Chainfire: Chainfire Trilogy, Part 1 (Sword of Truth, Book 9)

by Terry Goodkind

2005

Status

Available

Publication

Tor Fantasy (2005), 768 pages

Description

With Wizard's First Rule and seven subsequent masterpieces, Terry Goodkind has thrilled readers worldwide with the unique sweep of his storytelling. Now, in Chainfire, Goodkind returns with a novel of Richard and Kahlan, the beginning of a sequence of three novels that will bring their epic story to its culmination.After being gravely injured in battle, Richard awakes to discover Kahlan missing. To his disbelief, no one remembers the woman he is frantically trying to find. Worse, no one believes that she really exists, or that he was ever married. Alone as never before, he must find the woman he loves more than life itself....if she is even still alive. If she was ever even real.

User reviews

LibraryThing member soliloquies

This is the first of a trilogy of books within the Sword of Truth series. It was hard going as the author seemed intent on dragging out the "I can see her/I can't see her" plot as long as possible. This book could have easily been incorporated in the second of the trilogy.

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LibraryThing member jenny71

as the sword of truth series has evolved, goodkind has pushed an antisocial libertarian agenda. this, the most recent addition, has by far the broadest condemnation of social justice theories of the bunch. in my opinion, goodkind's increasingly overt political leanings detract from the book

considerably, while adding little of value to the storyline.

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LibraryThing member primogen

It is worth the read as it continues to develop the struggle between the D'Haran people and the New Order. However, like the last two books it is becoming increasingly talkative. There are points where people are uncharacteristically long-winded.

LibraryThing member patience_grayfeather

Kahlan who? Only Richard remembers Kahlan. Why? Not as much moralizing in this book.

LibraryThing member harpua

For me, book 9 of the Sword of Truth series started off real slow. In fact it stayed slow until the last 4 or 5 chapters. This was a tough one to keep moving through, but I've made it this far into the series and need to finish it up. Having said that, the last 4 or 5 chapters were superb and

really moved the story along, in fact it made the rest of the book worthwhile reading, I just wish it would have gotten this far sooner. Unfortunately I'm not sure Terry could have done much more to make the book more riveting without decreasing some of the effectiveness of the plot. I've left this book looking forward to the final two books, but hoping they are more like the last 100 pages of this one instead of the first 700.

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LibraryThing member dk_phoenix

Okay... I actually didn't mind this one. Yes, it was redundant and poorly edited, yes, characters went on tangents and spouted off with long diatribes during rather crucial moments where time was (apparently) of the essence... but let's face it. We all just want to see this series through to the

end, and after the last few books, anything new and that doesn't have to do with Jensen is a breath of fresh air. He took this one in a new direction, and really? If you hadn't read the previous lot of the series, you could probably get away with starting here. I wouldn't recommend it, but I'm just saying you could.

Anyway, I've grabbed Phantom and am going to finish this series before the year is out. I'm determined, if nothing else.

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LibraryThing member 666omega666

Fantastic book for those who like the series. While I have heard some people complaining that Goodkind develops Kahlan over 8 books (7 if you don't count PoC, which you shouldn't) and then suddenly obliterates said character. I disagree; Kahlan's disappearance most definitely kept me entertained

and intrigued throughout the book. Furthermore, although her perspective was not shown for the first half of the book, she does begin appearing more to the end, and her sections were interesting to say the least.

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LibraryThing member puttocklibrary

This book breathed new life into the "Sword of Truth" series for me. It took everything that had happened thus far and twisted tit in a way that left me on the edge of my seat, wondering what on earth was going on, and how the situation could possibly be resolved.

LibraryThing member queencersei

Chainfire is the first book in the final trilogy of the Sword of Truth saga. By now Goodkind’s repetitive themes and constant preaching is nearly unbearable. This book is only for those who have slogged through the rest of the series and absolutely must make it to the end. If you can bear not to

finish the series, then don’t. The final two books do not get any better.

