Synopsis
The series is set in a world divided into two major regions: the New World and the Old World. The New World consists of three lands with Westland in the west, D'Hara in the east, and the Midlands between them. D'Hara is ruled by a magically gifted member of the Rahl family, while the welfare of the Midlands is decided by a council of representatives led by the Mother Confessor, who is also the leader of the Confessors. The Confessors are a group of women who each have a magical power to force a person to become entirely devoted to them. People touched by a Confessor's power will do anything for her or truthfully answer any question she asks, hence the name Confessor. Westland, a land of no magic, is also ruled by a council of representatives. The Old World is not introduced until the second book in the series and its geographical features are described in less detail. The main character is a young man named Richard Cypher, a Westland woods guide whose simple life is forever changed after he becomes the Seeker of Truth, a champion of truth and justice. Over the course of the series, Richard learns about his heritage while seeking to stop the evil that others would unleash upon the world of the living. Because Richard refuses to sacrifice his values and lives his life as a free man, others begin to understand the nobility of man and what it means to be free. Each book is loosely themed around a Wizard's Rule, tenets by which all wizards should abide. The eleventh full-length novel, ''Introduction
The first book, ''Invasion of the Imperial Order
The series continues with '' Stone of Tears'', which immediately follows the events that occurred in ''Journey through the Old World
While continuing on from ''Faith of the Fallen'', ''Chainfire
Three novels of the series, '' Chainfire'', ''The Richard and Kahlan series
On April 2, 2010, a video went up on Terry Goodkind's official site andThe Nicci Chronicles
Taking place after the events of the four Richard & Kahlan novels, ''The Nicci Chronicles'' follow further exploits of former Sister of the Dark, Nicci, & former prophet, Nathan Rahl.''Death's Mistress''
Released January 24, 2017, ''Death's Mistress'' is the first entry in the ''Nicci Chronicles'' series and the 18th novel, chronologically, in the ''Sword of Truth'' universe. Following the events of ''Warheart'', Nicci decides to take her leave of Richard and Kahlan for a time. Nathan Rahl chooses to accompany her. They go on a mission to the Dark Lands to visit the witch, Red, who tells them of a vague prophecy that she will save the world. Nicci and Nathan's quest takes them across the known world and deep into a forgotten, unmapped region known as the Phantom Coast. Nicci saves a young sailor named Bannon, who joins them on their quest. Nathan begins to lose control of his magic, seemingly because prophecy itself has been eradicated. The trio crosses the Phantom Coast, fights off Viking-like Norukai and vicious sea monsters, stops a mad judge who froze an entire population with a cursed necklace, meets the last dragon left in the Old World, and discovers an ancient archive of arcane magic.''Shroud of Eternity''
''Shroud of Eternity'', released January 9, 2018, is the second entry in the ''Nicci Chronicles'' series and is the 19th novel, chronologically, in the ''Sword of Truth'' universe. Picking up where ''Death's Mistress'' left off, Nicci, Nathan, and Bannon find Kol Adair, a mountain pass which leads to a field full of petrified soldiers. Nathan recognizes some of the soldiers' insignias, claiming them to be the army of a General Utros, a powerful military commander who served another would-be despot, Emperor Kurgan, 1,500 years prior. The following night, Nicci, Nathan, and Bannon encounter three strange young men who are destroying the statues. The three men lead them into the city of Ildakar which, an ancient city frozen in time. Recently, the shroud of protective magic around the city has begun to fail. Nicci, Nathan, and Bannon introduce themselves to the Ildakarians as official emissaries of Lord Rahl and begin trying to forge an alliance. They soon learn that Ildakar is a society ruled over by the gifted, who enjoy lavish lifestyles and enslave the ungifted. Prelate Verna Sauventreen and General Zimmer, having returned to Tanimura to lead an excavation of the Palace of the Prophets, decide to assist Nicci and Nathan.''Siege of Stone''
Released December 31, 2018, ''Siege of Stone'' is the third entry in the ''Nicci Chronicles'' and is the 20th novel, chronologically, in the ''Sword of Truth'' universe. After a joining a slave uprising and overthrowing the leader of Ildakar, Nicci, Nathan, and Bannon begin working to rebuild the city. Commander Maxim, husband of the city's defeated leader, goes missing, and shortly thereafter, General Utros's army of stone soldiers awakens and renews its war on Ildakar in the name of an Emperor long dead. The Norukai King, Grieve, also begins planning assaults on Ildakar and the D'haran Empire, hoping to conquer the world.''Heart of Black Ice''
