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tropicox's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
joshsebastia's review against another edition
5.0
This book was fantastic! This series as a whole so far has been a great addition to the Sword of Truth universe. I can't wait to see how the last book goes!
blimeburner's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
meowmeowbeenz's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.25
shereaps's review against another edition
5.0
So great!
I love this spin off from the Sword of Truth series. Nicci is a great character. Now, how long do I have to wait for the next one??!!!!!
I love this spin off from the Sword of Truth series. Nicci is a great character. Now, how long do I have to wait for the next one??!!!!!
britamac's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
So, the start of this one was a bit rough. There was a lot of recapping and repeating. And what makes it even harder is that it wasn't only recapping and repetition of information from the last few books of this series, it was also information from the Richard and Kahlan series. And when I say there was a lot of information, I mean there was A LOT of repetition. Lots of repeated content by characters that were saying the exact same things over and over again.
Every chapter that came to Thora, Maxim, Adessa, everyone would say the same thing over and over again. King Grieve again, repeated himself. It became over kill. It was good old Terry once again and I was sad to see him make his return. I was enjoying this new Goodkind.
I just started skimming a lot to avoid reading the same information over and over again. Sadly I wasted a lot of pages with the same information. This was the whole reason that I said I was never going to read another Goodkind book again. It kills the story and makes the story suck.
The only reason I kept going was because I had already invested so much time already and I wasn't going to throw that time away. I was curious where they were going to end up. I may not always like Terry's writing styles but for the most part I usually enjoy his plots and most of his characters. The reason his books are so thick is because he spends so much of his time repeating information that he has already given us once. Really it's just pure garbage.
Now lets go into some actual story content.
Maxim managed to release the stone warriors HE petrified by releasing everyone he ever petrified. And because he created the spell, he could somehow dominate anyone else who used the spell by un-petrifying EVERYONE'S petrification spell?? I really didn't understand this. It made no sense to me. He was able to undo anyone elses petrification spell, just by undoing his own petrification spell, and he also unravelled 3 other gifted Dumas spell that they cast to petrify Thora into a statue that made her into a half statue, making Thora even more lethal.
It doesn't makes sense that that he could undo Thora's spell since he didn't cast her petrification spell. But, it appears he he some sort of patent over the spell itself. Other gifted clearly are strong enough to cast it and use it but not keep it over Maxims own admittance as he can remove it.
Maxim doesn't appear to be able to over rule every wizard though, he is still a coward and will run from a single morazeth. It seems like he's more of a trickster than anything else. I don't think he's as powerful as he wants everyone to think he is. He just wants to be able to undo everyone's use of this spell.
I DISLIKE how every female character appears to be nothing more than a s$xual play thing for men in these books. With the exceptions of Verna that is of course. We get enough of that in real life, we don't need that in our literature. It's time that this changes.
Why do we have to deal with yet another sliph? I thought they were spirit from the other world and that the was sealed? Or is that no longer sealed? I am just starting to get confused now with things magically appearing. And Nicci would never be so careless as to allow a sliph to just magically slip into the realm, maybe in the older series but not now.
I just realized that the entire world of Ildakar is copied from Lord of the Rings and it meets the Roman Empire. Noble first class citzen to lower. Slaves who fight in pits to the death.
There is the non-magical class against people with magic. The slaves who just want freedom and in the end they slaughter the lower class anyways and Ildakr disappeared again, WTF and How.
I thought that Richard separated the people with magic from those without just like Zedd had. And yet, here we are again with societies abusing the non-magical, using them as slaves proving that nothing Richard did was effective outside of his own backyard. It would have been different if he had been able to make a difference in the world. Maybe Ildakar could get away with not being affected because they were in a time capsule, they were hidden.
How were the twins able to see into the veil of the world of the dead and speak to the dead? If the veil were sealed it was sealed on both sides and none could speak to or hear on either side. Again, it makes no logical sense.
Lila and her female companions, they are mordsiths with another name. They are just carbon copies of the mordsith from the Sword of Truth series with another name in this new series. Would have been nice if Terry could have come up with some new ideas and not copies his previously used ideas. Oh, and Lila is no Cara!
Prophecy is dead! There is no more prophecy! So how is Chalk not only seeing into the future but how is he in essence using prophecy? Yet again another contradiction.
