Wizard's First Rule

BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION:

Wizard’s First Rule. Goodkind, Terry. A Tom Doherty Associates Book, New York. ISBN 0-812-54805-1

PLOT SUMMARY:

Richard Cypher is a woods guide from Westland. Westland is a non-magical part of the world that separated from the magical world of the Midlands by a boundary. While he was walking in the woods he came across a beautiful woman named Kahlan Amnell who is being hunted by assassins. Richard knows that she is different. She defeated all of the assassins by herself. Kahlan reveals to Richard that she is from the Midlands and she is in search of the First Wizard. Richard does not know what to do, so he seeks help from his friend Zed, and old and quirky man. Zed is the wizard that Kahlan is looking for, he pronounces that Richard is the true Seeker and Gives him the Sword of Truth. Richard and Kahlan make the dangerous cross through the boundary to help save the Midlands form the evil Darken Rahl, who threatens to destroy all of the people in the Midlands. Will Richard be able to find his way in this magical new land and will they be able to stop Darken Rahl.

CRITICAL EVALUATION:

Wizard’s First Rule is the first book in the Sword of Truth series. It is a very long book (over 800 pages), but teens that love fantasy, will love this book. The characters of Richard and Kahlan are likable. She has the power to kill him. They have fallen in love, but one touch from Kahlan while her guard is down will kill Richard. It is an impossible situation. Yet, many teens will relate, it is forbidden love. No different from Romeo and Juliet or Twilight. The concept is present in all genres. The setting for the book is not like the world we live in. Westland has almost a medieval feel and the Midlands is a magical world still with a medieval feel. Readers will be completely transported to another time and place. Teens looking to escape into a book will find it here. It is a very long book, and at point the story seems to move slowly, which may lose many readers. It lost me for a long time. It took me almost two months to read this book. I am not a huge epic fantasy or sword and sorcery fan. I do not think that those that enjoy this type of fantasy will have a problem reading this book. They will most likely find it more entertaining than I did. This book is a great stepping stone for young adult readers that are ready to delve into adult fantasy books.

READER’S ANNOTATION:

Richard Cypher and Kahlan Amnell must join forces and battle Darken Rahl to save their world.

AUTHOR:

Terry Goodkind was born in 1948, in his home town of Omaha, Nebraska. In 1983 Goodkind moved with his wife Jerri to a house he built in Maine, later making his residence on the coast of Lake Las Vegas, Nevada his primary home.

Goodkind has dyslexia, which initially dissuaded him from any interest in writing. Before starting his career as a writer, Goodkind built cabinets and violins and was a marine and wildlife artist, selling his paintings in galleries. In 1993, during the construction of his home on the forested Mount Desert Island off the coast of Maine with his wife Jeri, he began to write his first novel, Wizard's First Rule. Wizard’s First Rule was auctioned to a group of three publishers in 1994. It sold for a record price of $275,000.

Goodkind has since published 11 other novels and one novella. All of his books, with the exception of the first two books in the Sword of Truth series have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list. Goodkind's twelve books in The Sword of Truth series have sold twenty five million copies and been translated into more than 20 languages. The television show The Seeker was based on The Sword of Truth series. Unfortunately the series only lasted two seasons. (Unknown, Terry Goodkind)

GENRE:

Fiction, Fantasy, Adult Title

CURRICULUM TIES:

New York State: English

BOOK TALKING IDEAS:

Forbidden love
What is a Seeker

READING LEVEL/INTEREST AGE:

Age 16 and up

CHALLENGE ISSUES:

None

In order to prepare yourself should this book be challenged you may wish to take the following steps:

•Read the book or familiarize yourself with the book and its contents.
•Refer to the library’s collection development policy.
•Read the book reviews from sources such as Booklist, School Library Journal, Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA), Publisher’s Weekly, or BookSpot.com
•Seek the opinion of teen readers that have read the book.

Should this book be challenged you should follow the additional steps below:

•Advise the senior staff of the challenge.
•Let the patron know that their challenge will be filed and that senior library management will review their request and notify them once a decision has been made.
•Offer any further assistance should the patron have additional questions.

WHY DID I INCLUDE THIS BOOK?

I found this book while researching the fantasy genre for our class presentations.