Overall, a pretty good book. However, I was rather unsatisfied by the way Goodkind ended the series. It felt too... I don't know, happy? It simply seems like an overly clichéd ending that is way happier than necessary and seems to solve everything.

Also, [SPOILER] the fact that Richard didn't kill Jagang - no, not even that. Richard's reasoning behind not killing Jagang bothered me. I found it clichéd and unsatisfying because, quite honestly and frankly, I wanted Jagang to die. Jagang NEEDED to die. But he didn't. This sentence is here for people who did not want to be spoiled, because people, even trying not to, tend to read the last sentence of a paragraph when skipping it. You know it to be true.

Oh yeah! Reading some other reviews, I remembered something I really loved about this book that really redeemed it in my eyes: Ja'La. Quite simply put, the Ja'La matches were effing awesome. I wish Goodkind had put more in there, because just everything about those matches were BA. ( )

It's over! It's over!!! Ring the bells! Sound the trumpets! I'm DONE!!!

...and what a finish it was. In fact, I almost feel inspired to go read the first book of the whole series again *just so I can remember why I loved these books in the first place*... and so I can remember them with a good taste in my mouth, instead of the bile that rose up during this last trilogy. Seriously. Goodkind: the end of your series is *not* the place for you to get on your soapbox and preach your own sad beliefs. Why did you feel the need to tear others down with your own unfortunate view of the world? I get the sense that Goodkind has, somewhere in his past, been terribly hurt by organized religion, and hasn't ever recovered from it. Okay, I understand, but is HERE really the place to take out your sufferings? Please. You're a good writer, but these last 3 books were:

a) sloppy
b) inconsistent
c) repetitive
d) poorly edited (seriously - sometimes people say the same line twice on the page, NOT on purposes, with perhaps ONE pronoun changed. WTH.)
e) unoriginal... a far, FAR cry from the first few books in the series

In all, I was very disappointed with this ending. My husband, who is also reading through the end trilogy right now, doesn't seem to be faring any better. When I recommend Goodkind's writing from now on, I will specifically tell people to stop reading after book 3 or 4, because that seems to be where the originality that characterized the first few ran out, and the Goodkind Preaches His Worldview aspect began to creep in. Don't get me wrong - I understand that an author's worldview probably should pervade everything they do... but in this case, talking down to your readers and giving long, soapbox diatribes is really NOT the way to present things. *sigh* I really wanted this end trilogy to be good. I did.

So like I said: Wizard's First Rule, here I come. You still stand on my favorites list... and I'd like to keep it that way. ( )

Finally, it’s over. And how anti-climactic it was.

Given the past five books or so, I wasn’t really expecting something spectacular, but I was hoping that Goodkind would make a comeback and give us something as amazing as the first book. Especially the ending. I was expecting an intense, awe-inspiring ending (after all, we have gone through ten other books to get to this point), but it fell flat. Not much emotion, not a great surprise twist at the end, just an ending.

Another downside to this book is the way it’s written. Most of the story is revealed by dialogue, making it seem more like a script rather than a story. The characters speak to each other as if they have hours to have a conversation (and we know quite well that the one thing they don’t have is time). Nicci and Richard are prone to given sermon-like speeches about living life and making choices. I get that Goodkind wants to send us a message, but could he please not beat us over the head with it? Every time I turn the page, some character or other is telling another how they should have the freedom to live life.

It also seemed kind of rushed. Major events happen or things happen to major characters, and they’re just kind of brushed off. There may be a line or two describing the consequences or effects, and then on to the next thing. And for as long as we have been with these characters, I think that thoroughness is necessary.

I will admit that there were some really good parts that reminded me of books one and two; when Richard plays Jagang’s Ja’La team, for instance. But for the most part, I was bored. ( )

Well I feel like I've just lost an old friend. The Sword of Truth series has come to an end. I started my second path through the series almost a year ago and while I've read other books in between, this has been my main focus for 2008. Plowing through 11 books of 700+ pages was a daunting task at times, but well worth the time. These kind of series only come around once in a while. Those that you are truely drawn into the plot, you feel empathy for the characters and in fact kind of see them as old friends.

Book 11, Confessor, wraps up the series in fine fashion. For the most part I was in the dark about how this would wrap up until the very end. Most books or series will end weakly because they try to just tie up loose ends within a certain word count, leaving the reader less than satisfied. This was the exception. Not many loose ends left over. Everything wrapped up nicely and made complete sense when looking over the entire series. While some may not like the ending for Jagang, if you look at thephilosphies that Terry was trying to portray through his story his end fit oh so well.

I'm saddened yet relieved that the series is done (I don't think I will be doing any huge long series in 2009). I can't wait to see what Goodkind produces next and hope that at some point he returns to this world in a new novel / series either expanding on some back history or telling all new stories moving forward in this world. While this series is long and will take some time, I recommend it to anyone even to non-fantasy readers. ( )

Parts of this book were, frankly, awful. Particularly at various points where people were ranting about the choices between life and death, good and evil and the like. The first time I didn't mind it, it fit well, but so many characters said basically the same things that it got dull. Fortunately these parts were mercifully short.

Other parts of this were compulsive page turner material, with unexpected perils, nice twists, some well written fight scenes and the like.

I find I'm undecided about the conclusion. It felt, in part, like he'd suddenly decided not to write another book and so had to squeezed in unexpectedly, but at the same time there was an appropriate and quick ending that wrapped it all up nicely. There's an interesting little slant on justice without mercy waiting to be written about the end of the story too, but so be it.

Overall a satisfying conclusion to an above average series. It could have been better, but it was good, and I think the conclusion was at about the right time, so I'm prepared to live with it feeling a bit rushed. ( )