Looks Like A Duck, Sounds Like A Duck
Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind
It smells like a medieval Star Wars cast list:
Young boy living as humble forest guide with all the odds against him. Then he discovers he has hitherto untapped powers. Yup, he's the hero who is going to save the world. Probably more than once.
Beautiful young woman who seems distant and impossible to get close to. Yup, she's the love interest and may even get her shot at saving the world.
Eccentric mentor who wanders in the woods and distributes sage advice. Ah, he must be the super-powerful wizard sent to point the hero in the right direction.
So far, there isn't anything very original in Terry Goodkind's Wizard's First Rule. But then, I like the traditional fantasy tale and the familiarity of these stereotypes were not about to detract from my enjoyment of the novel.
I'll also admit that I have to be careful in this review that my disappointment with where the series went isn't reflected here. For I loved this novel when it came out and quickly checked all the subsequent ones out of our local library.
Wizard's First Rule is an epic fantasy that takes all the stock rules of epic fantasy and then dashes in some startlingly creative originality. It is nearly impossible to ascribe a single mood to the book, for it varies from innocently sweet to creepily dark to engagingly romantic. Richard, the aforementioned humble forest guide, is led into a world he had heard about only in legend and we get to discover it as he does. Unfortunately, this brave world is threatened by dark forces that will overwhelm everything he knows unless it is stopped. And, poor child, only he can do it.
Kahlan is the Mother Confessor. This is one of Goodkind's more interesting ideas. Mother Confessors can get the truth out of anyone-but only through the total destruction of their will and personality. This happens to anyone that they touch, making most intimacy a tad difficult.
There are also some deeply disturbing scenes in this book. At one point, Richard is cruelly tortured and Goodkind describes (almost gleefully) those tortures in great detail. There is something almost sadistically erotic in these scenes, but Goodkind manages to keep from crossing the line into the obscene (at least, in this novel he does). As disturbing as these scenes are, they do provide for some of the more moving and powerful moments of the book. The themes of courage, strength, and forgiveness are both admirable and strongly presented.
Goodkind is a very talented writer who engages his readers with his style, plots, and intriguing characters. This is the best of the series and well worth reading.
