well, I think fans should (and probably will) read it anyways. It is ok, but I hope that the following books will be better...

If you haven't read this, don't read any more of this review. If you have... am I the only one that is disapointed in every book having a happy ending? Richard could be beheaded and still end up living happily ever after until the next volume. This was a good read, they all are, but the early books parallel Jordan and the later ones become increasingly predictable.

Phantom, the second book in the final trilogy concluding the Sword of Truth series, makes one truly regret that the series is going to end at all. Goodkind is once again in top form with his storytelling, bring the reader up close and personal into the lives of Richard, Kahlan, Zedd, and all the other characters his devoted fans have come to know and love.

With narrative this good, finishing the book is almost as painful as having to say goodbye to the entire cast of characters.

TG in his SFT series has always felt the need to repeat himself hundreds of times so that a full third of the book rehashes the series up to the current point. However up till now the story had continued to advance enough that by the end of whatever book I had read it seemed worth reading. Phantom was a complete disappointment in that it did not. As slow paced as his books are I somehow doubt he'll be able to masterfully end what still stands in my mind as a good series in one final novel. Those who have the time I still would recommend the series, this book one just has to suffer through and in all honesty may not even be that bad if the reader can quickly move to the next one due in Nov 07'.

First, I need to acknowledge Terry Goodkind's remarkable skill in creating characters about whom I've come to care enough to continue to wade through the Objectivist drivel that oozes from these books. I'm really sorry that Ayn Rand's father lost his business to the Soviets, but how long do the rest of us have to pay for it?

That said, you really have to love the irony (or maybe it's just plain hubris) of Goodkind having a character spend dozens of pages ranting against ideological indoctrination.

If I were not such a slave to my feelings, I'd stop buying these books -- but I am, so I await the conclusion.

In the last 3 books the "chainfire Trilogy" a wonderful series was destoryed. Terry Goodkind was my favorite writer, untill this. It seemed as though he forgot to write. reading something as simple as "the sky is blue" is bad enough for a writer who had created such a wonderful story, but to have that same line repeated 17 times in 2 pages, just in case you were unaware that the sky is blue. This book is so poorly writen in fact I will never read another Terry Goodkind book. I guess he just doesn't care to put time and effort into writing like he used to.

Overall, this is still one of my favorite series of books. I've really gotten to care about the characters and enjoy the storyline. My love for the story still merits five stars for me. Some advice for Mr. Goodkind, though:

1. Find you current editor.

2. Beat him harshly about the head and neck with a large stick.

3. Find a new editor who will fearlessly hack and slash your work into something taut, thrilling, and worthy of your storytelling skills.

4. Publish the results.

Ok I have to admit I wasnt expecting the "old" Terry to show up in this book but he did. It was interesting and exciting and enjoyable - It left me really looking forward to the next book and wishing it wasnt going to be the last. It is true that the word "phantom" is mentioned too often - and there is some of the usual lecturing that comes in all of Mr. Goodkind's books but it is no where near the last one or two. In short I enjoyed it from cover to cover .... now when is the next one being released?

I first read Wizards First Rule when I was in 7th grade. I was in Hawaii on vacation at the time, and my famiy could not understand why I wouldn't put the book down and come play on the beach. I devoured that book quickly and was then able to do so. I have since read Wizards First Rule 8 times. I have stuck with this series throughout it's course and I almost feel like the series has grown in some ways as I have. Sure, the series has had it's less than great moments, and boy did I dislike the Pillars of Creation, but it is interesting how the books have gone from primarily being centered around graphic battles to being more concerned with ideas and values. Wizards First Rule is still my favorite in the series, but for the most part, I have enjoyed Goodkind's evolving story.

Phantom is up there for me as far as my favorite books in the series. I personally am happy to see the series ending because I wish for some closure after 10 years reading this series. I look forward to it and hope that Richard, Kahlan, Cara, Zedd, Chase and Rachel, and all the other people I've come to care about in this series achieve the happiness they deserve. I also look forward to seeing Jagang reap his just desserts. One thing Goodkind has done well is that he has created a villian I grow to hate more and more with each passing installment. He has made a villian who takes everything good and twists it into something vile, yet this same villian considers himself just. This only drives home how twisted a man Jagang truly is.

I've been reading fantasy all my life. I've read Tolkien (SOOO FREAKING OVER RATED), I've read Jordan (No more original than Goodkind, and with way too many characters to keep track of), and I have to say Goodkind will remain one of my favorites after this much anticipated ending.

I listened to my first audio, two weeks ago, which was The Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodyear. I had never listened to an audio book before but was simply intrigued with the book. Of course I am a romantic and rooter for the underdog (Richard Guerlin), who is in love with Karlann the Mother Confessor. They both have their own magic and are supposed to never be able to really have a relationship, as they would be fatal to each other. The narrator for both the books was very dramatic and entertaining and made you want to listen to more, so I listened to the first series, which had 20 cds in three days.

Then, I listened to Phantom and enjoyed it even more than the first book. If you like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, or something that you can really sink your teeth into, you will like this book as well. It had a little bit more adult theme, and did contain some parts, it perhaps, didnt need. But this book kept my attention and seemed both fantasy/adventure with a little bit of magic and love dust thrown in. I ordered audio books two and three and am raptly waiting for them to arrive.

"When I was building my house in the woods, I was doing it by myself. I would write scenes in my head while I worked. That was when I decided the time had come to write, that I was ready. So I let the story build. Kahlan and Richard were there with me, telling me their troubles, their terrors, their stories. Some of the scenes I had written in my head several years before I could finally write them down."

-- Terry Goodkind

I fell in love with Wizard's First Rule because of its characters. Zedd was a persnickety old codger that was as smart as he was demanding as he was loving. Kahlan was brave, determined, and scared. Richard was confused, hardheaded, and righteous. Adie was wise and mysterious.

When I first heard Goodkind's description of his writing experience, it echoed back to Homeric inspiration from the muse. I could imagine Goodkind toiling, surprised by unexpected visitors. Their clothes askew, he tried to focus as their eyes darted in search of passing D`Haran troops. Sensing trouble, they would dart off again, hopefully to return--Goodkind kept awake at night because he wanted to know what happened next. And he captured this mysterious tension, able to pass the excitement to his readers.

If the muse visited Goodkind to inspire Wizard's First Rule, their reunion is long overdue.

I won't be able to fully express the monotony that is reading Goodkind's regurgitation of Randian principles. I've read Atlas Shrugged already, sir. I suffered through John Galt's lecture--a lecture that merely repeated vast swaths the book already covered. I have no desire to do it again.

I weep at the loss of characterization. Once upon a time, Richard made different statements than Zedd, who made different statements than Kahlan, who made different statements than...

Not so any longer. Nearly every scene is rife with Person A telling Person B that life matters, that it's worth living, and that we must fight for it. Then Person B responds to Person A that indeed, we must fight for life, it is worth living, and it does matter. And it's not so much that this is a bad lesson. Books can be didactic. But Zedd taught us this in about four paragraphs in the first book. Does it really need to go on for four pages again and again?

Apparently so. Why?

My guess is that Goodkind is under a contractual obligation to produce a certain number of pages by a certain date. Hence we find not only recycled plot themes (the Order was a threat even without the boxes of Orden, and how thinly does Goodkind expect to spread the chimes?) but also uninspired what-you-thought-is-not-as-it-seems drivel reminiscent of the but-it-was-just-a-dream category school of plot devices.

It's been difficult reading Goodkind since Pillars of Creation. I'm glad there's only one more book to finish.

I started reading Goodkind back when "Wizard's First Rule" came out and eagerly awaited the release of each subsequent novel, that is until after I read "Naked Empire".

The series had been going through a slight decline up to this point, nothing major just the usuall what had been unique and original in the first few novels was now to be expected. There was a slight tendency in the later novels for Richard to break out in long speeches but the speeches were generally balanced out by some good action. (Pillars had broken this balance a little but to me Pillars is an aside book and not really a part of the main lexicon) Goodkind had wrote some of the best battles and fights. In "Naked Empire" this balance was shattered and has yet to be restored.

This isn't as bad as "Naked Empire", I actually like this book, and is a little better than "Chainfire". It still isn't great. The first half of the book is way too slow. I had to force myself through the first 250 pages. Richard is still making too many speeches and has now gotten other characters to join in, most notably Nicci. And the worst part is that they are the same speeches over and over again making the same point. Action was at a bare minimum. On the bright side, after the initial unpleasantness there is a return of greatness. The pace picked up, the speeches were once again balanced by action, and the plot began to move forward. This could have been a great book, if not for the first half of the book.

Other problems. Richard spending fifty pages on speeches then something occurs to him and he leaves telling everybody no time for explanations. No big deal except every time there has been. It creates unneccesary conflict with the characters. One character doing something because he didn't understand what the other character was doing. And when did Zed and Anne become stupid. They would have figured out after the five thousandth time that Richard said he could do something and did it that he knows what he's talking about, they wouldn't still be arguing with him every time you turn around. Once again this seemed to disappear in the second half of the book, Zed turned for the most part back into his old genius self but come on, enough.

I'm looking forward to the last book. Mostly so I can say goodbye to Goodkind forever. He is obviously no longer the author who wrote the first six books in this series.

Phantom: Chainfire Trilogy, Part 2 (Sword of Truth, Book 10)
One of my favorite books by Terry Goodkind. Terry never fails to keep me on the edge of my seat in suspense and needing to know what comes next. Unlike the other books in the series which are wrapped up at the end, the Trilogy leaves you on your seat at the end wanting the next book now!

I Just finished the book, and i'm a bit dissapointed. Nothing new is really added, and the plot of this book is the same as his previous books. Richard and Kahlan are seperated AGAIN, Richard looses his powers AGAIN, Kahlan Looses her powers AGAIN, Goodkind spends half of the book talking about Objectivist pychological nonsense AGAIN, Violet terrorizes Rachel AGAIN, Rachel saves a box of Orden AGAIN, The Chimes are destroying magic AGAIN, Lengthy descriptions of the evils of the Imperial Order AGAIN.

I could go on, but what upsets me the most is the last quarter of the book is rushed. The first chapers are long and boring, but at least they are well developed. The last quarter chapters are short and not developed at all. It's pretty much just an outline of the chapter.