''Heart of Black Ice'', released January 21, 2020, is the fourth and final entry in the ''Nicci Chronicles'' and the 21st Novel, chronologically, in the ''Sword of Truth'' universe. After Nicci travels north to warn the cities of the Old World of the impending attacks, the leadership of Ildakar betray her and her allies, recreating the Shroud of Eternity and leaving them stranded. As the third Sliph, an emphatic supporter of old Emperor Sulachan, realizes that Nicci is her enemy, she decides to strand her alone in the ruins of the city of Orogang, somewhere in the mountains of the Phantom Coast. Bannon is captured and enslaved by the Norukai and the protagonists' army is vastly outnumbered by Utros's stone soldiers. Utros makes a deal with Grieve to unite their forces and declare war on D'hara.The Children of D'Hara
In 2019, Terry Goodkind began to release novellas following Richard & Kahlan after the events of ''Warheart''. Richard promises Kahlan that they would help bring about a new Golden Age for their empire. The People's Palace is suddenly attacked by an amphibian race of beings from another dimension who call themselves the Glee. They wish to hunt man for sport and follow the commands of their queen, known only as the Golden Goddess. They can possess humans and disappear at will but are confused and terrified by magic. The Glee believe that they will no longer have to fear magic if they eliminate Richard's bloodline because he is the most powerful wizard alive. Kahlan learns that she is pregnant with Richard Rahl's children—a pair of fraternal twins.Further works
* ''Publications
*The Nicci Chronicles and Children of D'Hara both start after ''Warheart'' and run in parallelTV series adaptation
In July 2006, Goodkind announced on his official website that he had entered into negotiations with '' The Evil Dead'' and '' Spider-Man'' director Sam Raimi and producerSam Raimi and his team want to keep the TV series true to my vision, so rest assured that I am going to be intimately involved in the writing of each of the episodes. If you love the book just the way it is, then enjoy the book for what it is and come to the TV series prepared to enjoy the show for what it is.The TV series ran for two seasons, concluding May 22, 2010 with a total of 44 episodes.
Wizard's Rules
A thread woven through the original series are the 11 "Wizard's Rules", which are practical teachings given to young wizards. The first rule appears in Wizard's First Rule. Further rules are mentioned on occasion, afterwards. # Wizard's First Rule: "People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they're afraid it might be true. Peoples' heads are full of knowledge, facts and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool." # Wizard's Second Rule: "The Second Rule is that the greatest harm can result from the best intentions." # Wizard's Third Rule: "Passion rules reason." # Wizard's Fourth Rule: "The Wizard's Fourth Rule, he called it. He said that there was magic in sincere forgiveness, in the Fourth Rule. Magic to heal. In forgiveness you grant, and more so in the forgiveness you receive." # Wizard's Fifth Rule: "Mind what people do, not only what they say, for deeds will betray a lie." # Wizard's Sixth Rule: "The most important rule there is, the Wizard's Sixth Rule: the only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason. The first law of reason is this: what exists, exists, what is, is and from this irreducible bedrock principle, all knowledge is built. It is the foundation from which life is embraced. Thinking is a choice. Wishes and whims are not facts nor are they a means to discover them. Reason is our only way of grasping reality; it is our basic tool of survival. We are free to evade the effort of thinking, to reject reason, but we are not free to avoid the penalty of the abyss that we refuse to see. Faith and feelings are the darkness to reason's light. In rejecting reason, refusing to think, one embraces death." # Wizard's Seventh Rule: "Life is the future, not the past. The past can teach us, through experience, how to accomplish things in the future, comfort us with cherished memories, and provide the foundation of what has already been accomplished. But only the future holds life. To live in the past is to embrace what is dead. To live life to its fullest, each day must be created anew. As rational, thinking beings, we must use our intellect, not a blind devotion to what has come before, to make rational choices." # Wizard's Eighth Rule: "''Talga Vassternich''. Deserve Victory." # Wizard's Ninth Rule: "A contradiction can not exist in reality. Not in part, nor in whole. To believe in a contradiction is to abdicate your belief in the existence of the world around you and the nature of the things in it, to instead embrace any random impulse that strikes your fancy - to imagine something is real simply because you wish it were. A thing is what it is, it is itself. There can be no contradictions. Faith is a device of self-delusion, a sleight of hand done with words and emotions founded on any irrational notion that can be dreamed up. Faith is the attempt to coerce truth