The Wizard's First Rule
by Terry Goodkind

I really wanted to avoid writing a review about this book, but after 836 pages I decided it'd be a waste if I didn't. The reason why I didn't want to write a review about this book is because it is actually well written; I just hated it so much.

So where do I begin? I guess I'll start with what it's about: we follow Richard Cypher as he travels through an amazing and romantic realm of magic and wonderment to stop an evil sorcerer on the other side of the world from obtaining the power to dominate this plain. It definitely sounds interesting, but once you go beyond the initial description and read it, it's hard not to be disappointed.

First of all, nearly everyone in this book is given a mysterious and fantastic name, but it seems more likely that someone named Richard would do my taxes rather than save the world. That's my first issue.

Next complaint: a canyon sets the heroes and villains apart, Goodkind seems to have a love of black and white personality types, never adding any grey area to make them seem interesting at all. In fact, the villains are so much more likeable than anyone else because they're so much fun to read about. Goodkind spends so much time illustrating the limitlessness of the power and malignity of the main antagonist and so little time on the “good guys” that it's just more fun to read about those that you're supposed to despise. There is no psychology behind any of the characters, it's as simple as, “I'm a bad guy, so this is how I think” or vice-versa.

The world itself seems so spectacular, but almost none of these fantastical elements are used. It's a world of wizardry, magic, honor and beauty, but almost none of this is seen. The most powerful wizard in this world is introduced near the beginning, then gets hit in the head with a rock (or something like that) and disappears until near the end. Throughout the entire book he never does anything magical, it's as if he just told everyone, “I'm the most powerful wizard in the world” and everyone just believed him.

Another thing that got to me was how annoying the main character was. Richard (I can't get over how lame that name sounds) spends a lot of time thinking about how great he is. He never doubts himself, and why should he? Thanks to Goodkind, he's always right. Everyone else agrees; Richard Cypher is thebomb.com.

The only thing that makes Richard so great is his superhuman luck. When you think of a hero, especially in a world of science fiction or fantasy, there is usually something unique about him or her, whether the person or the things around that person, there's something special about what's going on (what's the point of reading about something completely ordinary, right?). What makes Richard special is that he can stumble through any obstacle, guess his way through any challenge. Circumstance always tips in his favor.

There are plenty of other things to cover, the cheesy love story that goes from neutral to overdrive in about two chapters, how humorously despicable the antagonists are, the frustrating boredom of the conflicts between rival characters, how long the book is compared to how little happens, and on and on and on. I will say that I did get emotional during the book, there were times the Goodkind put the characters in a situation designed to just fill the reader with rage, this was effective, but considering I was also filled with rage in the long gaps between events in the book, this doesn't serve as much of a saving grace.

So to wrap things up, I did not like it at all, I'm sure that based on Goodkind's popularity that some actually really enjoy his work - a notion enforced by the series of books that followed this one - I just don't understand why.