Wow, it's amazing reading people hating on this book. And you know, I can concede a lot of the criticisms. I especially cringed at the sado-masochistic aspects at the end with the Mord-Sith. But you know, this is 836 pages long, and I didn't feel it. And with so many epic fantasies, god, I felt it! But this zipped past, like a limber left tackle. And no, I don't feel this is a rip-off of Lord of the Rings. All high fantasy are going to have some inevitable similarities in belonging to that same genre. But excuse me, if you want to see LotR rip-offs, try Terry Brooks or Robert Jordan. Goodkind's world seemed completely fresh and original to me, and I've read extensively in the genre. And a lot of the negative reviews seem to be not of the book, but of the series (and at times the author, who is good at pissing people off just from the crossed arms and glare in his photograph). I'll admit, I think the series did jump the shark, at least after the seventh book out of the eleven in the series. (And some would say earlier.) For that reason I am a little reluctant to unequivocally recommend this book, and hook someone on a series I think eventually went to crap. And I'm scared to reread and find I don't love Richard, Kahlan and Zedd as much as I remember. But the five stars is true to how I felt when I closed the book, eager to read more.
