Product Description: Descending into darkness, about to be overwhelmed by evil, those people still free are powerless to stop the coming dawn of a savage new world, while Richard faces the guilt of knowing that he must let it happen. Alone, he must bear the weight of a sin he dare not confess to the one person he loves…and has lost.
Join Richard and Kahlan in the concluding novel of one of the most remarkable and memorable journeys ever written. It started with one rule and will end with the rule of all rules, the rule unwritten, the rule unspoken since the dawn of history.
When next the sun rises, the world will be forever changed.
"Willfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one's self." After reading a bunch of the posted reviews for this book, I can't help but think that all these people missed the point of the series. I don't know how you can make it to book 11 and still think that Goodkind is writing an epic tale of magic. The series has been about reason, and the people who choose to use it or turn from it, from the very beginning. Did Richard triumph over Darken Rahl using superior magic and force in Book 1? No, he used logic and his ability to reason. Magic and fantasy are the tools that Terry has used to preach his message, not the point.
If you take offense to many of the things goodkind has to say, I can't help but wonder why. If you have a disagreement with one of his views, and you have a rational understanding of the disagreement, then you'll be confident enough in your own view to not care. If you don't know why you disagree or your disagreement is based on wishes and whims...well, to quote Zedd, "People who for whatever reason don't want to see the truth can be acutely hostile to it and shrill in their denunciation of it."
That said, I found Confessor to be one of the more action packed novels of the series. I never felt it dragging like Pillars of Creation or Naked Empire. I was thoroughly entertained throughout, and I really enjoyed the Ja'La tournament. I thought the book was a fitting end to a fantastic series.
For any of you who enjoyed the concepts and idea's presented in this book, I would reccomend reading Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. I think you'll find that the latter half of this series is severely influenced by her writings. Richard's monologue at the end of this book (the one lots of people are complaining about) is basically a condensed version of John galt's speech towards the end of Atlas Shrugged.
What a Waste Let me just say that anyone who gave this (or the last few books in the series) anything higher than 2 stars is crazy. The series started out very good, but throughout the course of his writing Mr. Goodkind apparently forgot he was writing a fantasy series. Many of the coolest characters and extras, like Gratch the Gar and Scarlet the dragon are completely forgotten until brief cameos in Confessor. Goodkind repeats himself so much in these final books that I actually felt my intelligence insulted. He would literally have paragraphs that were the same sentence paraphrased 4 different ways. The imperial order is by far the most uninspired, unbelievable, simplistic enemy I have ever heard of. Not to mention the seemingly racist undertones of the evil dark-skinned brutes from the "Old World" attacking the nice white folks of the "New World". Anything worth reading in the series has long since been left in the dust. However, if you are like me you have to finish a series once started, just make sure to get it from the library.
Irony...berates those of whom he has become Overall I gave this 2 start because it was one of the least worth while Terry Goodkind books of the series (Including Temple of the Winds).
The phrase Spencer uses for Terry comes to mind, 'preachy'. He has used his success of a great story and made it his personal soap box. The final 'trilogy' of the entire SOT series could have been contained in 2 books that neither of which could have been as long as each of the last 3 were. He must have had a contract so he needed to fill it with his preaching. There were some old flashes of 'good ol Goodkind' but for the most part he just blah-ed forever about life and how 'any' organization that has a defined set of beliefs is just for 'people who do not want to think'. Huh, I wonder if he pays his taxes 'without thinking', I wonder if he obeys traffic laws, if he does he is as 'unthinking' as any of the people he is criticizing that have Faith as a value and belong to a religion 'with pre-packaged beliefs that make it so I do not have to think, just follow".
Too bad, he took something great and turned it into something less worth while than I could have hoped, and believe me my hopes decreased with each of the last 3 volumes of the series. Oh, and not to spoil the story Richard finds a 'magic bean' that makes everything better. Retarded ending to an overwhelming enemy that has been looming for 6-7 books now.
Spoiler: Richard says, "I found a magic bean" the Daharans cheer and the Imperial order is instantaneously transported to a different planet. Yeah!!!!! (Oh sorry that last cheer was the people who were reading the books cheering that it was FINALLY over, it is not in the book.) Funny how after dragging it on for so long the whole of the order is dispatched in less than 1/3 of a page of the last book. Disappointing!
Irony...berates those of whom he has become
You'll never guess the ending This was such an awesome series; so many good stories and insights into society. The ending was completely unexpected yet fit so well. It leaves you wanting to say "eh heh." To fully grasp the story though you need to read all the books. Check out the new show based on the series http://www.sword-of-truth.com/tv/legend-of-the-seeker
Thank God This Series is Over!! I loved the fist three books in this series and then Goodkind turned into a televangelist with his preaching. I stopped buying the books and read them (skimmed them actually) from my library. If you were following the series - then by all means finish it (from the library of course - do not spend you hard earned dollars!!). This book was as disappointing as were the last 9 - how many was it again I forgot???? I have lost count as they are all the same - blah blah blah!! If this guy writes any more books I will not be wasting my time - the only positive is that he did finish the series (i.e. Robert Jordan!!) - weak as it was. No need to rehash the plot (was there one) as other reviewers have done so - in a nutshell - if you didn't start this series THEN DON'T - IF YOU DID - YOU MAY AS WELL FINISH IT.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
