goodreads | Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind (Reply)

Title: Wizard's First Rule
Author: Terry Goodkind
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
# pages: Audiobook, ~34 hours
Date read: August 2011, September 2017, March 2022

In the aftermath of the brutal murder of his father, a mysterious woman, Kahlan Amnell, appears in Richard Cypher's forest sanctuary seeking help ... and more. His world, his very beliefs, are shattered when ancient debts come due with thundering violence.

In their darkest hour, hunted relentlessly, tormented by treachery and loss, Kahlan calls upon Richard to reach beyond his sword-- to invoke within himself something more noble. Neither knows that the rules of battle have just changed ... or that their time has run out.

Wizard's First Rule has been one of my all-time favourite fantasy books ever since I first discovered it, almost 15 years ago. I've probably read it about 6-8 times since then. While the later books in the series definitely have their weaknesses, this first one is fantasy when it's best (certainly beats LotR any day... but then I never was a Tolkien fan ;) ).

I always find it a lot harder to write reviews of books that I love rather than books I just like, because it feels like it just ends up as too much gushing. But I love the characters and the plot and the universe that Terry Goodkind has created. It's all neatly tied together in his writing, and I feel like I can disappear into it completely. This was my first time listening to the book rather than reading it myself, and I found myself doing extra loads of dishes, just so that I could listen to another chapter or two ;-)