Book 8, Naked Empire: Sword of Truth

Naked Empire is the eighth novel in the Sword of Truth series, following The Pillars of Creation. In the preceding volume, agents of the Emperor Jagang have convinced two other children of Darken Rahl, Oba and Jennsen, that Richard is trying to kill them and smuggles them out of D'Hara to the Old World. During an assasination attempt by Oba, Richard discovers that his half-brother has no magic of his own and is not directly effected by magic. Jennsen is likewise without magic and indifferent to its direct effects.

In this novel, Richard and his party are leaving the Pillars of Creation, a geological feature deep in the desert, after foiling the assassination plot. They are followed by giant birds, black-tipped races, and Richard is convinced that someone is using the birds to follow them. During the journey, Richard discovers signs of a magic barrier stretching through the desert and they eventually come to a pass with a giant statue and a message.

Richard has found mention of the Pillars of Creation in an ancient book and learned that the term is used therein to designate people like Oba and Jennsen. All are descendants of the Lords Rahl and apparently there were once many of them in D'Hara, but these people were banished to the Old World, never to be heard from again. Richard thinks that he has found them.

Since the Pillars of Creation can neither use nor be effected by magic, they have difficulties believing in it. In ancient times, these people created a religion that states that all is illusion, thus encouraging peace and tranquility while discouraging competition and strive as well as material progress. These survivors to the original exiles have continued and expanded this religion. Then the Imperial Order discovers their location and the Empire knows what to do with pacifists.

In the meantime, Zedd has a nasty surprise when the Wizard's Keep is invaded by men who are invisible to, and uneffected by, his magic. The Imperial Order captures the Keep, but can they retain it and him. A few of Zedd's comrades decide to take a hand in his release.

This novel is a story of internal turmoil because of opposing beliefs within Richard, an external struggle with the Pillars and the Empire, and a fight against a deadly poison added to Richard's drink by a careless supplicant. It is more philosophical than active, but Richard never hesitates to act as necessary.

Highly recommended for Goodkind fans and anyone else who enjoys sword, sorcery, and philosophy in the same tale.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Okay, I really like the first few books of this series. Interesting characters, good plot, above average writing. My wife and I even enjoyed listneing to the audio version on a long drive.
I refuse to buy another book.
Things have gone downhill on a fairly steady slope for the past three books. Kahlan calls it right when she said all the trouble started with the chimes. The last book was a cut and past of Atlas Shrugged and this book continues to brow beat you with garbage. And the worst part is that he repeats himself repeatedly. (Ha) If you need to remind people of relevant plot moments in the past...that's why the preface was invented!
What is the problem with fantasy these days? Jordon is DOA, Goodkind is following. I hope Martin is able to shoulder the burden and demonstrate how to move a plot forward.
Boo hiss. How do these things make it past the editors?
Save your money.

Why do I say Naked Empire is a disappointment? Mostly because... it's nothing new. I felt like I've read this book before, that it took elements of Soul of the Fire and Faith of the Fallen, added in plot twists from Pillars of Creation, mixed well, and produced this. It's like... the next episode in a TV show.
The series, which began so intelligently, has almost become a parody of itself. Certainly the empire indicated in the title is a ludicrous parody of a civilization -- like Altur'Rang in FoF, except even worse -- an empire that is so poorly concieved and constructed on such shoddy intellectual ground, it's impossible to concieve of it lasting three days, let alone centuries. The pages devoted to Richard Rahl, protagonist and superman, dictating perspectives on reality to the members of the empire, seem so painfully blatant. At least in FoF, the Empire was slightly more coherent, and wasn't taken down just by words.
Kahlan annoys me. She's supposed to be a strong, intelligent, competent woman -- the ideal of femininity -- but she's just getting more and more out in crazyland with every book. Now, admittedly there's reason for it, but so much of the time devoted to her is her whining about how she's destroyed the world.

Richard continues to be a superman, who manages to figure out everything, sway everyone, and unleash domination over all. Most of the book is devoted to him explaining the same thing, over and over and over again.
Precious little of Ann, Verna, Zedd, Adie, Nathan... the characters that always seemed so much more human, and consequently much more interesting, than the protagonists.
The magic enemy du jour possesses a truly terrifying and horrible power, one that should have more significant repercussions to the series than the Sisters of the Dark, the chimes, or even the dream walker himself... but he's totally wasted. Nothing at all comes of it. Batman: The Animated Series devoted more time to the psyches and ramifications of its villains that NE did. That more than anything turned me off to the book.
The Wizard's Eighth Rule, while not preachy like the Sixth, is not intelligent like the first. It really seemed pointless.
I guess that after Soul of the Fire and Faith of the Fallen, my respect for the series started to drop. Pillars of Creation really seemed like a breath of fresh air, taking the series in a new direction, with a new perspective. Unfortunately, Naked Empire seems to have gone back to formula, and it really didn't get the best parts of that formula.

Listen, people, as I scream words at you.

Reading this book is like waking up to find that a crocodile is in bed with you. Both experiences involve engaging in a normal, inoffensive act (getting into a bed, opening a book) and end with horrific pain and death (being eaten alive by a horrible fanged river-beast, or being eaten alive by a crocodile).

Goodkind's writing is best summarized by my literally coming to your house and destroying all of your favorite things, and then pouring snakes into your car. It is as though someone once explained writing to him in a sort of vague, poorly-thought-out way and then immediately thereafter he went to hear Ayn Rand give a long, fiery seminar about the importance of murder and rape before going back home and breaking out the typewriter.

THIS IS JUST THE FOUNTAINHEAD, BUT STUPID. The plot is a sloppy, awful carbon copy of a book that's actually worth reading. Gone are the actual criticisms of a vaguely non-strawman society, gone are the vigorous character/caricatures like Toohey, Roark and Wynand, and gone is Rand's competence with a pen. Goodkind just isn't good. He's barely toeing the line of "barred from creative writing by virtue of repeated attempts to orally murder all other participants during readings" at his local community college.

This man is a hack and he should be fired out of a cannon into a whale.

I have been a fan of the Sword of Truth series for years. I have loved the characters and their adventures. But, in this book there is so much preaching about TK's own views, that the story is lost. Where is the charm and adventure as in the first 5 -6 books? I understand about character development, and that characters change, but Richard has changed, and I do not think for the better.

One item that is really bothering me is the timeline. Maybe someone who is also a fan of the series can help me. Several comments during the story was made that it has only been 3 years since Richard met Kahlan. I think that is impossible. It is this type of inconsistency that adds to the frustration with the way the series is going.

I am asking if there was an editor for this story because it is so wordy and keeps preaching. There are many times in the book when TK explains in detail, then describes it again, in the same detail - over and over again. I am listening to this on Audio, and I find myself yelling at the radio to shut up and get on with the story.

I hope that TK remembers that this is a story, a fantasy and that we want to hear the story, not about his own convictions. I think he could have incorporated them into the story instead of beating us over the head with them.

I read the first seven books as soon as I could lay hands on them; even POC was tolerable at the time. There must've been something about the wait for Naked Empire that ended the honeymoon period, because I could barely force myself to pay attention to this book. Then again, it barely required attention, since pages and pages would be wasted on dissecting the same bland morals and virtues: essentially, reading the first sentence often sufficed. Never has a fantasy book reminded me so much of an outdated school textbook...the different here being that this text read like a knee-jerk reaction to the Afghanistan war (perfect timing, too). How many people want to read a fantasy book in order to have someone's views on reality stuffed down their throat? Isn't Fantasy an escapist genre? There's no subtlety here, just an overly simplistic "this is good and right, this is wrong and bad; kill the bad people and anyone who's not totally against them" theory. ...smacks of Bush.
If you want good fantasy fare, skip this book. I sincerely doubt it will have much bearing/importance on the following 'chainfire trilogy' that is supposed to wrap up the SOT series.
and whatever you do: if you loved the first couple of books, don't try rereading them after sloughing through NE. It's enough to ruin the wonderful mirage.

After being swept up, as so many of us were, by the sweeping debut of Wizard's First Rule, I could hardly wait to crack open the 8th book of the series, Naked Empire.

Naked Empire, however, was not what I was looking forward to. I was looking forward to gettting caught up in the adventure of a magical war, to seeing good overcome all odds, to meeting the new characters that come along in each installment of the Sword of Truth series and to spending more time with the established characters that make the series as memorable as it is. Boy, that would have been nice.

Instead, I was subjected to a long-winded and, quite frankly, boring kind of philosophical excercise. In the previous books, whenever Richard went off on an 'explanation' of his motives, or reasoning, or whatever- I'd gladly go along because more often than not, Richard had something illuminating to say. In this novel though, I'm not even sure if Richard is interested in what he's saying. Perhaps this is why he repeats the same points again and again and again- not only to convince his audience and the readers of his moral beliefs, but to convince himself. Besides, if it really takes four pages to convince people that vioelnce isn't always bad then maybe he should just chop off their heads and continue on his merry way. Which is what I felt like doing during mant of those horrible speeches. The main problem, I think, is that Goodkind's use of every second chapter as a place for him to hammer home his message is that it's not a new message. I mean come on, this is book eight. Those of us that are still here are pretty much the choir. Stop preaching. Or at least write a new sermon.

And this repetition isn't just limited to the worn out themes and moral diatribes. Instead of wasting the reader's time with the five paragraphs on how horrible the Imperial Army is, I think Goodkind should just insert a footnote that says

The author is fond of describing pain and suffering in excruciating detail. Well, that is nothing compared to what you will endure if you try to read this. It is one thing to instill moral, ethical, political, and economic beliefs and values into a story but it is unbearable and unacceptable to wade through this brutal repetition, and redundancy. I feel like the same basic concept has been rehashed half a hundred times from every possible combination of possible outcomes and perspectives.

Spare yourselves. If you want a book on ethical decision making...buy one, there are lots of good ones out there. If you want to read about what comprises a freely governed society consider reading the Federalist Papers. If you want to read good fantasy, stick with the earlier books or look elsewhere.

This series does continue to dissolve and get worse and worse and I really honestly don't know how he makes money off of this franchise... there can't be enough people out here that buy his books just out of sheer curiosity to see how much disgustingly lamer Goodkind can get.

Don't get me wrong he had some great ideas in the beginning of the series that I felt were compelling, like the ideal of a Confessor and the Mord Sith, those are great and woundrous templates that are the core of Fantasy novel makings but Goodkind writes the most one sided characters. It's either they are horribly good or horribly bad. These people in his novels have no middle ground. Also, why is every common male in his novel huge and bursting with strength and muscular molding. It gets a bit redundant. Even down to the names of the characters it's lame. Richard is the main characters name... lame. I must say to be a war wizard he's the most annoying character in the novels altogether with his insistent, non-stop goody goody behavior without even a bad thought thrown in to make sure he's still human, gimme a break Goodkind!

Also Terry writes so elementary it makes you a little sick. I might have enjoyed a series like this when I was in middle school but I think Terry Goodkind's mind is perhaps stuck in Middle School. Get a clue Goodkind: Life is never that simple as you enjoy painting it in your novels and always tends to be a little more complicated than that and NOBODY is ALWAYS thinking good thoughts ALL THE TIME.

pretty standard regurgitation. the first few books showed some potential, yet with the introduction of new characters and new settings, i can't help but feel like i'm stuck in the archtypical sitcom universe: all the main characters face dire peril, yet live to see the next episode while the "ensign joe shmoe" equivalent gets killed. the last character who really mattered at all that died, died in the first book. aside from that, you get those recyclable one-episode character who die every book over which richard and company all collectively weep over. sadly, this book even fails to measure up to sitcom standards.
most of the writing is drab political and social commentary. i have to admit, ever since the introduction of jangang and the imperial order and it's clear allusion to communist china (i mean, he even describes them like the mongolians or possibly the turks), i could see where this was going. a whole other nation exactly like the imperial order was just overkill. when he isn't beating the same dead horse for 5-600 pages, he spends the remaining pages trying to shock readers with blatantly obvious plot twists. that is, when he isn't describing fights with the races, the most inconsequential and idiotic manifestation of goodkind's imagination yet. all they do is come and get killed by richard. they achieve nothing, other then fill a few hundred pages of not very engaging action.
not to mention this book simply makes it all the more obvious where the series is moving on a whole. with constant references to the disappearnce of magic (with zedd's oh-so subtle insight as to the 'end of an era'), it becomes obvious that jangang will lose, yet magic will still die out, but people will live on in their freedom to exist as they are born, as jennsen is constantly used to highlight. this series pretty much lost all it's realism with the introduction of a human villain.
oh and one last thing. that whole 10page elongated description of kahlan simply taking another person? it got old after the first book.

I'm not going to get in a rant here about how much of his personal philosophy he has jammed into this book, since there are many other reviews here that have already done that. To be short and sweet: The series started out AWESOME, I devoured the first half of the series, not minding his occasional lectures on philosophy. Then, after half way through, the lectures started to get longer, and longer, and longer. Now, in the Naked Empire, you will literally come across many sections that have 15+ pages of his opinion on life. This book has bored me too much to go onto the others, which is a shame, the series was SO good...

yeah, im being generous by giving this 2 stars. i like this series, but this book is just really bad. the only reason i didnt give it a 1 is because the badguy nicholas the slide is pretty awesome. other than that, this book is awful. this is where terry really just went overboard with shoving his philosophy down the reader's throat. before in the other novels, i could bare it, because it was mostly disguised, or he was more focused on the story, but in naked empire, he really lost it. this book was bad. but! atleast the one after it is good.

Ok, I have been reading, and to be honest re-reading this enitire series since the beginning. Great story lines, great characters. I even loved the Pillars of Creation. It seemed like a great way to branch out and explore other characters without ruining the whole story line.
In this book however, I think that Terry falls prey to what many artists have fallen prey to in the last couple of years..a reaction to 9-11. Using his medium to work out how he feels about what happened, and how he feels we as a people should react. It wasn't bad, just repetitive. I think that if I hadn't already had a good sense of the characters and had their personalities fixed in my head, I would not have finished this book, because there was not a lot of additional development that took place.
But I still had to find out what happened, and toward the end of the book, things picked up and we were back in the saddle again.
So, hopefully all of Terry's feelings have been worked through, and in the next book maybe there won't be so much time spent philosophizing? Philosophy is not a bad thing, however sometimes we just want a good sword fight. Although if you enjoyed the views expressed in this book, may I recommend Ayn Rand's 'The Virtue of Selfishness'.
p.s. in one previous review, someone mentioned that his views were Republican? harrumph...maybe you should spend some time reviewing your political history.

Thank goodness! After Pillars of Creation, I thought maybe we were going to have to endure another book about finding more of Richards long lost relatives. (they seem to be all over the dang place) But Mr. Goodkind comes up big for his faithful readers in this one. It has alot of action, alot of thrills, and all the main characters are back. We get to see Richard and Kahlan struggle against the Imperial order, and free a whole civilization of misguided zealots. pretty cool huh? The only thing I didn't like, is it seemed his main characters seemed to repeat themselves alot, which is a drag, I mean the book is 600 pages and I think if Goodkind wouldn't have made Richard and Kahlan make the same speeches over and over and (i'm sorry to say) over, it probably could have been under 500. But all in all it was an excellent read, as we got to see Zedd get into and out of trouble, with the help of Chase and Rachel of all people, and we finally get to see the prophet Nathan kick some fanny! So I highly suggest if your a fan of the Sword of Truth, to pick this one up, you won't be disappointed.

Having loved the first 4 books in the series I had high hopes that Goodkind might have learned to refrain from pushing his political/social views and focus on giving his loyal readers a great story and great writing. Unfortunately not. This time it isn't "greed is good" but that "might is right". Although I might disagree with his extreme and simplistic preaching on these topics , that isn't the real problem. The fact is he lets it get in the way of telling the story and developing the characters. You also can't help but wonder if Goodkind isn't a serious misogynist - the female characters are timid or stupid or as an alternative evil.
It's a shame to see a story and series that left me eagerly awaiting the next installment - reduced to something I almost dread to read. Shame on you Mr Goodkind.

Well what can I say. There were some nice action sequences, the plot was original, and there is some character development.
But the problem is that all of Goodkind's characters are seemingly invincible! He has not killed off a single main character in any of his books, and this is no exception. He describes Richard as feeling weak throughout the book, but whenever he fights, trained soldiers feeling fit as a fiddle are still no match, despite the fact he cannot draw the Sword of Truth's power!
Good enough to satisfy my Goodkind cravings (Pillars of Creation did NOT count) for awhile...

Then again, it's not much of a chalange.
A book full of meaningless words would be better than "Pillars of Creation", and this book is not far from being just that...

Some people complained about the goat, I only wish it was the goat that made me bash my head over and over again while reading this book.
Like most people, i think that the endless preaching ruined the book. I have no problem with a book that has a philisophical idea, but that was not an idea that is given in a story, that is an idea that is shoved down the throat.
I could forgive and forget if the preachin would have any sense in it, but even that was lacking. I'm FAR from being a pacifist and yet I could find better arguments han the ones used by the pathetic pacifistic civilization in the story.

In addition to that, the problem in the entire series is the quick changes in the characters, the magic and the world itself.
Richard starts in the first book as a woods guide, in the second to a wizard, in the third he is already an emperor and in this book he "realizes" he's even stronger than most wizards in the old times. I will not be surprised if by the tenth book he will become God.
Same error repeats itself in the magic, a powerful magic in one book becomes useless compares to the one that appears in the next book.

In other words, the only reason I keep buying those books is the faith that it can't get any worse (which turns to be false).
It's too late for me, save yourselves, avoid this book!

BTW: for all of those who claim the writing style haven't changed at all since the first book (if I understood correctly, that includes Terry himself). please take a minute to imagine something:
Imagine you are reading "Wizard's First Rule" for the first time.
Imagine you reach the chapter where Richard confronts Denna after turning his sword white.
Now imagine Richard spending 3 hours and 30 pages to explain Denna why he is going to kill her, why is it justified and how different it is from murder.
Still think it's the same style?

