I recently finished reading Terry Goodkind’s Pillars of Creation. Although it is not my favorite work of his, I still found the mystery he builds during the first few chapters my favorite part of this book.
The character Jennsen, one of Darken Rahl’s ungifted children is an interesting character whose ominous voice in her head keeps you wondering; is she crazy, is it esp is it something sinister? You don’t know if she is truly ungifted or are their talents that will spring forth as her story and challenges unfold. I wouldn’t want to give too much of the story away, but I like Terry’s way of leaving you wondering, who’s the good guy and who’s the bad guy throughout his books.
I like strong female characters, as in my book The Charon Covenant (which you can find out about at www.thecharoncovenant.com, Jennsen is the lead character and starts with some basic fighting skills that you see grow along with other special strengths. The pairing of a beautiful young woman against the strength of a fighting spirit or special abilities is naturally attracting.
There were times the story moved a little slowly, but sometimes character development and building the scenery requires a bit of a slow touch. There are slow moments but they don’t last long. They are offset by many gruesomely realistic descriptions of battles and deaths and strong emotions that make up for it.
He has a way of creating empathy and disappointment when bad things happen to good characters. I love stories that are character driven as this one is. Perhaps the characters aren’t quite as vivid in this one as in some of the past but I still give it a 4 out of 5 stars.
By Brenda Munday Gifford