Wizard’s First Rule

Reviewed: December 4, 2005
By: Terry Goodkind
Publisher: TOR Books
836 pages, $8.99

With the Stone of Truth novels the questions was a little more complex  and my hesitation had to do with the sheer size of the task. Did I really need to start another fantasy series loaded with five centimetre thick installments? I was further put off by the fact that the American author has had some uncomplimentary things to say about Canada since 9/11, as reported on a number of fan websites.

But the publisher kept sending me new hardcovers of later books in the series, tomes I hardly dared lift without succumbing to that reader’s ailment known as Stephen King Wrist, so I gave in and picked up a paperback edition of this 1994 book, which is where it all begins.

Happily, it could also end here. While there are clear signs of untied plot threads, and I already know there are at least four more books, this one actually tells a complete story and does a decent job of it.

As much as I’ve enjoyed Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time saga, it does suffer from a sort of cliffhangeritis that Goodkind avoids.

We meet Richard Cypher, a simple woodsman. He saves a woman named Kahlan who is being pursued by three nasty assassins, takes her back to his native village and home and soon finds that they have to flee for both their safety.

From an old friend named Zedd, who turns out to be a wizard, Richard learns that he is a special individual with a mission. Only he can safely wield the Sword of Truth, which is the only protection against the dark forces rising in the Midlands region of the world. It used to be that the wild magic there was blocked from entering Richard’s Westland or the eastern land of D’hara, but the mystic barriers are falling due to the workings of a wizard named Darken Rahl, and Richard has to meet and defeat this powerful ruler before things fall apart utterly.

Reading this in the light of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Goodkind’s support for the invasion of Iraq, I couldn’t help but read preemptive regime change into Richard’s commission from Zedd, but this would have been written after the first Bush’s Gulf War, so that’s not actually likely.

There are shades of Tolkien here, as well as shades of George Lucas and touch of Dungeons and Dragons. There is forbidden romance and some really nasty bondage stuff in the last quarter of the book. All this is part of Richard’s education as a wizard/warrior, and while there’s a lot of action in this novel, Richard’s growth into a role he fills very reluctantly is the main feature of the novel.

The second book, Stone of Tears, is now staring at me. It’s 100 pages longer. My son has read it and says it’s very good. I suppose I’m committed to giving it a try, but not just yet.

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