Sometimes a good author needs to know when to quit writing a series

One star, because the rating scale won't go any lower.

I just finished this book 10 minutes ago... And to put it bluntly, i am beginning to wonder if Mr. Goodkind is suffering from some sort of a degenerative brain disorder. If so, my prayers are with him.

Anyone who has ever taken a piece of cardboard and given it a good chew should recongize the flavor of the writing. The characters are less than one dimensional, although we are reminded once more how nice looking they are. The plot meanders on to a new low on its way to being finally concluded in the next book, to the relief of many of the readers, who stuck with it only because they liked book one and suffer from compulsive or masochistic tendencies. Even the ending, which in other books has at least a minor climax, is stilted.

Finally terry's personality that shines through in other books of the series, and makes them at times perversely entertaining or at least bearable, is absent.

The quasi-philosophical self righteous rants from the other books kept you guessing... is terry trying to bash communists? pacifists? christians? or vegetarians? Don't look for them here, they are gone.

Nearly gone is the violence. And the scenes of sadism, so lovingly, lavishly described in his other books are mindnumbing in their unimaginative repetitiveness. Terry obsesses on intestines... again.

Gee wiz, we don't even get any rape scenes in this one. (Though, not to spoil the plot, (ha what plot?) but someone's going to get sent to the tents... again.)

What is left? Several moments when this character or another suddenly figures "it" out. And one "oops, we just got surprised by something utterly obvious to the reader all along."

Rant complete.

First of all I meant to put 3 stars and I can't change it b/c the edit option won't let me. Secondly, this book is pretty mediocre. The first few chapters read like a discourse on how magic works in Goodkind's world. Richard turns into a phd student defending his thesis for an entire chapter. The rest of the book is merely a recycling of all the old characters in new roles (doesn't Goodkind have the heart to keep his characters dead?) It seems like when Goodkind gets writers block, he just writes a chapter about one of the characters we haven't heard from recently. Even a slightly older Princess Violet makes a return still tormenting Rachel. The number of subplots is almost confusing: Kahlan is missing (yet again), Imperial Order sacked another city and is moving up to attack (oh the horror for like the 3rd time), Richard doesn't have his sword (again), Sisters of Dark trying to destroy world (still), undead monster chasing Richard (again).

Overall, I think the book lacks the action and unpredictability of Goodkind's earlier books and I personally think resurrecting dead or boring characters should be reserved as a once in a while type thing. So if you didn't like Chainfire, you won't like this book but that didn't stop me from buying both and I'll probably still buy the next one. (yeah I'm a dumbass but at least I can admit it)

From all the online reviews on this site that I've read, i've come to the conclusion that the majority of people do not like this book in the series. Maybe it's because of the long drawn out explainations and descriptions of life under The Order, or maybe because "nothing happens worth noting". This book setting up the plot for the conclusion in the next book in the series. It's getting all the characters in the right spots for the grand finale. While it may not be the best book in the series, it is STILL a gripping read. Reading this book, i've honestly been shocked at some of the outcomes I've found myself starring at the book in horror in some parts, and anxious to see what happens next in others. Just to clarify what I am saying here, not all books have to have super spectacular battles, and amazingly tense situations on every page of the book to be good.

I won't rehash plot lines and development you can read the book for that. I will, however, take slight issue with Goodkind's heavy handed philosophy. And actually it isn't his philosophy but just reguirgitated Ann Rynd. There is a place for theology and philosophy in fiction and even fantasy, but the masters are subtle with it, letting the reader discover their own feelings and interpretations. Goodkind is as subtle as a brick to the head. Page after page after page of how the Order believes and why that is so bad, and the other point of view ad nauseum. We get it already, just tell the freaking story! Nothing new is added with these endless digressions of a philosophy we have been told time and time again by virtually every character in the books. I do enjoy the overall stories, and they would be a 5 star rating with a better writer at the helm.

Could you please return to the style of writing that everyone loved in WFR? It was so entirely engaging.The explanations there, though lengthy had depth and it made sense without being confusing. Your writing has changed into a long monologue of either how magic works or how life is precious and each one has a right to it. Let us rediscover this world anew. Magic has become flat; it used to have a dimension that we could grasp. What is with all the big words? This is not a magic text book. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let us have the style of WFR in this last book!

Ok this is not your typical cookie cutter fantasy that many will ahve you believe, it is not symply about dragons and magic -- far from it.

It captures real world events and the climate of our world today in a fantasy setting. It shows the downside of blind beliefs and not thinking for oneself in a easy to understand yet violently direct way.

I want to read the last final book but i jsut dont want this series to end --

All in all this book makes you THINK, it may seem like the typical fantasy full of prophesy, love, magic queens kings etc -- but that is jsut the surface, Goodking creates a believable world showing the best and the worst of mankind (and he does an INCREDIBLE job od showing the worst). It shows the casualty of war and how war is a all or nothing strugle (no one has ever one a war by defending...

I sugest reading it -- I just wish thier were more series of books like this --

Wizard's First Rule was excellent; Phantom (aka Wizard's Tenth Rule)is fair-decent character development, good texture of description. But, as is the case for many modern, popular authors, Mr. Goodkind doesnt know how to wrap up his story. Maybe we should blame L. Ron Hubbard with hs Decology written 20 years ago (although, admittedly, Goodkind is a much better author).

Well, where to begin. I won't bother with telling you how this series influenced my life since that is, for the most part, irrelevant. I have to admit that as much as I am a huge fan of this series that I have taken some issue with the past two books. And that problem: Jesus H. Christ! We get how much the Order is a sack of crap and that LIFE IS WORTH LIVING. Go shout it on the rooftops Terry. Please leave it off the pages of your, once, fantastic books.

However, despite this bashing, I liked Phantom 90%. Good story and strong plot movement, although I admit it gets irritating when a guy who knows nothing about magic comes up with a completely surprise solution to seeming impossible problems. Other than those two little things I think that a bulk of the bad reviews are comming from people who are well-versed in the series like myself. In all fairness though, Goodkind does have the right idea about comming up with a good full series paraphrase (On the downside....He doesn't need to repeat it every chapter).

I also think that alot of the crap being thrown Goodkind's way is from people who are impatient for an ending to the story. I'm sure most feel (I don't) that Goodkind is streching this out so he can make more money.

And after all this I still reccommend the book. It's a fun read and not a difficult one, although I wouldn't suggest it for young people, purely on a subject matter perspective (i.e. detailed descriptions of cutting peoples throats and other attrocities).

Take from this what you will but I still line up to get the first ed copies and still love to read them every year.

Goodkind seems to be rehashing alot of the key elements within his first book, Wizards First Rule. Its as if he went back and reread that book and realized he had just dropped alot of topics. So instead of just leaving them a bunch get thrown into this novel.

That being said the book wasnt overly bad. It was a little hard to push through, but nearing the end it suddenly took alot of unsuspected turns which really made it worth my time. It set the concluding book up quite well. For the first time in a long time I'm actually excited for the next book.

When Khalan Amnell awakens she remembers nothing except her name. Her spouse, the Seeker of Truth, Richard Rahl needs to liberate Khalan from the Chainfire spell that devastated her memories and that of those who knew her before the enchantment; in other words "hid" her in plain sight.

While Richard lives a nightmare trying to save the only person he seems to care about, Khalan accompanies the evil three Sisters of the Dark (Armina, Cecilia, and Ulicia) though she is confused as to why. The malevolent trio has plans for the powerful Khalan who can destroy the current world replacing it with the dark forces. At the same time that a despondent Richard searches in a phantom zone and Khalan journeys towards her destiny, Emperor Jagang pollutes the pure magic in order to conquer the world; only Richard and Khalan can stop the Emperor and the Three Sisters, but he must find her and his stripped magic while she must find her memory and control of her magic.

Though in some ways PHANTOM feels like a set up novel bringing the threads closer together until the final climax (allegedly the next book) and the subplots include repeats of the back story, fans of Terry Goodkind's long running epic will appreciate what is happening to Khalan and Richard. The story line is character driven by the ensorcelled Khalan and the frightened for his wife Richard. Readers will want to peruse this entry that is the salad for hopefully a gourmet delight.

Harriet Klausner

Ok, so my first problem is probably the fact that I bought the book on a cd to listen to as I drive to work. I did this with Chainfire and I loved it. But in Phantom, the characters just go on and on with their preaching. With a book I would just skim over the paragraphs (pages... chapters...) that incessently drone one, but that doesn't work with a cd.

I'm currently about half way through the novel. I know I will finish it and I will probably buy the next book just to get closure. But boy am I dissapointed!

Whatever charm it had, ended a long time ago. Wizard's First Rule was a truly mind boggling and fantastic book, but Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan seem to be having a lot of sit downs of late in the attempt to figure out how to make their books boring and repetitive.

The only thing redeeming about this series is that it is coming to an end with the next book. It should have ended 5 books ago when Terry had nothing new to bring to it.

Richard is still spouting about the same crap he did 4 books ago. Kahlan is still screwing up, getting captured, etc. Richard is still whining about Kalhan (I mean C'MON man, WE REALLY FREAKING GET IT, STOP HITTING ME ON THE HEAD WITH HOW MUCH HE CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT HER.) Etc.

Terry has taken a really great set of characters, brought them alive, and then ripped them apart from the inside out because of their inability to grow, to move on, etc.

Now if only Robert Jordan will take the hint and end his Wheel of Time series. These are two writers who tried to stay with something that should have been put to bed 3-4 years ago.

I agree with Craig, I found this book a bit disappointing compared to some of the other books in the series. I picked up the 1st book in the series, Wizard's First Rule, by complete chance, loved it and finished it in 2 days! I then went back to the bookstore and bought every book out at the time and have followed the series ever since. The past few books have seemed to not even be written by Mr. Goodkind himself. The style is not quite right and the multiple pages of "filler" have grown to borderline monotony. And for a couple that is described to have so much power, they keep finding themselves in places of weakness far to often for even fantasy "realism". This volume seems like it was rushed together, not clearly thought out. I would have rather waited a few more months for its release to have a better book. Even worse, we now have to wait until 2008 for the final volume. 2 YEARS!!?? I do not proclaim to be a writing/publsihing expert but I dont think a two year wait is necessary at all. Mr Goodkind, if you ever read this, why would you keep us waiting for so long? Your series is popular, sells a great many books and even reported to be an upcoming miniseries, congratulations on your well deserved success, but in this fans humble opinion, 2 years of waiting does not show respect for the fans that got you to the level you have acheived.