I felt like I was reading an unedited rough draft written by a high school student. The writing is totally unfocused and his grammar is terrible! (He should fire his editor!) Im not usually a stickler for these things, but the writing is so terrible this time that I felt it was my moral obligation to write an online review. Book 1 - 4 was fun to read and the story was interesting. What happened to book 8???!!!!

The story starts out with no compelling mystery. Goodkind doesn't reiterate previous events in an interesting manner (he sort of inserts past events here and there, but the way he does it is confusing. And I've READ all the other 7 books.) The way he describes the characters and scenary is boring at best. Things that could have been said in one paragraph is stretched into an entire chapter. It was like reading a repetitive science textbook. BLAH!

Don't buy this book, just borrow it from the library and see for yourself. If you still really like it, then buy a used copy.

I have read the whole of the SOT series. In the Pillars of Creation, Terry Goodkind hit the bottom. In The Naked Empire, he started to dig. I read the book but out of a morbid curiosity to see how much lecturing I could endure. The plot hardly moves on and is punctuated by frequent moralising speeches by Richard, who seems to have picked up a serious education for a Woodsman. Mr Goodkind either seems to have hit a mental block about how to carry the story forward, or else has given up caring about his loyal fan base and just wants to wring as much money as possible from them by sacrificing quality for quantity (has he been speaking to Robert Jordan?). Since the plot is one dimensional, I was looking to the characters to provide some interest. Sadly, most of them seem to have moved backwards. Only Zed and Adie provoke any emotion. Richard has been turned into a monster, his sister remains an idiot, and Kahlan gets capured for the umpteenth time.

Depressed by what has become of the SOT plot, I have turned to the Deathstalker series. A lot more laughs and a much better story.

It took me nearly 6 months to finish Naked Empire. I kept picking it up and then putting it back down. It was a lot like Crichton and King's latest works. You have to fight through 1/3-1/2 of the book of boring clutter to get to the good stuff.

I'm not a big fan of fantasy. I've read almost all the Sword of Truth series (I'm 5 chapters into Chainfire), and all 11 of the Wheel of Time series. I really enjoyed both, but Goodkind has fallen into a totally predictable formula. First he finds a way to render Richard, Kahlan and Cara's powers useless. Second he seperates Richard and Kahlan. Third, he threatens Richard's life somehow. Fourth, Richard finds something from the past to help him. Fifth, he slaughters a crapload of Imperial Order troops. Sixth, he makes a stunning discovery that is so simple, he is embarassed that he never saw it (why he just runs off after Kahlan and never sits down to think things through, I'll never get. Is he the Seeker of Truth or the Seeker of Kahlan?) Seventh, he rescues Kahlan all the while letting Jagang conquer that much more territory. It's been the same in almost all the novels. Richard might as well not be a wizard for all the good his powers do him. Why make him one at all? I've gone too far to quit now, but I am glad that Goodkind is promising to finish the series in 2 or three more books! If you are thinking of starting this series, I'll warn you, They are great at first, but the farther you go, the harder they are to finish!

Wasn't the same person who wrote the first five books. Terry Goodkind needs a un-reality check. I read fantasy for a reason and that is to be entertained. Not to be bored to death with constant philosophical preaching of what is easily seen as the writers current views of todays problems. If he wants to lecture go on tour or teach at a college but save his book characters from permanent damage of being so very boring. If you take out the constant lectures of current morality and the 300 pages of plot review that you already know if your a fan; you get about 150 pages of good reading out of 600. I say shame on Terry's publisher for letting him publish this horrible book; when Mr Goodkind is such a good writer as we've seen from his earlier novels. I just hope he gets it together for the next book, but I won't be buying hardback.

I own all the Sword of Truth books and I love them all! True to the typical Terry Goodkind style of writing, this book is full of the kind of stuff we've all come to expect from him. Unfortunately, though, the plotline suffers sometimes from his over-use of details. In a few places, he goes on for pages describing Kahlan using her power or how Richard uses the Sword of Truth, which, for those of us die-hard Goodkind fans, don't need to be explained in such depth. It almost makes it boring when you reach those parts. Other times, though, the story is exciting and I could hardly pull myself away. Over all, it's a good story, if you don't mind the occasional rambling of Richard, as well as the author.

Unfortunately Terry Goodkind has become tedious and repetitive. A story line that once was new and refreshing is now becoming old and needs to be put to rest. Borrowing from the style of Dean Kuntz the passion for suspense is overbearing and stifling at times. It feels as if the story is being drawn out and the "good coming from behind" is once again played out. If you get this book feel free to skim it. You will get about the same as if you read the whole thing.

Is anybody tired of the "Jordan/Goodkind" race yet? Which author will be the first to blink and say I have milked this enough?. I think Mr. Goodkind has blinked. "The Sword of Truth" could have been included as a side episode in any one of the preceeding titles. Unless you desire to maintain the continuity of the series on your bookshelf; wait to borrow this book from such a person and then read it if there is absolutely nothing else for you to read. Robert Jordan must have called Goodkind and provided pointers in how to write next to nothing under a grand title.

The bottom line is this: I was entertained, it made me think, it made me laugh at times, I eagerly await the next book so that I can find out what happens to the characters I have come to know in this series. I see many reviews that slag the author for getting preachy or for milking the series for all its worth. Let's put the preaching into perspective. Did anyone ever see the movie "Rain Man"? Remember how annoying Tom Cruise was in the beginning of the movie, because he just didn't get it? By the end of the movie, he is redeemed. Both Jensen and the empire, Richard is about to discover, are in need of some serious hardcore preaching. It was necessary in order to bring about the conclusion of the book, otherwise, the conclusion would be unsupportable. Many have complained that Goodkind relies too much on gratuitus violence to bring the reader in. This time, he went cerebral on us. You can't please everyone. For those of you who like gore, there was still plenty. There are also appearances from some old friends. I was wondering how they were getting on. Now I know. As far as Goodkind milking the series, I would say to you "if you are enjoying it, then why do you want it to end?" If you're not enjoying it, stop reading and make up your own ending. This series has become like a TV Series with each book introducing a new set of characters and a new problem which must be resolved on the way to resolving the problem of the Imperial Order. Rome wasn't built in a day, and Richard is going to need a lot of help before he can defeat the Imperial Order. I still want to here more of what this author has to say and don't feel cheap or manipulated becaus of it. What's wrong with that? Finally, I would say that with this book in particular, you're going to need to be patient with it. There is a lot of set building going on in the first half. The second half is easier reading.

Terry Goodkind is a wonderful author and after writing The Wizards First Rule he became know and big player in the "fantasy industry". He wrote amazing books about heroic character on one epic adventure to another. But after writing The Blood of the Fold the quality of his books slowly decreased. I almost expected his new one to be good, and it easily could have been. It was all set up so he could write about the raging war (that he has been postponing in his recent books) or about Richard learning more about his Gift and how to be at the full potential of a War Wizard. But no. He made the whole book about Richard, Kalhan, Jennson, Tom, Cara, and a goat; and their "adventure" walking up from the Pillards of Creation, with the "scary" Black Tipped Races after them. And then after 300 pages of that, someone poisons Richard so he would come and free their Bandacar empire of the Imperial Order. Only to find out that they are "blind to see evil" and will not fight under any conditions. So wise and noble Richard has to convince them that there is evil in the world and you must fight against it. So then 50 of the citizens of Bandacar and Richard and his little gang free the worthless empire of the imposing Imperial Order. Very exciting! (In case you missed that, it was sarcasm). I believe Terry has a skill for writing about the "fantasy wars" and battles, so he should focus more on them. For the like 1 chapter he focused on the D'haren Empire fighting against the Imperial Order, the book kinda sped up a bit, but then that was it and no more battles. As I was reading the bit about the battles I was really hoping that for the rest of the book he would focus on it. It was a horrible book and TOR never should have published it. The only way I would ever reading any more of Terry's books is if I want to read 1-6 or 7 of the series or if he smartens up and writes a final book of the series about the huge war between the great D'haren Empire of the imposing Imperial Order. that promises to be spectacular(so I hope). So for now I wonder why the heck I wasted $20 on this book and I will be praying tonight that one of the worlds(I would think) best fantasy writers will come to his senses and write like he used to. Write like all his millions of fans, fell in love with. Oh ya, GET RID OF THE STUPID FRICKEN GOAT FOR GODS SAKE!!! I really whish the sausage lady at the Peoples Palace would have made sausages with it when she had the chance.

Well, I really did learn something from this book. I used to be a dyed-in-the-wool pacifist but now I have seen the light and I am thinking for myself. Here is what I'm thinking, I'm thinking that authors who hook their audiences into a series with a few excellent books and then proceed to write a bunch of self-indulgent trash are wasting my hard earned time and money. These authors are evil people! And from this book I've learned that it is my moral obligation to murder all evil people :) So watch your backs Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan, I hope you don't sleep too well because you know I'm coming after you with a bloody axe or perhaps just a sharpened stake...

I had already thought about stopping after reading "Pillars of Creation", which was overall a rather nice book, until Jenssen suddenly has that Richard-clone speach at the end. However, after having read 7 books of this series I still wished to give the 8th one a try. After 6 chapters I stopped reading, and this is why: for 7 books, Goodkind was able to get the action started and the main chars in life-threating danger by the end of chapter 2. In this book, all that happens in the first 6 chapters is the chars walking around, talking and exlaining all the greatness of Richard and his view to Jenssen, and two obnoxious baby goats getting killed by some predator birds. Also no Zedd in these chapters. :(

It seems as though Terry Goodkind had trouble with 2 things recently: 1) he didn't know how to combine a moral message he considers important with the storyline, and 2) he was having trouble thinking of new (and "fresh") problems for Richard and Kahlan. Goodkind is truly an amazing author, and I feel that this book is a testament that the fire is not out of him yet. While I would still rank WFR, SOT, and TOTW over this book, it is the most energetic and engaging book he has written in some time. I would go so far as to say that chapter 53 (I'll stay vague so as not to spoil it) was my favorite single chapter of all time. Terry Goodkind found a second wind with this book, and was able to make an exciting and believable conflict, while still expressing a strong moral conviction. Some great plot twists. Definitely worth reading, even if you've become disillusioned by his last 3 books.

Violence begets violence! Blah, blah, blah! Piffle and snot! What ever happened to sci-fi fantasy for fantasy's sake? What's with Richard preaching for page after page to these dimwitted morons? I get it, already. I got it the first time Richard explained the need for righteous violence and self-preservation. No need to keep repeating the same message, over and over, throughout this boring tome.
You are losing me, Terry. I took this book on vacation with me, looking forward to an improvement over PoC. Boy, do I have SUCKER written on my forehead. Please don't tell me you are taking your "sci-fi fantasy series writing" tips from Robert Jordan. He hit bottom and then started digging.
Don't do it, Terry. Put the shovel down and step away from the pile of crap that you are digging into. You will pass Mr. Jordan on the way down, if you are not careful.
Your reputation as a respectable writer is worth much more than the money your are trying to milk out of this series.

I started the Sword of Truth series with uncertainty. I hadn't read a fantasy novel in a while, but I was working in the same town Goodkind lived in and had heard by word of mouth that they were a pretty good read. I haven't stopped reading him since. The world of Richard and Kahlan had a depth and honesty to it that I simply could not put down. Reading his books became highly anticipatory events in my life--like waiting for Christmas when you're a child.
I tried to like his latest book--I tried very, very hard. I wanted to like it, but it was as empty and naked as the title. I actually regret reading it. It was a total waste of time. I got so disgusted with the main character Richard preaching to the people of the Naked Empire over and over and over again---was it really necessary for the reader to have to hear it EVERY time? It was exhausting! Even the excitement of Richard getting poisined was ruined because in the back of my head I was screaming "Die! Put everyone out of their misery, you holier-than-thou cultist." Goodkind's characters have lost their challenges, their three-dimensionality, their life-like concerns and behaviors. They have become too perfect and self-righteous to care about. He has put them on this pedestal where none of us mere readers can truly appreciate their experiences. Even seven solid books behind this one isn't enough to float it along. I say skip it. You won't miss much. Richard frees another society that was bound only by their own inability to see the truth until he came along. The End. Oh yeah, Zed and Adie get kidnapped briefly but they get rescued at the end of the book like a last minute thought. I'm not sure I'll read another--not unless Goodkind gets off his soapbox and concentrates on real writing--if I wanted to learn a lesson or get preached to, I'd buy the bible.

To be honest, as harsh as it sounds I would have to say that this book really isn't up to the standard of Goodkind's previous works. The reviews of Goodkind's books seem to be incredibly controversial but please keep in mind that people will like or dislike different elements. For me though I have to say Goodkind's forays down the road of philosophy and moral behaviour are just getting too intense for me.

Like many of reviewers on this book I'm an avid fantasy reader having read many of the greats of both past and contemporary novels, and what I appreciate most is a good story. For me that is what the genre is all about, a work of imagination where you can enjoy the characters and in some way experience a different world through them.

`Naked Truth' and its most recent novels preceding, all seem intent on creating a microcosm of this world and instructing us all on the proper way to think and behave. Whereas in the first few books of series Richard was likeable to the point of being adorable and yet had his faults, he's now becoming sanctimonious. He seems to be elevated to the point of sainthood revealing some higher truth, and frankly Jennsen and that ridiculous goat irritate me to the point of frustration. I despaired at reading `Pillars of Creation' and tended to skip pages of self pitying anguish or redundant dialogue.

How long will Richard arguably the most powerful wizard for thousands of years which we are frequently reminded of, remain in complete ignorance and yet be so incredibly intelligent and intuitive?! Will Kahlan and Richard continue to be separated at every turn? If I was either I probably would have given up or committed suicide by now because I don't think a person could take as much as they do, no matter how heroic.

And yet I continue to read Goodkind's novels and will probably continue to till the culmination of the series, in hope that they will return to their former glory. Please don't let this put you off his other books in the series- the first three, and perhaps the fourth and fifth too, are artful and amazing stories with excellent characters. Just don't take for granted an enjoyable, return to form narrative (though undoubtedly insightful) in `Naked Empire'.

I got this book from the library and I am glad I did. Goodkind spends so much time preaching the same sermon about violence that the amount of actual action is reduced. There are some exciting moments but not many. I agree with those who found the Zedd sections more interesting than the Richard ones; they are. Follow my example and get it from the library if you think you need to read it.

The good news is: Richard and company are back (unlike POC); unfortunately, there is no new ground covered. The story takes far too long to get going. Then, it falls into the same old story line that filled the pages of previous books. Moreover, since TOW, the books have become less Fantasy and more political explorations with Fantasy overtones. Gone are the great story telling and fantasy. The SOT series is starting to go the way of the Wheel of Time series. Goodkind is a great writer and I wish he'd write something on par with WFR or SOT again. Worth a read for die-hard fans.

I began reading this series shortly after the first book was published. At the same time, Robert Jordan was a few books deep into "The Wheel of Time". I was ecstatic that two such incredible series could have been released bringing new life to the genre that hadn't been seen since Feist's "Magician" books.

The first three books in "The Sword of Truth" were just incredible. Book Four was pretty good. Books five and six were okay (but should have been released directly to trade-paperback, as neither were worth thirty dollars). Book seven was just plain horrible. Besides the stupid goat, here was my biggest problem with seven: "Hi, I'm Richard. I'm the most powerful wizard to walk the earth in over a thousand years. I'm smart, moral, and tough. Unfortunately, after SEVEN LARGE NOVELS, I STILL HAVE YET TO LEARN MAGIC." Are you serious?

Anyway, this review is supposed to be about book eight. Well, here's my problem with book eight: I can't finish it. I've had it since it came out, and have attempted to read it at least half a dozen times, and I can not make it through this book. Zed, Kahlan, and Richard are arguably the three most powerful people alive in this series. Zed has countless years of war-time experience, Kahlan was trained in military tactics practically from birth, and Richard is supposed to be intuitive to the point of precognition. It should take some serious talent and planning to defeat this triumvirate, instead they are consistently outmaneuvered by some cheap Freddie Kreuger knock-off (Jagang) or some stupid peasants.

I am now convinced that Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan have decided to see exactly how poor quality books they can release before people quit buying them. I have to finish WOT because I've already invested over three hundred dollars into that series. Granted, Jordan can manage to write seven hundred pages in which NOTHING happens, but as angry as it makes me, at least I can finish it.

I'm done with the Sword of Truth series. I will not be buying Chainfire, or whatever book nine is called. Instead I will stick with George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire". Now that is how fantasy should be written.

I hope I hear that the stupid goat gets killed though.

Goodkind has build up a lot of goodwill with me resulting from his good writing in past books in this series. However, there are limits. This book is far too preachy, the plot is unlikely even in a fantasy world, and his main charactre Richard, is not very likeable in this book. It was bad enough that I am not even going to bother to spell check this review.

I read Wizard's First Rule several years ago, and was so enthralled that I finished it in about two days. The world was interesting, if not fully fleshed-out, the villain (and his chief henchman) were despicable and terrifying, and the hero was, well, heroic- in addition to being resourceful and dedicated. The plot was gripping and intricate, and the readers are given the satisfaction of seeing the enemy's power turned against him to his destruction. An incredible start to any series, even if many elements were familiar to any fantasy reader; Richard's previous isolation from the world at large, his latent magical ability, and his parentage are all somewhat cliche, but forgivable in the greater scope of the novel.

Seven books later, Goodkind shows considerable regression in his ability to create a compelling story. Ever since Blood of the Fold, the books have ended with deus ex machinae, usually in the form of Richard suddenly realizing what he needs to do, though once in the form of a swarm of giant flying monster-eating monsters (you heard me) and once in the form of peasant uprising. Worse than that, however, is his treatment of his own main character. I'm not sure quite when the change occurred, but Richard has gone from the hero he was to an irresponsible, hypocritical, holier-than-thou manchild.

Let me explain. He is irresponsible because despite being the emperor of D'hara, he abandons his people to go back home and escape from the world to live with his wife. Sure, I can understand why he wants to do this, but it's hardly heroic to flee the war and hide from your responsibilities- and the emperor of an empire at war has plenty. His hypocrisy and holier-than-thou attitiude are fairly self-evident, especially during the long chapters of preaching through Naked Empire.

