The Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind
Terry Goodkind
#1 New York Times Bestseller!
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Book 1 - Wizard's First Rule
Synopsis
Richard's life is changed utterly when he saves Kahlan, a beautiful woman who is desperately fleeing Darken Ralh's assassins as she tries to find Zedd, the last great Wizard. Only Zedd can anoint a Seeker of Truth, one pure of heart and strong of purpose, who must wield the terrible power of the legendary Sword of Truth. Only the Seeker can prevent Darken Rahl from acquiring the three boxes of Orden, which grant their possessor power over all living things. As Darken Rahl's plan nears its fateful culmination, Zedd calls upon Richard to become Seeker. At first reluctant to take up the Sword and dare the perils that lie ahead, Richard accepts the challenge when he realizes that his new-found love for Kahlan would wither under lash of Darken Rahl's dark dominion.
Darken Rahl, a mage for whom no atrocity is too foul, has gained two of the three boxes. Should he complete the set and unlock its magic, not even Richard, whose father long ago taught him the Boxes' secrets, will be able to keep Rahl from fulfilling his destiny.
Book 2 - Stone of Tears
Synopsis
The veil to the Underworld has been torn, and Darken Rahl from beyond the veil, begins to summon a sinister power more dreadful than any he has wielded before. Horrifying creatures escape through the torn veil, wreaking havoc on the unsuspected world above.
If Darken Rahl isn't stopped, he will free the Keeper of the Underworld itself, an evil entity whose power is so vast and foul that once freed, it can never again be contained.
Richard and Kahlan must face Darken Rahl and the Keeper's terrible minions. But first, Richard must endure the ministrations of the sisters of the Light, or die from the pain of magic that is his birthright and his curse. While Richard undertakes the arduous journey to the forbidden city of the Sisters, Kahlan must embark upon a long and dangerous mission to Aydindril, citadel of the old Wizards, where she hopes to find Zedd and the help only he can lend to their desperate cause.
War, suffering, torture, and deceit lie in their paths, and nothing will save them from destiny of violent death, unless their courage and faith are joined with luck and they find the elusive...
Book 3 - Blood of the Fold
Synopsis
Now Richard and Kahlan's struggles continue, against aa new and equally dire foe. The Blood of the Fold, a group of fanatical anti-magic zealots, have joined the forces thwarted by Richard and Kahlan. They are the unwitting pawns of a sorcerous evil from the Old World, a realm that has been magically sealed for thousands of years.
Richard, Kahlan, and their allies now face the combined might of two worlds - the Old World and the New. This stunning confrontation threatens an armageddon of unimaginable proportions unless Richard and Kahlan can believe in their power of love and their faith in the Truth.
Book 4 - Temple of the Winds
Synopsis
Return to the world of Richard Cypher, whose adventures have stirred the blood and filled the hearts of legions of satisfied readers. When Richard was a simple woods guide, he never dreamed he would get caught up in magic, war, and dangers so extraordinary that the fate of his entire world would hang on his actions and decisions. After he rescued Kahlan Amnell, the Mother Confessor of the Midlands and that the woman Richard would come to love, he left the forest and entered into a larger, and more perilous world. Over the course of his journeys Richard learned to accept his true role, first as the Seeker and the wielder of the Sword of Truth, and then, in Stone of Tears, as the new Lord Rahl and the war wizard who led the fight against the Keeper and his dark minions.
Everything Richard has learned thus far, all the wisdom, the magic, and the conviction he holds, will be for naught as the power-mad Emperor Jagang returns with his multitude of demonic underlings. For Richard must now challenge the impossible: the magic that thwarts magic, the three-thousand-years-sealed-away fortress of evil that has begun to infect the world with a terrible, sorcerous plague. He must find the Temple of the Winds. But once the shadow of betrayal falls across that mission, Richard must accept the Truth and find a way to undo the damage...or his world will perish.
Book 5 - Soul of the Fire
Synopsis
When Kahlen summoned the dominion of the chimes to save Richard, unwittingly she loosed arcane powers that now not only threatens those she loves, but are bent on reshaping the world itself into forbidding visions that will forever alter the very nature of life itself.
Richard and Kahlan must hunt the chimes, those most mysterious hunters - the unseen stalkers of souls, the thieves of order - and in so doing plunge headfirst into danger perilous. For there is no place so dangerous as a world without magic.
Book 6 - Faith of the Fallen
Synopsis
Bestselling New York Times author Terry Goodkind returns with an extraordinary new novel of the Majestic Sword of Truth. Richard, the lord Rahl and the Seeker of Truth, has returned to his boyhood home, Hartland.