There are themes in many of the comments by other reviewers: Goodkind gets too preachy; he seems obsessed with describing raping and pillaging at length; ever female character is beautiful but deadly; and he is basically a misogynist. All true.

But I still love this book! Goodkind is building up to a grand finale that is monumental and cool.

Goodkind's way of revealing the details of magic and his main character's way of refusing to do what is expected of him, are both a great deal of fun to read.

I too have to skip over the pages and pages of preaching and/or descriptions of mayhem and gore. Goodkind goes on and on about people hating life vs. loving life. Did anyone catch the allusion to Al-Qaeda? What about the analagies to Communism in the earlier books? He's preachy, but he's really illustrating these points well.

By the way, if you really want some twisted rape and misogyny, why not try "The Real Story" by Stephen R. Donaldson. If you like miandering, meaningless descriptions of the irrelevant activities of the main characters, try "The Dragonbone Chair" by Tad Williams. And if you like pages and pages of blathering, try anything by Anne Rice.

I loved this series up till about 5 or 6
I liked this series up till about 8
I liked 9 barely enough to get through it
I loathed 10 so much I could not get halfway
This is only about the 3rd book in my life that I have not read all the way through, and I read a lot. Mr Goodkind you should be ashamed.

I started reading this series at the age of 18, when Wizard's First Rule was published in 1997. I thought it was wonderful; the pacing was brisk, the story was interesting, and the characters were, for the most part, likeable. The next few books were nearly as enjoyable, although Goodkind's seeming fixation on rape, torture, and domination got a little irritating after a while. Before I continue the review, I feel the need to elaborate on this point.

I am not a prude, and I don't have a problem reading things that make me feel uncomfortable, provided they have a purpose in the story. For example, rape plays a focal point in Stephen Donaldson's pioneering Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series, and it never really bothered me reading about it because it was absolutely necessary to the plot and added to the fallibility of the main character. In contrast, Goodkind uses rape to show us how "bad" the "bad guys" are. In this case, it becomes a clumsy tool, used to later justify atrocities committed in the name of liberty against these "very, very bad guys". In Goodkind's universe, if you put an attractive woman in a room (and ALL of the female protagonists in the Sword of Truth series are attractive, of course) with a man who is not working for Richard, she will be raped. To make matters worse, Goodkind will write just enough detail to make the reader feel a bit dirty, like a peeping Tom watching something he shouldn't.

In addition to constant references to rape, the violence that's been everpresent throughout the Sword of Truth novels is also here in Phantom. That is not to say that the book is overly graphic. It's just sadistic. In order to beat home the same tired point (that the bad guys in this book are bad, bad, bad!), Goodkind heaps extra helpings of abuse on Kahlan and Rachel, both of whom are in the hands of villians for most of the book. Again, I'm not opposed to violence in writing; indeed, George Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series is far more gristly than Goodkind's work, but it manages to be that way without feeling sadistic, without leaving the reader wondering whether the author tortured animals as a child. Oh, and let's not forget that most of Goodkind's anger is directed at women in this book (via rape and brutal beatings). I don't know if this is a coincidence, but it certainly is more than a little troubling.

On to the story. There actually isn't much plot movement here: as people have already stated, Richard is, once again, captured and emasculated, new plot elements are introduced seemingly at a whim (when writing himself into a corner, Mr. Goodkind need only wave his wand for solutions, as evidenced by his absurd treatment of the Book of Shadows, a plot twist that decapitates the first book of the series, rendering its events entirely without meaning), and we're served a heaping spoonful of very basic philosophy.

The philosophical component of Phantom is especially difficult to read because:

1. Goodkind rehashes what we've already read in Faith of the Fallen and Naked Empire, but does a poorer job of it. There is very little here we haven't seen before.

2. The philosphy is very, very simple, like something a high school freshman might write about after reading The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged. I'm sorry, but when you're dealing with ideas that are this simple (e.g. liberty is important!), you simply cannot sound insightful or profound. It's almost painful reading this stuff, knowing that Goodkind sees himself as some sort of visionary when he's reaching conclusions that most people reach when they're teenagers.

3. The Cold War is over. When Ayn Rand wrote her books, at least she was speaking against an ideology that she felt was threatening the fabric of individualism. Goodkind is setting out to wage war against a paper tiger. Thank you, Terry...we already know that Communism (e.g. The Imperial Order) is flawed. You're preaching to the choir.

4. It's blatantly hypocritical: the entire foundation of Goodkind's philosophy is used as justification for killing numerous innocent children in the Old World. Why is this okay? Because according to Jebra (via her description of Order soldiers teaching Dharan children to become merciless killers), The Imperial Order brainwashes people so absolutely that they become little more than animals and are unredeemable. Interestingly, the soldiers of the Dharan Empire, who were also little more than beasts/rapists before Richard became the Lord Rhal, are now paragons of virtue and liberty. For some reason, they were able to change completely after Richard gave them one speech, but the people of the Old World do not deserve the same treatment. It's baffling.

As the second book of a trilogy, Phantom closes leaving us with more questions than answers, but that's the nature of trilogies, and we can only hope that Goodkind ties things together in the final book.

Oh, and if it's possible, the protagonists of this book are less likeable than ever. Kahlan and Richard's relationship, which is so uninteresting that the author needs to constantly separate them in order to keep the book readable, continues to lack anything resembling depth (if you've watched the new Star Wars trilogy and squirmed uncomfortably through the atrociously-written dialogue between Anakin and Amidala, you'll know what I'm talking about). Furthermore (as some here have pointed out), Zedd, Cara, Nicci, Anne, etc. all now behave in one of two ways: either they question the validity of Richard's assertions, even though he has always been right and they never have, or they fawn over him tirelessly after coming to see how right he was all along. Richard is so self-confident and idealistic that he's become the archetypal "hero" figure that is indicative of derivative fantasy. Morally, he can do no wrong, which is unfortunate because it makes him far less interesting and believable than Richard the Boundary Warden from the first book in the series.

All of these problems would be a little more palatable if the book were well-written. Unfortunately, it's not. Borrowing the words of others, Goodkind has never been a great writer, only a good storyteller. Now that the story is quickly falling apart, there is little to enjoy. I guess this begs the question, have I gotten that much older and jaded, or has this series really descended so far?

"Kahlan stood quietly in the shadows, watching, as evil knocked softly on the door."

With that ominous line, Terry Goodkind plunges us into PHANTOM, the tenth entry in his Sword of Truth series (not including the novella DEBT OF BONES). Picking up where CHAINFIRE left off, Lord Richard Rahl is still searching for his missing wife, Kahlan Amnell. The Chainfire event unleashed by the Sisters of the Dark erased all memory of Kahlan's existence from everyone in the world, including herself. But Richard remembers her and has fought to get others to believe that he is not crazy, that he is not chasing a phantom. To find answers, Richard gave up the Sword of Truth to the witch woman, Shota, in exchange for information.

Those around him have begun to believe his story about Kahlan, but that hasn't helped him get any closer to finding her. What he is learning is that the memory loss of his friends may be worse than previously believed. The Chainfire event may have set in motion a corruptive spell that is beginning to erase more than just Kahlan from the memories of those around him. More distressing is that Shota gave the Sword of Truth to Samuel, a servant of hers who has since become corrupted by another witch woman --- quite possibly the feared witch, Six, from the Old World.

In the meantime, Kahlan moves as a slave with three of the Sisters of the Dark, not knowing who she is or what her purpose might be. Most people do not even see her; she is so far removed from memory. There is a man who sees her and remembers her, and for this transgression he and his family are murdered by the Sisters. Kahlan is then punished for trying to protect the daughter. The Sisters are searching for Tovi, the fourth Sister, who has vanished along with the box of Orden that was in her possession.

The Sisters and Kahlan come across the army of Jagang. They are leaving a brutal mark of murder and heinous torture in their wake as they march toward the keep where Richard waits, and continues to desperately seek information on where Kahlan can be found. He knows she must regain her memory soon or she will be the tool by which all of the world is undone. At the same time, however, Kahlan begins to learn that the closer she gets to finding out her past, the more perilous things will become for her.

Goodkind, as usual, delivers a high-quality story. The world in which his people live is vibrant and wondrous to behold. The characters continue to act with the utmost heroism, especially Richard, though in this book the side characters seem nothing more than accessories as Goodkind furthers the Richard/Kahlan plotline. Not that this is a bad thing, for Goodkind has always been very strong in his portrayal of the romance of the two main characters, and it is fitting that he continue to focus on them. Both have become more important now than they ever have.

If there is one complaint to be lodged against Goodkind, it's in his propensity to repeat himself a multitude of times in any given situation. In announcing that a friend of Richard's was found gravely injured, Shota mentions that she found him and that he was gravely injured a couple of times within two pages, and the characters repeat each other's words back multiple times. This occurs throughout the book. Were these moments of repetition reduced, the flow of the book would seem much smoother and no doubt shorten its 587-page length. It's a small complaint when you consider the magnitude and the passion with which Goodkind writes and delivers this epic tale.

There is but one chapter left to tell in this tale, and then the Sword of Truth series will be complete. PHANTOM, being the second part of the Chainfire Trilogy that concludes the series, certainly has the feel of a middle book. There is a major surprise, however, that will leave readers groaning and wailing for the release of the final book. Goodkind will continue to write in this world and with these characters, and for that his fans should be pleased. As a writer, his epic has been much better executed than others of the genre, and PHANTOM continues to show that his place amongst the tops in the field is deserved.

As a side note, Tor Books has issued a release announcing that Sam Raimi, the director of the Spider-Man films, has secured the rights to bring the Sword of Truth series to the screen, and production is expected to begin on the mini-series of WIZARD'S FIRST RULE within the next year. All the more reason to begin exploring this series if you have not done so already.

--- Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard

Long time fan of the series. I tried to find some type of insight into TG's philosophy (again) to make it worth reading. What happened! I can't beleive that I had to suffer through the gory details about the Order for chapter after chapter. I'm just let down that the author is trying to push this garbage to his readers. I'm skipping through this book in speed read. I hope their is something of genuine thought in the book somewhere. Did the chainfire event make the characters lose their personality? I actually tried to convince myself that was the reason the book was so horrible. I'm on page 331 right now and almost shut it for good a few minutes ago. Zedd drones on like a crabby old man with no heart, and Ann and the other characters have become so annoying to listen to. Kill the Beast, its getting so old to battle against. What a waste of time and money! I'll pick up the next book and read the last chapter to find out the ending in the book store. I now put TG in the same category as Robert Jordan.

I swear, he just goes on and on and on about the most mundane things (4 pages to describe how to leave the keep from the second floor??). He seems strangely fascinated with the rape and the suffering of children.

When he gets into full philosophical mode I just skip pages. I know Im not missing out on any crucial plot mover and it is useless to try and "flesh out" a character that has been in at least 5 if not all the last 9 books.

TG has gone "Robert Jordan" on us.

From the first book in this series, I have been hooked. I love the guts and grim determination that is a main part of The Sword of Truth books. However I have the same problem that I find With Robert Jordans, The Wheel Of Time series. I feel like I'm walking in mud. Both series started off with such direction and clear purpose, but now I find myself mired in, "in my opinion", not needed details. There are now so many sub-plots and side isues that I find myself fearing the next book. I know the Mr. Goodkind has a vision and I celebrate that vision, but I wish that he could be a little more brief.

I have to admit, my favorite book in the series is 'Soul of the Fire', however Phantom comes in at a close second. Why? Because it goes back to the same pacing and high content that the earlier books (before Faith of the Fallen) had. Unlike the last few books, I have not had to skim through Richard's more preachy parts much, if at all. In fact, the preachy parts are almost non-existent. There is a bit of recapping(which is my one gripe), but it's not too painful to read. Events happen, the plot moves, and there really is no dead spot in this book that I can point to.

He also manages to re-incorporate characters we haven't heard from in awhile without making their incorporation into the plot tedious. Everyhing, and everyone has their purpose in this book.

And contrary to what some have said, there is at least one (possibly more) problem that the characters (through the course of Phantom, come to realize) will not be able to fix by the end of the series. I won't spoil what the problem i'm mentioning is, so you'll have to read the book. But by the end of Phantom, Goodkind has neatly set up everyone for the final confrontation.

I am really looking forward to the next book!

HE IS A GREAT SCI-FI WRITER. AND THIS BOOK IS JUST AS GOOD AS HIS OTHERS. LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT ONE. I AM GLAD THAT HE STILL PUTS THEM ON BOOK ON TAPE SO THAT I CAN LISTEN WHILE I AM DRIVING AND REWIND IF I HAVE MISSED A PART.

I find myself yelling on the last page of this awesome novel, "You can't leave it there!? That's not fair!!!!" This novel is practically perfect in every way! I am delighted to see Mr. Goodkind's story-telling "gift" has not left him. This has been the best story, the best concept since "Faith of the Fallen" (my absolute favorite with "Wizard's First Rule" and "Temple of the Winds" tied at a close second). In Phantom we see everything finally coming together, the pieces all falling in the right places, the end in sight, and we are left wanting more! This novel leads so perfectly into the final installment that like Chainfire to Phantom will be so seemless it could be one massive volume. I eagarlly await the final novel to see what becomes of the characters I care soo much about. All of these characters are my friends, and my enemies, their fear is my fear, their hope is my hope, I can't wait to see what Mr. Goodkind has in store for us in the next novel of the greatest series since LOTR! You are my hero Mr. Goodkind!

Before I go into ANY detail regarding this latest entrance into the Sword of Truth series, I feel almost compelled to respond to some of the attacks aimed at Mr. Goodkind and this series. Why on EARTH would anyone who virtually hated the first 4 or 5 books EVER spend the money to continue reading further??? The verbal attacks directed towards those of us who find ourselves to be loyal fans of Mr. Goodkind only serve to PROVE just how seriously lame these people truly are. At least we LIKE the Sword of Truth novels, which is why we buy and read them...but anyone with any ounce of grey matter who continues to fork over nearly $30 to buy up books they themselves label as 'Pure Drivel' only serves to emphasize their sheer stupidity. Everyone has the right to like, hate or love anything they read...and yet others help to support Terry Goodkind by purchasing his novels while admittedly hating them, and feel the need to deride the vast majority of those who actually enjoy this series once again proves my point...and further attempts to demean anyone who gives a favorable review by making the claim that people who enjoy Goodkind must be lonely nerds who live in their parents basement dreaming of kissing girls is childish in the extreme. How truly lame. Say what you want, but at least those of us who enjoy Goodkind aren't dumb enough to support an author whose novels genuinely suck year after year -- and then continuously complain about it here.

Okay, I just wanted to get that off my chest. I also very much dislike it when people needlessly spoil the plot of books, so I will NOT waste your time by telling you the meat of the plot, other than what you can pick up by reading the inside cover of the book itself. Phantom picks up where Chainfire left off... why is it that NOBODY seems to remember Khalan? Why do SOME people *see* her when others cannot? The absolutely INCREDIBLE plot first begun with Chainfire continues with tremendous speed here. I cannot congratulate Mr. Goodkind enough, nor can I thank him for giving me so many hours of pure escapism with this series. Yes, I have enjoyed some books more than others, but overall, I firmly believe that the Sword of Truth series seriously challenges The Lord of the Rings. It far surpasses it in sheer entertainment alone, but I believe that history will judge fairly the comparison between both authors...and no matter what I or anyone else says about Terry Goodkind or ANY author for that matter, the best thing you can do is read for yourself and make up your OWN mind. IF this series *Clicks* with you, I believe you will be thrilled with all of it...but if you didn't enjoy Wizard's First Rule, why would you continue reading further? Decide for yourself, but as for me, I find the Sword of Truth to now be my favorite series of all time, and I will be genuinely depressed to see it end with the release of the final volume due out sometime next year. Mr. Goodkind, you are inspired and I will be forever grateful that I discovered your work.

Ok, I get it. The imperial order is the enemy...they're bad..they do bad things. Do I really need 50 pages of a woman's dialogue telling me how bad and brutal they are. I think I'm only reading this at this point because it's the second to last book. I've invested too much time to not find out what's going on. If you haven't bought this book yet, or don't have the patience for 50 pages of dialogue, I suggest that you walk away.

Phantom- A Book of Enjoyment and Enlightenment
Didn't Read the first 9 books, don't worry, you'll still enjoy it!

"Evil knocked slowly on the door...[Kahlan] hoped no one would answer that knock...she didn't want harm coming to innocent people" (pg. 1) From the very first page Terry Goodkind attracts his audience with the conflict between good and evil through his use of foreshadowing and diction. Phantom is mainly about how Richard, the leader of the people, helps to defend his people from the evil Jagang's army. The inner conflict that rages within Richard is whether he should continue "chasing phantoms" (pg. 108) or protect the innocent people of his land. Filled with spells, wizards, heroes, villains, and phantoms, Phantom is a thoroughly enjoyable book with many universal themes. In Phantom, Terry Goodkind uses symbolism, characterization of the realistic hero, Richard, and an appeal to pathos to effectively convince his science fictional audience of the universal conflict between good and evil in a way they can enjoy and relate to. I strongly recommend this book to any science fiction or fantasy lovers because it has a captivating storyline and is a reminder of some universal truths.

One of the techniques that Goodkind uses is the symbolism of phantoms to empathize the conflict between good and evil and what's real and imaginary to his science fictional audience by showing how far people must go to defend their freedom. A phantom can be defined as something that can be felt but not seen or whose existence is hard to prove. But the connotation of the word phantom is more than that, because an angel has the same denotation but does not invoke the same feeling of terror and fear. In this story Goodkind uses the symbol of the phantom in two cases. First, Kahlan, Richard's wife who was taken by the Sister of the Dark is referred to as a phantom because she has been erased from everyone's memories except Richard's by a spell called Chainfire. "Kahlan had seen that blank look thousands of times. No one could have remember seeing Kahlan for long enough to say so. She was as good as invisible...she wanted to stand in the light and be seen" (pg. 6). This theme of phantoms is the first conflict in the book. Why is it that can no one remember her and more importantly why are the few that do remember her killed? The use of the symbol phantom helps to create a feeling of suspense and anticipation as the Sisters of the Dark murder all that recognize Kahlan. Richard, her husband, desperately tries to find his wife Kahlan. He becomes so obsessed with the finding of Kahlan that she becomes the "phantom he chases" (pg. 108). Kahlan's role as the "phantom he chases" becomes the force that keeps Richard from his main duties as Lord Rahl. A phantom is something impossible to touch and so by describing Kahlan as a phantom, the search is implied to be a fruitless cause. Richard must decide between chasing his phantom and helping the actual victims of Jagang's attacks. The other meaning of the word phantom is applied to Richard's decision to convince the army to disperse into smaller units and become the "phantom D'Haran legions" (pg. 296) to defeat the superior Jagang's army. Richard realizes that his men will never defeat the enemy in hand to hand combat and so he persuades them to rage an invisible attack. This plan of attack is described through the symbol of the phantom. "No one will know where you are. No one will know when you strike...I want them to fear the phantom D'Haran army as if it were fear itself" (pg. 296). The connotation of the word phantom in this case is an unseen spirit that creates fear in its enemy. The use of the word phantom in their plan of attack makes it seem that even though the D'Haran army is smaller, if they begin phantom raids they would have a chance to defeat the enemy. Goodkind's goal in using the title and symbol of a phantom is to suggest that the line between good and evil is thin and sometimes the good people have to use evil tactics to defend their existence and liberty. The conflict between good and evil and what's real and imaginary is described through the inclusion of the symbol of a phantom, which Goodkind's audience can understand.