Although not specifically related to Naked Empire, Richard's failure to bring about the demise of the Imperial Order also irks me, especially because he doesn't even seem to be working towards such an end. At the end of Faith of the Fallen, Richard had dealt a serious blow to Jagang's rule by winning a significant portion of Jagang's population to his side, in addition to taking a strategically valuable city. But then, as we're shown when he finally shows up at the end of Pillars of Creation, he just wandered off afterwards, claiming that "it's not [his] fight."

Stalling and several books of build-up I can put up with (After all, I've read all eleven Wheel of Time books and am eagerly awaiting the twelfth- Knife of Dreams was phenomenal, especially after the previous three) but the subversion of a once-likable hero for whom I cheered into such an infantile superman is unforgivable on Goodkind's part. I'd like to give him another chance, but I haven't been able to work up the nerve to read Chainfire after the atrocity that was Naked Empire.

As an avid fantasy reader and self-proclaimed dork, I must add my two cents about this story. I enjoyed this installment particularly because it spared us of MOST of the rather graphic rituals, rape scenes, etc. that were prevalent in the first seven books. Also, we didn't have to suffer the agony of having Richard and Kahlan separated for extended periods of time. That being said, I must admit that there were (many) times when Richard got very, very long-winded. One simply wants to yell, "Shut up Richard! We get the point! The Commies (aka "The Order") are trying to take over the world!" After reading the first three or four of his sermons in their entirety, I realized that he said more or less the same thing each time and thus I would skim those parts to get to the good parts: the action scenes, plot twists, etc.

Also, there were times when things were just a little unbelievable, even for fantasy. I mean, come on! (Warning: little plot reveal ahead)

Who would hide the antidotes all over the Bandakar empire?!? Lets use a little common sense here, people! Nothing can be easy, apparently. (ok, rant over- whew!)

Nonetheless, I did greatly enjoy this book. I felt that it had a suprisingly riveting plot and it didn't move to slowly (if you skimmed the sermons) as to loose me. It was also fairly easy to follow, unlike some of the previous books. All in all, it's a good book. I must admit that I am looking forward to the next one. :)

Naked Empire follows up Pillars of Creation with the story of Richard, his new found sister Jennesen, Kahlan and a goat, and their journey into a place previously sealed off behind yet another Boundry. Meanwhile back in the Midlands, Zedd, Adie, and Verna are holding Jagang's forces at bay as the Imperial Order threatens to reduce people to nothing more than slaves.
Having been a little confused by Pillars of Creation, it was good to see that Goodkind once has decided to start this story with Richard and then keep the main plot on him. Searching for a cure as well as a reason to explain the headaches that have plagued him throughout the SoT series, this story is more about Richard and his ideals than anything else.
Some have called this book preachy, and I will agree that at times it does get a little annoying to hear Richard repeat the same thing over and over again the to the Bandakar. But, reason it out. The Bandakar are a different trial than the people of the midlands, and it is neccesary for Richard to be as "preachy" as he is. This does not detract from the novel.If anything, it enhances the ideas as well as shows that Richard can take up politics when he needs to...and win.
Similarly, this is contrasted by Jagang and his continued use of Magic (despite wanting it destroyed) in a wonderful clash of contrasts in ideas. It also ties Jagang to Richard and foreshadows things to come.
Goodkind continues his tradition of world building as he delves into what else the ancient wizards created (having already met Mirswith, Gars, and Conffessors among others)in the invention of Nicholas the Slide. Quite frankly, Nicholas is the most delightfully evil villain I have seen in quite awhile. Compared to him Jagang is almost human. Goodkind also delves more into how Richards mind, and thus the Sword of Truth, works. The worlds detail is fleshed out in the exploration of Richards sister Jennesen as a Pillar of Creation as well as the items of the famed Wizards keep.

There was a time that Terry Goodkind wrote fantasy.
He had an interesting premise, his characters were well drawn, and well defined. His vision was vivid, and his dialogue was believable. I honestly enjoyed the first couple of yarns in the SoT series. Forget all that.
When I first read Pillars of Creation, i was dumbfounded. Where the hell were the main characters, the people i had come to interact with for the last 6 books? I honestly do no care for Jennsen and her personal problems. The character struck me as flat, foolish, naive and extremely annoying. Betty did not help.
NE continues in this tradition. Richard is becoming more and more flat as the tale continues. He has become an archetype that upholds a worldview that is frankly, ridiculous. Yes, there is a time for action, but the unquestioned brutality he enspouses is ludicrous. When he hacked into a peacefully protesting crowd, I lost all sympathy. One thing has become clear, the man has no value for human life. The other characters likewise continue their devolution.
Furthermore, the dialogue is absolutely terrible. Constant speeches that do not make sense given the context of the setting, a complete redundancy, stilted and extremely awkward phrasing abound. And worst of all, these unrousing, uninspired speeches magically convince all who hear it.
The plot too is flat. The first 300 pages are excrutiatingly slow moving, while the last handful of chapters rush through a Deus ex Machina ending that feels sadly forced. It is simply not believable.
The world is not black and white, and in order for fiction to believed, it needs to have an internal consistency. G.R.R. Martin manages this beautifully, with characters neither pure nor evil, each of whom are readily believable. Here instead we have an Imperial Order that is completely inhuman in its ferocity. Victorious armies can rape and pillage for a day, because they have a home to return to. Here the Old World is as ravaged as the New. Simply put, it cannot be conceived that such a force can arise preying on the people that make it.
Also, scenes such as when Nicholas has his way are completely unnecessary. Yes, if it advanced the plot it could be tolerated, but it is so superflous that it seems rather the venting of the twisted notions of the author rather than the actions of a believable character. Simply speaking, if you want to make him bad, this is not the way to do it. What makes a great villain (such as Hannibal Lector) evil isnt mindless brutality, rather it is the subtle air of decay that is prevalent in all of his actions, a sense of moral perversion that is limited and in scale. If Dr. LEctor went on a killing spree slaughtering thousands, he would become far less chilling.
The worst faux pas committed here though is the ridiculous amount of summary. Every chapter it seems has pages of past information to wallow through, followed by Goodkind's stilted philosophy.
Simply, it is not worth it. I had to take the book in small doses, anything more and I became disgusted by how badly it was compiled.
Read it if you must, but be warned.
And to echo another reviewer, for god's sake, kill the damn goat.

I've got a problem that I think most of the people who have made it this far in the series share: I'm hooked. No matter how bad the last book was, I'm gonna buy the new one in hardcover simply because I don't have the patience to wait for it in paperback.
Having said that. I'm glad I came back and read this one. I was not at all impressed with POC and it kinda left a bad taste in my mouth, but Naked Empire was a joy to read. The main characters and back and the struggle continues. Richard and Khalan are winning friends and influencing people as usual and Zedd and Adie are back, as are Nathan and Ann. You see a Sister here and there and Mord-sith are all over (but where the hell is Gratch? ;-) )
Overall, I highly recommend it. It's a quick read. Knock it out in a weekend. Goodkind has once again risen to the top of the genre with his latest.

Please stop the whiny characters (Jen and all the pristinely ungifted, except Oba (or whatever his name was)). I can't take it any more. Goodkind has so many wonderful concepts for his characters, but has gone astray in managing them. A little philosiphising is fine, but these endless streams of political/moral pablum get wearisome. I like the central cast of characters, but the recent additions are progressively weaker at inspiring interest. I agree with a previous review, how large is Jagang's army, and how on earth does he maintain and army that can lose millions and barely notice it. He would need an army that large in a constant caravan of supplies just to feed the horde. Considering the level of technology in his world, it is hardly feasible. I wish TG would get back to his earlier style of writing; back when I enjoyed his books. I am disappointed in this series at this point. I hope TG rights the ship. BTW..the gift mixing a potion was way beyond a shred of conceivable.

At the end of the 6th book, "Faith of the Fallen", I was actually EXCITED about a book, and couldn't wait for the next one. The 7th book, "The Pillars of Creation", was well written, but it disapointed in that it deviated so much from the storyline (Richard and Kahlan don't appear until very near the end of the book). It does, however, ultimately introduce a new plot line (people who are totaly separate from Magic) which is advanced in the 8th book, "Naked Empire".
"Naked Empire" has the kernel of a decent novel, if you can get past the sermons. There are places where I got tired of the preaching and skipped whole pages. The bad thing is that I actually AGREE with most of the points; I just don't want to read pages and pages of empasioned explanations and justifications of them.
Just like the 7th book, the ultimate plot line is only slightly advanced. Actually, the 7th and 8th books could probably have been combined fairly easily. I'd recommend borrowing this book from a friend or buying a used book before investing in a good-quality hardcover for your collection. Some people really liked it. I didn't.

This review may be somewhat redundant compared with the other ones that are already there, but I have to get rid of my feelings about this book.
After being a passionate reader of all the other books of the SoT cycle, I also bought 'Naked Empire'. While in parts written with the good style and quality we know from the rest of the cycle, I'm more than disappointed about the message of the book and the development of the main character.
Richard, who was once a nice guy who hated violence and killing and did it only when absolutely necessary, is now becoming such a morale sink that I sometimes nearly got sick reading the book.
In elaborate, elongated and often repeating monologues, he preaches the freedom to do violence without thinking or restrain. He orders his men to attack an unarmed crowd, because they "have sided with the enemy". At the end, he comes to the glorious conclusion that he doesn't even have to feel guilty for any killing he does, as long as he personnaly thinks that it was right.
Dear Mr. Goodkind, I recommend you to go to war and experience it on your own, before continuing your work. As for myself, you have just lost a reader.

This installment of the Sword of Truth series is much more enjoyable, to me, then the previous book (Pillars of Creation), though it is still beanth what I feel is the best of his work, Faith of the Fallen. Honestly the biggest flaw in this book would be the resolution, a little too "Deux ex Machine" for my taste.
If you read the last book, and aren't scared to come back to the series, I would recommend reading this book. Maybe not buying it, but definately worth dusting off the old library card.

What is this?? It's 667 pages of repetitive nothingness. I can't believe how much detail went into describing absolutely nothing. Between the three pages describing how Kahlans' use of her power and Richard spouting the same philosophy for half the book I prayed that the book would burst into flames so that I wouldn't have to keep reading it. Does anybody else find it stupid that Richard was able to turn an entire race of people away from all their deepest beliefs in a matter of a week??? Come on now, really. Do you expect us as faithful fans to actually swallow bile like that?? I can honestly say that I will never read one of his books again because of this one and Pillars of Creation. I think he is just writing books, not to tell an incredible story, but to make as much money as possible. He's turning into Robert Jordan. I wouldn't recommend this book to me most hated of nemisis. Mostly because they aren't able to read a book of this size and doesn't rhyme, but that's beside the point. Goodkind, you are officially on my "Worst Writers Ever" list, right next to David Eddings.

I have finally found time to catch up on both the SoT and the WOT series. Now having worked my way through Book 8 of SoT and Book 9 of WoT, I am determined to end my own series in 5, possibly 6, books.

Ok about "Naked Empire." I enjoyed the parts with Zedd and Nathan and Chase. And it was good that Adie was back in the story. Those vibrant charaters basically saved the book. Having said that, the book could have easily been reduced by 200 - 250 pages. All authors, myself included, tend to inject our life phlosophies into our stories. Unfortunately, TG went overboard in Naked Empire. I found myself skipping over Richard's pedantic preaching. Hopefully TG will rediscover his story-telling abilities in Book 9.

well, i'll give all you reviewers this: you're right, this book wasn't one of his best. the plot was very similar to the other books and the philosophy wasn't up to his normal standards. but really! if you don't like this you may as well give up on goodkind completely. this is how he writes and thats not going to change.
i liked this book. it may not have been the best yet, but it was good. to those complaining that the series doesn't end, how would you honestly feel if it did? this book goes deeper into the characters feelings and what they believe in. it shows what will become of the world if the order should win, why they think their cause is worth fighting for.
if you don't like this book, fine. but don't go saying terry goodkind is slipping. writing is hard, and putting in philosophy is even harder. as i said, this wasn't the best, but i think it was worth the read and i'm eagerly anticipating the 9th book.

I am first off a huge Goodkind fan, and I have read every one of his books. This book however, is by far the worst in the series. The plot is nothing more then a thin vehicle for what has to be the most boring preaching I have ever read in a book. As other reviewers have mentioned, the world and characters Terry has created are wonderful, and full of promise. This book makes me wonder if we will ever see any of that promise fullfilled. If you have read previous books in this serious, you can skip this book -- you won't miss a thing in regards to the underlying plot created by the other books. If you are new to Goodkind, go read the first few books. This one stinks.

This novel is seriously "overwritten." The story is up to TK's standard, but it is repetitive and preachy. Drawing heavily on Ayn Rand, which is no problem for me, the book reads as if he were being paid by the word, and is pushing it hard. A good editor could cut the book's length by half without disturbing the story. It does, however bear as a strong resemblance to the current conflicts in the Middle East.

I have been an avid fan of the Sword of Truth series since the debut of Wizard's First Rule. Each and every time Mr. Goodkind has released a new novel I have been completely absorbed into the world he has woven. The multitude of well rounded, intelligent characters is the backbone of the series in my opinion.
This is why the never ending rants about Pillars of Creation is extremely upseting. So many people are upset that the book focused on secondary characters rather than Richard and Kahlan. This makes no sense to me. Of course we love to watch Richard and Kahlan on their adventures, however, the world Mr. Goodkind has created has a great deal more depth than two individual characters. With that in mind I will first state that I truly enjoyed Pillars of Creation.
Now on to Naked Empire. I enjoyed this novel a great deal because it utilized four individual storylines woven together. When we look back, Pillars of Creation involved two, as did Faith of the Fallen. I personally enjoy the multiple storylines in Naked Empire which resemble those in WFR, SOT, BOTF, and TOTW. The "preachiness" which so many are so fast to condemn does not stand out that much to me at all. I realize there are a few times Richard goes off on a long speech, but I didn't think it was nearly as much as Faith of the Fallen.
While Richard and Kahlan's particular storyline in this novel is relatively predictable as many have said, I feel the storyline with Zedd and Adie is very surprising and exciting. This was by far my favorite part of this novel. Especially because a long missing character returns! One of the most exciting moments in the last four books in my opinion.
In any case, I loved Naked Empire. I though it was exciting, fun, and relatively free of plot holes. If you truly didn't enjoy this I think you are missing something when you read or you are just so bound and determined to hold WFR and SOT in some special higher place that you refuse to find the good in Terry's new novels. Whatever the case I wish you luck. I highly recommend this novel to anyone and everyone.

There are no spoilers since there is nothing to spoil.

This isn't really a novel. This is an absurd rant against pacifists and religion disguised as a fantasy story.

Richard Rahl has become one of the most annoying characters I have yet to encounter in any fantasy book. He breaks off into monologues that accomplish absolutely nothing in moving the plot forward and serve merely to serve as a platform for Terry Goodkind's rightwing philosophy. Minor characters are deliberately made into moronic idiots in order for Richard to start another long, grand speech about the glories of Objectivism. When this happened for the 5th time I wanted to cry. Long, bad speeches do not belong in a fiction novel.

The Bandakar should be renamed the straw men. Goodkind deliberately constructs an impossible and absurd society in order to make his philosophy seem more compelling and his arguments more solid.

Oh, and the ending is the most blatant example of Deus Ex Machina ever. Bar none. Give me a 0 star rating and I'd apply it instantly.

When I started reading Goodkind's SoT series, I was not impressed. The first book, Wizards First Rule, seemed to be a long-winded escapade through a dimly lit world, a world that was difficult to follow. For all his world-building faults in the first book, I enjoyed Richard and Kahlan (I didn't like Zedd however) but some of the Lord of the Rings ideas Goodkind 'borrowed' (like the gollum-like character who had the sword before Richard??) didn't sit well with me.

Flash forward a few books. I was really starting to enjoy the series. Bad things happened to the main characters and there was development. Though Richard was given the title of Lord of D'Hara, he was unwilling to accept the situation (as any normal man would have acted). But in Pillars of Creation, Richard started to change. He started to become a philosopher of sorts, flaunting his moral superority to anyone he could talk to. Richard became perfect.

Whereas in the first book, Richard was just a joe-nobody, an unassuming woods guide, by PoC and Naked Empire, he was a strapping, impossibly handsome, brillant, master-swordsman with perfect eyesight and a sixth sense for danger. And Richard doesn't hold back his power, he flaunts his abilities and his heritage and his perfection to all his 'friends' who tirelessly travel with him.

By the end of Naked Empire, Richard can control his gift to an extent. All of this 'no meat' crap is over all of the sudden. Ok Goodkind, I guess you got me there, it wasn't a bad excuse, but while you used to be pretty good at creating a character, upkeep seems to be the flaw in your armor. I will continue to read Sword of Truth because I need something to help me sleep at night and I get the books for free. This series could use a jolt of something new, perhaps kill off Kahlan or destroy D'Hara so Richard can go off to bigger and better things. Hey, I used to like Kahlan too, but really, everybook for awhile now seems like a carbon-copy of the last...

I have to say I love Goodkind's books and read them in the first day or two I have them, including this one. This book is a continuation of the series and introduces at least one novel character "the Slide". Old familiar groups are carried forward but the primary attention is Lord Rahl's entourage. Terry does, perhaps too good of a job, in making the new group of Pristinely Ungifted difficult and frustrating. It gets to the point that the reader gets as uneasy as the lead character in dealing with them. It definitely has its usual Goodkind share of trademark clever ideas and high points: the Slide and the invasion of the Keep. Some of the speeches and lectures to the ungifted detracted a bit. I think it was a good book overall in a really spectacular Fantasy series. I will definitely buy the next one of the series as soon as it goes on sale next year or so.

Terry Goodkind seems to have realized the mistake he made by moving the focus of the series away from Richard and Kahlan. Unlike "Pillars of Creation" which spent the majority of its time on secondary characters (who knows, they may become pivotal in the next few books), in "Naked Empire" we again follow the wayward couple as they enter a new area of the Old World.
I won't give away plot details, but will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The plot twists kept me awake several nights as I couldn't put it down. Although certainly not the best in the series, this definately ranks high for sheer entertainment value. If you're a fan, pick it up and dive in. You won't regret it.

guys, i read this book because i like fantasy. not because im in to politics. if you have read the other reviews that gave this book one star and actually believed them for a second, even if you have read his previous books, then you wont like this story. this book is for true goodkind fans, and for those of you who know what to expect from goodkind, he delivers in this story. there is one awesome review that i would like to point out, by a reviewer named jennie. that review truly explains the greatness of terry goodkind's writing.

