#37 Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind

I did this list five years ago and had this book at #30. I wondered why I dropped it this time, but I realized that I had given though and added new books to my list. One or two new ones, and I started to consider older books that slid into the spot above this.

In my mind, I don’t think it aged as well as I would have hoped. I liked the first book a lot, then each book in the series was less interesting for me. It became a slog, and I finally gave up. Some imagery from this series is some of the more graphic I have read, sexually and violence. The issue I found is that I am not sure if it helped the story. Some did, and some helped it to be a better story, but some of it just seemed gratuitous.

However, it is a classic story, the heroes journey we have heard again and again. This time, however, there is a strong female character, that is almost as strong as the male character. This lets all the fun of a possible, but forbidden, love to be in the series.

My daughters and wife really loved the TV series that was made from it. It is ok, not fantastic, but it made me like the characters in the book more.

Let magic and swords rule.

I wanted to rate this higher, but I find I have not had a desire to return to the series. So I still enjoy it, but I feel it is not as interesting as other books