Another technique that Goodkind uses to empathize the battle between good and evil and help the science fictional audience relate to this story is through his creation and characterization of a realistic hero. In order for an audience to relate to a hero the hero must be courageous and possess all the good qualities of a hero and at the same time have a few human flaws and weaknesses. In Phantom, Richard Rahl is the hero who tries to defend his people from the brutal attacks of the evil Jagang's army. Richard is portrayed as courageous, wise, compassionate, and honest through descriptive details. Richard is shown to be wise when he realizes the deathly flaw in the verification web even before the wizard notices it (pg. 47). A true hero and leader cannot be scatterbrained or naïve and it is apparent here through Goodkind's use of details that Richard does not display either quality. Richard is also loving and compassionate. Richard desperately searches for his beloved wife who was taking by the Sisters of the Dark. Kahlan was "his life" (pg. 26). The fact that he loves someone other than he shows that he is human. Jillian, the girl Kahlan saves, said that Richard helped save her and her grandfather (pg. 461). Richard didn't have to save these people, because they are not of any real importance but he takes time out of his search for Kahlan to save them. The author's use of description to convey Richard's compassion and kindness helps to create a hero that can be respected and revered. When Shota the witch comes to him and tells him that he is the only one that can save these innocent people from their brutal deaths, he listens to her and takes her advice (pg. 125). The fact that he cares enough about his people to set aside his search for the beloved Kahlan shows that he is a true leader. Yes, he did not agree with Shota's words at the beginning and refused to believe that he could help, but eventually he took her advice. The fact that he wavered and was not completely convinced that he was "the one" is important because it is something the audience can relate to because one usually question things and then stew over them before one agree. Humans naturally try to resist advice and so it was important for Richard to have this realistic quality to help the audience relate. Another important detail that helps to develop Richard's character is the scene where he visits his army. He promises to speak to the officers with honesty (pg. 281). He states the plain facts of their eventual defeat without euphemisms. By creating a leader that is honest at all times through details, Goodkind conveys to his audience that Richard is trustworthy and is concerned about their welfare. After commanding them to not go head to head with Jagang's army he institutes a new plan to become "phantoms." This shows that he was not willing to give up but just needed a new plan of attack. The details of Richard's character are important because they demonstrate qualities of a hero and a good leader. As the audience reads about Richard, the most important thing for them to grasp is that one doesn't have to be perfect to be "the one", just be doing one's best to defend good against evil.

The most important technique that Goodkind uses to relate to his audience about the importance of defending the truth is his appeal to pathos. There are multiple instances in the book where he appeals to his audience's pathos but the strongest and most influential time is when he is describing the brutal torturing of innocent people by a monstrous army. An audience's heart will always be pricked with sympathy towards the wounded innocent and with disgust towards their enemy. "For the crime of trying to protect their homes, they were butchered" (pg. 76). Defending one's home will never be a crime and so to hear it described as one makes the audience understand that these people were innocent and did not deserve the harsh suffering that was to befall them. It appeals to their subconscious desire for justice for the wicked. The details of these innocent peoples' deaths are perhaps the largest pull towards an audience's emotion. The "gagging stench of death" and the "bloodcurdling sounds of howls, women's screams, and men's raucous laughter" (pg. 78) are used by Goodkind to show that this was no small feeble attack but permeated into every age group and city. The use of the word "bloodcurdling" to describe the howls is important because it creates a feeling of intense pain and dread creating an appeal to pathos in its audience. The vivid descriptions of the raping of the women from a first hand source is difficult to read without feeling a sense of rage towards these monsters who committed these acts. It is very interesting that the author notes that these men were not initially monsters, but humans at one point. By including this point, the audience is forced to realize that wickedness is not something one is born with, which makes this situation even more heart throbbing. These innocent people had no one to rescue or help them and by the end only sought the "mercy of a quick death" (pg. 143). Usually one does not think of death as merciful but cruel. This basic part of human nature is important because it shows that the torture and suffering was so malicious that anything, even death, would be better. Even the most stoic science fiction reader can feel sympathy towards these innocent people and their cruel treatment because the appeal to pathos is so great. As the conflict wages between good and evil, the audience becomes emotionally drawn into the conflict through the brutal treatment of the innocent by these monsters.

In conclusion, I strongly recommend Phantom to a science fictional audience because it contains all the elements of a good fantasy, it has a good plot, it reinforces universal truths, and gives the reader not simply a feeling of satisfaction but enlightenment. Even though it has a fictional setting and characters, the audience is able to relate to the characters because of their realistic traits. Goodkind creates a feeling of understanding and compassion in his readers through his use of symbolism, characterization, and an appeal to pathos. Shota, the witch's, comment to Richard is "what I expect is for you to understand" that "we are losing who we are, what we are. We are losing not just our world but ourselves" (pg. 102) is the author's underlying purpose for writing this novel. Yes, it has fast-pace action, interesting characters, and is a good story if simply taken at face value. But the story is more than that, it is a chance for his audience to understand that good will always battle evil and we need to decide today which side we are on. If we let evil continue to prevail without resistance that ultimately we will lose not only our world but also ourselves.

"Phantom," by Terry Goodkind, is a solid installment in The Sword of Truth Series, and it will appeal to seasoned readers of this fantasy series. If you are just beginning the series, I would recommend starting with another book, or at least the previous book, "Chainfire." "Phantom" is one of the few books in the series that require some knowledge of past events in the series in order to be fully appreciated.

Both beginner and veteran readers of the series should be told that there are plenty of places in the book that describe torture, brutality, and violence against both men and women from an invading army. If you've ever studied the Holocaust, the genocides in Rwanda, or the persecution of the Baha'is in Iran, you'll find similar material described in the fictional story of this book. It isn't glorified, but it's there, so you may find yourself--like me--skimming pages in the sections of the story that focus on the military conquests of the Imperial Order.

In this story, Richard Rahl attempts to find his wife, Kahlan, and stop the invading army of the Imperial Order. The plot had some nice twists and turns that I wasn't expecting, and it kept me turning pages until the end.

Fans of the series will still find the usual cast of characters, although some characters get more reading time than others. Perhaps, since Goodkind's world has grown so vast, this is now inevitable. A few characters crop up who haven't been heard from in a while, and some new characters are also introduced.

Richard Rahl still remains one of the most engaging heroes in fantasy literature, and he is at the center of this book. Kahlan also gets plenty of page time and is presented well.

Jagang the Just is also one of the central characters in this story, and he probably gets more time than he's had in any of the other books. As usual, he's one of fantasy literature's great villains.

Nicci and Zedd also show up, although Nicci's role in this book is much more diminished than in "Chainfire." Zedd's original charm from the beginning of the series has largely been pushed aside in these last few books of the series; in this book he functions mostly as an encyclopedia for prophecy.

Shota remains a powerful character, and she shows up at the beginning of the book for a talk with Richard, but then disappears for the rest of the book.

Nathan Rahl, Ann (the former Prelate), and Verna (the current Prelate) seem to be just be in the story for window dressing. For the last several books, they haven't really done or said much. Cara, who had such a central role in "Chainfire," does practically nothing in this book except function as Nicci's sidekick.

Other characters who show up are Rachel, Chase, and the slyph, who has a surprisingly large amount of talking in this book.

The one major weakness I found in this book were the explanations of prophecy. I just couldn't follow all the talk about prophetic forks, lines being drawn the right or wrong way, and symbols having various meanings. The prophetic explanations don't really have a whole lot to do with the story; they're basically just explanation. Finally I just gave up and skimmed ahead whenever Zedd or Nicci started discussing prophecy.

In spite of this weakness, however, I still enjoyed the interactions between the characters and their struggles to find the right path in the tempest of the story. I think Goodkind is at his best as a writer when he separates one character from the main cast and just tells about the feelings and emotions of that one character. He does this several times in this book, and the result always had me engrossed in the story.

Overall, this is a very good book--much better than the usual mishmash by other authors that normally passes for works of fantasy. I recommend it.

I read this book in 3 days. truly. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and i was done. I stayed up until at least twelve each night reading it.

But anyways, i realize most people are getting annoyed at how long the series is and how absolutely STRANGE it is to end a series on the odd number "11". I think i've lost count of how many people said that was "Strange" or "Weird". With how good his books are, I really don't care.

Okay, I've read some reviews, but i've had my own opinion from the start. Every single book in this series is always better than the last merely because it continues the story along. I never want it to end, but, alas, i really REALLY want Jagang to die a horrible death. I really don't care how he dies, as long as it is slow and painful. (heh...i am not a sadist)

Anyways. As to how long this series is, i think that the last book is going to have implements from the previous ten all converging together at one point to determine the final fate of mankind. Just look how they brought back the Boxes of Orden. Yeah, think about it. (SPOILER ALERT) the boxes were away in the Garden of life for the longest time before they were stolen back and meant to be used yet AGAIN. My theory still goes. Certain ideas or plot elements of the first ten books will all collide in this final book, i know it.

So just enjoy this read as a story, not a serius book of literature. Everyone's a critic nowadays and, let's face it, no one REALLY listens to critics.

I am seeing the same massive understatement from nearly everyone. The last four or five books, as well as phantom, are not "referring" to communism, they are nothing more than 50's style dystopia books. The worst part is that the first two books are probally the best fantasy novels I have ever read. The series then degrades into this Orwell-huxley ranting where capitalism is this glowing piece of heaven, and of course the order is hell on earth. Like the dystopia writers he emulates (and does not match) he pays no heed to the massive failings of capitalism, nor the successes of communism (as far and in between as they are). Goodkind is brilliant at painting a world, a religion, a magic, etc. but it is clear that he has taken it about three books to far with his ranting. I guess the word that I'm searching for is propaganda

Still a preachy, self-serving book but it at least has more action than the preceding books. I am glad this series is over.
2012 Update: Though I thought the series was over, Jordan reprised the same old tired story in his later books but gave them different titles. Stop the madness! I will never read another novel from this author unless I see a 180-degree change in his plots.

Well like any good hump book in a trilogy, everything that you didn't want to happen happened. I won't ruin it for those of you that haven't read it, but its painful; which in my mind constitutes an effective novel. It definitely solicited a response from me. You can't help but to care for his characters and dread all they pain they go through. Be aware, they go through a lot of pain in this book. Alas, it's just the crest of the hill, the dissonance in symphony. Hopefully, Terry will bring us back to resonance with the next edition. This one is definitely a necessary evil.