I'm a big fan of the SOT books. The series has had it's ups (Faith of the Fallen) and it's downs (Blood of The Fold) but it's been pretty steady so far. I personally dug Pillars of Creation even though Richard was non-existent through most of it but I'm glad to see him back. However, It seems that during his travels from the end of FOTF, through POC, and into this work Richard has picked up a few copies of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Don't get me wrong, Ayn Rand had a lot of things right, and Socialism is ...backwards and self-defense is perfectly cool but... Didn't we go over all this in FOTF? There is plenty to keep fans reading but Richards repetitive speeches and the inane comments from random people in the crowds he talks to take all the life out of the segments with him. Zedd and Adie's storyline though, keeps things moving nicely. The book end strongly though, regardless of the pretty unbeleivable salvation of Richards life. I'd give the first 400 pages a 1 but the last 200 make up for it. And did I mention that the book was 600 pages? Not nearly enough effort was put into this book. Hopefully 9 will be the redeemer.

Terry Goodkind is my favorite author. I can't tell you how many nights I've lost sleep because I couldn't stop reading. The stories are inspiring and engrossing. I'd recommend reading all of his work. If you like fantasy novels, then look no further...there are plenty to keep you entertained for a good long while. I don't read too many books more than once, but I've read every one of Terry Goodkind's novels at least three times. Highly recommended!

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 do like this series but, he seems to be re-using the same old plot line over and over... They start together then, they are split up because of some foe, then one of them looses the ability to use their power then,.....AND What happened to the wizards rules?? Do they just stop at four?? Also, We all know that Kaylan loves Richard and Richard loves Kaylan. Can we move on?? I like charictor devlopment but, they are not going anywhere... Just in love... We are not learning any more about them just how very very...VERY much in love they are. It is cool to have a sub-story to off set the blood and gutts but, this is not supposed to be a love novel...I don't think... A little less talk and alot more action please. Really those are the only problems i see. I still enjoy the books very much. Thanks Terry!!

well i read this series a while after it came out and when i read all the other revews i had to put in my good word it seems when you do somithing bad is the only time you get alot of atention and as such the 5 revews i have seen for this book have all been low enough to get me to say that this series has a wonderfull asortment of charcters and settings i bought this book as soon as it came out because i read all the others over and over again to the point i couldent wait for the next one....however the critics do have some truth in their words i my self was alitle let down by this book in that it sems terry goodkind has well... run out of ideas while this book was still as witty ans suspencefull as all the others it had alot of nearly the same stuff in it that the last few did.......... well thats all i have time for but my recomendation is that you buy this book if you have read the others for another adventure of the kahalan and richard duo
ps sorry if i spelled anything wrong i was trying really fast

This book is not just bad - it's embarrassing. What happened to the author of Wizards First Rule?
One piece of advice for Terry would be to stare clear of philosophy. In this book, Richard somehow manages to lead himself to the point where he ends up encouraging the slaughter of a bunch of misguided, weaponless, passives who are doing nothing more than trying to prevent a war. How he gets there I'm still trying to figure out.
This book is just a disaster. Goodkind had created a believable world - it's amazing how quickly he has managed to uncreate it.

Another piece of advice for Terry - the formula he's been using for the past six books - it's dead. I actually can not believe that he has shamelessly used basically the same plot yet again. I'm sick of it. This is not advancing a story - this is the same story told slightly differently (and slightly worse) over and over again. I waited for this story to go somewhere. It doesn't.
Read this book only if you must.

I read this book all the way through as it was so bad it was unintentionally funny. There are many, many problems with this book that others have mentioned but I just have to mention a few problems with the book I had. At one stage our Hero Richard who is a paragon of Goodness decides that the only moral course of action he can take is to murder defenceless anti-violence protestors. This is despite the fact that he feels these people are deluded and that he has previously converted such people with an excruciatingly bad monologue (maybe he feels it would kinder to behead them). He kills these people as they are in his way, stopping him from reaching an antidote and saving his wife (yet again, how many times can this so called smart powerful women be the damsel in distress!!). Yet it turns out that he actually doesn't need the antidote and his wife wasn't there. So Richard has killed these people for nothing. Does Richard admit his mistake or show remorse for his error? Of course not. Showing all the insight and intelligence of the zealous fanatic the character has become Richard just says that anyone who opposes him had it coming. All this wouldn't matter so much if this weren't quite clearly an articulation of the author's own beliefs. Still Richard clearly isn't that smart so maybe it doesn't occur to him that he has done anything wrong. At one stage Richard and his band of dull witted cohorts find out that their nemesis can observe them through the eyes of animals, most often some large hawks that are some of the least scary monsters ever (At one stage hundreds of these things attack and the party only suffers a few scratches), and then proceeds to wonder how the enemy knows their every move while they have Betty the wonder goat with them.
Still maybe I am being unfair to an author that started this series with such promise. Perhaps he is writing an examination of how a man can become that which he most despises by constant obsession. The character has moved from the balanced interesting hero of the first book to the murderous fanatic of this book whose ends always justify the means. It seems extremely unlikely that this is Mr Goodkinds intent however as the last three books have been preaching his message ad nauseum at the expense of moving the narrative along and interviews Mr Goodkind has conducted in the media seem to support Richard's views as his own. I would recommend some basic philosophy (eg the Philosophy Gym or Sophie's world) to show how daft this puerile nonsense is. Alternatively for a far more intelligent take on libertarian views take a look at John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty". I would only recommend people read this stuff in the way that you might read David Irving or Mien Kampf to see what tragic paths an extreme ideology can lead you down. Finally some might be tempted to say "this is only fantasy" however the author has denied this saying that he wants his books to be considered philosophy. In that light I think the above comments are relevant.
Read George RR Martin instead (Fire and Ice series) as a much more enjoyable, intelligent series without being preached at by a zealot.

Let me say right off the bat that this book stands up on its own in the Sword of Truth Series. I believe Terry Goodkind tries to explore something new with every book he publishes. People seem to compare each of his books to one another but I think that's ridiculous! Goodkind attempts to draw upon the vast pool of human experience and possibilities and wraps each book around these. What makes the series so engrossing is that each of the novels expand and explore different niches of the world revolving around the main characters. Some complain that Goodkind takes a complete sidetrack from the main plot on certain books like the Pillars of Creation. However, if anyone has read Goodkind's interview they would find that his goal isn't neccesarily the plot but the people. Goodkind writes about people, they are the focus of his books. Each book explores different aspects of human nature through the eyes of the main character, be it Richard Rahl or others, like his sister in Pillars of Creation. That is what makes Goodkind a great author.

This was yet another good book by Mr. Goodkind but it still leaves so many problems unresolved. I know that this can't all be done in one book but it would be nice if Richard couldn't ever get back into the New World or if Richard could ever at least tap into some of the powers that he has been blessed with. I give this a two becasue while this book is interesting, it leaves the reader with a want for more. He preaches too much we already know everything he has to say and we have memorized it the 3rd time he says it. Come on Terry. The First Book splendor and glory is unobtainable but I hope that Mr. Goodkind will take his time for the 9th book and give me 1000+ pages so that it will really be worth reading and taking some time to read.

I read many of the other reviews. They have alot of ideas going for them, but they should read past what's obvious. For one, "The banished" might have a key role in the next book, while he tried to make things interesting...somethings don't go as planned. It was a very nice book. It kept me entertained. I may be 14, but you have to look at other things as well. Many of the points in this book can trigger a future event, possibley causing one of the best books he's writen.

He goes into a lot of detail. If you've ever read the first part of Tolkien's "The Fellowship of the Ring"...He does around 50 pages of introduction, so he doesn't have to do it later. "The Naked Empire" is a good book. I recommend people to read it if you enjoy the Sword of Truth Series. It might be a key part in the next book.

I'll be short and to the point. This books lacks the magic and intrigue of the previous ones. It's a bad Ayn Rand knock off. I love Goodkind's earlier books and I love Ayn Rand, but if i want to read Ayn Rand, I'm going to read one of her much more interesting and well written books.

Predictable, preachy, and lacking any magic.

I strongly do no recommend.

When you think about it very little happened in this book. The majority of it was spent with Richard espousing some Smith and Hobbesian philosophy of individual right over the "Evil" collectivism and pacifism. Then the actual freeing of Bandakar took hardly any time at all. Insurrection against a occupying power can be a fairly interesting thing, but Goodkind seemed like arguing for pages about philosophy (In a very poor manner mind you) is more interesting than actually talking about how the battle was fought.
I feel almost ripped off after reading this book. Much of it was completely uninteresting and the interesting parts were fleeting. I will most likely read the next book in the series because I have invested so much time in to the series. But, there is no way I'm going to one of his books again.

I don't write reviews often, but I really wanted to warn people away from the Sword of Truth series based on the last 2 volumes. It is such a shame because, like many of the reviewers here, I loved the earlier books and saw real promise to the series.
Why is this one so terrible. Well, have you ever read a book where 80 pages are dedicated to one speech? I counted them. From the point Richard assembles the crowd he wants to talk to, to the point where the conversation finished - it is a staggering 80 pages! In fact, more space is given to that than is given to building to the conclusion.
My Goodkind seems to be using these latest volumes to preach at people, and frankly, it makes for a very boring read.
Please, please, if you are considering reading the Sword of Truth series - don't. You will only end up disappointed like so many of the other reviewers here.

While I do agree that Richard is getting very preachy, and would like to see less sermons in future books, all of Mr. Goodkind's books have had a moral to them. Previously the moral was hidden in the storyline, now it's written out for you in bold letters... several times. I don't see the connection to Iraq that some people have mentioned, and I happen to be there at the moment. While it is true that the earlier books in the series were better, this is usually the case, especially in a series this size, look at the Wheel of Time series as an example, Robert Jordan isn't doing quite as well either. I have to agree with one of the other reviewers, if you don't like it, don't buy it. It's that simple. If you're not sure, check it out at your local library first, they could probably use your patronage.

A great storyteller. Great characters. Good plot. When the series began that is.

From Soul of the Fire onwards, everything has gone downhill.

Whatever happened to the Terry who wrote the first few Sword of Truth novels. This is a sorry excuse of a story and even worse is the constant preaching that goes on and on and on. Richard is not the likeable hero he once was. Terry has tunred him into a poor man's version of John Galt. He used to borrow plot lines and ideas from Robert Jordan but now he has decided to rip off Ayn Rand. It's a shame all good authors who show such promise stoop to this level. The only saving grace for the fantasy genre seems to be George R. R. Martin and his A Song of Ice and Fire series...

This is a horrible book. Seriously, just stop reading the series.

I like Wizard's First Rule a lot. It was an excellent book. And then each book in the series got progressively worse. But at least the books before this one were readable.

This book moves extremely slow (don't want to spoil it for those who might actually read it), but is very lousy. The book tries to compare Richard's empire to democracy, and the Imperial Order to communism. Really, one of the worst fantasy books I've read.

This book makes me feel sorry for people because they will read it (like I did) simply because they had faith in the series. Or maybe the author. Or maybe the characters.
Well, whatever their reasons, they're in for a let-down. I won't tell you not to read it. That didn't work on me and it won't work on you. All I can do is say, wow... this is really bad. Fame really changed Goodkind. Looking back I can tell he always had these really strong political convictions - he just didn't feel justified expressing them. But I guess the combination of 9-11 and his rise to fame in the world of fantasy literature made him feel that he could finally say what was on his mind. Namely, that he thinks it's okay to kill war-protesters. They're unpatriotic, and that's just like fighting for the enemy.
I know, it's a little too crazy to believe. But just keep your eyes open while you read, trust me, you'll see what I'm talking about when it comes by.
Shame on you Terry. Shame on all arrogant, self-righteous people all over the world. I can't believe I bought this guys books.

I was completely overjoyed when I knew Naked Empire was being released because Pillars wasn't exactly a great read. I was hoping Mr. Goodkind was going to explain a bit more about the holes in the world and involve them in the ultimate storyline, and I was right. After getting through Naked Empire, I was glad I forced myself through Pillars because some more of the world was opened up to me. What I didn't enjoy was the fact that Richard was once again one of the only people in the Old and New world to know of something and of course, NOONE can help him. I did enjoy,however, the fact that Jagang was many steps ahead of him.

It does feel, sometimes to me, that Goodkind's personal morals come out in the books very heavily, but I just place that in the characters completely. I seem to get too lost in the books to think about authors and thought processes. I DO miss the action and fast-paced adventure of the earlier books, but I think we all know that Richard is a great man in this world and we've seen him overcome vast hardships, so Goodkind isn't going to let us read about a dozen battles of steel, but psychological ones.

And Formulaic plus Voracious Reader, he never separates Kahlan and Richard in this book. I agree that some of Goodkind's books keep to the same formulas, but what is a hero's life but constant struggle to keep what he values most safe?!?!? I feel this book just continues on from Pillars of Creation to help explain it a bit more.

The one main thing I was dissapointed in was the fact that there wasn't a lot of battle, physical or otherwise, between the "bad guys" and the "good guys." When it happened, however, I was completely captivated. Nicholas the Slide, the Bandakar vs. the Order's troops, and all the scenes with Jagang. I think we all enjoy Zedd's character so much and the drama in his scenes really kept me going.

Over all, this was another of Goodkind's books that I couldn't put down. I love learning the wizard's rules and following my beloved characters around. I just sometimes wish that all the bad things that happen to them don't get resolved in the "nick of time" by some unexplained or fantastic means. Let them get hurt.

I could go into all of the good aweful things that made this such a wasted read for me. But I won't. I will say that overall I am a huge Terry Goodkind fan and have loved his books (excepting Soul of the Fire which I hated, and Pillars of Creation, couldn't he have waited until AFTER the Sword of Truth series and written it as a stand alone Fantasy). This book does do something Robert Jordan (haven't read 11th book yet)hasen't for his last three novels, actually move the story along, but what a terrible story it is. So finally here is the one thing I'm going to say, for anyone about to read the book, remember these words "pristinely ungifted" then take an aspirin. After you read this book, I'm sure you will never want to here those words again.

No offense to the reviewers, but when I purchased the book I was almost afraid to read it because of all the pompous and ignortant reviews. Then when I read the book I was glad all the reviews fell short.
True Richard had to continue to repeat things over and over, but look at the reasons around it. I enjoyed this book very much because I can understand him. If you look at some religions today they act the same as those people he was trying to explain it to. they are blind to everything except what they have been taught, brainwashed as you will.
It was disheartening to hear such callous reviews for this book, especially from people who claim to have enjoyed previous novels. I agree it was not the best and I didn't understand where it was heading at first but quickly I also got caught up in the movement of it.
Watching the 'Slide' find out new divisions of his power. Watching Richard Deteriorate because of the poison and his magic. The 8th rule in it simplicity is just...right. "Deserve Victory". Simple as that. I get it. It's amazing in it's simplicity.
And of course the battles happened quickly...What else was supposed to happen they were entering a raid, last time I checked a raid should be done in a short time before the enemy can stand up and take notice. Not pages and pages of describing of the battle, it happened, having it short like that, in my opinion, added to the intensity in the story.
And Kahlan...'whining' about destroying the world... well come on people...I would be a lot depressed too if I thought I was the cause for the world being lost and my husband dying. She had every right to be upset.
I did sit at work and get mad when I got a customer call because I wanted to continue reading. I think people have to sit up and take notice, your tunnel view of the world isn't necessarily the correct one. And that is the whole point of this book. Previous hateful reviews have proved what Terry was trying to say, that this world is much like the world of the Ungifted...the Banished. We do not see the forest for the trees. We have to stand back and look at the whole picture, instead of our perception.

Goodkind is an author of great potential. His first book in the SoT series proved that and established him as an important author in the genre. I read that first one in one day... This is the second book in the SoT series that I take and have to leave out of disappointment and disinterest.
All the characters in the book have become repulsive. They keep babling moral issues, do stupid stuff [drink liquids handed by suspicious people], say "Well, we all make mistakes", talk about philosophy, etc. What is this, a meeting of the UN?
What really puts off the reader in this book is that when you get four highly intelligent folks (Richard, Kahlan, Jehnsen, Cara) in one place you get four pages of dialogues and philosophy before anything happens.
Too much philosophy, too little action. EXAMPLE: nothing happens, nothing until page 300 [don't know after]. The gang of four travells from the Pillars of Creation. Richard gets poisoned and is going to die [what else is new here?] Kahlan is desperate and acts like a fool. Enter Nicolas The Slide, he can rip people's souls [booo]. He is bad, but mind you, he is a complex character, since he was crafted by a couple of the sisters of the Dark [he was hurting in the process of his creation, and thus he is compelled to kill]. He has taken control over a piece of land that was non-existent in the series. The locals are highly moral non-violent people who put their principles before their self preservation. Of course, they need Richard to save them.
The book is very much out of focus. The stories become repetitive, and the tension buildup is fake. Nathan's dialogs are a cliche. Ann has an epiphany: locking Nathan for a thousand years was a baaad thing! Nathan forgives her.
PLEASE!!

I'm starting to think that Terry Goodkind thinks that his readers are idiots!! I mean REALLY!! I know a lot of Liberals are complaining about the preaching, but I'm a Liberal, and I think the messages are great...but do we need to hear it, again and again and again and again.....well you get my point :)Does he really think we won't understand the point unless it's drilled into us for 500 pages.When I first started to read this series I hated it because I thought it was fluff, then by the the 3rd or 4th book I thought it was great and I started to see that there was actually a subtle message behind the fluff. THEN THIS HAPPENED!!!!!!! Talk about one extreme to the other! Still, I've read a couple of thousand pages on Richard, so it's too late now......gotta finish it....just out of principle :( Great characters........it's a shame.

