Rating: 
Summary: Pretensiousness Alone
Review: .Great writers throughout history have taken on the task of writing multi-volume tales, whether it was about noble Knights on the crusades, or Bilbo Baggins....The good authors know when to end a tale.....Goodkind is a terrible writer.When Wizards first rule came out I was stunned. Here is a tale that makes "magic" at least somewhat realistic, gritty. I prayed that Goodkind would have the sense not to be another Robert Jordan, continuing until the story is so deluded as to be ridiculous. Alas G. did exactly that, and it is very sad. What was once a good series is now just grade a cheese. G. is so greedy for money that he is writing volumes in this set, not to follow a coherent story line from a set beginning to end, instead he is just going anywhere his mind tells him to, veering madly from story line to story line, never Getting any closer to the end. Not only is G. greedy, but he is just a terrible writer. We have "all powerful chickens" in the latest book, and absolutely laughable dialogue from our hero when he finds a dead comrade..."NO you were just alive you can't be dead!" This dialogue could be written by a monkey, and based on Goodkind's interviews, I'd say it was written by a greedy pretentious ape....If you want to read Fantasy for adults read the phenomenal Guy Gavriel Kay
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment
Review: The Wizard's First Rule was a breath of fresh air when I read it. Through the subsequent books, Goodkind managed to maintain much of what made the first book so strong - characters, story, plot twists. I am not a great fan of the dialogue, but I feel that the other aspects make up for this. Alas for The Soul of Fire. The things that have made the earlier books so refreshing are all but lost in this book. The characters and story elements that have been the spine of the books to date are almost irrelevant - there is no magic, there is no Sword of Truth, the Mord Sith are all but dispensed with, and the Seeker of Truth is present in name only. But my greatest disappointment with the book is the writing style itself. The story is drawn out, stretched. There is no subtlety; every story element seems to be presented in such an "in your face" manner that it is almost insulting. And there is a focus on detail that only serves to detract from the story itself; I don't need to know every single time they dip a piece of tava bread into the roasted capsicums in a single meal. On occasion these touches work wonderfully, but in this book this device has been badly overused. I feel like Terry Goodkind has fallen into the trap of becoming literary in a poor sense of the word -- the story has been overwritten. This trend -- becoming more literary -- has developed during the course of this series, and I could embrace it; every artist will change, however subtlely, in the course of a body of work. In this case, though, the change has been so great that the work seems related to the earlier books in name only, and this book is much the poorer for it. Terry Goodkind seems to be walking the same road in fantasy that Tom Clancy walked in the realm of the techno-thriller. "Hunt for Red October" was refresh, tight, sharp. His later works have become overwritten, over-complex, and almost gratuitous. Sigh. I will almost certainly purchase the next book in the series, but I am not looking forward to it with the expectation that I once held. I am afraid that in "The Soul of Fire", the Chimes may well have succeeded in their task: it seems that the magic is gone.
Rating: 
Summary: Can anything stop Terry?
Review: I applaud Terry Goodkind on many levels; I just don't know where to start with it. Each of his books can be stand alone. I have derived so much pleasure from reading this book, and the books preceding this one. I applaud him first at the creation of the world in these books. The main thing in fantasy that i Look for is a world that impresses me but also is believeable (for a fantasy world), and intriguing. The characters are a mirror of this world, and Goodkind has succeeding on both accounts of creating characters the readers can understand and cheer for, and also with the creation of a land that I would love to be a War Wizard in. This book is good because it doesn't continue the last book and continue with obscure references that were made 2 books ago and assume the reader has intimate knowledge of the land they are reading about. This book has departed and travelled some distance and time from the last book, the same characters remain, but the venue has changed as have their personalities to reflect the lives they have been living in this book. Each installment in this series doesn't stay in one place, but changes the location, antherefore the supporting cast of characters, so that you never know what is going to happen in the next book (Goodkind has not fallen into the predictable trap Jordan has). This book was as good as the last ones, and the reader is left at the end of the book not knowing what is going to happen to the characters in the next book. This anticipation is what I am looking for in a book of this calibur, I don't want all my questions answered at once, I dont' want to be able to predict where the characters are going to go, and where they are going to be in the next installment. I can't wait to read the next book; I can only dream and wonder what fantastic changes I am sure Goodkind has wrought on the beautiful world he has created.
Rating:
Summary: Soul of Fire (sword of thruth Bk. 5
Review: I've read all five in this series and anxiously await #6! Passed on the first Book to my 22 yr old son and his new wife (amazinly enough!) they were at my door within a few days asking for the remainder. Anybook that can make me laugh out loud is amazing, any book that can make me cry is something to be treasured, these book are to be saved for reading again and again !