to surrender to whim. In simple terms, it is trying to breath life into a lie by trying to outshine reality with the beauty of wishes. Faith is the refuge of fools, the ignorant, and the deluded, not of thinking, rational men. In reality, contradictions cannot exist. To believe in them you must abandon the most important thing you possess: your rational mind. The wager for such a bargain is your life. In such an exchange, you always lose what you have at stake." # Wizard's Tenth Rule: "Willfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one's self." # Wizard's Eleventh Rule: "The rule of all rules. The rule unwritten. The rule unspoken since the dawn of history... But Barracus wanted you to know that it's the secret to using a war wizard's power. The only way to express it, to make sure that you would grasp what he was intending to tell you, was to give you a book unwritten to signify the rule unwritten." # Un-numbered Wizard Rule One: "There will always be those who hate and always will be." Meaning, one shouldn't waste time trying to defeat or fix people who are driven by hate, as the act can often cause hatred to worsen, or spread to others. # Un-numbered Wizard's Rule Two: All things must die. There is no choice in that, only in how we choose to live. #Un-numbered Wizard's Rule Three: “You can destroy those who speak the truth, but you cannot destroy the truth itself.” #Un-numbered Wizard's Rule Four: “Life gives dimension to time.”Magic of the Sword of Truth
Creatures
Throughout the series, various magical creatures & beings were brought up, or made appearances. Some of them were from actual mythology, others were fictionalized by the author & others were based on existing mythology, but with unique twists in the original idea. * Beast, The—A formless entity created to hunt and kill Richard. It comes and goes as it pleases from the Underworld and assumes a different form each time. First appearance—Chainfire; Last appearance—Confessor * Bird Man—Among the nation of the Mud People, a high ranking holy man exists, known in the series only as the Bird Man. He is able to call any bird he wishes to himself, can read signs from beyond & often participates in, or leads, many magical ceremonies. First appearance—Wizard's First Rule; Last appearance—Confessor * The Chimes—groups of shape shifting, elemental, fairy like creatures who kill people and taint magic by existing in world's with magic. They were long banished to the Underworld, but came back briefly in one book. They are known as the Reechani, Sentrosi and Vasi. Appearance—Soul of the Fire * Confessor—Confessors are a magically formed race of women given the power of Confession. They can force anyone to fall so madly in love with them that they will do anything the Confessor asks. Prior to the beginning of the series, they had taken to ruling over the Midlands, a loose connection of separate lands confederated under them. They primarily used their powers to force confessions of criminals and to dethrone would-be tyrants. All Confessors wear matching black dresses, except for their leader, who wears white. The leader of the Confessors is the Mother Confessor. Their only weakness is that they can only use their powers once, and then need time to rest and recharge. This time varies from Confessor to Confessor. First appearance—The First Confessor; Last appearance—The Children of D'hara 5: Into Darkness * Dragon—Just like dragons from medieval lore. There are various dragon species, but only a few types are ever met. Some dragons even have the ability to speak and reason, but there are allusions to other species which are kept as pets for hunting purposes. Given how dangerous they are, humans have long hunted them for their own protection, making them increasingly rarer. In the sword of truth universe, their existence is linked to magic so that, if magic dies out, so do they. Nicci once attempts to kill an elderly dragon with Wizard's Fire, but it has the opposite effect, actually seeming to heal and de-age the creature. First appearance—Wizard's First Rule; Last appearance—The Nicci Chronicles * Dreamwalker—a person with the magic to see into people's minds, and even control them, both through pain and humiliation, as well as literally, like a puppet. They were created as a weapon and are marked with solid black eyes. The only Dreamwalker in the series was Emperor Jagang. First appearance—Blood of the Fold; Last appearance—Confessor * Adjudicator—a wizard who used an amulet to turn the "guilty" to stone. Was driven mad with power and decided all people were guilty of something or other and must be made to suffer for it. Appearance—The Nicci Chronicles: Death's Mistress * Gar—A nightmarish creature best described as a cross between a gorilla, a bat and a gremlin that hunts through the use of Blood Flies. It wipes Gore from prior meal on its stomach to feed the biting flies, which then stay close and spread out to attack and flush out further prey for the Gar. Two species are made note of- long tailed and short tailed, with the latter being the smartest. First appearance—Wizard's