The first four books of the series were the best. They have gotten worse with each one since.
Goodkind has taken the annoying habit of repeating everything three, sometimes four times within a few pages, sometimes the same paragraph. The book was also very preachy. He's past books have been preachy, but nothing compared to this one. He has Richard pulling out the soapbox at every chance and giving his philosophy on life and anything else he feels like.
Naked empire could have been cut to a 350 or 400-page book.
It hardly progressed the series.
It read like a first draft.
The dialogue was stilted, almost robotic.
If you have been following the series and have to read this book, wait until it comes out in paperback or better yet, borrow it from a friend.

Goodkind's writing has become flat, the dialogue bland, and Richard is overly preachy. His new characters are boring, and Kahlan and Richard barely changed, other than some of Richard's big revelations about his gift. This book is pretty much a 667 page argument for the death penalty. After a stunning 6th book, I was looking foward to the continuation. Both book 7 and this book are far bellow what Goodkind is capable of. And after everything Richard and company has gone through, they aren't even one step closer to getting rid of Jagang. Hopefully the next book actually advances the main plot.

I have enjoyed every one of Goodkind's books. Despite popular negative views on Pillars of Creation, I thought it was one of the better books of the series. Naked Empire was terrible. Every time Richard opened his mouth it was to give a speach about some aspect of Nietzchian philosophy. There's nothing wrong with integrating your philosophies into a story, but don't forget about the story! The plot was terrible, you knew Richard wasn't going to die but the way that he survived was ridiculous. Richard being able to randomly use his gift to do the impossible is getting too convenient. If you want to read the same philosophies only written better, pick up a copy of Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzche. If you want to read a good Goodkind epic, stay away from Naked Empire.

I appreciate that Goodkind takes on politically sensitive social issues in the venue of his fantasy. I felt he conveyed well the dangers of pacifism, and the morally repugnant nature of strict non-violence when injustice is present and can only be quelled by violent means. By contrast, the nature of righteous/just retribution and aggression was well portrayed. I laud smart fiction, and this moves well beyond the standard fantasy fare.

Hmmm . . . never saw it as a modern day parable for the war. Read it for what it was --- science fiction. Does it get a littly preachy at times? Yes. But overall a good book and much better than "Pillars of Creation". Gives me hope that Goodkind has his creative juices flowing again and will deliver even better in the future.
I also urge people that whether a review is good or bad only you can decide for yourself. If you want to read it then read it. But just because a bunch of people bad mouth or sing a million praises for a book doesn't make it any better or worse than what it is.

I wonder whether Terry Goodkind has fallen into the Anne Rice and JK Rowling trap of selling so many books that editors don't dare to interfere with them anymore. Any sane editor would have told Terry Goodkind to cut about 200 pages of this novel. Cutting the endless speeches and repetition of the same points over and over again might have helped make this book somewhat up to the standards Mr. Goodkind has set by the previous books of the series (except Pillars of Creation, which, frankly, I skipped). The narrative is long-winded, the endless exposition is tiring and the repetition of Richard's - questionable - moral lesson at every given chance sinks the book in a quagmire of all talk and no action. The plot is ridiculous, and the final resolution cheap and lazy.

I must confess I'm growing tired of the way Goodkind writes Richard and Kahlan. He underuses the latter and makes the former into a terribly boring stiff. Where's the spark?

Somehow the air's gone out of Sword of Truth somewhere in the second half of Faith of the Fallen, and I only hope Goodkind will get it back to finish off the series as strongly as it's started.

WOW! Pristine in its clarity of The Human condition. Goodkind has again reached into the very depths of the abyss of morality and fanatical extremes to bring to light a riveting story of Romance, commitment, passion for life and the ever constant struggle to fight the evil that so closely resembles the very axis of evil in our own time! I can't believe this story, its better than expected. The clear and concise description by Goodkind, of our ever-present struggle against the evil that seeks to justify, as does the Imperial Order the immorality of Moral Equivalence. Goodkind has broken through the boundary and created new definition of the Fantasy genre!!
This book picks up with in hours of the last Novel Pillars of Creation. It compels the reader into deeper and more fervent passion to seek what is just beyond the next page.
Following Richard, Kahlan, Cara and Richard's newly found sister Jensen; we are drawn into a web of deceit and a centuries old dilemma unfolding within the Old World and the very core of the Imperial Order itself. I was not only spell bound and so engulfed by the story line, at one point I literally found myself jumping out of my chair and pumping my fist in the air whooping with excitement at the sudden twist within the story. Goodkind totally blindsided me! Zedd hopelessly struggling for his very existence! Richard entangled with a rule that could very well mean the end magic. Kahlan torn between Love and duty and Jagang ever bearing down on D'Hara and the last remnants of a free people.
I sat torn between a pitched race to find out what happens next and the fear of what could possibly happen next. As I finished the story I found myself refreshed and yet wanting more! More Mr. Goodkind MORE!
Kudos!
Ron Wilson

The only thing I can come up with is that Goodkind must be trying to sabotage his own series... unless you _must_ read the entire series, I suggest you pass on this one. The characters that we know and love are neutered from their previous incarnations, and unless he's got some miracle plan worked out, I fail to see how this contributes to the storyline (at least the other books were exciting). Goodkind's preachy, but this book is like an 800-page gospel.

I've been an avid reader and fan of the 'Sword of Truth'-series for a long, long time, and for that matter, many other fantasy series as well. But, with Goodkind's latest, 'Naked Empire', I can't remember reading a book that gave me such disappointment, especially regarding its ending. There once was a time when I compared SoT with George R R Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire'-series, but, since 'Blood of the Fold', Goodkind has gradually drifted lightyears away from that kind of quality. I have the strong impression that the last 10 chapters of the story in NE were hurried away, while the storyline still invited for many an intricate story detail, able to create at least some 10-20 additional chapters. For example (I'll do my best not to give away spoilers):
1. Nicholas the Slide could have done to Richard what he also was able to do to Kahlan; or:
2. What would have happened if Kahlan/Nicholas had come back to Richard? or:
3. What would have happened if Jenssen had interacted with Nicholas? or:
4. How about a fight between Nicholas and Jagang over who rules the Empire? etc.
So, all in all I think Goodkind just failed to create a truly satisfying read, and he or his publisher have limited the length and possibly the scope of the story, especially towards its ending.
Another thing: there was much ado about Goodkind's co-called pro-war ramblings as he told them in this book via Richard. Well, for whatever they were worth, I must say I much agree with Richard's line of reasoning: brutal oppression must not be won by appeasement but by vengeance and obliteration of the enemy, see Germany, WWII. But one thing it failed to identify: who then is the enemy in our modern, real world? In SoT, it's easy: the Imperial Order, led by emperor Jagang the Just. But in our real world? In the real world we have to do with terrorism, not bound to states. That reminds me of the following: war is done by nations, but it is the people that are the victims. The same accounts for terrorism, however, terrorism is not bound to nations. So, if Goodkind indeed tried to show some of his modern war-philosophies via this book, I think it's just been a very outdated show how he has handled this theme in the book -- There is a lot in it about the brutal oppression by the Imperial Order (i.e. Germany, WWII), but there is /nothing/ in it about the current problems regarding terrorism and/or its implications, let alone solutions, of how to fight such a 'war'. That makes me wonder why so many people were offended by the war-theme of this book.
Unless of course Jagang the Just's Imperial Order Empire should be compared to George the Just's neo-conservative economic-oppression 'Empire'? Now, then /that/ makes for truly interesting reading...
Two stars, is all I am willing to give. And that has more to do with good memories of earlier books of the series than with the actual quality of this latest incarnation. /And/ it has to do with the /very/ interesting 'Empire' comparison...

As many others have said... This book is one big philosophical rant. I really thoroughly enjoyed the earlier books, honestly I did. This just did not do it for me. Too much political ranting... Too little character developement that REALLY made the earlier books so totally amazing. I read it because I want to finish the series, but unless you're into that, I don't really recomend it.

Terry Goodkind is an excellent writer, but his latest book had me screaming for something to happen. He goes on for pages preaching his sociology views and such. Thats all good and everything, but not for pages on end.
Some things that I did like about the book are: He got back to the story of Richard and Khalan and didn't get himself distracted with secondary characters that don't really play an important role. He also had a well planned and specific plot for this book, unlike his last book where it seemed like he was just throwing in things randomly to fill in his half formed thoughts.
If your a die hard Goodkind fan then go ahead and get this in paperback, not hardback. For people that have never read his series before... you'll probably put this book down really fast because of a lack of loyalty
happy reading

Good Gracious. What a mess that was: six hundred odd pages of "Don't compromise with evil, it makes you evil" repeated over and over and over again. At least the "moral" was learned by all (Gee whiz, thanks for the lesson, mister), and the bad guys got it in the end (evil soul snatchers and silly hippies alike). Sheesh. I echo the question of where did the plot go? It doesn't matter the politics Goodkind pushes, without plot who really cares? While I'm complaining, he pulled the "war wizards' magic responds to need" trick one two many times too. At least Goodkind did me the favor of saving me [from] each subsequent book in this series: I am officially done.

Like most reviewers here, I have read all of Mr Goodkind's books, and on the whole enjoyed most of them. Like most reviewers here I fell in love with Mr Goodkind's characters and became enamoured with the remarkable world he created.

However, it pains me to say that Naked Empire is perhaps the worst book I have ever read. In fact, after closing the book for the final time I very nearly threw it across the room in relief and disgust. What had, to me at least, once been a rich world populated by interesting and complex people, has become little more than a canvas backdrop for a poorly-acted amateur theatre production.

Richard, once the stalwart but tortured hero of this epic tale, has become a zealot who, it seems, is intent upon wandering the globe preaching Ayn Rand's objectivist doctrine to the uninitiated. Now I am not opposed to objectivism as a philosophy... in fact, I find many of Ayn Rand's observations to be particularly resonant in my own life. I also count Faith of the Fallen as one of my all-time favourite books. However, in Faith of the Fallen Mr Goodkind showed us why this philosophy is so important. In Naked Empire he spends at least six hundred pages telling us why, with about as much subtlety and artistic flair as Ayn Rand showed in her own fiction. I actually read passages out of this book to friends as an example of poor composition! People just don't, and I would argue never have, spoken like this anywhere but in a lecture theatre!

Even more disgusting is that while the first group of Bandakar, those brave few who fled the Imperial Order, take hundreds of pages to convince, everybody else seems to get it immediately! In fact, the plot in Naked Empire is incredibly trite, and the solution to Richard's problem left me feeling sick. I won't 'spoil' it for anyone, but this is inexcusably sloppy story-telling. I received the impression even Mr Goodkind didn't care any more. I don't blame him.

Meanwhile Richard's companions have become two-dimensional background characters, a Greek chorus existing merely to add colour to Richard's scenes and provide a sounding board for his poorly-expressed philosophical teachings. Richard's incredibly patronising treatment of everyone he comes in contact with is inexcusable, and makes him impossible to admire, like or connect with.

If you enjoyed this book I envy you. I dearly wish I had. I can not recommend this book, even to those of you who will feel the need to read them all. It has left me wondering whether the rest of the series was as good as I remember or whether my tastes have altered or simply matured.

This is not just poor fantasy, it is poor fiction.

I was very happy with this book. All my favorite characters are back in the story. Richard has finally resolved some major issues. Bad guys are very bad, and the situations that the good characters get into are beyond desparate. Typical SOT story. Fast, violent, exciting, fun, and satisfying.
Excellent job Mr. Goodkind.

I enjoyed this book and it made PILLARS make more sense and have more purpose. NAKED EMPIRE is typical Goodkind plotting. There is lots of adventure and lots of fun moments. This book was entertaining but nothing out of the ordinary or especially exciting. I did enjoy it and thought I got my money's worth.

One would hope that an author would have a good story to tell as well as some deeper take-home point. The story in this book is good. Unfortunately, the authors ruins it. Forcing a reader to endure page upon page of adolescent philosophies is a bit much to ask of any reader. The author also seems to have taken a challenge to see how long a description can be dragged out before the reader slips into a coma.

A person has to wonder why Mr. Goodkind droned on and on about Richard's view on violence and what is the difference between right and wrong. Although Mr. Goodkind has an amazing imagination with no doubt, unmatched writing ability, this book was still a major dissapointment. Naked Empire lacked the amount of excitment that this reader had anticipated, as well as the growing conflict that should have left this reader wanting more. Richard was to preachy, Kahlan followed Richard around like a puppy and what happened to the subdued Mord-sith? Thank goodness for the chapters on Zedd, they were well written and stayed true to character.

Well folks, I do believe that Mr. Goodkind has lost his edge. I will make this review short because it doesn't take much to see how much one was dissappointed.
If you don't like slow books, don't read it. If you hated that stupid little goat, don't read it. If you had a MILLION questions after the last few books ended and are expecting some answers, don't read it. If you hate books that have chapter after chapter of one charcacter say the same stupid thing over and over again, don't read it.
At one point I even said out loud, "OKAY! I get it Richard! get on with it!"
The ending is so lame I laughed out loud.
Good luck. I hope you get more out of it then I did.

I overall really enjoyed this book its picked up right where the last one left off. Richard is having probems with his gift again he must figure out what is wrong with it not only to save him self but an empire that had been shut off from the world for centuries.
Zedd and Adies parts in this book are also very entertaining i wont explain much cause that would kinda ruin it but its very good.
Nathan,Ann,Varna, and of course the D'Haran army also are in this book but only for a few chapters and only Ann and Nathan have any signifigant role in this books main story.
Overall i would have given this book a 5 but the preachyness of Richard kinda of annoyed me so i only gave it a 4. Still a must buy book though.

I'm shocked at the reviews I have read of this book on here. Of course it did not, perhaps, entirely live up to the high expectations so many had of Goodkind, but it was by no means bad. Certainly there was more of a leaning towards philosophy in this book, but I for one enjoyed the change of pace. The series had inevitably (in my opinion) been leading towards such a book anyway, the strong themes and ideas had to be furthered and examined further at some stage as the story progressed and I think Naked Empire managed that successfully. I think it clears the way for a more fast paced, action packed next installement. It wasn't quite as exciting as the others, but I personally found it just as enthralling, and would recommened it to any faithful reader of the series.

After reading this book i felt very down hearted.
I can do nothing but totally agree with reviewer no.1. This book has so much philosophical or political arguments of Mr Goodkinds. That i take it as a insult that he believes his readers to be so blind to today realities.
He has let all Fantasy writers down, not too mention the fact that he has let down his fellow amercians by stooping to so such a low base. It is plain for all to see that his last 2 books went from adequate to poor. This is just a pathetic atempt to gain money by playing on the sympethetic attitude of his american readers, which i am glad to see from reviwer no.1 has had no success.
As for the Book itself i can only agree with the reviwer titled "Ponderous, Preacy, Pointless". This book if you can call it that, is so thin that you could fit on a sheet of A4. THE HORSE IS LONG DEAD SO YOU CAN STOP FLOGGING IT.
Some people in USA may feel that the world is against THEM and that everyone is Anti-America. This is not the case most people like americans and i for one think most of them are nice people :).
But when i read political trash like this ,which is not even close to what today situation is like, i feel totally downheartened. :(
I will say that most of you will buy this book simply to see what is so "political" about it or to simply continue on from a series of books that started with good style and imagination, which cleary shows that the author has talent. I can only urge you not too and this will only line the pockets of a man who has stooped to a very low level.
This review will probably go blind to Mr Goodkind as it is totally clear that he is blind to his own ignorance. I only hope that those editors greedy enough to allow this book to print might take note :)
AS for Mr Goodkin himself, SHAME ON YOU SIR, SHAME ON YOU. You have let yourself down, you have also let down your fellow Fantasy writers as well, but most of all you have let down your fellow americans.

I only hope that they will not be judged by this book the same way standard as you have judged others. You have mixed oil with water. Water being fantasy and oil being reality

My downfall was reading 'Wizards' First Rule'. That, I now realise, was not the beginning of the end. And what's wrong with that? Well, it would be nice, would it not, for this story to actually conclude? Isn't that what stories do?! *Sigh*. Evidently, not this one. Not while Goodkind is convinced that your wallets retain enough cash to keep him in bread.
But, I digress. 'Wizards' First Rule' started me off on what could be argued to be an addiction to Goodkind's novels. And as with most addictions, this one isn't proving to be healthy.
I'm hooked enough that - despite despairing when I read the previous two books, despite despairing at reading the reviews posted here, despite despairing at the never-endingness of Goodkind's story - I still went and bought Naked Empire. I'm a fool.
You know the funny thing? I still haven't actually read it. I don't want to. So long as I don't read the damn thing, I can try to convince myself that Goodkind has sorted out his act. I can believe that he has once again started writing for the joy that he evidently got from writing his first couple of books, and not for his own financial gain. I can persuade myself that maybe, this time, he won't have filled an entire book with unimaginative plot, disinteresting characters and poorly contrived political messages. I can dream about how good it might be, and shiver with anticipation when I look at the cover. That's why I bought the damn thing.
That, and it makes an impressive-looking addition to my bookcase, in all its hard-back glory. Don't judge a book by its cover? Hah! That's the only thing that got this one any rating at all.
What more can I say? Ignorance is bliss.

I'll keep this brief since you can read many lengthy reviews.

I feel like the characters have lost their voices. The characters do not grow or change, and are nothing like the warm humans they were in the first books. Even the main characters are cold archetypes here in these later books. I keep hoping I'll open a new Goodkind book and it'll be fresh and I will want to know the characters more, but they're just gone. I tried to start the next book, and it was worse. Unfortunately, I'm just done with this series.

