Page 2 of 6 Chainfire by Terry Goodkind
Submitted by Jayddren 
(Oct 30, 2005)I have been reading the sword of truth novels for quite some time, and I was excited and saddened about reading the last of the series.......the short of it is, he left us all hanging, I couldnt even sleep after reading the last chapter.....I was wondering will he get the sword of truth back, will the boxes of orden come in to full play or will they be closed once and for all....and what about Kahlan? Richard spent that whole book searching for her and when he found someone to beleive she exists its over. And I (a very large TG fan) was crushed and dissappointed. My opinion is that if your not already on Chainfire Vol.2, you better get on it Terry........I havent devoted all this time for it to end like this. I crave another novel.
Submitted by Josh
(Sep 25, 2005)To me chainfire just seemed long. It is missing the thrill that the first books of the trilogy had. It seems with each new book TG takes a little more action out and puts in a lot more beat around the push plots, that really get Richard and the other characters no where. All though I still thought this was a good book I hope TG gets back to his basics with the next book and will actually have Richard and his possy cool it on the whole human philosophy and improve on some of their own skills... like Richard using something besides his sword.
Submitted by Andrew 
(Sep 03, 2005)I was extremely dissapointed by this book. Even though Goodkind's last several books haven't been exactly good, but I had faith in Goodkind. I was wrong. Instead of continuing the story of the last several books, Goodkind decides to drag us through another senseless and pointless book where nothing was accomplished. There is more of Richard's complicated philosophy on life, more people that he "shows the meaning of life" to. I want to see Richard and Jagang clash, but instead we have to wait for him to rescue his wife from whatever. And when he does, or wait, he doesn't, the book ends without an end or any kind of conclusion. Stop torturing us, Goodkind. Please be good and kind to your hardcore fans that still read your books and finish up this series.
Submitted by Holly Taylor 
(Aug 01, 2005)Maybe I'm the only one who sees this, but in the other books, if Kahlan and Richard were seperated, there were always people to sypathize with the situation and offer support. In Chainfire, everyone thinks Richard is off his rocker and no one really believes him about this supposed wife. The bond that Richard and Kahlan has/had was one of the things that brought hope to their followers. They could see that love and kept fighting in hopes that good like that would survive. Their love is the foundation of the books and without it the books are basically meaningless. So to say that this book is the same as the others is complete crap. And honestly, breaking them up was a good stategy for their enemies, they are quite powerful together, and thats why it happened so often. So I for one am looking forward to reading the last two books of the trilogy, which by the way is the reason why this one doesn't have an ending.
Submitted by Library Monkey
(Jun 27, 2005)Most of it's been said here already, but let's face it: the interesting content of this book could be done in 150-200 pages tops and then combined with the next 1 to 2 (severely edited) books in the series to actually make a completely engrossing story.
PROS:
- Nicci's character development is quite compelling, even if TG is just jerking your chain about any romantic developments. I say curse the man for building something up that just isn't going to happen. Screw throwing it in as an extra plot device for some tension; how about writing the main plot so it integrates that tension and grabs your interest; unfortunately, we know from the beginning that the relationship will go nowhere beyond top harem girl (second only to Cara). At least Nicci's interesting and lays the smackdown once in awhile. She was the fullest developed/least annoying character in this book. Oh, yeah; she also didn't pontificate at nauseatingly great lengths about religion/politics. TG kept her annoying traits to a minimum thankfully. Although she did whine about failing R and needing to die a violent death in repentance. Geez, is anybody else tired of this overused, melodramatic plot device?! Wait, this is the pros section, I shouldn't be complaining...
- Some interesting and violent action. But now that I think about it, nothing specific comes to mind. So apparently it wasn't that interesting.
*angrily shakes fist in the air*
- Intimate scene with Cara was well written and interesting to read, but kind of weird. Weird as in, what's the friggin point?! The plot went nowhere with this. Yes, yes, it intermingles R's love and isolation, along with showcasing, for the 1 millionth time, the unswerving devotion of the women in his harem. Seriously, so much more could be done with this type of scenario, it makes me cry inside. I think a little piece of my soul actually died when I read this. Man, Richard's getting all kinds of womanly action now that Kahlen's gone, maybe he shouldn't be so focused on tracking her down...
CONS:
- Richard's harem! Now I'm all about romance and the ladies, but come on! Almost every hot woman in the book can't help but join his harem (figuratively speaking of course) after they see how misguided they were about trying to kill/maim/torture him. No originality anymore and no tension. It gets old is all I'm saying. Also seems like he actually can't develop much of friendship with any significant male character, which would give potential for plot twists and betrayal without the weird harem/romantic overtones. Nope, it's just Richard and his harem.
- Nothing much happens in the plot. Yes, there's a ton of writing, but take out the random, dead-end intimate scenes with the harem and the philosophical ramblings and you have half a book...maybe less.
- NUMBER ONE PROBLEM: Richard's character is not developed! No crazy war-wizard development (I want destruction on a massive scale, even if it only happens once and he can't remember how to do it again), no torn-between-two-women romantic development, no nothing! Just lot's of long winded philosophical drivel. It's drivel BECAUSE IT DOESN'T ADD TO THE PLOT! And it makes my eyes bleed too.
- Oh yeah, I was pissed that the book ended without any sort of resolution or SIGNIFICANT plot development. I think TG must have had some sort of intimate contact with R Jordan, cause he appears to have contracted Jordan's word diarrhea syndrome. I stopped reading the WOT after the 4th book, because nothing interesting happened and I couldn't get the 8 hours of my life back!
SUMMARY
I loved Wizards First Rule (even though my friend swore up and down it had the same basic plot as Star Wars). I really liked the second book too. From there they started to lose plot focus, character development, and meaningful action. I sacrificed some of my sanity just to get through the last few books. Chainfire actually is more interesting than the books preceding it, but the lack of character development for Richard and the dead-end subplots with the harem kind of killed it for me.
TG, if you are somehow channeling my thoughts, please oh please, develop Richard. We need more interesting and focused plots. And stop writing all the extra stuff that we just have to skip over to get to the interesting parts. You were my hero with Wizards First Rule. I hope that you can become the queen of my heart once again.
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(205 ratings)