Man, it's been a while since I read a Goodkind book and I can't remember a thing about Chainfire aside from the fact that I read it. Maybe it's because I found fantasy that's actually compelling. Anyway, this writing is horrid. I cannot recall having been more insulted as an adult reader than I was while wading through this monotonous drivel. If you're sick of this guy try something else. Goodkind can't hold a candle to Steven Erikson or George Martin. Scott Lynch is another up-and-coming talent you might want to peruse. Add to that list Guy Gavriel Kay, R. Scott Bakker, David Gemmell, and many others who are quite a deal more literate than Goodkind. Was it always this bad? No, I don't think so. I think it's easy to get distracted from your original inspiration when you've got millions of dollars garnered from faithful readers to spend. I, for one, will get the last book from the library, speed read it, and then forever be done with Terry( philosopher extraordinaire ha, ha)Goodkind.FOREVER!!!

Since I've read the previous 9 books in this series, I felt obligated to read the 10th. Ever since "Faith of Fallen" (Book 6), I've felt this series has been on a downward slide. Phantom continues this slide. It has several glaring problems:

1. Goodkind's philosophy lacks depth and as a result, the long discussions on the value of life are tedious and repetitive: OK, we get it, the Order is bad. In this book, the first two hundred pages is mainly a monologue on how bad the Order is. Truly, no army or society could function under the system the Order has created. The Order is absurd. As best as I can tell, the Order is now a mixture of Sado-Communism-with Cult of Personality thrown in for good mix. And yes, we understand that life is sacred. All the characters now spout the same unending drivel about the sanctity of life. Yep, got that too. I get it -- I'm pretty sure I understood all this by the end of Faith of the Fallen but now 5 books later, I'm still beat over the head with it. The philosophy is pretty one-dimensional at the end of the day. Life is valuable vs. Life is not.

2. Goodkind is strangely fascinated with sadism, especially rape and child abuse: this book is rather sickening in its continual description and emphasis on the mistreatment of women and girls.

3. Goodkind has no concept of how actual armies work: We're supposed to believe that the Order's main armies is "millions" of men strong moving in one massive blob. Of course, it's supplied by an agrarian society and relies on horse drawn wagons to carry its supplies over hundreds of miles. Supplying an army that is larger than the combined size of the Union and Confederate armies of the Civil War (and pretty much any army, pre-WW2) with horse drawn carts and no true industry is downright ridiculous. This army would starve to death or, more likely, die in large numbers from massive dysentery or other diseases -- the Order which practices no hygiene whatsoever seems remarkably disease proof.

4. Monologue: One word says it all. Characters no longer talk to each other, they just preach or go on for endless pages in monologues. Even the extended discussions on the workings of magic border on the ridiculous. I miss the days of witty banter between Zedd and the other characters or real discussions between the characters.

5. Richard misses Kahlan: in case you don't know this, you will be told this every other page or so that mentions Richard. Heck, just walking around and breathing causes him to miss her. It's ridiculous after a while.

5. The plot feels increasingly contrived: VERY MINOR SPOILER, but a major character faces the threat of rape and avoids it through a plainly contrived plot device.

6. Philosophical inconsistency: MINOR SPOILER: In a remarkable twist, our main characters begin to embrace the concept of "total war" -- how that jives with the philosophy of "life is sacred", I have no idea. How the D'Harans and the other characters' increasingly blind cult-of-personality devotion to Richard jives with the philosophy of running your own life, I'm not sure either. Is he a benign Kim Jong 'IL? How they all willingly buy into the total war concept without blinking is beyond me too.

So if you've read 10 books, read this but save your money and wait for the paperback or check it out from the library. If you are wondering whether the series is worth reading, read the first 4 or 5 books and then just stop.

This series started out with so much promise and now, 10 books down the road, it has degenerated into something sophmoric, pretentious, and lazy. Still, I buy the books, knowing better, just to see the end.

Goodkind must have taken lessons from Robert Jordan, where I am also hopelessly roped in. I liken these authors to lazy pro atheletes in their last years, just collecting paychecks, riding the gravy train. And I, the consumer, continue to buy their product.

Alas, I have no one to blame but myself, but I know for a fact I'm not alone.

As much as I like first book... This one is so boring.

Ah, let me tell you about Imperial Order's wrongdoings...
No, let ME tell you about Imperial Order's wrongdoings...
No, let me tell you about... as if I saw it with my own eyes...
No, let me tell... as if my eyes were without eyeglasses...
BTW, did I already told you about IO?
Well, let us ask this girl about IO...
Ok, now, after all possible characters told us about IO... let's hear about it again!

So much water, so few real action episodes.
Was it Terry who wrote this book?

I want to thank my son for starting me on the "Sword of Truth" series. I find that Terry Goodkind writes so you can picture exactly what is happening. His characters are portrayed well. When he is talking about a character, you know which one he is speaking of. I can't say his books are believable, this is a book of magic, but almost. His books are realistic in the fact that he explains how something happens and why.

Each book in the series could stand on it's own however for the best understanding and the best enjoyment I believe one should start from the first book in the series and continue from there.

I have read the other nine books and enjoyed every one. Phantom is no different. I couldn't put it down. I understand there is only one more book in the series. I will have it the day it comes out.

If you're a fantasy lover and haven't yet gotten into Goodkind, get into him! This novel is a peculiar one. Best as i can say, it's like Chainfire and Phantom were one novel and TG had to split it up into two. Since it's book 10 of 11... whoops did i just put out a spoiler? Yeah, read the last pages of the book and you find out the series ends next novel! well since it is 10 of 11 you've probably read the first 9 so, get this one too!!

This is a great series! :-) Some may not like the end to this series, but I found it to be rather good. I don't like a lot of loose ends at the end of my stories. Case in point "The Lady and the Tiger". I had to read that stupid thing in School and then you are supposed to "Write your own ending." This series is wrapped up well, and you aren't left hanging on anything. I love it. :-)

I picked up Wizard's First Rule when it was first published and found it to be an enjoyable fantasy novel. I have stuck with the series far longer than I should have, but by now I have too much time invested in it to stop. The story as it was has now devolved into little more than a political manifesto, a propaganda piece extolling a vile philosophy. If Faith of the Fallen had been the worst offender for characters endlessly prattling on about their love of life and liberty that would have been fine, if boring. But it has altered course in a significant way. Where once the only absurdities in these books were (to name a few) a wise-cracking dragon, a heroic talking wolf, and a chuckling chicken that is evil manifest, Mr. Goodkind has sunk to new depths. His main characters - Richard and Kahlan - are held up as paragons of virtue, and great champions of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But one sees as the story progresses that they repeatedly betray such virtues and participate enthusiastically in the very atrocities that they so boldly (and endlessly) claim to be fighting against.

What Mr. Goodkind has done in his latest installment of the Sword of Truth series is a new low. Facing insurmountable odds, our hero Richard decides that the only path to victory lies in visiting the same atrocities upon the enemy citizenry, as have been committed upon Richard's own people. Whereas some might say the plotline (such as it is) in Phantom is particularly relevant to current world events, the fact is that what the heroes in this story are engaging in on behalf of all that is good, is exactly what would be universally condemned here in real life.

The prose in Phantom is long-winded enough to destroy the New Orleans levees all over again. Goodkind has one character spend twenty pages in a row describing what she saw in the camp of the Imperial Order, and another character follows immediately with a ten page explanation of how they got that way. If the characters in these books spoke like normal people do then it would be the size of a pamphlet one could read while waiting for a bus. The action that one could previously depend on is almost non-existent in Phantom, as the characters do very little other than talk each other (and the reader) to death. The twenty page description of life with the Order could have been done much easier, for example: "Jebra spoke of the horrors she had seen in the camp during the months she had labored there. The squalor, the endless rapes of screaming women, the torture and brutality. Richard's mind reeled at what he was hearing." I make no claim to be a great writer, but I don't need twenty pages to explain that the "bad guys" are evil. Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident. Mr. Goodkind has fallen into the bad habit of treating his audience like dimwitted children who must have an idea repeatedly pounded into their heads for them to grasp it. I found myself on several occasions wishing I had simply skipped an entire chapter, if only because the entire time I was reading it I kept muttering to myself "yes, I know life is good. Yes, I know the Order is evil. Get on with it." Mr. Goodkind's prose acts as a bulldozer, piling tons of rubble on top of you, distracting you from realizing that almost nothing is happening to move the plot along.

Soon this series will come to an end, and that is for the best since anything worthwhile in the story came to an end for me long ago. All I look forward to in the final installment is to see whether Richard finally realizes that he has become something no better than the evil he claims to fight against, and falls on his magic sword. Or if he will be found at the end of the story with his shiny Sword of Truth held high while standing upon a mountain of the corpses of his innocent victims.

...does it ever set up for what will surely be a spectacular conclusion! I can't wait for the next (and, sadly, final) book in the series.

This book contains several great new characters and plot developments, including Richard's new foreign policy direction for the D'Haran empire (it's about damn time!) which is highly relevant to the real world today, and a shocking twist at the end.

Highly recommended.

This particular part of the Sword of Truth series seemed odd at first..I was having trouble even beginning to wrap my head around people forgetting Kahlan! But, after I got into it I figured it out and it ended up being an awesome story! Wouldn't change it for anything!

Terry Goodkind has a great imaginnation but he is yet to learn that people don't want to suffer. Goodkind loves to suffer and his charactors reflect that. When he gets into the suffering it goes on and on. He streches one chapter into several, dark and dumb. Great potential but the tempo of the books drag at intermitent times when Goodkind tries to explain the reason for his charactors bad fortune.

Phantom: Chainfire Trilogy, Part 2
by Terry Goodkind is the tenth book in the sword of truth series and
the second book in the sub-trilogy chainfire, following the trials of
the last war wizard as he tries to rescue a magical land from religious
extremeism. A very good read with lots of twists and turns, this latest
book keeps with the series by putting an epic struggle between good
and evil in an exciting and fun romp through a fantastical realm.

I shouldn't be writing this as I am only halfway through the book, but that is kind of the point, I am halfway through and all the characters have been standing around in the Keep yapping at each other in a repetitive drone that is going nowhere. I keep reading because I paid for the book. I loved the first half of the series but lately nothing seems to happen. I can't remember much from Chainfire, other than a whole lot of stuff that has been re-explained in this book so far. Finish series.....make a movie and be done with it.