I think Mr Goodkind should apologise to all his readers about fraudulently getting them to pay for something that was not delivered. I purchased this book thinking that I was getting some more entertainment, which was a direct continuation of events that have been happening previously.
What I didn't expect were his political ideologies thinly veiled around what can only be poorly described as characters from previous books. The lecturing and moralising were ill conceived and plain boring. And to make it worse, it is a direct slap in the face to anybody who did not support the war in Iraq (any doubts about this were dispelled when a bunch of innocents A.K.A human shields were chanting "NO WAR! STOP THE HATE! NO WAR!", they get killed by US Forces, oops sorry, I mean Richard). It is an insult to my intelligence to have to purchase a book and read this kind of half-baked philosophising against a race of people that have been made up to have indefensible positions. Don't like Jainism or Gandhi? Well frankly I don't care!
Also the first 300 pages were taken up with summarising very boringly the events from the other books in the series! Aargh! Here's an idea, how about releasing an optional supplement to go with each new book that is an actual summary of the series so far. People who can't be bothered reading the earlier books can happily buy this and carry on. Just don't include it in the main book!
What is the idea with Richard verbosely repeating central arguments every time he opens his mouth? Maybe you can put different rationalisations at the back of the book and refer to it as endnotes or something.
The only book that I have read which tops this in terms of disappointment is the Eddings lemon "Redemption of Althalus", but it's a close call because at least they had the good sense not to use their characters as mouthpieces for drivel.
I have an idea for his next book; maybe he can have a hero called "John Howard, the man of steel" who kicks refugees' heads (I'm sure you won't have a problem making up a race of people who deserve it). I sure as hell won't be reading any more of this tripe, and I also urge other people to bypass this one for the next.

Once again Richard is forced to detour away from the end of the story (presumably the final battle with the Order). Most of this book is taken up with long explanations as to why we have to choose good over evil, freedom over slavery, etc. The new characters are completely uninteresting, the old characters are becoming more wooden. The stinking pet GOAT is mentioned (and reacted to by the characters) in nearly every paragraph! We know more about the goat than Tom who had some potential as an interesting character. The sister is a beautiful halfwit who needs EVERYTHING explained to her. Basically, don't waste your time with this book. Watch the reviews and when people start saying the series is moving along, you can safely 'get back in'.

Do you remember getting getting goosebumps when Richard was named "The Seeker of Truth"? Do you remember how misty eyed you got when Gratch hugged Richard and said he "luuuuugggged" him when Richard tried to send him away? Or how you turned away from your computer at work to sneak a few pages in when Richard got captured by the Mord Sith? You ain't getting that emotion here or in the previous two books.
Actually, I'm wrong, there is one point in the book where that kind of emotion did briefly make an appearance. And that is with the reintroduction of two favorite characters that we haven't seen nor heard from for several books. Mainly because it was a link to the past books. Unfortunately great characters like Scarlet and Gratch seem to have been forgotten.
What I want from the next book or books is this: Richard, Kahlan, Cara, Zedd to be back together in D'Hara. I want Gratch and Scarlett to at least be mentioned (even though it was eluded to during the Pillars of Creation that Scarlet's kind may no longer exist). I want to see the Mord Sith worry the hell out of Richard by constantly protecting him. I want Chandelen and the Mud People. I want and epic battle when Jagang Order meet the D'Harans. I want more Nathan. And I want Richard to learn how to use his damn magic. I want goosebumps, misty eyes and I want to read at work when I should be working.

I can't imagine that the other reviewers were reading the same book. The Naked Empire was one of his greatest to date. Second onlt to Faith of the Fallen. His writing style was easy to read and gave you a desire not to put it down. I ended up reading this within 4 days. I am a mother with three small children and I didn't get any sleep in those days. I just had to read one more.
Most of us who have been along with Richard on his development as a wizard and leader of D'Hara know what his political views are and how important they are in his need to help people who are willing to help themselves. And the need for truth and punishment for those that are evil in society. These are truths that need to be expressed by someone as strong as Richard.
This is truly one of his greatest books. This is also the greatest fantasy series out there.

I loved this book! Probably the 5th time I've read it. New book called The Third Kingdom coming out in August. I wish this boom would've expanded more on the things that were stolen from the wizards keep. It's hard to imagine the Sisters of the Dark not getting at least SOMETHING dangerous to turn the tide of the war from there.

I'm happy with "naked empire" since it didn't continue in the horrible path of "pillars of creation". There are a lot of good parts in this book where Mr. Goodkind creates new ways for Richard and Kahlan to suffer. Of course they come out all right because hey we can't lose the main characters right? If you are an avid fan of the sword of truth series then you will love this book for continuing in those footsteps. However if you had any trouble reading "faith of the fallen" or thought it went on and on about the morality of everything... you won't like this book. With all of the cruddy fantasy authors out there Terry Goodkind offers hope for the genre.

Makes you kind of wonder where he's going with this new people...how will they fit in to the comong battle... for that matter what of the other peoples we havn't heard from in a while, i.e. Bana Bak Manu (I think), the mud people etc. also need to build up the bad guys more they seem to be very sketchy now that Br. Navim (or whatever his name was) is gone. not to say I need to know any more about thier ideology just thier CHARACTER's...I liked it

...but only just. It's very rare for me to find a book so bad that I can't finish it, and this book isn't THAT bad. Hence, two stars.

Visit the official website, terrygoodkind dot com, and read the Philosophy and About Terry sections, including all the letters and interviews, to learn about why the Sword of Truth books are the way they are.

Other reviewers have pointed out the particular flaws in this book very well. I'll just add this: Reading "Naked Empire" will make you feel like you've just been chewed-out by your dad for mischief you didn't commit.

WOW! Pristine in its clarity of The Human condition. Goodkind has again reached into the very depths of the abyss of morality and fanatical extremes to bring to light a riveting story of Romance, commitment, passion for life and the ever constant struggle to fight the evil that so closely resembles the very axis of evil in our own time! I can't believe this story, its better than expected. The clear and concise description by Goodkind, of our ever-present struggle against the evil that seeks to justify, as does the Imperial Order the immorality of Moral Equivalence. Goodkind has broken through the boundary and created new definition of the Fantasy genre!!
This book picks up with in hours of the last Novel Pillars of Creation. It compels the reader into deeper and more fervent passion to seek what is just beyond the next page.
Following Richard, Kahlan, Cara and Richard's newly found sister Jensen; we are drawn into a web of deceit and a centuries old dilemma unfolding within the Old World and the very core of the Imperial Order itself. I was not only spell bound and so engulfed by the story line, at one point I literally found myself jumping out of my chair and pumping my fist in the air whooping with excitement at the sudden twist within the story. Goodkind totally blindsided me! Zedd hopelessly struggling for his very existence! Richard entangled with a rule that could very well mean the end magic. Kahlan torn between Love and duty and Jagang ever bearing down on D'Hara and the last remnants of a free people.
I sat torn between a pitched race to find out what happens next and the fear of what could possibly happen next. As I finished the story I found myself refreshed and yet wanting more! More Mr. Goodkind MORE!
Kudos!
Ron Wilson

I have been a fan of the S.O.T. (sword of truth) series since it came out, and have been avidly following the series since I discovered it in it's infancy.

As you might guess, I am quite disconcerted to find the abolutely horrible reviews that others have given to this book. You may or may not agree with the philosophies being given in the book, but one would presume that you would actually read the words being written, and not misinterpret them, or give them extra meaning.

The philosophies that Richard "preaches" have been the same throughout the entire series, and for some to complain now that they have been stated in their entirety is just the hubris of the reviewer. They are not a justification of "murder" but the defense of human and the sanctity of life, and the need of those who value life to defend those who cannot defend themselves, and to stand up to those who would kill, rape, and destroy for their own pleasure/purposes.

Down to the dirt: This series has always been a socio-political allegory, and if you missed it you haven't paying attention. If you want fluff fantasy that intrigues but has no depth of meaning, then read every other fantasy author. If you want your favorite characters to have a brain, the keep reading. If you want a book that challenges issues like communism, socialism, religious dictatorship (a.k.a Islamic nations/terrorism), racism, and the right of the individual to defnd his own life, then keep reading this series. If you want a series that has a depth of character development that few have rivaled, read this series. If you want a fantasy world that is actually fantastic and rich enough to compare to the greats of fantasty (maybe Tolkien himself) then read this series.

P.S. - For those that found giving a justification for killing abhorrent: What in the world are you doing reading fantasy? Almost every book is about the good guy going to kill the bad guys. Get over yourself.

Terry's latest book is a little bout of dysentery in the Sword of Truth series. He spews out a 50 page rant in the mid part of the book about thinking for yourself and other noble ideas, then he goes on to repeat that same rant again in another twenty pages. What a huge waste of my time!! And in the end we're no closer to the demise of Jagang and Imperial Order. For all the preachy talk I found this book had the least amount of action in the series. I'm reluctant to give this book two stars because I've come to expect more from Terry Goodkind.

The book was much much better than POC. He returns to the characters that we know and love. I like the premise of the Wizard's eight rule and it was over all a good read. This book is not intended to make deep philosophical statements or to be a mirror of our present conflicts. This is a fantasy book, for people who love to read about different worlds, with there is MAGIC and good and evil are clearly defined. And for the person who says that the bad guys in these books are TOO evil, did you think that the Emperor in Star Wars was too evil?
If you are trying to read these books to understand life, war, today's politics, good vs evil in real world etc....get a life. This is entertainment people, just like going to the movies. This is not a guide for your life or the world today.

After reading about two or three reviews for this book I made a very easy decision. I will not invest any more money or time into this series. I started to struggle with this series somewhere around book four. The series has gotten progressively worse. I fear that a trend (yes...Jordan too) may be developing to stretch a series out to maximize the economic benefits. If enough people refuse to finish a substandard series maybe the consumers can send their own potent message.

I must admit, I owe Terry Goodkind a great debt. I had read The Lord of the Rings in my childhood, but it was a whimsical purchase of "Wizard's First Rule" that opened up the world of Fantasty to me. From that point on, there was no looking back; I devoured his books one after another completely immersed in this magical world that had sprung from the mind of a truly gifted author.

And then I got to Book 7. Unlike many readers, I was fully prepared for the Pillars of Creation, knowing as I dove into the book that it would not follow the usual form of his series, as I had read all the criticisms here in the reviews. Perhaps that foreknowledge allowed me to enjoy that book in itself, and indeed I relished the prospect of getting different viewpoints of a world told (so far) only by one perspective. And so I accepted the book as an one-off experiment, and after completing it, expected to continue exploring (and hopefully wrap-up) the original storyline. By happy coincidence, my completion of the Seventh book coincided with the release of this novel, "Naked Empire", and I picked it up as soon as I could.

And I could not have been more disappointed.

Terry Goodkind has never been the best of authors; certain flaws in his narrative style have always been apparent. Yet i felt that he consistanty crafted magnificent stories, intricate and intensely personal. I enjoyed and indulged his excesses, not only in 'Pillars of Creation', but also in 'The Faith of the Fallen', where he chose to venture into the world of Ayn Rand and her like. I accepted them as the multiple dimensions of a layered and multi-faceted author, who was flexing his literary (if I may call them that) muscles. Yet the storyline collapsed in `Naked Empire', and all we were left with were the glaring shortcomings of Goodkind. Throughout the series he has been overly dependent on a single theme: the separation of the two main characters (Kahlan and Richard) and their ultimate reunion. It seems to be the only plot-point that Goodkind has up his sleeve, as he seems to use it over and over (and over) again. When the same thing happened in this book I was crushed... all I could think was "oh no, not AGAIN!"

And then he reverted to his philosophical discussions. Now normally I wouldn't have minded this, if either he had more to say than he did in `Faith of the Fallen' or he explored the ideas from a different perspective (as Ayn Rand did in `Atlas Shrugged' after `The Fountainhead'). But here, it was everything he had already spewed out at us, merely being repeated ad-infinitum. This was the limit of what I could take... no more Sword of Truth for me.

Believe me I tried to get back into it. I even started from the beginning to try and recreate the magic I had felt in the beginning, but knowing where the series was heading, all I saw was the shortcomings of Goodkind as an author. I usually detest comparing two authors, but by this time I had read Jordan's terrific Wheel of Time series(based on the helpful recommendations of the wonderful people at this website), and I could not help but see how much better the latter was (as a writer). The ideas in the Sword of Truth novels were more childish (for lack of a better word), and Goodkind seemed confused over the limitations and characteristics of the magic in this world he had created. Ultimately his execution of what was an original and compelling idea, turned out be (sadly) sloppily executed.

As a word of advice, I would advise prospective readers of the series to avoid Goodkind altogether, for only disappointment and frustration await you. For those who have already begun their doomed journey along this path, I would suggest you stop reading at Book 6, "The Faith of the Fallen", for after that, it all goes (rather severely) downhill. Please, trust me on this.

I've heard a lot of pissing and moaning regarding Mr. Goodkind's last two books. I read them both anyway and both turned out to be serious page turners. Yeah in some parts (a lot) Richard gets really preachy. Especially when he's trying to convince a certain people the error of their ways. He literally spends chapters and chapters explaining the wrongs of these people's ways. But after getting through it I felt it's just because he wanted to show how dire certain situations were, how so entrenched some people can be in their belief they will simply close their eyes to reality. I think Mr. Goodkind must be republican because I saw so many paralells to the War and how some people would rather condone murder than want to wipe the enemy from the face of the earth. Mr. Goodkind slams repeatedly this belief that you should appease killing(by killing I mean the slaughter, raping and murder of innocents, not kicking terrorist butt), and value a murderer's right to live over that of the life the murderer took.

A lot of the points he made struck a cord for me, and he explained things very well. I think the entire Sword of Truth series has been a continuing theme of "fighting for what's right". This book just really hammers it home. The problem I have with all the negative reviews is that they piss and moan about a fantasy hero wanting to eradicate evil totally and comepletly. I mean what do you expect when you read these books? A little pansy ass, pasty faced twit going to the Imperial Order with a peace sign preaching WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER. It's hilarious how his explanations of situtaions is perfectly paralell to the war here. I have enourmous amount of respect for Mr. Goodkind for putting into words how comepletly wrong it is to appease murderers. Whether they be a fanatic religion or killers who rape and torture, the asinine belief that fighting back or giving out a death penalty makes us "just as bad as them" or some other such nonsense.

I do feel in some mays Mr. Goodkind is sort of stretching the Imperial Order threat. It's been about 4 or 5 books now since the Imperial Order came into the picture. I guess he's steadily building up to one massive ending battle, building up all the horrible things the order has done, then making the confrontation with Jajang something truly epic. As for this book, if you've started reading the series, this is just as good, if not better than some of the other ones (nothing beats Faith of the Fallen) and you won't be dissapointed in it if you just lighten up. The book is really great taken on it's own, but some people might be getting frustrated because they feel the series is stalling. I'd have to agree but I don't mind because I'd really hate to see the series end. As long as Richard lightens up just a tad on all the preaching, I'll read whatever Mr. Goodkind churns out because I have not once been dissapointed in any of his books whatsoever. Even despite all the pissing and moaning from whiny hippies, I know if I pick up a book by Mr. Goodkind I'm not gonna want to put it down. I guess I've done enough preaching, so bottomline is this book is good and if you go in with an open mind you'll be happy with the outcome.

Yes, the book has a slow start, but ends wonderfully. This book is a continuation into the R/K drama! Out of all of this series, this is my least favorite, however that does not mean it is a bad book or not up to Mr. Goodkind's standards. Its only personal preference.

After Pillars of Creaton I was hoping Goodkind would get back on track, and concentrate this newest book on Richard. Unfortunately, he did. Don't get me wrong, there were good parts too; every section without Richard in it was good. Goodkind is becoming absolutely obsessed with having Richard do nothing more than spew out Goodkind's own philosophy on life. Every time Richard started "preaching" his doctrine of reason, I got a mental image of Goodkind wearing a filthy monks robe and foaming at the mouth while screaming at the top of his lungs that reason will be your salvation, and anyone who doesn't agree should be put to the sword.

Goodkind has the unique ability to introduce a new world and a new environment into already familiar terms. With "Naked Empire," the reader is seamlessly immersed in a world within the world of the previous books of the "Sword of Truth" series.

Many readers of the series can sympathize with the desire to reach a climax, to find some resolution, and to simply be told who will win this seemingly unending conflict between the oppressive Imperial Order and the ragtag forces of good that rally around Richard Rahl -- "Naked Empire" does not ignore the readers's need, but it comes no where near answering the enduring question of resolution.

Instead, the novel focuses on the internal effects (and causes) of war and conflict. We find Richard and his beloved Kahlan trapped in an isolated empire that literally is off the map of Goodkind's fantastic world. The society reeks of unquestioned antiquity, moral absoluteless, and stubborn ignorance -- and worst of all, that's the way the people of the Bandakar empire like it. When the ruthless forces of the Order cross the barrier into the defenseless land and begin to mass murder the inhabitants, the victims, so steadfast in their beliefs, find morality in allowing the violence to continue rather than taking up a sword. It takes the wise words and brute force of Richard Rahl to allow them to seek the freedom they deserve.

While at times the rhetoric of the novel drags, and the reader find Richard spewing recycled speeches of freedom and morality, the point of the story is quite profound. Is violence always evil? Is it moral to put the survival of one's self higher than tradition, societal mores, and the greater good? At the end of the day, Goodkind's message is very clear, but thankfully he leaves plenty of room for the reader to ruminate on these questions.

The test of a good work of literature, and an anomaly in the fantasy genre, is the applicability of the novel's theme to the real world -- "Naked Empire" succeeds in this endeavor. While at times bordering on a sort of political agenda, Goodkind should be hailed for using this unique means to comment on the state of the real world. Without any explicit reference, the notion of pre-emptive strikes and the use of violence to end violence is remniscent of current world events. In this sense the novel is very timely, and clearly expresses one writer's view of the direction of our world.

However, the novel does have its flaws. The forces that build against Richard and his friends(poison, the loss of magic, parallizing headaches, stalking birds, an infinite supply of opposing soldiers, the capture of the wizard Zedd, torture of innocents, etc., etc. etc.) at times becomes too much and feels unreconcilable. This leads to a too-tightly wrapped conclusion that seems to want the reader to say "of course!", but more likely makes the reader say "okay, if you say so." Richards speeches become tedious at times, betraying the grade school writing rule of "show don't tell." And some of the symbolism is ambiguous yet critical to the dramatic story line (i.e. the statue, the warning figurines).

But with vivid characters that readers have to know quite intimately, a gripping story with all the magical elements of fantasy, and a very applicable message that transcends the normal bounds of the genre, "Naked Empire" is an effective and enjoyable read.

