La storia sarebbe stata anch abbastanza interessante: il salvataggio di Richard alla fine del libro precedente aveva evocato nel mondo i tre Rintocchi, altre armi magiche senzienti risalenti alla vecchia guerra (come i Mriswith e la Silph, la Spada della verità e il Legame dei Rahl). Solo che queste creature invincibili godono nell’uccidere, risucchiano la magia dal mondo e hanno lo scopo di prendersi l’anima promessa loro con l’evocazione. L’anima di Richard.Zedd decide di provare a fermarli da solo, ingannando Richard per tenerlo al sicuro nel Mastio;Richard subodora la truffa, scopre per vie traverse dove deve andare e vi si dirige;Jagang non soffre più di tanto, visto che quelle creature fanno il lavoro sporco per lui e in più la magia Detrattiva continua a funzionare, e per ora le Sorelle dell’Oscurità sono sue schiave;Ann decide di sfruttare questo periodo in cui l’Imperatore non ha più potere per salvare le Sorelle prigioniere e uccidere le altre, onde evitare che quando la magia tornerà siano usate come armi da Jagang.L’unico problema è che la storia sarebbe stata veloce e tutto sommato breve, in 400 pagine sarebbe stata molto meglio. Invece buona parte del libro viene usata per farci conoscere la cultura di Anderith, la nazione protetta dal Dominie Dirtch e che deve decidere se allearsi con il D’Hara o con l’Ordine. Ci viene mostrata la storia totalmente ininfluente di Flitch e di Beata, che intervengono giusto sullo sfondo e sono completamente inutili. Non hanno un ruolo nella vicenda, non sono persone straordinarie per abilità o mente o morale. Sono persone comunissime che vivono sempre sullo sfondo, sfiorando gli avvenimenti come semplici spettatori.E a loro è dedicata buona parte del libro. Totalmente inutile.Altre bruttureAltre brutture sono il fatto che Khalan stia regredendo mentalmente al punto da non credere quasi più a Richard (nè quando arriva la sua “vecchia moglie”, nè quando parla dei Rintocchi o delle decisioni da prendere). Ed è veramente indisponente leggere di questa persona espertissima di politica e di decisioni, una persona che ormai conosce Richard, i suoi pensieri e il suo modo di agire, che ora invece si comporta come si sarebbe comportata Nadine nel libro precedente.Poi Richard che concede il diritto di voto sull’annessione all’Impero. Una cosa senza precedenti, tutte le altre nazioni hanno dovuto dire subito “si” o “no”. A loro invece dà diritto di voto al popolo perdendo settimane, e addirittura facendo comizi in giro per la nazione. Ridicolo!Ann che si fa fregare come l’ultima delle allocche…Non c’è appello, questo sarebbe potuto essere un libro accettabile se fosse stato molto più corto. Così è solo un brodo allungato, che si fa leggere forzatamente e controvoglia per tutta la parte centrale.
Terrible book, I just could not finish it. (Spoilers ahead: But if you still want to read the book, you are on your own)I loved the Sword of Truth series in the beginning. It was different and exciting. But then the series started to get weird. First it was the weird sex that Richard was having with the red clad dominatrix, then the Sisters of the Dark had that strange session with the statue/demon in the forest etc etc.And after a while, I started to feel about the series the same way as about Grey's Anatomy. How many tragic events can happen to the same characters? In the case of Grey's you just know that the finale of each series will involve murderous killers, bombs, people dying all over the place. Ditto for the Sword of Truth series.Then, after a year or three I picked up where I left off and started reading the Soul of the Fire. Richard and Kahlan are back at the Mud People. (I always liked the Mud People and that scene in the first book with Kahlan and the apple is still one of my favourite non-sex sex scenes :)But then people start dying and they realise something is wrong. Enter the Evil Chicken. Amongst all the chickens running around the village, the Bird Man identifies one as a chicken who is not a chicken.If it was a fleeting reference it would have been fine but for the first quarter of the book, Richard chases after the flippen chicken and most of the conversations he has revolves around "Is it evil...yes, it is. No it is not." For Pete's sake. Surely one of the warriors in the village could have taken a spear and shoved it up the suspicious chicken's arse. Or someone with magical powers could have blasted it into oblivion. But no, the chase continues. And worst of all, the chicken just ogles them in an evil way most of the time.Enough with the bloody chicken already.Then there is a conversation about magic disappearing and then...you guessed it...they go chasing after poultry again.Then Kahlan is outside running around in the rain. I can't even remember why. So she goes into the building where the tribe kept the bodies of recently deceased. And she is then trapped inside with...you guessed it...the Evil Chicken. The all powerful Mother Confessor is so scared of the damn thing that she cowers in the dark. Still the Evil Poultry does nothing else than stare at her in a menacing fashion. Oh, she also witnesses the same Feathery Fiend from Hell pecking out the eyes of a corpse. At that stage, it became too much and soon after that I stopped reading. I still don't know what happened to the bloody evil, satanic chicken. And I do not care. If it turned into a giant ostrich and trampled Richard and Kahlan I could not care less.I was just waiting for them to be stalked by an evil goose or a satanic butterfly. The one star is out of loyalty to the first three books.
What do You think about Soul Of The Fire (2000)?
I read the first five books in Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series back to back, but now I am ready for a break. For the sake of completion, I do plan to finish the set eventually; however, I am in no rush to do so. Devouring this book felt like binging on junk food - only temporarily satisfying, and sapping my energy. Main characters Richard and Kahlan become less likable in this story, sniping at each other and condescending to the people in whose interest they claim to act. Kahlan, especia
—Rachel
This book is a lot slower going than the previous four, perhaps because Terry Goodkind is putting a lot of focus on characters we have never heard of up until now. At halfway through the book he picks up the pace though, and the last half of the book is actually very enjoyable.Still, not even close to being one of Goodkind's best books, and it took a strong recommendation from someone that had read the entirety of it to bring this book back out of the bookshelf.The big weakness of the book is, I think, that he tries to write a book that mainly revolves around political scheming and plotting, but neglects to give us the juicy details. We are just given second or third hand accounts of various successful schemes, hardly the way to go if you want the reader to be interested in turning the next page. Also, the main plotter, Dalton Campbell, seems to be able to accomplish virtually anything, without any kind of difficulty, encountering no problems, even when he assassinates the religious leader of the country. Not really a believable character, in other words.
—Espen
The beginning is slow, even with Kahlan and Richard's wedding with the Mud People. Then bad news--the chimes are loose, thanks to Kahlan.The chimes kill through fire, water, and air. People all over are dying and magic is failing all while the Order marches on.My main compilant is that there's too many secondary characters, like the Hakans that you should feel sorry for, but don't. They don't really link into this story; perhaps they are important in future books. Dalton's story line bogs down and confuses the story, as does Ann's side trip to free her fellow Sisters.Other than that, fans of the series will be pleased to see more of Richard and Kahlan, and stunned by the end.Keep the next book close at hand as you reach the end to see what happens next to this couple. Unfortunately, the secondary characters slow down an otherwise okay novel. The middle to end are most interesting parts of the novel. The problem is too many characters and not enough plot--lousy way to wrap up the chimes and keep going with the Order. Two pages to end an 800 page novel whose main plot was focused on the threat of the chimes. Not the best book in the series at all.
—T.M. Carper