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LibraryThing member dbhutch

With Chainfire, Goodkind begins the end of his amazing Sword of Truth series, with a trilogy. The missing Sisters of the Dark have managed to capture Kahlan, and to erase her from the world's memory, except it seems, from Richard by the use of a spell called Chainfire.
Richard awakes after being

attacked and nearly killed to find Kahlan gone, and no one seems to have ever known her. But that isn't Richard's only problem. It seems that Jangang has managed to create another weapon of magic with his captured Sisters. Something far more dangerous than the Slide. This beast is magic of the underworld and the living, and hunts Richard by his magic alone. Nicci and Cara remain loyal to him, Cara owing him her life once more.
Richard travels the New World with help of the sliph and learns of the central sites and manages to locate a copy of the Chainfire book, proving to him at the very least, he is not losing his mind. But more than just the memory of Kahlan is vanishing - so are many other memories and aspects of life. Can he halt the madness before its too late?

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LibraryThing member janemarieprice

The series ends with a trilogy in which Kahlan is somehow erased from everyone’s memory but Richard. This first book is spent trying to determine what happened to her. More action in these and less speeches, but still the series is drawn out too long.

LibraryThing member wagner.sarah35

A great addition to the Sword of Truth series! Richard, injured after battle, wakes to discover Kahlan gone and no one can even remember her existence. He embarks on a journey to find her - and prove his own sanity to the doubtful Cara and Nicci. He is also pursued by a beast, which has fed on his

blood and is bound to end Richard's life. Terry Goodkind does an excellent job of blending together multiple plot strands and leaving the reader eager for the next volume!

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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C

I found this book quite a slog. By this time, when I found out Kahlan had been erased from the memory of all, my reaction was a sigh, because I felt been there, done that. Not that Goodkind had used this particular device before, but how many times in this series had she and Richard been parted.

Again.

And for me this series has long lost its sense of humor--and fun. And yes, it did once have that. I found Zedd especially quite lovable. A lot of people object to Goodkind's philosophy--he makes no bones on this website that he's a devotee of Ayn Rand. That doesn't bother me the way it does some. It didn't surprise me--I thought I saw a libertarian theme in the early books--which is something I personally found attractive. But I do hate preachiness--even when I'm singing with the choir. And somewhere in the series Goodkind did get unbearably preachy to a tune I've heard before--and sung much better mind you.

This is the ninth book overall in the series. This book is also known as the "Chainfire Trilogy" because the last three books concluding the series are essentially one book--not at all self-contained. I think the series is at its worst in the middle part, Phantom, and don't think Goodkind really redeems himself in the conclusion, Confessor. So I'd say Chainfire is for completists only. Or those who really, really still love this series unequivocally. I can't say I count myself among them.

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LibraryThing member magickislife

Enjoyed listening to this on Audio book. A very different experience than reading it.

LibraryThing member capetowncanada

I'm going to continue with the series after this one,it was a lot better then the last two. Your requited with characters and magical objects from the series past.

LibraryThing member jrg1316

Better than the last two but not by much. The good thing is that Nicci is finally reintroduced back into the series. It was very frustrating for Richard to acquire one of the most powerful beings on Earth to his cause and then completely ignore her for 2 books. She is without a doubt the most

interesting character in the book.

Speaking of Nicci, one of the biggest problems I have with the book is she is one of the very few people in possession of both Additive and Subtractive magic. Even though she isn't a war wizard, there is still a lot she could teach Richard, yet the book never touches on this a single time. Richard just keeps blindly looking for any clue to prove Kahlan's existence to everyone.

That's another thing. Richard suspected very early on that whatever was going on with Kahlan had to involve magic. That being the case, why in the world did he first choose to visit Shota, an extremely dangerous woman to any wizard, instead of his own sister Jensen, someone who is completely immune to magic so chainfire wouldn't have affected her? It makes no sense at all.

Lastly, I am sick and tired of Goodkind repeat himself over and over again. We are 9 books into the series. There is absolutely no reason to explain things that happened earlier in the series. I don't need to hear about how the Imperial Order acts and what their beliefs are or about the value of life, and I certainly DO NOT need to hear even one more word of that damn devotion! I know what it is and can recite the thing myself after the first 23 times he printed it throughout the series. I don't need to read it 9 more times in this book, especially in a row!

By now, I'm just reading to finish the series. I have absolutely no expectation for the remaining 2 books.

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