Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was a big fan of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series... well let me qualify that. I was a fan of about the first five books and "Wizard's First Rule" is probably up there with a few others as an all-time favorite of mine. The Mord'sith were probably the single truely original idea in a series of rehashed quasi-Star Wars/Wheel of Time cliches. That being said, I was looking forward to a new Goodkind book, especially since he would be exploring a different genre. I love thrillers. When I heard there'd be a bit of magic. I was even more thrilled. I love urban fantasies and combined with a thriller, that's even better. Sadly, Law of Nines is awful. It's a rewrite of Wizard's First Rule except this time we're in the modern world instead of a fantasy world. Alex Rahl is Richard all over again. Jax is Kahlan. Some of the character descriptions and dialogue sound like passages from poorly written fan fiction. Furthermore, I really REALLY hoped that Goodkind got his fascination with Ayn Rand off his chest with the Sword of Truth series, but noooooo. We have to hear about it all over again in LoN. Here Goodkind had a chance to really start with a new idea, a fresh idea, a new hook, new characters, but he didn't. If you are a rabid fan of Goodkind, you'll probably love this book, but if you just want a good story regardless of its author, you'll realize there are far better options out there. Brent Weeks "Night Angel Trilogy" is awesome and well written. I hugely enjoy Robb Thurman for her urban fantasy and clever, fast-paced dialogue. For something fun and different try "The Lies of Lock Lamora" by Scott Lynch (although I didn't like the second book as much, but the first is definitely stand alone). Carol Berg and her two-book series "Breath and Bone" and "Flesh and Spirit" are beautifully written and the story is fresh. As much as I wanted Law of Nines to be a new Terry Goodkind story, it isn't. It's just another retelling of The Wizard's First Rule.