When a Sister of the Dark captures Richard, he makes a desperate sacrifice to ensure that his beloved Kahlan remains free. Taken deep into the Old World and forced to labor for the tyrannical evil he's sworn to defeat, he is determined to remain even in the heart of darkness.
Kahlen, left behind and unwilling to abandon the cause of the Midlands, violates prophecy and breaks her las pledge to Richard. Finally she will come face to face with the architect of terror sweeping her land-the mad dreamwalker, Emperor Jagang.
While Kahlan discovers the truth of the Imperial Order's rule. Forced to endure his ordeal without magic, without the Sword of Truth, without love, he stands against the despair and soul-numbering regime of the Old World, his hope to kept alive only by the knowledge of the rightness of his cause.
Book 7 - The Pillars of Creation
Synopsis
"Richard Rahl and his wife, Kahlan, have been reunited after their long separation, but with winter descending and the paralyzing dread of an army of annihilation occupying their homeland, they must venture deep into a strange and desolate land. Their quest turns to terror when they find themselves the helpless prey of a tireless hunter." "Exploited by those intent on domination, Jennsen finds herself drawn into the center of a violent struggle for conquest and revenge. Worse yet, she finds her will seized by dark forces more abhorrent than anything she ever envisioned. Only then does she come to realize that the voices were real." Staggered by loss and increasingly isolated, Richard and Kahlan desperately struggle to survive. But if they are to live, they must stop the relentless, unearthly threat that comes out of the darkest night of the human soul. To do so, Richard will be called upon to face the demons stalking among the Pillars of Creation.
Book 8 - Naked Empire
Synopsis
""You knew they were there, didn't you?" Kahlan asked in a hushed tone as she leaned closer." "Against the darkening sky, she could just make out the shapes of three black-tipped races taking to wing, beginning their nightly hunt. That was why he'd stopped. That was what he'd been watching as the rest of them waited in uneasy silence." ""Yes," Richard said. He gestured over his shoulder without turning to look. "There are two more, back there."" "Kahlan briefly scanned the dark jumble of rock, but she didn't see any others." "Lightly grasping the silver pommel with two fingers, Richard lifted his sword a few inches, checking that it was clear in its scabbard. A last fleeting glimmer of amber light played across his golden cape as he let the sword drop back in place. In the gathering gloom of dusk, his familiar tall, powerful contour seemed as if it were no more than an apparition made of shadows." "Just then, two more of the huge birds shot by right overhead. One, wings stretched wide, let out a piercing scream as it banked into a tight gliding turn, circling once more in assessment of the five people below before stroking its powerful wings to catch its departing comrades in their swift journey west." This night they would find ample food.
Book 9 - Chainfire
Synopsis
"How much of this blood is his?"
"Most of it, I'm afraid," a second woman said as they both rushed along beside him.
As Richard fought to focus his mind on his need to remain conscious, the breathless voices sounded to him as if they were coming from some great dim distance. He wasn't sure who they were. He knew that he knew them, but right then it just didn't seem to matter.
The crushing pain in the left side of his chest and his need for air had him at the ragged edge of panic. It was all he could do to try to pull each crucial breath.
Even so, he had a bigger worry.
Richard struggled to put voice to his burning concern, but he couldn't form the words, couldn't get out any more than a gasping moan. He clutched the arm of the woman beside him, desperate to get them to stop, to get them to listen. She misunderstood and instead urged the men carrying him to hurry, even though they already panted with the effort of bearing him over the rocky ground in the deep shade among the towering pines. They tried to be as gentle as possible, but they never dared to slow.
Not far off, a rooster crowed into the still air, as if this was an ordinary morning like any other.
Richard observed the storm of activity swirling around him with an odd sense of detachment. Only the pain seemed real. He remembered hearing it once said that when you died, no matter how many people were with you, you died alone. That's how he felt now-alone.
Prequel - Debt of Bones
Synopsis
The exciting prequel to Terry Goodkind's much-loved, highly successful Sword of Truth series--complete with a specially commissioned author's introduction and exclusive full-page illustrations by artist Keith Parkinson! Goodkind's fervent admirers have sent all his books in this landmark fantasy series soaring to the top of the best-seller lists...and the Debt of Bones will surely continue tradition. Pre-dating Wizard's First Rule, and featuring one of the fans' favorite characters (First Wizard Zedd), this epochal tale gives fresh insight to that later story. It begins as a young woman arrives at Aydrindril to petition for help in the war against D'Hara and the vicious rule of Panis Rahl. Little does the First Wizard, much less the woman herself, realize an act from her past will force him into a cataclysmic duel of magic with Panis Rahl himself.