First Rule; Last appearance—Confessor * Glee—A reptilian race of beings from an entirely different world, who use a device to enter Richard's world to hunt humans. First appearance—The Children of D'hara 1: The Scribbly Man; Last appearance—The Children of D'hara 5: Into Darkness * Half People—soulless monstrosities who kill and canabalize the living in order to try to gain a soul through eating the dying alive. Some of them have Occult Powers. They were created by Emperor Sulachan. First appearance—The Third Kingdom; Last appearance—Warheart * Hearthounds—Underworld creatures who take the form of wolf-like beings when in this world. Came out at night from within the boundary. It was theorized that the name came from their hunting by listening for one's heartbeat. First appearance—Wizard's First Rule; Last appearance—The Pillars of Creation * Hedge Maid—a sort of witch with access to Occult Powers. Her mouth is sown shut, as her scream is lethal. She can call spirits and control the dead. Appearance—The Omen Machine * Lifedrinker—A wizard who used a spell to save his life from cancer, which caused him to nearly bleed the entire world dry. Appearance—The Nicci Chronicles: Death's Mistress * Life's Mistress—a former sorceress who misused a spell to try to repair the damage done to a fertile valley, which turned her into a giant plant monster, gave her control over plants and the ability to change humans into nymph-like soldiers who followed her will. Appearance—The Nicci Chronicles: Death's Mistress * Morazeth—a variation on the Mord-Sith that only existed in the city of Ildakar. They use an Agile Knife, rather than an Agiel, and were primarily used to train arena fighters for the amusement of the Ildakaran upper class, as well as serving as bodyguards. They are minimally dressed in black leather, buzz cut their heads and are covered in welted magical runes that protect them from magical attack. First appearance—The Nicci Chronicles: Shroud if Eternity; Last appearance—The Nicci Chronicles; Heart of Black Ice * Mord-Sith—Used in the series primarily by the House of Rahl, Debt of Bones noted that the use of them was once more widespread and later books confirmed that others can utilize them. They wear skin tight, leather jumpsuits and their hair in a long, single braid. Kidnapped and torturned into insanity as children, they serve as torturers and bodyguards. The magic of their weapons ensure that they must have a master in order to have power. A Confessors touch is an excruciatingly violent and painful death to a Mord-Sith. First appearance—Wizard's First Rule; Last appearance—The Children of D'hara 5: Into Darkness * Mriswith—reptilian monsters created from people long ago. They can become invisible and are expert fighters. First appearance—Stone of Tears; Last appearance—Blood of the Fold * Night Wisp—a fairy like entity that only appears as a ball of light and speaks with a child like voice. Their survival depends on companionship and they will grow weak and die without their own kind near. They usually live in colonies, but only one such place is ever visited within the series. First appearance—Wizard's First Rule; Last appearance—Confessor * Priestess of the Bones—A job passed down through a tribe of Nomadic people in southern D'hara. It was prophecies that a certain someone would one day need her help. Can use her pet Raven to carry dreams to others nearby that she wishes them to see. First appearance—Chainfire; Last appearance—Confessor * Pristinely Ungifted—Someone born without even a single spark of the gift for magic within them, causing magic to be entirely nonexistent where they are concerned. They can only be harmed by it indirectly and can't be sensed by those with magic. They came about as an accidental consequence of the Rahl family attempting to bypass the progressive loss of magic in their world to ensure that they will always have a gifted heir in every generation. Every child of a Pristinely Ungifted individual inherits the trait, making people fear that their existence will destroy magic forever if they are not all killed. First appearance—Pillars of Creation; Last appearance—Confessor * Prophet—a type of wizard who can also deliver prophecies. However, this type of wizard goes extinct following the events of Warheart. First appearance—Stone of Tears; Last appearance—Warheart * Screeling—Underworld creature which takes the form of a dried up, desiccated, human corpse in this world. They have needle-like teeth, golden eyes, claw-like nails and walk on all fours. They adapt to the world of the living slowly, but are extremely powerful and violent. Appearance—Stone of Tears * Sea Serpent—Exactly as the name implies. The Norukai people worship them as gods. Appearance—The Nicci Chronicles: Heart of Black Ice * Seeker of Truth—a type of avenging warrior created by wizards long ago to force truth out into the open and lead people towards more wise lives. They are given a weapon known as the sword of truth to accomplish the task, but must still be the right kind of person in the first place. First appearance—Wizard's First