Stone Of Tears

A fantasy written by Terry Goodkind in 1995
Reviewed edition by TOR from 1996
A paperback has 980 pages
ISBN 0-812-54809-4

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This book immediately follows the Wizard's First Rule. Soon after Richard killed Darken Rahl, strange creatures from the underworld start appearing and attacking people. It appears that by opening the Box of Orden, Darken Rahl has managed to tear the veil that separates the underworld from the world of living, and that the Keeper of the underworld will soon break free.

Once again, prophecies foretell that Richard is the only one who can save the day. Unfortunately, Richard is not exactly in a shape to do that - he suffers from deadly headaches that seem to be linked to his inborn ability to use magic and cannot be cured other than by his mastering its use. For one whose grandfather is a wizard of the First Order, it might not seem to be a problem - only Zedd, Richard's grandfather, is far away and not coming back anytime soon ...

Review

Compared to the previous book of the series, Terry Goodkind's world building skills have much improved. Gone is the fairytale feeling, politics and intrigue appear. The story flows nicely, without the awkward moments occasionally present in the first volume - except for one thing. Imagine freezing winter, so much snow that you have to use snowshoes when walking. Imagine a battle-hardened army camping in the mountains in this kind of winter, soldiers in armour. What do you do before attacking them ? Why, remove your armour and clothes so that they are more scared seeing you naked. Uhm.

Again, the book has a conclusive ending, you can read it without having to have the next volumes ready :-) I'm almost tempted to rate it as good, but I think I'll stick with average.

Rated as average by Ceres on 1999-02-07

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