Faith of the Fallen discussion

I enjoyed all of the books in the Sword of Truth series but whenever I think back on it one stands out above the rest, Faith of the Fallen. While all of the books showed the true strength of each character I felt this one went above and beyond in symbolism. It was very well written and tied into so many truths we face each and every day. That's my favorite.

What's yours?

Mine was Temple of the Winds.

I agree with amber temple of the wind

Faith of the Fallen for sure.

I have not yet finished the series (I am currently in Naked Empire) but so far my two favourite books are Wizards First Rule (solemnly because of Denna, the Mord Sith) and the Faith of the Fallen, because Nikkis story was fantastic, and that book was unique and relatable and it just made me understand the whole world and situation a lot more.

Eliana wrote: "I have not yet finished the series (I am currently in Naked Empire) but so far my two favourite books are Wizards First Rule (solemnly because of Denna, the Mord Sith) and the Faith of the Fallen, ..." I agree :) I also, really liked Denna. Faith of the Fallen was just fantastic as it related so much to life, I loved his symbolism. I don't think I've ever been drawn into characters as much before as with this series.

Faith of the fallen has to be my favorite. The second favorite would be Temple of the Winds. Yes Confessor is good also. I have a hardback version from Barnes and Noble that was on sale last year.

Faith of the Fallen, Temple of the Winds and Confessor :-)

Wizard's First Rule.

I think I have to agree with you on "Faith of the Fallen". That book was a masterpiece. I ended up getting "Your life is yours alone, rise up and live it" tattooed on my arm.

This was definitely mine. I liked the philosophical ideas in it. I'm sorry to say, I didn't like Temple of the Winds, apart from the cover



which I thought was really cool. Too much plague for me though.

1st place
I love that he just bailed on everything and went to find himself. I also love that he discovered the value of communicating through art, and left off preaching. Much more effective.


2nd Place
I just liked having a break from the story of Kahlan and Richard. It was nice to get in someone else's head and follow a story that was more personal, and less global.


3rd Place
I liked the intricacies of the Sisters of the Light. I liked the way they described the tribes of the Old World. This one was quite intricate and involving.


4th Place
It was nice to have a break from the heroes in this one too. Goodkind manages to steal focus from the main characters without diminishing their power, or relevance. The magic in this one was quite fascinating.


5th Place
I pretty much liked this one for the fact that the sister wore all those many coloured scraps of cloth. There was something cool about that.


6th Place
A decent fantasy novel, but I don't know if I would have pursued the series based on this one alone. Fortunately I was hard up enough for books one time to try Tears of Stone. This one had some great little details though. I love the evil cloud following Richard.


7th Place
This one is an example of my least favourite type of plot line in fantasy. It's like a hollywood action film. Everything is down to the wire, and everyone is in desperate circumstances, and there's no time for reflection on almost anything. I like it when magic is actually effective for solving problems, not when every avenue is blocked and the character's backs are up against the wall. It's just too much stress for me. I get too into it. That said, it's easily as well written as all the others.

Those are all the ones I've read so far. I like Goodkind's books although I do think he has serious issues with women. They're always being tortured in the most graphic ways, and the symbolism of the men being collared by the sisters of the light, I thought was quite telling.

The first three are kind of like one book for me. And it's my favorite

Blood of the Fold was a cracking read too.

Faith of the Fallen was an amazing display of spirit " pardon the pun "

definitely Faith of the Fallen!

The ones I didn't read, thereby not wasting my time reading the same rugged individualist, Ayn Randian ass kissing.

I love the whole Sword of Truth series, but Faith of the Fallen in particular. Every time Nikki reads the words "Your life is your own, rise up and live it" I burst into tears.

Apart from the very beginning it could almost work as a stand alone novel and is utterly brilliant. The illustration of why Nikki's way of thinking is so skewed is wonderfully crafted, and you can feel her reluctance and willingness to be convinced in every word.

It makes her revelation before the statue all the more profound, and I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

Temple of the Winds for myself also. Best of the series.

Wizard's First Rule was brilliant! If I knew what I know now-that would have been the first & last Goodkind I would of ever read.

It's 'would have' dude.

K.C. wrote: "I enjoyed all of the books in the Sword of Truth series but whenever I think back on it one stands out above the rest, Faith of the Fallen. While all of the books showed the true strength of each c..."

have you seen the tv show don't its so messed up lol

TV show had potential but they messed it up trying to cram too much in, then going off on useless tangents. Also I thought the guy they chose to play Richard was totally wrong for the part. Richard is a fairly big man and the actor they cast was not. I thought they got everyone else right though, especially Bruce Spence as Zed.

Donna wrote: "TV show had potential but they messed it up trying to cram too much in, then going off on useless tangents. Also I thought the guy they chose to play Richard was totally wrong for the part. Richard..."

true Richard was a man if he walked into a room he would own the room

I am not far from completing book 2, Stone of Tears. So really I don't have a lot to comment on, but I have to say my Fav so far is Wizards first rule.