Entirely too many pages of this book are spent with speeches and lectures on morality. The story is a good one, when they finally get around to it. Two thirds of the book is Richard talking to people about how they should value life and on and on about right and wrong. I was annoyed with it in Faith of the Fallen and I am not impressed with it now. I sincerely hope that there will again be a focus on the story and the characters, not these cardboard cutouts that keep coming into the story to be lectured on the black and white of life as Richard sees it.

This was overall a good Sword of truth book. On the most part it took way to long to get into the real action but when it did it was great. THE MAJOR COMPLAINT I HAVE is the story was soooo damn preachy. How many time can i read a lecture in a book about "your life is your own to live" its INSANE, I read a book to be entertained not lectured to. If you can get past the preachyness of the book its pretty good but repetitive.

Everyone comes into books with their own expectations, and just because they are not met, doesn't mean the book is no good. It simply means that they are NOT the author, therefore, what they expect is not the law in how it should be written. Let Goodkind's world unfold.

The 8th installment was excellent. And just like Goodkind's style. Highly original. Many reviews said he was too "preachy". Guess what? He always has been! Only now it was necessary to explain more of it, given some circumstances that occurred in the book. The only flaw I trully saw was that the war with Jagang is still going. I admit, that would be nice to be done with. Other than that, the story was excellent, some new twists and philosophy. I'm not saying it is his best book yet, but definitely a great installment!

Book 8 of the Sword of Truth
After a one book digression to focus on a different character (Jennsen Rahl), The Sword of Truth series returns to put the focus back on Richard Rahl. Naked Empire begins shortly after the end of Pillars of Creation. By shortly after I mean within a couple of hours in the timeline of the series. Jennsen has finally met up with Richard and has learned that she is his half-sister and that Richard really is a good guy (something we've known for the 6 books before POC). We have learned something about Jennsen. She is what is called "pristinely ungifted". This means that she cannot see magic nor can it directly affect her. The reason for this has to do with the Rahl family, but it would take several paragraphs to explain. With Jennsen together with Richard and Kahlan, they can continue their quest deep into the Empire of the Old World.
That's the set up. Here's the delivery:
Richard is being tracked by strange, large black birds called races. The races are not doing much more than following (a rare attack), so Richard knows that someone is using the races to find out where he is going and what he is doing. Talking with Kahlan he mentions a book he was reading called "The Pillars of Creation", and it has to do with the Pristinely Ungifted like Jennsen. Apparently there was a whole lot of them several thousand years ago and they were all banished to the Old World. That's all anyone really knows about them. Naturally, this means that we're going to see their descendents (they are actually the Empire in the title, not that of Jagang). Richard is also suffering from extreme headaches that reflect the growing of Richard's gift.
Richard and company meet up with an old man who tries to convince Richard to save his people from the Empire. Richard explains that he only explains the options to people and exhorts them to rise up themselves because Richard cannot do everything himself nor does he feel the responsibility to help those who won't help themselves. Richard preaches self-empowerment. The man doesn't quite understand and it is revealed that he poisoned Richard to convince him to save his people.
You can guess how this plays out and who this man's people actually are. Now that we are back to the main storyline, things get moving along a little bit more. The point of view switches between Richard in the Old World and Zedd back in the New World. One of my favorite things about this series (in a very twisted way) is how Terry Goodkind does not spare his characters anything. They must endure torture and extreme suffering and in the end we still believe it when they are able to overcome the situation they find themselves in. The only question I have is something that has been questioned in other series: Will it ever end? I don't see where Goodkind is going with the Sword of Truth series and I don't see that it is really moving to a resolution anytime soon. On the other hand, this is also a series that can be wrapped up in any one book. The amazing thing about this series is that every single book is a self-contained novel that has its own story arc while it advances the series story arc. Each novel is a solid offering and is strong on its own.

Though there is sometimes a bit more description then I feel is necessary, which is why is got. 4 instead of a 5, the book is fast paced, the action does not stop, the message Goodkind is trying to drive home is sorely needed.
If you like fantasy any Goodkind book is worth the read. This one is relevant.

While I agree that this book is not the best novel in the series, it was still entertaining to read with enough action to keep me interested. I agree Goodkind was a little verbous and "preachy" at times, but i still enjoyed it... I mean anthing is better the that piece of $#%@ that Robert Jordan pawned of as his last novel "Crossboards into twilight". I am just glad the Goodkind can write a novel that keeps me interested and had some plot in about half the time it took RJ to write that 600 page prologue.

I was a little dubious after having read some negative reviews on this book and after reading Robert Jordan's latest book which I felt was a parody on his own style.
However, I quickly found myself absorbed in the book. The storyline still evolves. The writer still has a special touch which involves me in the story. The story still feels alive and touching. Richard Rahl still learns a little more even if it goes slowly and is only hinted at in the end.
All in all, a good book with all the neccessary ingredients. True, I would have loved for Richard to get more powers, but that is about the only negative thing I have to say about this addition to the series.
--- Mats ---

Oh Terry, where did you go wrong?
The start of the sword of truth series was absolutely fantastic, it draws you in and you can't put it down. But now you have become all philisophical on us.
This book will be a disappointment to all those that enjoyed Wizard's First Rule, but I'm sure that most fans will opt to buy the novel anyway out of shear hope that Terry will dig himself out of the hole that he created with Pillars of the Earth. Coincidently, if you enjoyed that, you should enjoy this novel.

Friends, I have read all and re-read some of the books in this series. Goodkind has a stack of great books. This is not his finest hour. I know you have read the other reviews like I have. I tossed this book in the trash about page 400. I really tried to like this book. It literaly ground to a halt. I came to the decision that no matter where the author took it, I didn't care anymore. It is a shame because I have invested a great deal in Richard and Kahlan like many of you have. The characters have become flat. The plots are predictable and series stale. Wait for the reviews before you buy the next one and skip this effort. I can't say it any more plainly. I will buy the next one because of Goodkind's body of work and not the last book in the series.

A great book for the fans that was disappointed with the Pillars Of Creation. This book really rapped it up. I personally thought that the talks about freedom and what it takes to earn it shows allot of insight. I would hardly call it a libertarian or anti-government. I could not put the book down and really looked forward to getting off of work just to read it. I can wait until the next one. Thank You Mr. Brooks for another masterpiece...

So the guy injects some pseudo philosophy into his books,it does not interfere with the plot progression. Obviously the dude is outnumbered, he has to get help. So winning over allies is natural. If you like the series this book should make you happy. If you are new to the series, don't start here. Mr. Goodkind entertained me.

Well, to start off on a good note, at least this was better than Pillars of Creation. Of course, if TG would never have written POC, he wouldn't have had to write this. He could have just moved the actual plot of the series forward as it looks like he will do in the next book.
While NE did provide some entertaining moments, which is why it got 2 stars instead of 1, there was entirely too much time devoted on back-filling in the story for those people who hadn't read the other books in the series. Come on - this is book 8 - if they start here, they should just read the other books if they want to know what happened before.
This book had many repetitive elements from previous books. Once again, there is a new threat that previously didn't exist, and that we'd never heard of. Once again Richard is taken captive. Once again, every word Richard says looks like there was an entire team of speechwriters who gave him a script and he read directly from it. Once again, the main villian who is supposed to be supremely intelligent, appears to have made a breakthrough only to stupidly relinquish his advantage yet again.
The overall plot of the series - the conflict with the Imperial Order - is more or less in exactly the same place it was after book 6. Books 7 and 8 were completely side plots, and it seems clear the book 7 was written so he could write book 8. It is clear we could do without either of them, and not miss a beat in the overall plot.
The end was extremely predictable, and it is really starting to get old seeing Richard's gift, which he doesn't know how to use, but ultimately uses based on his 'need', do absolutely anything he could possibly need it to in order to get himself out of the jam at the end. Not very creative writing there.
All in all, if it hadn't been for the previous book which was so monumentally bad, this book would have been the worst of the series along with Soul of the Fire, which also had a few moments of good stuff.
There doesn't appear to be any obvious new threat leading into the next book, so let's hope we finally start moving toward an overall conclusion to the major plotline in the next one.

It pains me to review Naked Empire, the 8th book in the Sword of Truth series, since I am an avid fan both of Goodkind and the adorable central characters he created in Wizard's First Rule, Richard and Kahlan.
Firstly, fantasy fans beware. This book is not packed with the usual action and world buidling of fantasy sagas. Now, Goodkind was never one to conform to the rules of typical fantasy books, but this book is a rule all onto itself. More than two thirds of it consists of tedious preaching on behalf of Richard to less enlightened souls about the value of life ... and consequently the justification for murder! Not only do I have trouble swallowing the mind-numbingly tripe "philosophies" of Richard, I find his conclusions incredulous.
I would have been able to forgive dubious values and even a speech or two by Richard if the plot were more forgiving. Unfortunately, and it is highly unfortunate, it seems like Goodkind has lost the plot. Where is the action? The plot is so thin that it can be related in two short sentences: Richard converts a bunch of non-magical misfits to his beliefs by saving them from evil occupation. And, oh yeah, he also finds out how to control his gift. There you go.
Harldy an effort worthy of Goodkind. And my question to Goodkind is: do YOU deserve victory?
The plots and characters just aren't explored. Nicholas the Slide is too obvious - you know from the start that Betsy the goat is going to be a pain in the behind (literally), and Jenssen, Richard's half sister, is frankly too annoying.
Goodkind spends the first 150 pages bringing readers up to speed on the plot thus far. This should tell you something of the value of Naked Empire as a book in its own right ... Life is too valuable to spend time reading this book.
The read was painful, my review is painful. I'm sure that Goodkind is feeling the pain too. By no means deserving of victory (nor my money).

With Naked Empire, Goodkind finally cemented his place in my mind as a wingnut with nothing to say that hadn't been said more strikingly by Ayn Rand and, more importantly, as a novelist with no good stories left to tell. This book destroyed my admiration for Richard Rahl as a likable main character and for Goodkind as a writer. Gone are the sense of humor, interesting characters, and intricate storytelling of Wizard's First Rule, replaced by pseudo-philosophical rambling and characters painted with a childishly broad brush. I had loved Wizard's First Rule when I was in middle school, and quietly, almost without my noticing because of the slow decline of the SoT series and my utter disgust with Naked Empire, this book broke my heart.

A 400 page book streched to 800... I don't see the need for so many pages. The book could have been half as many pages and accomplished the same thing. Why is it that my favorite authors are disappointing!?

This book is without a doubt the worst of the series. The author not only regurgitates many of the events contained in previous books, he fills the pages with the same monotonous drivil over and over again until one just wants to put the book down never to pick it up again. In addition, not much new material in the entire book. Most of it is spent walking on the same trail day after day until the reader is left wishing it would just end.

Great book. I would have given it 5 stars but that gones to only the most engrossing of tales. The story is new and refreshing. My only complaint is the ending, which is only a person preference. I didn't think that a certain villan should have died as easily has Terry put it. This book is very much an improvement over the his last book, Pillars of Creation.

I was a bit hesitant going in to this book because of all the negative feedback I read about it on this site. But I really enjoyed the book, not my favorite one out of the series so far but a good read nonetheless. My suggestion is to read the book for yourself, form your own opinion, and ignore the negative feedback you see about it. Reflecting back on some of the "feedback" I read beforehand makes me wonder if these people read the same book I did. It just reinforces the fact that other people's opinions should not impact you making up your own mind about something. Take chance. I did and was not disappointed.

ok first off i think terry goodkind is an excellent writer i love his works and have the whole sword of truth seris,and have read it multiple times.maybe this was not the best in the seris but i did love it it was kinda neat the way he took a small yet big part of the story from a few books back and made a whole book about it and gave some insight into where and what these people where and are and gave more history on richards father and his own past,personally i loved it and await the rest of them..hope he makes it to 10. and for those who are looking for something deep and life affirming,or something to give your life meaning,go to the self help section or read the bible

In the Sword of Truth series over two years have passed since Richard first met Kahlan that memorable day in the Hartland woods. Naked Empire was written as a continuation of The Pillars of Creation and follows the same characters through yet another story of perilous intent. Here we find Richard Rahl struggling with his ability to balance his tremendous gift as a War Wizard. That he is seemingly unable to control this awesome power and prevent his own death was the man vs. self slice of irony that kept me reading.
Most of the reviews that you will read on here absolutely drag this book through the mud, and I'm not really sure why. This is a fantasy novel and a pretty good one at that. Richard Rahl wields the Sword of Truth with a ruthlessly unrelenting purpose throughout Naked Empire, and let me tell you, it's good to have him back!

I started reading Goodkind when I was 14, I'm 20 now and still a huge fan of the series. This book IS preachy, and it IS philosiphical. But it is not a about Iraq, dispite what You've read. Yes there are things that are quite similar. But only the aspects that all invasions share. The message wasn't that the people who protested Iraq were blind to evil but rather, that people are blind to many of the evils they commit by the beliefs they share.
All said, the story was profound and heart-felt. A definite must read.

Check out Julian May's 'Many Coloured Land' series. A great story with characters you can empathise with, that read well from start to finish and really ended. Goodkind started out well but has now become too confused in my mind with Robert Jordan, plus he preaches too much and too simplisticly.
Very disappointing - borrow it from the library if you must read it.

Personally, when a series goes past 3 books I start to get a little bored. However, Goodkind has keep up the pace in this series! He invents new twists to keep the readers ready for the next book. I admit that some of the books seem a little slower than the others but hey that's the way life is. You can't expect, even a hero, to have every event in their life to be astronmical. Goodkind keeps a way from nonsensical writing by using his great ability to introduce and interweave new situations and characters. I would recommend the whole series to anyone who loves fanatasy.

I started this series with an eye towards its entertainment value, and it meets my expectations totally! Now that I am almost done with it I can really see the social values, decisions and thought provoking questions addressed. Marvelous author, dynamic stories, and sadly it is coming to an end.

I have read all 8 of Terry Goodkind's books and each one of them has been a fantastic ride. I think what most people don't understand about this story is it is a battle for freedom which takes several life times (and even longer). Freedom to an oppressed nation does not come easily and ridding the evil that infects it is nearly impossible. I think what Terry is portraying in his books is similar to what is happening in our world today. Sure we dont have magic and wizards, but we do know what it is like to be free and unoppressed and that is our biggest ally. Terry does a great job in bringing these characters to life, long speaches and all, and I can hardly wait for the next book to arrive!

Great book. Goodkinds' last two books really went off on a tangent. Glad to see he got back to the main story. Pillars of Creation was hard to read. It just made no sense for the most part. Naked Empire is a much better read. I just hope that Goodkind does not let this series become like Robert Jordan and his never ending, string us along wheel of time series.

I enjoyed this book when i read it, although i felt it wasn't nearly as good as some of the others. i probably would have given it 3 or 4 stars, until i recently reread wizard's first rule. it hardly even seems like the same series anymore! i mean books 1-4 and 6 were fantastic. but 5,7, and 8 it just seems like goodkind lost his focus, making them into books of nothing but political rants rather than the magic we see in the first few books. There are a lot of really good plot lines that goodkind could expand on, but he doesn't! lets just hope chainfire has more of the elements i used to love about this series.

Hey guys if any of you didn't like this series or book i would urge you to read Robert Jordan's Series The Wheel of Time, because you would come crawling back to Goodkind after the first few books. At least with the Truth Series stuff happens and its interesting and all the characters dont act the same and have the same stereotypes and say the same things over and over and over again. If you need a good nap i suggest Jordan over Goodkind anyday.

The loss of quality that this series have suffered is staggering, just as with Robert Jordans books. I feel saddened that these two talented authors have turned into this. What is worse with Goodkind though is the horrible political message - masquerading as philosophy - that is hammered into the reader at all opportunities.

It's terribly hard to stop buying these once excellent series of books that many of us have invested a decade in following, but for my part I can no longer pay for this utter rubbish. If you haven't read George R.R. Martin, Steven Erikson or Robin Hobb turn to them for salvation.

After reading all of Terry Goodkind's books, I feel kind of empty, nothing else really compares to the epic quality and scope of this excellent series of novels.
This novel was great, though I was disappointed that Richard and Kahlan only made a brief appearance.

After having read the book I came to the conclusion that this particular series is already one book too many for my interest.

Mr. Goodkind is a writer and a good one, but the progress and substance of the series at this point in time no longer provide the appeal that I found within the first few books.

I do however recommend buying at least the first four volumes of the "Sword of Truth" series since they introduce a fantastic, original and creative setting full of rich characters and problems.

I first read Wizards First Rule I was in college and absolutely feel in love with it. Then I read Sword Of Truth, and was hooked. Since then I have dutifully read everyone of the books, but this will be the last, and the reason is this. I don't read fantasy novels for underdeveloped, half thought out philosophical flights of fancy. If I want philsophy I'll go with Kirkegard, or Wilber, or Plato. Someone who has taken time to properly develop and work out a concept. Not some fantasy writer with his own politcal agenda to push. Now I realize all of the books in this series have a message (as does any good book), but they were well hidden in the context of the story and were cleaverly revealed throughout. This book takes it's moral, and beats you about the head with it. And as the ideas in the story are mentioned ad naseum, it's actually a severe blow to the head, repeated often. If you break down the book into action vs. expostion, you get about 100 pages of action, and 566 pages of exposition. Actually most of the expostion is just the same thing over, and over, and over again. So what you really get is 300 pages of exposition, repeated. I don't know if Mr. Goodkind thinks his reading audience is dumb, or just wants to rest on his laurels, but you should never subject someone who has laid down their hard earned money to this kind of trash. I can safely say that after having been enamored with this series now for many years, I won't be reading the rest of the series. That is unless Mr. Goodkind can return to his roots and leave the philsophie to those who know what they're talking about.

I was struggling through out the first 400 pages of this book. It was going on way too slow and Richard could not stop preaching. Near the end of the book the pace picked up to the regular pace of the earlier books. Overall it was worth it, but i wish the ending came sooner so i didnt have to struggle through the first bit.

I enjoyed the earlier books in this series. This book however, took me three starts before I was able to read through it. It was very low on plot and character development. The story took a back seat to political views.

