[Zeddicus Zul Zorander]

Goodkinds new book is awesome. I read it in like one night or maybe two. Im glad he has rebounded from his last book in the series. im hoping his next one will be just as good as this one.

[allanon]

Is it so good as "Brothers of the Fold"?

[ethanx]

I too agree that Faith of the Fallen was an excellent book and I also devoured it in 2 days. As far as it being better than "Blood" of the Fold (seeing as Spike Lee's Goodkind movie adaptation "Brothers of the Fold" won't be out for some time :-)), I think it was much better. My personal favorite in the series in still Temple of the Winds though.

[Eventine]

****** Warning - Series Spoilers (sort of) *******

Oh Dear!
The first person I have ever seen on this board to say that Temple of the Winds was good.
I enjoyed Wizards First Rule. Goodkind has managed to destroy the series from there however. Each book just seems to get worse and worse.
I haven't read Faith of the Fallen yet, but considering how bad Soul of the Fire was, I'm not sure I will.

Just to offer why I thought Soul of the Fire was bad:
Meaningless, boring characters in Fitch and Beata.
An extremely abrupt ending that wasn't explained very well at all.
Too much stuff clicking into place just enough to be fortunate for the main characters.
And finally, the whole seperated lovers thing has gone on too long. It seems Goodkind can't think of any storylines with these two together, so he keeps thinking of ways to keep them apart. Same with Zedd - we know that if Richard hung around with Zedd, he might actually learn something instead of stumbling his way through things and having his wizardly ways make everything turn out right. Goodkind must be terrified of writing a story where he actually has to think of having a plot resolution instead of having the answer's all appear through Richards magic.

Has Goodkind's style changed that much that I should actually read, let alone buy, Faith of the Fallen? What are the good points of this book?

[FitzChivalry]

Goodkind bad... mmmkay?

[Alex]

I totally agree with Eventine.
His first book showed a great deal of originality.... Then he went on....and on....and on....and on. I've read 3 or four books in the series and I just cant't force myself through a fifth.
"I just don't have the power"!

[Lani]

I agree with Eventine. The SoT went worse and worse starting from a good book. But I continued to read new books anyway (I can never stop reading even bad series since I started to read them). But you know the last book(Faith of the Fallen) actually showed some hope since the Temple of the Winds which was truly awful. Of course the book is in no competition with First Wizard's Rule, but maybe Goodkind can still improve the SoT?

[Zeddicus Zul Zorander]

I understand what everyone above is saying but doesnt every author have a few bad books.I guess i stick with the authors i like and although Blood of the Fold was terrible i thought the next two in the series were really good. He does a great job in showing true feelings in his characters. I believe everyone should read his last book. It is really good.

[FitzChivalry]

You are all aware that it's an open-ended series and he has no plan or idea to what he's doing right?

[Giarc]

Well, I disagree completely with Goodkind's critics. I also note that there is a separate thread entitle 'Goodkind...Ugh' that caters for the critics point of view.
I have yet to read his latest book but I'm looking forward to it. Personally I think Goodkind's writing is far superior to Jordan's. The fitch/beata thing, and the minister of culture guy and his dramas, wasn't boring IMO...in fact, it did something that I've yet to see Jordan attempt: namely, to create characters that have shades of grey.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion of an author, of course. But it'd be nice if people didn't jump in and start bagging an author simply because someone else says they like them.
As for Goodkind not having a direction or plan to the series, I read an interview over a year ago where Goodkind claimed otherwise. Of course, Fitzchiv may be able to read Goodkind's mind and tell if he is lying but since I lack that ability, I'll take Goodkind at his word.