kylearnzen's review against another edition
4.0
One of the better ones in the series. Definitely makes me look forward to the concluding book.
proudlocks's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly alot of the book is filler now and repeated history, 3 or 4x in the book. Still i cant stop now.
theoliveprincess's review against another edition
3.0
A few interesting twists, a little bit of hope, quite a bit of action. (Still lots of preaching. Still lots of repetition but much of it actually served a purpose) I feel like some facts changed from the beginning of the series, but a lot of the "what about" questions I've had before have been answered a bit. I think that this book so far has done the best to tie the other books together. The narrator was way better too (IMO)
rowdya22's review against another edition
4.0
Richard continues to look for Kahlan. In the process of his search he is captured and loses his power. Now with out any magic he must escape and continue his quest.
wizardcm's review against another edition
5.0
OHHHHH MY GOD, WHAT. WHY. WHO WOULD BE SO CRUEL SO AS TO END THIS BOOK SO SUDDENLY. URGGGGGG.
Jeez. And I thought the previous book was powerful. This series is one of the few which are able to trigger my emotions, as the reader, on a whim and without warning. There were a number of times when an action, or a remark by a character, would immediately make me laugh or just yell out in anger.
Goodkind's writing is incredible. This series is incredibly complex. Worse - it gets better with every book. No book in this series can be read without the others - sure, Goodkind writes in a way where he reminds the reader about past events, but the more detail he adds, the more reason there is for such reminders to be included.
Richard and Kahlan are absolutely two of the most detailed characters I have ever understood, and the people that surround them just as fascinating. It's impossible to simply 'stop' in this series - the twists and turns will not want you to let go. This book especially. Oh I can barely wait to move on to the next book, but at the same time I don't want it to end any time soon.
These aren't just characters in a story. They are people who I will never forget.
Jeez. And I thought the previous book was powerful. This series is one of the few which are able to trigger my emotions, as the reader, on a whim and without warning. There were a number of times when an action, or a remark by a character, would immediately make me laugh or just yell out in anger.
Goodkind's writing is incredible. This series is incredibly complex. Worse - it gets better with every book. No book in this series can be read without the others - sure, Goodkind writes in a way where he reminds the reader about past events, but the more detail he adds, the more reason there is for such reminders to be included.
Richard and Kahlan are absolutely two of the most detailed characters I have ever understood, and the people that surround them just as fascinating. It's impossible to simply 'stop' in this series - the twists and turns will not want you to let go. This book especially. Oh I can barely wait to move on to the next book, but at the same time I don't want it to end any time soon.
These aren't just characters in a story. They are people who I will never forget.
donnachadh's review against another edition
SUMMARY: On the day she awoke remembering nothing but her name, Kahlan Amnell became the most dangerous woman alive. For everyone else, that was the day that the world began to end.As her husband, Richard, desperately searches for his beloved, whom only he remembers, he knows that if she doesn't soon discover who she really is, she will unwittingly become the instrument that will unleash annihilation. But Kahlan learns that if she ever were to unlock the truth of her lost identity, then evil itself would finally possess her, body and soul.If she is to survive in a murky world of deception and betrayal, where life is not only cheap but fleeting, Kahlan must find out why she is such a central figure in the war-torn world swirling around her. What she uncovers are secrets darker than she could ever have imagined.
piperkitty81's review against another edition
4.0
Good grief! This whole series has been building and building and nearly this entire book felt like the beginning of the epic climax with twist after unexpected turn!
weaselweader's review against another edition
3.0
Richard and Kahlan are captured by the d’Haran forces
It's difficult to say whether CHAINFIRE is the opening book in a trilogy or the ninth book in the now aging SWORD OF TRUTH series. In any event, to briefly summarize, Lord Richard Rahl is the sole survivor of a battle in which a troop of soldiers is brutally massacred by an unknown and, indeed, unseen enemy capable of enormous ferocity. When Richard recovers from his near fatal wounds with the help of sorceress Nicci's use of the all but forbidden subtractive magic, he discovers that he is the only living soul who remembers his beloved wife Kahlan, the Mother Confessor. All of Richard's friends and compatriots - Cara, his Mord-Sith bodyguard, Nicci the sorceress and former Mistress of Death, Verna and Ann, joint prelates of the Sisters of the Light, Nathan the prophet, the witch woman Shiota, even wizard Zedd, Richard's beloved grandfather - are convinced that Richard has lost his reason.
Worse yet, because Richard feels he must devote what remains of his life and energy to finding his beloved wife and rescuing her from whatever fate has trapped her beyond the world's ken, he has also reached the decision to not lead his weakened D'Haran troops in a final battle against the almost limitless hordes of the advancing Emperor Jagang. He has also traded his Sword of Truth to the witch woman Shiota for one critical scrap of knowledge ... the word CHAINFIRE, which he will discover in his travels is the name of a long deeply hidden spell capable of literally unraveling existence itself. Without Richard's leadership and the Sword of Truth, prophesy dictates that the free world is doomed to fall to Jagang and the Keeper of Death.