Rule; Last appearance—The Children of D'hara 5: Into Darkness * Seer—someone who has prophetic visions at will, but not always clear or obvious ones. They have no other abilities beyond this, seemingly. The only Seer in the series was Jebra Bevinvier. First appearance—Stone of Tears; Last appearance—Confessor * Selka—Aquatic creatures created from people long ago to engage in Marine warfare. They live in the ocean south of the Old World. First appearance—The Nicci Chronicles: Death's Mistress; Last appearance—The Nicci Chronicles: Heart of Black Ice * Sisters of the Dark—a group of sorceresses who turned to the worship of the Keeper of the Underworld for a variety of personal reasons. They murdered and stole the gift from Wizards to get power equal to a wizard, and gained Subtractive Magic from the Underworld in return for their service. They were all originally Sisters of the Light and hid in plain sight. The Sisters had a hard time rooting them out, as it was their law that wrongful accusation of being a Sister of the Dark was seen as attempted murder and carried with it a death sentence. First appearance—Stone of Tears; Last appearance—Confessor * Sisters of the Light—a group of sorceresses who tried to fill in the gap of training young wizards who had no wizard teacher themselves in the use of their powers. They were a semi-religious order who worshipped the Creator and lived in the Palace of the Prophets together, until it was destroyed. They later took up residence in the Wizard's Keep. First appearance—Stone of Tears; Last appearance—The Nicci Chronicles: Heart of Black Ice * Skrin—Underworld creature that takes the form of a giant, hairless dog with horns when in this world. It is said that they are the physical embodiment of the force which keeps the dead in the Underworld and the living in this one. First appearance—Stone of Tears; Last appearance—Temple of the Winds * Slide—a wizard-weapon which can steal souls to use for special spells and can possess any living thing with eyes to see through them. Appearance—Naked Empire * Sliph—a creature created to transport people great distances through a series of underground tunnels. They are made of a substance similar to Mercury/ Quicksilver and work through the individual asking for a destination, breathing in the creature and allowing it to pull them under and take them there. They can only go to pre-determined places, where Sliph Wells have been constructed. They were once people. Although it was believed that "The" Sliph in the Wizard's Keep was the only one, two others have since appeared in the series who go by different names. First appearance—Blood of the Fold; Last appearance—The Nicci Chronicles: Heart of Black Ice * Sorceror—a sort of antithesis to a wizard. They are noted to have similar powers, but their powers are equal and opposite and don't work correctly against one another. Appearance—Faith of the Fallen * Sorceress—the female equivalent of a wizard, but usually arguably weaker. They cannot do some of the things wizards are known for, such as creating Wizard's Fire. First appearance—Wizard's First Rule; Last appearance—The Nicci Chronicles: Heart of Black Ice * Warlock—noted as the male equivalent of a Witch Woman. They can do everything a witch can. The only Warlock in the series was Moravaska Michec. First appearance—The Children of D'hara 3: Wasteland; Last appearance—The Children of D'hara 4: Witch's Oath * War Wizard—a unique and rare type of wizard who is extremely powerful and has varied potential skills * Witch Woman—can see into the future and create illusions. Are usually feared and persecuted. Shota is the best known in the series, but there have been several so far. First appearance—Wizard's First Rule; Last appearance—The Children of D'hara 5: Into Darkness * Wizard—a generic term for several types of male gifted individuals with unique powers. First appearance—Wizard's First Rule; Last appearance—The Children of D'hara 5: Into Darkness * Zhiss—A creature resembling a swarm of angry insects. They attack anything that moves as one and drink blood until their victim dies. They arrived on a comet and took over the ruins of the city of Orogang. Appearance—The Nicci Chronicles: Heart of Black IceMagic
Various magical relics, artifacts and powers come up throughout the series as well. These are explained below. * Additive Magic—Magic of the world of the living. Can only add to or create. * Agiel—Choice weapon of the Mord-Sith. A leather rod in a gold chain. It is powered by the bond to their master and can inflict any sort of damage the user wishes. It often causes like pain to the user in return, as they usually use the same Agiel that they were tortured with themselves. * Agile Knife—a small wooden handle with a pop-out needle on one end. The choice weapon of Morazeth. Inflicts pain on impact. * Books of Prophecy—various books in which the words which go along with the visions of Prophets are recorded. They help to trigger the same visions in other Prophets who read them. Some are spelled so that others can't understand them, or remember anything that they