Not sure what everyone's beef is... I rather enjoyed the book.
The pewee bird call, Chase and Rachel, Zedd's daughter's childhood toy... Goodkind is still in there. The wonderful story is still in there.

The first book in the series "Sword of Truth" was great, after that it has only gone downhill. From copying whole ideas from Robert Jordan's books, to now just taking a detour. The whole book is a phylosofical detour, nothing related to the plotline happens, and if you skip it good for you. It is just a rant against "relative morality" and even comunism.

Save your time and money and dont buy or read this book.

This book was much better than Pillars of Creation. I have all of the books in this series and have fallen in love with the story and characters. You need to read all the books to truly appreciate the story. This is a long book that keeps your eyes glued to the page. This book explains what the Pillars of Creation are and how it will change future books in the series. There are new villains, a new eloi-ish society, and Richard and Kahlan are back as the main characters.

Indeed the man is back. I'm talking about Mr. Goodkind first and his main character Richard second. This book is up there with the early books in the series and he has me back as a solid fan. It thought the last couple of books were a waste of [money], but this book was worth it. All I can say is read this book. It will remind you why you loved WFR and SOT.

This book is awsome. I was quite dissappointed with Goodkind's last book, 'Pillars of Creation', but this book completely grappled me back into believing that Goodkind is one of the most prominent fiction writers of this century. The characters are excellent, especially Nicholas the Slide, who is one of the most awsome villans since Darken Rahl. My only complaint with this book is the ending. ((SPOILER ALERT!!!!!))
I feel that the main antagonist of the story died much to easily for how awsome he was, and truthfully I wish that the Slide would have replaced Jagang as the main villan. This book is highly recommended, unless that is, you're a communist.

This book is pure and utter right wing propaganda. If I wanted to read about over zealous war mongering extremists I would simply watch President Bush's state of the union. (See earlier review about creating a people who deserve to be wiped out because of their "pacifist leanings."
The book starts off promising, winged creatures flying overhead, Richard and Kahlan alone and the focal point of the story. If you don't want to wake up with an excruciating headache (from repeatedly banging your head against the wall in utter revulsion at the sophomoric attempts at political and ideological brow beatings) put the book down and walk away.
The Sword of Truth series started off so promising but then Faith of the Fallen came out and Terry Goodkind thought he was the next Arthur Koestler (see Darkness at Noon) and would use Richard as a pedestal for his political and ideological musings. If you want to read a good fantasy series that steers clear of such fascist drivel then read books by George R.R. Martin, Robert Jordan or David Eddings. I can't believe I wasted so much time reading this crap.

For every person that shells out good money for this tripe, for every person that comes here and gushes about how great Goodkind is, he is proving his own First Rule.

Here's an alternative to buying Naked Empire. Go to the nearest large city and seek out a crazy homeless guy preaching the evils of the world-wide reptilian space-beast conspiracy on a street corner. It's free, and I guarantee his rants will be more entertaining than Goodkind's.

The adventures of a overly powerful character and saving the world are classic stories. But this... this is garbage. I admit I had not read the previous books to these, but the philosophy that Richard holds and his thought processes on what is good and evil sickened me. Sometimes I felt the need to, and had to, skip pages to get somewhere. The killing of Pacifists did it for me though, that is what made me finally put the book down.

Down right awful

This book in not one of his best but is still a good book there are a few part where it lags in the middle of the book but the good news is that he stoped switching between Characters so often in this book, making les frustating to read trough those dull molments, over all i say it was a prity good book, it left me begging for the next one wich thay have not announced yet.

Well it wasnt a BAD book it just kinda lacked a really in depth plot. It seems that unfortunatley Terry Goodkind is dragging out his, once execellent, series into something that seems to be going nowhere... reminds me of.............. ROBERT JORDAN! Hey whaddya know.
anyway thats my two cents

I have a dirty confession to make: I started the Sword of Truth series with book 6: FAITH OF THE FALLEN. I enjoyed it. Things HAPPENED (...sort of...). So I went and read the first book.

I didn't like WIZARD'S FIRST RULE half as much, but dutifully read the rest of the series to figure out just what in the hell was going on.

In PILLARS OF CREATION, Goodkind sank to the same level as WIZARD'S FIRST RULE. Where was Cara? Where was the hot Brass Buttons/Mord Sith action? Who in the wide world was this Jennsenn person? Why couldn't the damn goat DIE?! Why was Jennsenn a redhead and Richard a brunette, and somehow look exactly alike? What the hell was up with the goat?

In NAKED EMPIRE, Goodkind started digging. He dug deep, and he dug fast.

I lost all respect for Richard. He seemed like nothing but an insertion of how Goodkind wished he could be. Kahlan and the others might well have not existed. They were,`to use an internet writing term, "sockpuppets."

Skip the book. Hell, skip the series. It just isn't worth it.

I have read every one of this series of books and always waited for the paperbacks to come out. This one I bought in hardback and am not willing to wait for the paperback. Mrs. Donihue did everything but call Mr. Goodkind a warmonger in her review yet failed to review the book itself. Her belief that it is a thinly veiled support or approval of the war in Iraq is ludicrous at best. Authors such as Mr. Goodkind do not write books overnight and the war in Iraq has been recent (Yes it was a war. Numbers on either side have nothing to do with whether it was a war or not. Left wing propaganda). A fictional book written about a fantasy place is just that. If anything, Mrs. Donihue has asserted her anti-patriotic sentiments in a thinly veiled book review. I, however, wish not to mislead you the reader. I have not even read the book yet but I do look forward to reading how the all out war of good vs. evil plays out. One thing that Mr. Goodkind has all but said outloud in all of the previous of this series is that in the war of good vs. evil for good to defeat evil good has to get a bit dirty in the process. Those that don't believe that concept have a tough row to hoe in the real world.

Look, the book is horrible -but so was the last one- so I have no one to blame but myself for buying it. The characters have melded into one "cardboardy", preachy, predictable version of each other. And yes, the message is simplistic and transparent and frustratingly redundant. But, I LOVE those elements of the book compared to that freaking lousy goat. I'm embarressed for Mr.Goodkind's children when that bleating contrivance shows up. When they get old enough to read and find out that their daddy stuck that filthy goat down his readers throats they're going to claw their eyes out in shame. I can never be friends now with a woman named Betty because of you, Goodkind. If Roy reads this thing while he's recovering, he'll hate the goat more than the white tiger, I can tell you that. The president of PETA even said that he hopes Jagang the Just ends up raping and eating Betty. Now having said that, I ADORED that goat compared to that devastatingly not-cute, forced-precocious, sickenly saccharin character of Rachel. The next time I read about Rachel I hope it's on a milk carton.

If you like adventure, fantasy, magic, metaphysic and want to be entertained, you can't lose! Terry Goodkind is an excellent author. Detailed characters and settings, make you feel as you are there. Enjoy.

Naked Empire is a fantastic addition to the Sword of Truth series. Some people don't like how the main characters aren't the 'main' characters in this book, but it's a well crafted story that has a huge effect moving forward.

If your the store account is tagged to Canada, too bad, so sad, you cannot buy the last 4 books in the series. Since all the books are one long story, that means you don't get to read to the end. the store says it has something to do with the author or the author's publisher but they don't respond to email enquiries. the store were stand up though and reimbursed the cost of the books I had read.

As for the books, the stories get stretched on without any conclusion and are filled with insipid morals, values, and very predictable narrative.

I do agree with some prior readers that the content of this book was a lot like Faith of the Fallen but I still really enjoyed it. The thing I really enjoyed about it was that it progressed the overall story a lot more than Pillars of creation (which was still enjoyable).

A horrible book that did nothing to advance the story in the series. By the end of he book the characters are at the exact same spot they were at in the beginning. If you are reading the series, feel free to skip this book and you won't miss anything.

First off, the ideas expressed have nothing to do with conservatism and liberalism. they are objectivism. even if i wasn't a liberal, I'd find your review inflammatory and baseless.

Anyway, this book was wonderfully written. If you look at it as just a story, and disregard the philosophy, its actually a good book. but even if you read it and are offended by the philosophy, why debunk the book? the story itself was good. all in all i liked the book.

First things first, All of you liberal CRITICS are just mad because Goodkind debunked every ideal you hold dear, in ONE BOOK. If it makes you liberals mad enough to tell people to drop the series entirely, then I say, Goodkind has done a FANTASTIC job. Now on to the book.

I read this book, in a total of 10 hours. This series is among the best, and with the latest addition to the WoT series :( has moved into 1st as my favorite series. That all said, the book did lack a few things. I think he needs to spend more time proving that idiot liberals are just that, stupid, mindless drones following whatever thier leaders say, and eating up drivel from the likes of Michael Moore as if it were gospel. Too bad you folks weren't born with a brain.

Please keep your political paranoia out of this book. If you want to read the father of preemptive strikes read Modesitt. He thoroughly explores the pros and cons, while Goodkind coats it over in simplistic fashion.

I think I am an atypical reader as it seems, after reading others' reviews, that many think the series is worsening as it progresses. On the contrary, my favorites are those later in the series; this one is no exception. I quite enjoyed this book, and thought it had some interesting plot twists. But again, I appear to be an exception to the rule.

Since the fifth book of Mr. Goodkind's venerable Sword of Truth series, Soul of the Fire, a growing number of people have begun to complain that the books have grown too "preachy" to be enjoyable, while series loyalists and Mr. Goodkind himself insist that no such thing is occurring. Since this is the topic that invariably arises when one discussed these books, I feel that this is the primary issue I must address in this review.
I recently read an interview with Mr. Goodkind in which he discussed his writing process, his views on philosophy, and how he incorporates them into his work, among other things. In it, he made a number of comments that struck me as telling indicators of what you'll find in Naked Empire.
1. Mr. Goodkind stated that rather than tell a pre-conceived story as he believes it would unfold, he instead comes up with a moral or philosophical statement he'd like to make, and then crafts the story to fit that tenet. Goodkind is not a world-builder and never has been; the endings of his books have always had the ring of, "Nice work Richard... but our princess is in another castle!" to paraphrase from everyone's favorite plumber-based video game. I've never had a problem with this in the past, since what Goodkind lacks in a cohesive world and story, he makes up for with his wonderful characters.
However, his statement in the interview confirms what many readers have been saying over the past few volumes: his books are increasingly becoming vehicles for Goodkind's philosophy, and Naked Empire shows that trend increasing exponentially. While the events put forth as the book's main conflict could be intriguing, as the story develop, they seem much more like a setting explicitly constructed to make a tired moral point than one crafted to advance his story.
2. One of the main influences for Mr. Goodkind's portrayal of the Bandakar people was the idea put forth by Immanuel Kant that our senses are insufficient to perceive reality as it truly is. The Bandakar are a people who have been sealed away from the rest of the world since the time of the great wizards' war, whose homeland is now exposed to the rest of the world for reasons that will be made clear in the middle of the book. The Bandakar have some impossibly naïve views on reality and pacifism, and the fact that Goodkind cites Kant as the forebear of these ideals shows how grossly he misinterpreted what Kant was trying to say.
I am as much a proponent of personal responsibility as anyone else, but unfortunately, this book is nothing more than a huge strawman argument. Goodkind sets up a pitiful target that nobody in the real world would defend, and expects us to be awed when Richard knocks it down with the force of reason. The result is not impressive; it's irritating in the extreme.
3. Mr. Goodkind calls Ayn Rand the "greatest philosopher since Aristotle." I'm not even going to touch that, but it should give you a strong idea of what you're in for.
About three quarters of the way through this book, I realized something astonishing. I don't like Richard anymore. He was such a wonderful character in the early days of this series, but now he doesn't even seen human. Rather than a compassionate and resourceful man who's overcome many hardships, he comes across as a tiresome ersatz intellectual, and not just when he's addressing the Bandakar. His words are saturated with pedantry even when he's talking to his friends.
The book's ending marks another low point in the series. There are three primary problems that Richard must overcome, which I won't name for fear of revealing too much of the story, but while Goodkind prides himself on writing endings that show his characters prevailing through intelligence and resourcefulness, only one of the solutions satisfies in that regard. Of the two disappointments, one is a contrived anticlimax, and the other is a horrible deus ex machina.
That said, the upside is that there are still several strong characters here. Zedd, Adie, Nathan, and Ann all have parts to play, and they are still my favorite characters. I still love every minute I get to spend with them. Jagang is as interesting as usual, and Mr. Goodkind gets bonus points for Nicholas the Slide, who is one of the creepiest villains I've read in quite some time.
So, the final verdict: Would I recommend this? Maybe. If you're a very dedicated Sword of Truth fan, I think you might want to stay with it if only for the good times spent with the characters not traveling with Richard. Will I give up on the Sword of Truth? Probably not. As much as Richard irritates me now, I still love the other characters, and I haven't given up hope on the series yet. Please, Mr. Goodkind, turn this thing around.

I at first gave up on reading this book because of all the bad reviews. Now I am glad I did read it, it is not the best book of the series and yes there is lots of talking (preaching), but still a worthy read. The greatest strength of this book is the unpredictability and the fact that lord Rahl is not quite the superman he was becoming.

The book was pretty good. The philosophy was tedious--I got it in the previous books. The thing that is really tiresome is the villians. Often they appear from nowhere and are members of the Rahl family.

I'm very disappointed that I didn't get the cover image when I purchased this book for my Kindle. Customer service could not find a solution to this problem. Not having the image reduced my enjoyment of this book.

This series seems to be following the pattern of the Wheel of Time. It started off fantasticly, with storyline and charcters that grab and hold you. But as the books go on.....and on..... it just starts to get worse and worse.

This book along with the rest of the series contains a huge lesson in Philosophy. If you like a book that teaches along with the story then this book is for you. Not many people may understand this lesson and get too wrapped up in the actual story. This series will help a person learn to think better. Not to just accept but to question.
I consider this book better then Wheel of Time or Lord of Rings or Shanara or Thomas Covenant etc. It is along those lines of what this book is like.
Have a good day!!

Wonderful book. Great character development in the series overall, and further in this outing. As to the opinion that TG wrote this book to expound upon the Iraq war, I say RUBBISH. Many writers have put there personal thoughts in an allegorical manner. I thought his book made sense, and put down ideas that are as valid today as they were in yesteryear.

Anyone who complains about the long winded speaches might just not be smart enough to understand what goodkind was saying . And theres nothing wrong with a funky lil goat getting some spot light . Yes it is a little under par for him but Goodkind has given us 8 GREAT books and he deserves all the respect in the world . Goodkind is now 8 for 8 with no truly horrible books .

This series of books are captivating and what I would call cliff hangers that move you from one book to the next. They hold your interst and compell you to locate the next book then the next. If you ever read the first you will have to read the rest of them. A must read for those of us that enjoy a good romance, mystery, adventure, with realistic fantasy. Just a great read!

The book itself was an awesome read, if you 've already made it this far, its definitely worth it to keep going. On the flip side, the condition of the book when I received it was far less than the like new condition that was stated. Thoroughly disappointed by that fact.

For those critics who complained so much about the preachiness in Terry Goodkinds eighth book of the Sword of Truth series, please take the time to read your own reviews which you have given. Thanks Terry for another great read. Preach on.

My husband and I are avid science fiction and fantasy readers. Together we've enjoyed several multivolume epics, including Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series.

Each book expounds upon one of several rules of magic, beginning with the "Wizard's First Rule," which is that people are stupid. It's been something of a game with us, to try and figure out what each rule was before one of the characters, usually either Zed or Richard, got around to revealing it.

Goodkind's developing abilities as a writer can be traced in successive volumes of the series, but all good things must come to an end and "The Sword of Truth" has definitely passed its peak.

It's really too bad the series couldn't have ended with "Faith of the Fallen," because Goodkind's "novel of ideas" represented a high point in the series. It also marked a turning point in Goodkind's approach to writing -- namely the harnessing of fiction to explore the realm of philosophy.

But where "Faith of the Fallen" offered an intriguing look at the issues of personal responsibility and socially-engineered equality, by the time "Naked Empire" came along, Goodkind's approach had become blatantly propagandist.

"Naked Empire" appears to be an overt endorsement of the United States' pre-emptive invasion of Iraq -- but far from endorsing truth and moral clarity, Goodkind offers a thinly-veiled criticism of of the peace movement that is manipulative of reality and completely insulting to the intelligence of his readers. It's almost as if he's taken the wizard's first rule too much to heart.

Obligatory biographical note: I was at the Civic Center in San Francisco to protest the invasion (it was never a "war" -- the foes were too unevenly matched).

I can't speak for everyone at that rally, but we at least are not mindless peaceniks, oblivious to evil as Goodkind's book would portray us. On the contrary -- we are strongly opposed to evil and we don't want our country to betray its principles in the name of fighting a war on "terror."

So reading a book like Mr. Goodkind's -- with Richard's slash 'n' hack response to a deliberately perverted portrayal of the peace movement -- was a slap in the face and an insult to the intelligence.

And then there's the pacing. Goodkind rehashes past happenings endlessly, but not always in a way that makes any sense.

Reading this book, I think some editor made the fatal error of agreeing to pay Mr. Goodkind by the word and then went to press with the manuscript as-is. How else can you explain the endless variations on the "Kahlen knew she was at fault because of what she did" nonsense? This stuff is repeated over and over again like a mantra, until Goodkind finally clarifies just what it was Kahlan did in a previous volume that caused this whole mess.

Being a committed believer in Karma (a.k.a. the law of cause and effect), this is actually an aspect of Goodkind's books that has always interested me -- namely that a well-intentioned action, undertaken in response to a present problem, is actually the catalyst for subsequent crisis. But it isn't necessary to dwell on it endlessly.

Then there's Richard's endless pontificating of beliefs that should have been obvious. Goodkind is preaching to the choir here, and it's more than a little tiresome.

For all of these reasons, I think this series is past its prime. Enough is enough, already! But in the meantime, if Mr. Goodkind is going to use his fantasy to promote philosophical or political arguments, then at least let those arguments be sophisticated arguments that accurately depict the viewpoints of the opposing side.

This book was awesome! Of course, I haven't read it yet, but you can bet your pants I will be. I'm a huge fan of all of Goodkind's novels so far (except, of course, for Pillars of Creation *shudder*) so I've got pretty high expectations.