Saranar wrote: "I am not far from completing book 2, Stone of Tears. So really I don't have a lot to comment on, but I have to say my Fav so far is Wizards first rule."

enjoy the read 2/12

Dale wrote: "Saranar wrote: "I am not far from completing book 2, Stone of Tears. So really I don't have a lot to comment on, but I have to say my Fav so far is Wizards first rule."

enjoy the read 2/12"

Are you saying you give it 2 out of 12 or that it is book 2 out of 12. lol

Saranar wrote: "Dale wrote: "Saranar wrote: "I am not far from completing book 2, Stone of Tears. So really I don't have a lot to comment on, but I have to say my Fav so far is Wizards first rule."

enjoy the read..."
lol my bad second book out of 12 in the set

Any of them before Goodkind's preaching became nauseating. How early in the series that happened depends on how nice I am being. I think it was about Book 5 when it became clear that preaching his world view was more important than telling a story. Of course, the first 4 books are typical fantasy cliche. So I guess the question is which one sucks the least.

Dale wrote: "Saranar wrote: "Dale wrote: "Saranar wrote: "I am not far from completing book 2, Stone of Tears. So really I don't have a lot to comment on, but I have to say my Fav so far is Wizards first rule."..."

Hehe

It is nice to see a thread that isn't about running down TG or his books.

Rare in any thread. Well done everybody! Next one's on me.

Saranar wrote: "It is nice to see a thread that isn't about running down TG or his books."

Yeah, too bad. Sorry, but he is the only author I hate because of how he treats readers and other authors. Plus his books suck.

Really? What has he done. This is new to me.

Terry Goodkind was nothing but gracious at the book signing I attended. I know he had run-ins with fellow TOR author Robert Jordan(on who was the bigger author). His books have dropped in quality-IMHO.

Saranar wrote: "Really? What has he done. This is new to me."

Google him. You will find tons of negative information. He says he doesn't write fantasy because he focuses on characters, themes and story, and fantasy books only care about world building and magic and have no story. Yet he claims to not read fantasy.

When asked about the obvious similarities between his books and Wheel of Time, he said that anyone that sees similarities is not old enough to read his books.

He has made horribly disparaging remarks about anyone who didn't like the fact that he started preaching his objectivist views too much starting with book 5. Basically insulted their intelligence and maturity for daring to be upset that an author let his views of the world take center stage over the story.

When I was a teenager I devoured his books as they were released, but I became disenchanted at book 5 when the preaching started. I think that about the worst thing an author can do is let his message get in the way of his story. But apparently I am stupid and immature in his eyes for thinking this.

Looking back, the first few books, which I enjoyed at the time, suffer from terrible, cliche writing, and they are a rip off of Wheel of Time.

He really is the only author that I feel personally negative feelings toward. He is an asshat. Google that too. I am not the first to say that Terry Goodkind is an asshat.

Faith of the Fallen. I second that a thousand times over. All 11 were amazing, but Faith of the Fallen was my favorite. After I finished it when I was 15, I immediately re-read it before moving on to the next book. It's the only one in the series I did that with. Th only other book I ever did that with, re-reading it right after finishing it was Fahrenheit 451.

Brian wrote: "Saranar wrote: "Really? What has he done. This is new to me."

Google him. You will find tons of negative information. He says he doesn't write fantasy because he focuses on characters, themes an..."

OK. Well I must admit I didn't know anything of this. I will however do as you suggest and Google him. I do what to say though, Thank you for explaining this without using stupid and insulting remarks. I very much appreciate this.

I think Wizard's First Rule was pretty epic and made me want to read more. The next two were pretty good and then things start to decline a bit, but still good reads. I agree at the end it get's preachy, but overall it was a fun series to read.

The first book Wizard's First Rule there were several good books in the series, but the first one is the one I spent all night reading and couldn't put down.

I enjoyed every book in the series--as did many others. Blood of the Fold was probably the slowest and least favourite for my tastes, but I agree with the OP that Faith of the Fallen was by far the best of them all. The transition from the pit of despair to the fullness of spirit and hope was incredible.

I have Faith Of The Fallen as my favourite as well. It's a bit humorous that he followed it up with my least favourite in The Pillars of Creation.

Personally, the series dropped in quality after that point. I enjoyed Naked Empire but Chainfire and Phantom were extremely frustrating reads just based on how repetitive they were. I kinda got the gist of it the first time people stop believing Richard.

My favourite would be Temple of the Winds. Back in the days before the books used to drag on...and sometimes not even mention the main characters until 10 pages from the end.

Donna wrote: "TV show had potential but they messed it up trying to cram too much in, then going off on useless tangents. Also I thought the guy they chose to play Richard was totally wrong for the part. Richard..."
Yes, the show was mess. And the guy who played Richard? What a boy, just handsome for someone! Richard is man grown, big, strong, smart and handsome.

I read all of the books except the very last one. I can't say which is my favourite, maybe the first three or so. Bad ones are definitely Omen machine and Third Kingdom.

K.C. wrote: "I enjoyed all of the books in the Sword of Truth series but whenever I think back on it one stands out above the rest, Faith of the Fallen. While all of the books showed the true strength of each c..."

Faith of the Fallen is my favorite as well. I almost abandoned the series, but this one pulled me back in.

Blood of the Fold

Jitka wrote: Bad ones are definitely Omen machine and Third Kingdom.

I have them but haven't read as yet. They are on the "only if there is nothing else to read" pile.

They're not that bad. Really. Though I have nothing else to read right now, truth be told. And I'm halfway through The Third Kingdom.

And technically, I don't think they're part of the SoT series.

I agree, Mark, that technically they're not part of the series. The series is 11½ books (obviously the prequel, "Debt of Bones", being the ½). After that the books are on their own even if they're "in the world of Richard and Kahlan". There are only eleven wizard's rules afterall.

TG does reserve the right to state otherwise, though, since he created it all. :)