Ive been reading this series since i was 17, I recieved Wizards First Rule from one of them get 8 books for a dollar deals, didnt know nothin about the book or the author, just liked the title,little did i know that this series woul change my life.

Now for Phantom, LOVED IT, it takes a while for the pace to pick up, but thats mainly cause they're setting things up for the finaly, answering questions that ive had all along. But when it does pick up the pace wow. I was jumpin around with glee when Richard explained to his Amry his plans for winning the war, and that ending....wow. Wish i didnt have to wait another year or so for the last book. Wonder what its gonna be called.

And not of old age either. I want them to die incredibly quick and incredibly painful deaths.

I'm intrigued about the polarization of reviews. In essence, Goodkind either gets 5 stars or 1 star for the series. Not a lot in between. Unfortunately for the 5 star reviewers, I'm not sure you folks would know a 5 star book if it came into your house, sat down to dinner with you and kissed your spouse on the mouth.

There are lots of great series out there, Lawrence Watt Evans, George Martin, Paul Kearney, John Marco, David Coe and Steven Erikson, but the Sword of Truth is simply not one of them. Lots of plot rehash, lots of the same political pandering, and lots of ideas that have strangely been used before.

I believe I read somewhere that Goodkind said this series changed the fantasy genre. That's quite a statement, and not one that I am inclined to give any credence to.

I also found some of the sychophants on here actually post that they were going to (or had) report various reviews. Not sure if the store likes the Cindy Brady tattletale approach.

Either way, I implore you to read some of the others authors I've referenced above and compare those series to this series. If you come back and say that you still like Goodkind's series better, well, different strokes......

Back to my premise--lets just wrap this series up, be done with it and never return to Richards, Kahlan, Zedd and anyone else who made anything more than a token appearance. Let them die violent deaths. Kudos to Mr. Goodkind for being a NYT best seller--can't dispute that, but if you have Richard and Kahlan die violent deaths, I will shake your hand, pat you on the back and tell you job well done.

Terry seems to have Richard loose that woman more then anything in the world but over all he makes him losign her interesting each time....if you're looking at this you read all the others most likely so you know the deal

Unlike Chainfire which seemed a bit ponderous, yet interesting, Phantom

is hard to put down from the beginning to end. Situations of the main

characters take some very unexpected turns throughout the book. Two

new characters add a depth and new dimension. As usual, he adds more

layers to his existing characters - just like in real life you get to know them

better and better and love them like friends (or enemies). A wonderful read!

Well, to make it short I've been waiting for this book for a long while. After less than 50 pages I had already some doubt about the quality of this book.

Goodkind keeps watering the story by paraphrasing Faith of the Fallen and other books of the serie. To sum it up, nothing or near to nothing happens in the 576 pages (especially if you compare it to wizard first rule)

So Mr. Goodkind, it's time now to finish the serie, I hope that you'll manage to at least end it well (but I doubt it, since the last 4 books weren't good at all)

Richard shows new understanding of magic. Finds "new" friends.

I enjoyed the book. As always there are sermons/philosophical discussions among characters. New focus on the problems with the Old World.

Personally im not sure why people would hate this book, I've read many books in my lifetime. Well into the thousands. And The Sword of Truth series is my favorite by far. Not only does the plot and the characters sweep you up into a complex and moving world, it also has philosophys and enlightening views on human behavior. In fact my only qualm at all about the last two of his books (Chainfire and Phantom)is that he leaves us dangling at the end of the story. I just finished Phantom and i know for sure that i am already in anticipation of his final book. I definately got a real sense of their emotions and fears throughout the entire thing, and is not the whole point of any great novel to bring you closer to the characters, so you almost feel what they feel and see as they see. For anyone who loves a great Fantasy novel, definately read Phantom and the rest of The Sword of Truth series.

In the beginning, there was a nifty idea, a yarn that leant itself to an interesting. entertaining set of books, The Sword of Truth Series. Everything was going along well, the plot was entertaining, there were the unexpected twists, figures, who were thought to belong to one part of the chessboard, crossed over to join the other camp.

Then something happened, which unfortunately seems to happen a lot in series. The author ran out of steam, and what is worse, the plot no longer was the focus of attention, but the pseudophilosophy took center stage. Another way of looking at it, the author took himself too seriously. At best, this book is uneven, at worst it is pretentious, repetivie and boring. Let's hope that for the sake of the conclusion, the last book will return to its entertaining roots. The author spun a good yarn, but just as the figures in this book, seemed to have lost direction nad taken up on proselytizing. That just does not fit into this otherwise, at times, spell-binding series It would have been more enjoyable, if this book would have been the last in its series, rather than provide us with a, rather empty, filler. May-be, as is probably in the book of prophecies, the publishing delay was an ominous sign.

Terry Goodkind resembles Richard; he lost his powers in this book. All should keep their fingers crossed that the Spell Book of Captivative Writing will be available to Mr. Goodkind. :-)

I have to say that this may well be Goodkind's best work yet. From the first chapter the excitement gets going and it doesn't stop! It's been a very long time since I've read a book that could hold my interest like this. I believe this is what they mean when they use the expression "Page turner"! What an exciting ride! While "Wizards First Rule" and "Faith of the Fallen" can be counted at the top of my list of favorite Goodkind works, let me just say that the twists and turns this time around drive the story to exciting possibilities! I'm looking forward to the conclusion of this outstanding series. Do yourself a favor and see what all the buzz is about. Pick up "Wizards First Rule" and take the incredible journey for yourself.

I absolutely loved Phantom, as I have most of the Sword of Truth series (with the exception of Pillars of Creation and Naked Empire). Phantom deffinetly gets 5 stars, it didn't end as I wanted it to, but I still loved it, I read alot of reviews taht said it was to repetitive but I disagree, it was just a strong point in the book. I saw more low stars then high stars for this book and I wonder why, but I am probably one of the younger readers and I guess its just a different perspective I have, and for anyone considering whether to read this book I highly recommend it, but you must read the other's first, your could probably manage skipping POC and NE though, they WERE pointless.

Overall I MUST give Goodkind props, I loved this book and it had me all over with all the twists and new exciting challenges it presented to the characters. So READ IT and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

It's as good as Goodkind gets. If you are still reading this series after the flop of Pillars of Creation, you are completely immersed in it and will continue to read whatever I say. Then do, You won't be able to stop.

I have read the whole series and have had a "Love/Hate" relationship with most of them. Though the last two books, Chainfire & Phantom could have been the same book written twice. There was much more action and adventure in the first 7 books, and now it seems the story is a little to drawn out. I will read the last book, but I can't imagine how Terry will bring all the story lines into one final book. Good Luck.

For those of you that have listened to the previous books, throw out the first 7cds of this one and the rest is a great listen. The first seven cds were worthless info that did not add to the story.

imho

A lot of the text in the book concerns passages which refer to the other books from the series. I feel that a lot of stuff is written to help people who didn't read the other books to understand the relations and what is happening. Still, Í am looking foreward to the last book.

I can't write negative reviews on this series, i've been with it since the beginning, Wizard's First Rule really pulls you in (there was a dragon in it). However, I gotta say it did slow down for a bit on this last one, especially in pointing out that the Imperial Order's cause is "wrong" which, let me tell you, you should have known.

As to the conclusion of the series, I just have one question: Where is Richard's sister!!!!

I wasn't overly impressed with the previous book in this series Chainfire, but this book really brought the story back around and renewed my faith and love for Terry Goodkind as an author. The only complaint I can weigh in with is that the frequent referencing and re-referencing of the previous books, insults the readers memory for having read the previous 9. It's overdone at times but overall a great read and I look forward to finishing up this series with the final installment Confessor.

Mike

I have been a huge fan of the SOT series, but this book left me under whelmed. I felt far too much time was spent re-hashing what we already know and the plot was not moved along far enough. I will still pickup the next SOT book the day it is released, but will do so hoping that it is an improvement.

Terry Goodkind has exhausted this storyline. How many times do the main characters have to suffer unspeakable agony and be separated to make a point. No spoilers but it would have been nice to have some plot resolution this time.

I felt Chainfire lagged somewhat in its pacing, but Phantom rectifies that issue for me. Read through the book in two evenings and was left wishing there was more.

This novel does an excellent job setting up the endgame for book 11.

I couldn't help but chuckle at the 1-star reviews. They give nothing to indicate that they've actually read this book, but then Goodkind's work seems to attract that kind of critic.

I have enjoyed reading the whole series so far but have been put off in my enjoyment of a terrific story line by the the incredible amount of angst that is present in each book. However I am looking forward to reading the next book and will put up with it again if it manifests itself.

This is one of the better books of the series. If you've read the 9 books before this one, you won't be disappointed, except maybe for the end, since it doesn't have an end. Read it, it's a good one. Richard finally does something I think he should've done a long time ago. Not gonna say what though. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because the ending. It's still a great book though.

I enjoyedd thos book. I must say that I also enjoyed chainfie as well. I enjoy these books because Goodkind is pulling together all the elements of his stories to end it and using them in a way that most of us didn't see. From what I can tell he all this planned from the very beganing and not its just coming into play. Not much really happens in this book but like any second book in a trilogy like this one, it is just setting up the third and final book. And I must see I didn't see it come as of how it would end. I have my own ideas and guesses on how it will end but knowing that Mr. Goodkind is a good writer I will probaly be wrong. This book does a very good job of setting up the end of the series in what I will belive will be dramtic, action fillied, and will not disappoint.

Wow. So much happened in this book, especially the end. Fantastic read, as Richard and his party start to progress in the chainfire struggle...new obstacles show up at the most inconvenient times, as usual. I read it in about a day and a half...I couldn't put it down!

if you're like me, you're reading this book because it's the second to last and you just want to finish the series. because the series started out as amazing books that had non-stop action without all the nonsense and unrealism and lecturing that we get to deal with now... one more to go and then richard and kahlan can live happily ever after. yay!

