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In any event, to briefly summarize, Lord Richard Rahl is the sole survivor of a battle in which a troop of soldiers is brutally massacred by an unknown and, indeed, unseen enemy capable of enormous ferocity. Kahlan is now in the hands of Jagang, the evil emperor (who along with a very small handful of people throughout the breadth of Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" universe is still able to see her). He has also traded his Sword of Truth to the witch woman Shiota for one critical scrap of knowledge. For me, I would agree with the label "repetitive" but found the extended discussions on the philosophical notion of existence and the attempts at logical debate regarding the meaning of existence interesting and thought-provoking as opposed to tedious. All of Richard's friends and compatriots - Cara, his Mord-Sith bodyguard, Nicci the sorceress and former Mistress of Death, Verna and Ann, joint prelates of the Sisters of the Light, Nathan the prophet, the witch woman Shiota, even wizard Zedd, Richard's beloved grandfather - are convinced that Richard has lost his reason. Worse yet, because Richard feels he must devote what remains of his life and energy to finding his beloved wife and rescuing her from whatever fate has trapped her beyond the world's ken, he has also reached the decision to not lead his weakened D'Haran troops in a final battle against the almost limitless hordes of the advancing Emperor Jagang. It's difficult to say whether "Chainfire" is the opening book in a trilogy or the ninth book in the now aging "Sword of Truth" series. Everyone in sight is trying to locate the powerful Boxes of Orden, the only known magical counterspell to the Chainfire spell which, it is now known, is flawed and is slowly destroying all magic in the world.While the plot outline is a good one, many reviewers have commented that the book is repetitive and lengthy to the point of tedium.
The action did crank up a notch for a brief period as Richard reached the decision to change the nature of his war with Emperor Jagang - a war that he realized he had no possibility of winning.The ultimate stereotyped swords and sorcerers good vs evil fantasy is getting long in the tooth and it's certainly long in the reading, but somehow Goodkind has managed to hold my interest throughout the series. Richard who has also lost his command of the magical gift has fallen into the hands of the D'Haran Commander Karg. But I must admit that I'm glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Without Richard's leadership and the Sword of Truth, prophesy dictates that the free world is doomed to fall to Jagang and the Keeper of Death. When Richard recovers from his near fatal wounds with the help of sorceress Nicci's use of the all but forbidden subtractive magic, he discovers that he is the only living soul who remembers his beloved wife Kahlan, the Mother Confessor. What I did find excessively lengthy and oddly cryptic was Goodkind's attempted explanations of the nature of magic.
the word "Chainfire", which he will discover in his travels is the name of a long deeply hidden spell capable of literally unraveling existence itself. "Phantom", the rather bloated and sadly repetitive second instalment of this putative trilogy is based on Richard's relentless search for his beloved Kahlan, whose very existence has been erased from the history and memory of his world. Frankly, they seemed to go on forever and added little to either the characters or the development of the plot.A little more action would have been a nice touch and a welcome change from time to time but it certainly didn't dampen my enthusiasm for the series and I'll definitely be looking for "Confessor", the eleventh book in the complete "Sword of Truth" series and the final installment in this sub-trilogy. Recommended for continuing diehard Goodkind fans only.Paul Weiss
Most people know they are series and to find the first one. The Series so far is excellent. Terry Goodkind draws you into his book and just when you think you know what is going to happen he pulls the rug out from under you and surpirses you with an outcome that you weren't contiplating. Don't repeat. My only drawback is the same with many books in a series where it explains something from the previous book. Its a sci-fi book. It still is a really good read. Not as good as the first book, but still enthralling.
But this book kept my attention and seemed both fantasy/adventure with a little bit of magic and love dust thrown in. If you like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, or something that you can really sink your teeth into, you will like this book as well.
I had never listened to an audio book before but was simply intrigued with the book. I listened to my first audio, two weeks ago, which was The Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodyear.
The narrator for both the books was very dramatic and entertaining and made you want to listen to more, so I listened to the first series, which had 20 cds in three days.Then, I listened to Phantom and enjoyed it even more than the first book. Of course I am a romantic and rooter for the underdog (Richard Guerlin), who is in love with Karlann the Mother Confessor.
They both have their own magic and are supposed to never be able to really have a relationship, as they would be fatal to each other. It had a little bit more adult theme, and did contain some parts, it perhaps, didnt need.
I ordered audio books two and three and am raptly waiting for them to arrive.
Aside from the speeches on individuality interspersed throughout the book and constant reminders of what just happened a few chapters ago, the book is still entertaining. Goodkind, throughout the Sword of Truth series, has been consistently adept at the setting up the suspense and delivering a climax (except, of course, in Chainfire, which actually did not have much of a climax). Phantom was no exception. It's almost as entertaining as the best books of the series, and thankfully superior to the worst of it.
I am not able to review this book as it was not sent to me.
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