PHANTOM, the rather bloated and sadly repetitive second instalment of this putative trilogy is based on Richard's relentless search for his beloved Kahlan, whose very existence has been erased from the history and memory of his world. Kahlan is now in the hands of Jagang, the evil emperor (who along with a very small handful of people throughout the breadth of Goodkind's SWORD OF TRUTH universe is still able to see her). Richard who has also lost his command of the magical gift has fallen into the hands of the D'Haran Commander Karg. Everyone in sight is trying to locate the powerful Boxes of Orden, the only known magical counterspell to the Chainfire spell which, it is now known, is flawed and is slowly destroying all magic in the world.
While the plot outline is a good one, many reviewers have commented that the book is repetitive and lengthy to the point of tedium. For me, I would agree with the label "repetitive" but found the extended discussions on the philosophical notion of existence and the attempts at logical debate regarding the meaning of existence interesting and thought-provoking as opposed to tedious. What I did find excessively lengthy and oddly cryptic was Goodkind's attempted explanations of the nature of magic. Frankly, they seemed to go on forever and added little to either the characters or the development of the plot.
A little more action would have been a nice touch and a welcome change from time to time but it certainly didn't dampen my enthusiasm for the series and I'll definitely be looking for CONFESSOR, the eleventh book in the complete SWORD OF TRUTH series and the final installment in this sub-trilogy. The action did crank up a notch for a brief period as Richard reached the decision to change the nature of his war with Emperor Jagang - a war that he realized he had no possibility of winning.
The ultimate stereotyped swords and sorcerers good vs evil fantasy is getting long in the tooth and it's certainly long in the reading, but somehow Goodkind has managed to hold my interest throughout the series. But I must admit that I'm glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Recommended for continuing diehard Goodkind fans only.
Paul Weiss
It's difficult to say whether CHAINFIRE is the opening book in a trilogy or the ninth book in the now aging SWORD OF TRUTH series. In any event, to briefly summarize, Lord Richard Rahl is the sole survivor of a battle in which a troop of soldiers is brutally massacred by an unknown and, indeed, unseen enemy capable of enormous ferocity. When Richard recovers from his near fatal wounds with the help of sorceress Nicci's use of the all but forbidden subtractive magic, he discovers that he is the only living soul who remembers his beloved wife Kahlan, the Mother Confessor. All of Richard's friends and compatriots - Cara, his Mord-Sith bodyguard, Nicci the sorceress and former Mistress of Death, Verna and Ann, joint prelates of the Sisters of the Light, Nathan the prophet, the witch woman Shiota, even wizard Zedd, Richard's beloved grandfather - are convinced that Richard has lost his reason.
Worse yet, because Richard feels he must devote what remains of his life and energy to finding his beloved wife and rescuing her from whatever fate has trapped her beyond the world's ken, he has also reached the decision to not lead his weakened D'Haran troops in a final battle against the almost limitless hordes of the advancing Emperor Jagang. He has also traded his Sword of Truth to the witch woman Shiota for one critical scrap of knowledge ... the word CHAINFIRE, which he will discover in his travels is the name of a long deeply hidden spell capable of literally unraveling existence itself. Without Richard's leadership and the Sword of Truth, prophesy dictates that the free world is doomed to fall to Jagang and the Keeper of Death.
PHANTOM, the rather bloated and sadly repetitive second instalment of this putative trilogy is based on Richard's relentless search for his beloved Kahlan, whose very existence has been erased from the history and memory of his world. Kahlan is now in the hands of Jagang, the evil emperor (who along with a very small handful of people throughout the breadth of Goodkind's SWORD OF TRUTH universe is still able to see her). Richard who has also lost his command of the magical gift has fallen into the hands of the D'Haran Commander Karg. Everyone in sight is trying to locate the powerful Boxes of Orden, the only known magical counterspell to the Chainfire spell which, it is now known, is flawed and is slowly destroying all magic in the world.
While the plot outline is a good one, many reviewers have commented that the book is repetitive and lengthy to the point of tedium. For me, I would agree with the label "repetitive" but found the extended discussions on the philosophical notion of existence and the attempts at logical debate regarding the meaning of existence interesting and thought-provoking as opposed to tedious. What I did find excessively lengthy and oddly cryptic was Goodkind's attempted explanations of the nature of magic. Frankly, they seemed to go on forever and added little to either the characters or the development of the plot.
A little more action would have been a nice touch and a welcome change from time to time but it certainly didn't dampen my enthusiasm for the series and I'll definitely be looking for CONFESSOR, the eleventh book in the complete SWORD OF TRUTH series and the final installment in this sub-trilogy. The action did crank up a notch for a brief period as Richard reached the decision to change the nature of his war with Emperor Jagang - a war that he realized he had no possibility of winning.
The ultimate stereotyped swords and sorcerers good vs evil fantasy is getting long in the tooth and it's certainly long in the reading, but somehow Goodkind has managed to hold my interest throughout the series. But I must admit that I'm glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Recommended for continuing diehard Goodkind fans only.
Paul Weiss