say within. * Bond, The—Created by the House of Rahl. Anyone who swears allegiance to the Lord Rahl becomes protected. In return, pure blooded D'harans always know exactly where their Lord Rahl is at all times. * Boundary—Created to break Westland, the Midlands and D'hara up to force the end of a war between the Midlands and D'hara. It is a wall made of the Underworld itself breaching up into the world of the living and glows green. Anyone who walks through it died instantly. * Boxes of Orden—three boxes keeping safe the power to control just about everything. An instruction booklet called the Book of Counted Shadows was created to aid in the process of acquiring that power. * Central Sites—hidden tombs and crypts filled with esoteric books of Prophecy. Created to keep books safe for the time when they would be needed the most. * Chainfire Event—a spell meant to make people forget that a person exists. It erases all memory of the individual, rebuilds new memories when missing memory is discovered and makes it impossible for new memories of someone to form, rendering a person as good as invisible. * Con'dar (Blood Rage)-- a special Subtractive power capable of being tapped by some Confessors. Puts them into a trance, allows them to call down lightning and makes their Confession powers unlimited. * Containment Field—a room spelled to be hermetically sealed in terms of magic. Allows people to do spells in isolation, or try to work on or dismantle spells that could be dangerous. * Confession—A power given to Confessors. It wipes clean everything a person ever was or cared about and fills them instead with a desperate, burning desire to please their Confessor by any means necessary. * Constructed Spells—spells attached to an item. They can be activated at any time through a built-in trigger. * Gateway—a device which allows people to travel between worlds. * Grace, The—religious and magic symbol which represents the Creator and the gift * Han—the technical term for a person's magic. Sometimes also referred to as the spark of magic, or the gift. * Journey Book(s)-- built in pairs, they allow two people to communicate in writing, no matter how far away they are. * Language of Creation—a magical, symbol language keyed to physical forms magic takes on when visible. * Law of Nines, The—a magical law which means that things that come in sets of three are inherently more powerful, but three sets of three sets is even more powerful. * Occult Power—the reverse power to the gift. Can achieve things the gift normally cannot, like manipulating the wear of time upon a person or object and manipulating life and death itself. * Omen Machine—the physical manifestation of Prophecy in the real world. It was hidden beneath the People's Palace for untold generations and is somewhat sentient. * Quillion—a crystal used to absorb and transfer magic from one person and give it to another. Only works if the person is skinned alive first. * Rada'han—a metal collar which takes control of a person through their magic. Used by the Sisters of the Light to keep trainee Wizards under control. * Shroud of Eternity—magical veil which removed the city of Ildakar from time and space. * Subtractive Magic—the opposite of additive magic. Mainly comes from the Underworld. People were once born with it, but fewer and fewer came about over time. Can only destroy it make things vanish. * Sword of Truth—The key to the power of the orden created by the Orden Sect is its two different spells, the white one is the mainstay of the cult's power, carried by real seekers and used in anger and compassion. * Temple of the Winds—magical archive which is somewhat sentient. Was sent to the Underworld 3000 years ago to protect its dangerous contents from misuse. * Towers/Valley of Perdition—several towers built in line to create a shifting boundary of illusions to cut off the New World from the Old World 3009 years ago. * Verification Web—a spell used to understand what another spell is by viewing what it would do and how in a safe environment. Usually done within a Containment Field.Reception
The novel series frequently enters lists of top fantasy novels. In 2011, an NPR poll of 60,000 readers from among 5,000 fantasy novels nominated, found the series as the 62nd most popular fantasy/science fiction novel of all time. The series has an average rating of roughly four stars on Goodreads, with some of the novels having received thousands of reviews. The influence of Goodkind's political philosophy in his writing has been noted by reviewers and commentators and has led to divisive reactions about his novels, with some criticizing their Objectivist themes and others praising them. Goodkind himself was open about this influence and was described as an invigorating contrarian who enjoyed stirring up controversy. He has been criticized for writing female characters who adhere to sexist stereotypes and for frequently subjecting them to sexual violence, though he stated his stories were centered on "strong female characters" and once objected to a book cover he considered sexist.References
External links