Now we have King Grieve... I wasn't interested in this character or his people, I wasn't invested in this character or his people. I just didn't care. They were just savages who wanted to like everyone else take over the world. He feeds his people to this sea monster for luck and sometimes will... eat them himself – insane future, seeing, albino sidekick. I had (and yes I know this is bad of me) wanted them all to die in this book. But, no we couldn't have that now could we. Terry had to go and combine them with Utro's army so now they are going to try and conquer the world together. Sure, ok.
Surprisingly, (Yeah, I know I complain a lot) I did like the plot. It's the writing I didn't like. I didn't feel like Bannon, Nicci and Nathan really got anywhere in this book. It just kept dragging on and on. Yes, I like Nathan, Renn, Bannon, Capt. Zimmerman and Verna but, when nothing really happens and there no real action its had to be invested.
Hopefully the next book will be better than this one and we will get more plot and a better storyline with more a more character driven storyline.
spicedude68's review against another edition
3.0
Now that I am reading Terry's books through the lens of #MeToo and current lack of consistency in the conservative movement -- morals easily cast aside for convenience of wins in a different arena, I have confirmation that he writes from a super mysogynistic perspective (female characters are strong - only because they survived violence against them - rape, being beat up and abused)
The plot continues to be interesting. The characters keep disappointing.
The plot continues to be interesting. The characters keep disappointing.
drewsbookreviews's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
raptorimperator's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I think I liked this better than the previous book. With a clear enemy now, Nicci and company can focus on defending the city and the world at large. While slow at first, the story picks up in the middle and hits with a finale that sets up the next book with even bigger stakes.
mxsallybend's review against another edition
3.0
With Heart of Black Ice, the fourth and final volume of Sister of Darkness: The Nicci Chronicles, coming in January, I figured it was time to pick up the mass-market paperback and get caught up with the last installment, Siege of Stone.
This was a decent book, still better than some of the lesser Sword of Truth novels, but it doesn’t live up to the two really good books that opened the series. That’s partly due pacing (nothing significant happens for a very long time), partly to a lack of suspense (there are no surprises here, nobody ever really seems to be in jeopardy), and partly to a weakness in the main antagonist (General Utros and his stone army feel like more of a philosophical threat than a physical one).
The characters are part of the issue here as well. Nicci doesn’t seem like herself for most of the novel, although she does have her moments in the closing chapters, and Nathan is actually a little less interesting now that he has access to his powers once again, although he does get in some pretty impressive spells. Bannon continues to grow and evolve, and I like the ordinary hero theme that Terry Goodkind explores through him, although his personality remains a little bland. I was hoping his relationship with Lila might put a little fire into him, but he’s not quite there yet.
The highpoint here for me, and what has me most excited for the final volume, is two things – the transformation of the sliph from a force of magic to supporting character; and the threat posed by King Grieve, Chalk (one of the most interesting characters in the series) and the Norukai warriors as a whole. While Siege of Stone has issues with pacing, suspense, and overall sense of danger, the climax is suitably epic. It’s big, it’s violent, and it’s significant – something the rest of the book isn’t.
https://femledfantasy.home.blog/2019/11/22/book-review-siege-of-stone-by-terry-goodkind/
This was a decent book, still better than some of the lesser Sword of Truth novels, but it doesn’t live up to the two really good books that opened the series. That’s partly due pacing (nothing significant happens for a very long time), partly to a lack of suspense (there are no surprises here, nobody ever really seems to be in jeopardy), and partly to a weakness in the main antagonist (General Utros and his stone army feel like more of a philosophical threat than a physical one).
The characters are part of the issue here as well. Nicci doesn’t seem like herself for most of the novel, although she does have her moments in the closing chapters, and Nathan is actually a little less interesting now that he has access to his powers once again, although he does get in some pretty impressive spells. Bannon continues to grow and evolve, and I like the ordinary hero theme that Terry Goodkind explores through him, although his personality remains a little bland. I was hoping his relationship with Lila might put a little fire into him, but he’s not quite there yet.
The highpoint here for me, and what has me most excited for the final volume, is two things – the transformation of the sliph from a force of magic to supporting character; and the threat posed by King Grieve, Chalk (one of the most interesting characters in the series) and the Norukai warriors as a whole. While Siege of Stone has issues with pacing, suspense, and overall sense of danger, the climax is suitably epic. It’s big, it’s violent, and it’s significant – something the rest of the book isn’t.
https://femledfantasy.home.blog/2019/11/22/book-review-siege-of-stone-by-terry-goodkind/