Rating:
Summary: Soul Of The Fire
Review: I thought the book was excellent..the way the author weaves a story from one incident to another is magnificant..the ending however.. in my opinion, did not finish the series..I do hope there is a book six out there somewhere..
Rating: 
Summary: Can't wait for the next one...
Review: The book starts out at a pretty fast pace and then gets boggeddown introducing the new characters. I found that the new twist tothe Sword of Truth series was refreshing and shows how vast Goodkind's world really is. After you are introduced to the characters, the book picks up it's pace and the storyline moves rather quickly. The various sub-plots are also creative and inventive as we root for Anne and Zedd. It's a great book and the conclusion is VERY surprising.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: I've now read the series thus far,and have adored them all! This series is on my list of favourites.I'll rue the day I find another fantasy series as good as this!
Rating:
Summary: Soul of the Fire- Good Story? You bet! A bit different?Yes!
Review: My son started me reading the series to him. He is severely dyslexic and enjoys being read to. This was our 5th book and we eagerly waited for it to be released. My son went to the bookstore several times checking and the day it came out, he came home with it and we started a reading marathon. We read. And we read. We read for about 5 hours, then the next day as soon as he was home from school, we read another 6 or 7 hours. I think it took us 4 days to finish it. I encourage him to ask questions about words he doesn't understand, and about things the characters are doing, thinking. I write the above because I have heard that some folks were disappointed because this book was different. I don't think it was out of character or that there were drastic character changes. What both my son and myself noticed was a "character growth" that would be normal for any individual in life - fantasy or reality - growing and learning from the experiences one goes through. I was glad to see the changes, growth if you will, in Richard and in Kaylan, Cara, in Zed, Ann, Du Chaillue...to see a greater aspect of their personality, of the understanding given to the story from their viewpoints. When new characters are added, and I get to know them, I wonder "will they be in one of the next stories?" Yes, there was a lot about Anders, and Harkens, but if it had not been there, it would not have been as rich a story. I would not have felt as involved, as though I was there, watching it all take place. I didn't like a lot of the Ander customs, but then I sure don't like a lot of the customs of some of the other peoples that have taken on life in this series. But isn't that how it is in our 'real world?' We don't like this about that country, or that about the other country. Or that tribe sure has strange beliefs, (ours are not at all strange... they make perfect sense!) I have read each of the books at least 3 times. Once to my son, and of course I can't put it down, I have to read ahead - you know, so I can read it smoother for Jake - at least that's what I tell myself. Then about a year later I re-read each book. Now I am starting to read them all to my son again at his request, to be ready for the 6th book! Worth reading? Yes! Exciting? yes! Better the 3rd time around? Most difinitely! Now, each parent must know their child, whether it would be appropriate, but my son was in high school when we started the series when 'Wizard's First Rule' came out. We have had some very interesting dicussions. About love, different kinds of love, respect for people that are different than we are or have different values, good and evil, right and wrong - right for one person but not for another, wrong for one but not for another - I have been amazed at the topics we have discussed. My son is in college now, works, has his own apartment, but comes over for a couple of hours, or as much time as he can spare from homework, and we read each day. I love it. It is a very special time for me. Thank you Terry Goodkind for the kind of stories that inspire young and old. Keep on writing us these wonderful stories!
Rating:
Summary: AWFUL! RIDICULOUS EVEN
Review: Despite the obvious "ripoff" nature of this series I enjoyed reading the first four books. But this book was TERRIBLE. Goodkind totally lost his focus when he wrote this book. Somehow the characters have changed completely and we are suppose to accept it. I have no idea who the RICHARD or KAHLAN are in this book. They lack all that made them interesting and fun to read about. I gave this book every chance possible, but I couldn't even finish it. After about 400 pages I was so tired of trying to like the book that stopped reading it completely. It is clear that this series has hit a dead end. If I could give this book a rating of 0 stars I would have. I feel sorry for all those faithful Goodkind readers out there that ponied up the dough for the hardcover. P.s. I didn't find the "tongue in cheek" humor in this book at all! If anything the book is RIDICULOUS!
Rating:
Summary: Great book, couldn't put it down......
Review: This book was a slight deviation form the other ones and it introduces a few new characters that stay for this book only. I think that this book is as good as all the others except for the stone of tears.....but I haven't actually read wizard's first rule yet....so I could be wrong...... I found the plot to be great, and the twists to be excellent. I also liked the character building of the Dalton character, and I liked how the story had a more real feel as oppose to...." these are the good guys and these are the bad guys", almost every character has bad parts and good parts in them.....
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