Man, had a friend dump Stone of Tears on me, well got hooked and now was waiting for Phantom(too Long I might add there Terry!! LOL) and it was worth the wait. Enjoyed it from cover to cover and am looking forward to the finale! The writing has kept me spellbound and weird for me since I am a basic Military Sci Fi freak but Goodkind holds his audience, I feel like I have a metal collar every time I read a book! LOL

Once done with the final book(when it arrives) will donate whole series to the local High School Sci Fi Club...they will LOVE it!!

Since Wizards First Rule, I've been enthralled with this author as well as his ever continuing story. I have enjoyed creating visuals of every character from their beginning and wish that this wasn't going to be the end of the series.

Keep me going....

Thanks,

Marcellus Ari

An amazing first book of the triology by Terry. Stories from all the previous books start to come together, and set up for what is going to be an incredible end to one of the best series of books I have read.

Terry Goodkind has masterminded the best fantasy series of our generation with his Sword of Truth Series. From the first book, Wizards first Rule, through the tenth, Phantom, he has kept his readers captivated with the world he has created. All of his fans will be dissapointed to see the series come to an end with the conclusion of the 11th and final book, Confessor.

To put it simply, I loved this book, not to mention the entire series. I love reading Terry's works because it's never a dull read. I enjoy how Terry's writing makes me think, rather than make me feel like I am just reading a movie. The series allows for hours of conversation about all the different twists and turns that are and could possibly take place with each turn of the page. I recommend this book (though i would start off with Wizard's First Rule) to anyone, not just people that read Fantasy novels.

Of all the Sword of Truth Series-This is the Best one Yet!! I am very anxiously waiting for his next book. I only wish He continues writing but all good things must come to an end. I hope they make a movie out of this book, it will be as popular as Lord of the Rings I am sure.

Goodkind at his best. The Sword of Truth is probably the most complete and rounded series ever written. It ranks up there with Raymond Feist's Riftwar Saga and Tolkein's Lord of the Rings. No joke.

Terry Goodkind's latest novel in The Sword of Truth series is quite a bit shorter than the previous installments. Weighing in at a mere 587 pages it wouldn't even counter-balance a single gallon of milk. On the up-side, this means that he has given us roughly the same amount of plot as his other books (not counting Wizard's First Rule) by merely cutting back on his infamous 10-page-at-a-time interspersions of philosophical meanderings. Actually, if you want to skip the philosophical bits entirely, they were all lumped together between pages 114 and 215. The rest of this book is all action, and very exciting.

Let's see... Without spoiling the plot, here's the basics you'll want to know about. Scenes with Jagang remain as graphic and unpleasant as ever. Rachel makes a return appearance after too long an absence, and remember wicked little Princess Violet from Wizard's First Rule? She's back, badder than ever, and has a new tongue in her mouth.

Very enjoyable book, but I think the last sentence might have been the most exciting: "BE SURE TO LOOK FOR THE NEXT AND CONCLUDING BOOK IN THE SWORD OF TRUTH SERIES." I know - an 11-book series seems like a strange number to conclude on, but I need closure, so I won't complain.

To those readers not familiar with this series, I recommend going in order starting with Wizard's First Rule. However, Goodkind does insert enough backstory throughout Chainfire to make it possible to understand what's going on if you start with just the first book in this concluding trilogy. (*note* I had originally written that you could start with just this book, but on thinking about it, that would probably be a bit too confusing. The amount of backstory in this book was much less than Chainfire, and served mostly to help me remember the details I had forgotten since I last read a Sword of Truth book 1 year ago.)

In brief, the series goes as follows:

Wizard's First Rule (first and best in the series)
Stone of Tears
Blood of The Fold (plot of the overall series is introduced)
Temple of The Winds
Soul of the Fire
Faith of the Fallen (Best book other than Wizard's First Rule)
The Pillars of Creation (recommend skipping)
Naked Empire
Chainfire (first book in the concluding trilogy)
Phantom
Final Book (name not yet known)

and sucks you in to that world with dynamic characters, intriguing plot lines and splendid writing. This isn't one of those series. I, like Elvindeath, whose review is spot on, wish for all the characters to simply die. Reboot the series. Orphans, parentless children, old wizards, magical swords, the "coming to grips" with power....yawn. A fresh approach is needed Mr. Goodkind. Perhaps a romance novel with Kahlan and Richard struggling to keep their marriage going as Kahlan encounters the obstacles of being a working mom in NYC and Richard being the husband racked with self doubt who spends too much time with his grandfather, Zeb.

I have two words for you people: Steven Erikson and his Malazan Empire series. THAT series is what people ought to read. Complex plot lines, fabulous characters, and no orphans, magical swords or elderly wizards teaching the orphan how to come to grips with their power.

Somebody wrote that this series challenged Tolkien's crown. Wow. Hard to respond to that other than to say: What the H E double hockey sticks are you reading?

i just finished reading phantom and this was the worst piece of drivel that i have read to date! i don't know who this steve author is that other people have written about, but this book was so dull it was unbelieable. it seems as if the author enjoys repeating the same sentence multiple times in a paragraph. the prose is written for the average elementary student (i think that the highest level word i found in the book was virulent) and the story flows like an early reader. for those that do not want to waste their money here is the book in synopsis: see kahlan run. see richard run. see richard chase kahlan. run kahlan, run.

Any dummy who rated this book 1 star is only doing so to market that dumb steve author they like, and i have now reported their reviews. I honestly doubt the 2 different names under 1 account even read phantom so stop trying to drop the overall score of every author whos not your favorite when we know you wouldnt read an entire 1 star book in 3 days after release unless you liked it.

Hear me out; everyone seems to be writing glowing reviews for this book and I am not going to be one of them. Read on though, at least try and appreciate a different viewpoint.

I have been a fan of Terry Goodkind from the start. I consider myself well read in this genre of fantasy and have bought each book the day it came out with great anticipation. The last few books have been, to say the least, mostly disappointing and have failed to capture the magic of the first few books. I kept my peace after reading them, hoping and expecting that he would come out with a book to redeem himself and set the storyline on course again. And so I eagerly awaited Phantom; Chainfire was good, not great, but good and I had hoped that Phantom would get to it again.

Not so. I have a number of issues with the book, so here they are.

First Minor Issue - Everyone is painstakingly, ravishingly beautiful. Got it Terry, no more needs to be said. If I read one more time how beautiful and heartbreakingly gorgeous (but deadly at the same time) that Nicci is, I will scream. Or put down the book and be very upset.

First Major Issue - Life is sacred. Got it. No really, I get IT! I am tired of the pedantic drivel that spouts out of Richard (and now other characters) at will. I thought Faith of the Fallen was a monumental piece of work, that was the truly last excellent, innovative and thought provoking book Goodkind wrote. In trying to continue to tirelessly hammer home his quasi-religious ideological "life is worth living" theology, the book really starts to lose drive. Every time Richard pauses for breath and talks to someone, I know that somewhere in the next few pages he is going to start preaching about how sacred life is and how people have the choice of living life free, blah blah blah. I can appreciate a theological tone to a fantasy novel, used correctly it can certainly be a vehicle for adding depth to literature. TG is driving it so hard though in this last few books, that it comes out as tired and fanatical - like something I would see on TV at 1:00 in the morning begging me to see the light of Jesus.

Second Major Issue - I have a guilty secret; I still enjoy when they discover new things about magic. But on top of that guilty secret is that TG is a very self serving writer and has destroyed his own credibility in the world he has created. I am tired (again) of having monumental odds placed before characters and they somehow find an obscure magical reference, are able to save the world (or the situation) and life moves on. This is not realistic. Magic in itself is not realistic! But the way in which magic is implemented and used should be realistic. Magic is not (and should not) be a catch all that can solve all problems, is the crutch in a time of need, etc. TG uses magic here as a crutch for moving the plot; he had some good plot twists in this book but whenever he seems to dig himself a hole and can't get out - Whala! A new form of magic, a new spell, a new way of looking at a thousand year old problem and Richard has his solution.

I would go on, but I won't. Overal (if you haven't read it yet) the book moved the plot forward towards a final batter/confrontation with Jagang and the end of the world (read Tarmon Gaiden), the characters rush around (it appears) aimlessly, but some grand finale is being planned. A ton of new magic is discovered, and hidden depths of the first Wizard Barracas are explored.

Interestingly enough I enjoyed the book. I was up late last night finishing it and couldn't put it down. Some of the old excitement has once again entered back into TG's work. But I felt I would be remiss if I didn't point out the glaring issues in his work. If people want to congratulate him on the best book ever written, have a ball. I hope you have an open mind when reading this, at the end of the day I am a Sword of Truth fan and have all of his books in hard cover and will continue to buy them when they come out. I think TG has some great energy and I am awaiting the last book to come out - but this does NOT excuse poor writing.

I don't know what book the other people who have posted reviews so far were reading, because this one was absolute dreck. If you enjoy verbal diahhreah smushed between a meglomaniacal glamour shot of it's "author", then by all means pick this up. The Sword of Truth series is the most repetative, simplistic, uncreative derivative of Tolkien's work going. Each book is basically a cut and paste of the previous, with two wooden characters proping the sad tale up. If you feel the need to support an Author's annual money grab, at least go to Robert Jordan, whose work (especially early) is at least creative and complex. Or better yet, support the most brilliant fantasy author out there - Steve Erickson - and start reading the Malazan Book of the Fallen series .... of course, if you actually read and enjoy the Sword of Truth books, I doubt you're going to have the capacity to understand and enjoy Erickson's ridiculously complex universe.

** 7/24/2006: I just wanted to provide a brief update rebuttal to the various comments subsequent reviewers have made, implying I did not read this book. Trust me - I read it. I've read it 10 times before. It's the same book. Over and over. Why do I keep reading it ? Call it morbid fascination combined with a dearth of other fantasy offerings right now. In any event, if you are reading the store reviews to make an honest decision as to whether to buy this book, I want you to take a minute to check out a weird pattern. 99% of the 4 or 5 star reviews on this book are posted by the store reviewers who have never reviewed any other item. All of the ones attacking my review, directly, were posted within a day or two of it going up, and were by people with no other reviews. I have no proof, but if I had access to the DNS logs for reviewers, I would suspect that most of the IP addresses of the people attacking me originate from either Terry Goodkind's basement, his mothers house, or his publishers office. It's just a weird coincidence I've noticed.