Wizard's First Rule

by Terry Goodkind

This book is lengthy and obviously the first of a short series to be written. While the plot and world it is built around is very imaginative, the writing itself falls kind of flat. The characters are well-done and interesting, but until you are most of the way though the book, they are largely undefined to the reader as people. They remain constructs until Goodkind finally begins to show some of their real inner workings.

I was impressed with this book on many levels, but will probably not try to read the sequel to finish out the story where it leaves off. I was unimpressed with Goodkind's writing itself, it being more suited towards academic or critical writing than it is to fiction.

I would only recommend this book to those who are already fans of Goodkind and to those who are fans of more adult fantasy (there are sexual elements to this book and story), but only as a library checkout or because you can find nothing else. It's not completely bad, of course, but not really good either. There's plenty of other fantasy fiction out there, don't waste your time here.