The masterpiece that started Terry Goodkind's New York Times bestselling epic Sword of Truth series, and the basis for the TV show Legend of the Seeker.
Wizard's First Rule is the beginning. One book. One Rule. Witness the birth of a legend.
In the aftermath of the brutal murder of his father, a mysterious woman, Kahlan Amnell, appears in Richard Cypher's forest sanctuary seeking help . . . and more. His world, his very beliefs, are shattered when ancient debts come due with thundering violence.
In a dark age it takes courage to live, and more than mere courage to challenge those who hold dominion, Richard and Kahlan must take up that challenge or become the next victims. Beyond awaits a bewitching land where even the best of their hearts could betray them. Yet, Richard fears nothing so much as what secrets his sword might reveal about his own soul. Falling in love would destroy them--for reasons Richard can't imagine and Kahlan dare not say.
In their darkest hour, hunted relentlessly, tormented by treachery and loss, Kahlan calls upon Richard to reach beyond his sword--to invoke within himself something more noble. Neither knows that the rules of battle have just changed . . . or that their time has run out.
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Terry Goodkind (1948-2020) was a #1 New York Times bestselling author. His books include the multi-volume epic fantasy Sword of Truth series―beginning with Wizard’s First Rule―and related series Richard and Kahlan and The Nicci Chronicles.
Goodkind was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, where he also attended art school. Alongside a career in wildlife art, he was also a cabinetmaker and a violin maker, and did restoration work on rare and exotic artifacts from around the world. In the 1990s he relocated to Nevada, where, when not writing novels, he was a racing-car enthusiast.
Wizard's First Rule marks the debut of a new fantasy writer. Truly epic in scope and filled with burning intensity, it is the story of Richard Cypher, a modest woodsman in a world achingly beautiful, alive with the joys of nature: a world the reader comes to love as fiercely as do Richard and those around him. Though a mere woodsman, he is the one destined to battle the ultimate adversary - Darken Rahl, an evil mage who bids to destroy all that Richard holds good and beautiful, dooming him and the rest of the people of Westland to a living Hell of subjugation and degradation.
The magical boundaries between the three lands of forest guide Richard Cypher's world are crumbling: Strange beasts from the Midlands, where magic still exists, appear in his Westland forest. And so does Kahlan Amnell, a young woman with some interesting powers and four assassins on her trail. She is in search of the great wizard who left the Midlands not long after he set the boundaries. He is the only one who can possibly thwart Darken Rahl, an evil wizard who has set in motion a process that will result in the enslavement of the three lands. When Richard's eccentric friend and mentor, Zedd, is sought out for advice about finding the great wizard, Kahlan identifies Zedd as the object of her search. The process that Darken Rahl has initiated requires him to obtain the three boxes of Orden, and, within one year, to open the proper box. As time grows short, Richard, Kahlan, Zedd, and a border guard, Chase, go in quest of the one box that the evil wizard still lacks. Among the truths that Richard learns along the way is the wisdom of the Wizard's First Rule: People are stupid and will believe almost anything. A wonderfully creative, seamless, and stirring epic fantasy debut. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
In a classic fantasy world, young Richard Cypher must go on a perilous quest with the Sword of Truth in order to deal with evils that have a contemporary degree of ambiguity about them. On the way, he acquires the normal collection of wizards, dragons, and human companions as well as an equivalent roster of enemies. Both the characters and their world come to life, and Goodkind's ambitious juxtaposition of modern ambiguities and the classical fantasy setting works more often than not. Although a fairly self-contained story, the book has something of the flavor of the first volume of a saga; neither Goodkind nor his publisher will receive too many complaints if a sequel is in the works. Hardly an aspirant to Tolkien's mantle, Goodkind certainly seems, at any rate, to be working on being mentioned in the same breath as Robert Jordan. Roland Green
The protective barrier that separates Westland from its neighbors to the east is about to fall, letting loose a monstrous evil upon the world. Only the combined efforts of a young man dedicated to finding the truth, an enigmatic woman intent on concealing her past, and a crusty old hermit resigned to his inevitable destiny can prevent the opening of the three boxes of Orden-an event with the potential to destroy existence itself. The inclusion of graphic scenes of sado-eroticism, though integral to the story, may deter purchase by some libraries. Nevertheless, this first novel offers an intriguing variant on the standard fantasy quest. The richly detailed world and complex characters will appeal to mature fantasy aficionados.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Excerpted from Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind Copyright © 1994 by Terry Goodkind. Excerpted by permission.
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