Faith of the Fallen (Sword of Truth, Book 6) (Sword of Truth, 6) Mass Market Paperback – November 15, 2001

Fantastic imagination, a must read for those loving heroic fantasy! Can’t wait to explore more details of Richard’s and Kahlan’s lives!

I read some of the negative reviews for this and was shocked at some people's preception of the series. This one deals with the philosophy behind the Imperial Order which is an extreme socialist society. I am not sure if Terry Goodkind Ayn Rand or not, but this book does have themes from her two very popular books. By no means am I suggesting plagerism, but I think there are universal truths that people discover on their own. From "Fountainhead" there was the conflict with sculptures forced to create humanity in an ugly light so no one could believe that there was any hope of one person being better than another. From "Atlas Shrugged" Richard felt only by losing everything could people know what was needed to fight for freedom (similar to John Galt wanting to stop the motor of the world). There is also the fact that by breaking the law and gaining profit, Richard creats progress in business. I think there are valuable lessons in this book and if you like them then you may want to look at Ayn Rand's "Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged".Now the series did have some slow points. I read book one and two fast, then had a time on book three. Book four was great, but I actually stopped reading the series in the middle of book five when the action went to Anderith for long stretches. I began rereading them and got past that one and read book six. I waited for the others to come out and got all the way to book ten "Phantom". That is slow at the beginning, but I have begun rereading tham again. This is a great series and if you are unsatisfied at this point, then I would stop reading them.This is a great addition to the series. It is always a challenge to give the antagonist a motive and I think Jagang being misguided by the extreme socialists is a great backstory to explain the opposition to Richard who bases his actions on reason. I like the elements of capitalism and Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism being introduced in other forms of fiction. This is my opinion, I hope it helps you.

In some ways it's maybe unavoidable since the core of the story is about a character's religious and political indoctrination from a young age, but the political views the author is pushing aren't explored with any subtlety or artfulness. Instead we are presented with a caricature that elicits eye rolls even from one who roughly shares the author's world view. Goodkind should leave that to Ayn Rand.This is disappointing because the struggle the character is facing, the puzzle she seeks to solve is well crafted and compelling. The antagonist isn't compelled by sadism, lust for power or vengence, but is instead trying to uncover a question and it's answer. The pain this causes the protagonists is incidental, yet meaningful. This presentation of the conflict is unexpected for the reader and the protagonists. It's a good hook that draws the reader in.Unfortunately all the artfulness was expended creating a problem and threat with a unique flavor leaving no room for an artful resolution to that threat. The path the antagonist takes to enlightenment and the challenges the hero faces as a result are so artificial they detract from the story. The antagonist struggles with the questions while all the minor characters and the society in which the struggle takes place are largely cookie cutter depictions either with the right view or the wrong one, but lacking the many realistic variations sharing varying degrees of fidelity to the competing world views.While an author's world view can be expected show up in his writings, care and subtly should be applied when doing so especially when it doesn't fit the genre. This series is first and foremost a fantasy story not a dystopian political story, and its disappointing that the author seems to forget that.As for the story itself, both this book's story and the story of the series, the progress is satisfying. The threat to the world continues to seem inexorable, though there is some reason for hope presented in the end. The main characters are threatened with endless heartache rather than immediate death, and succumbing to despair is perhaps the greatest danger they face, and showing the reader the wrestle with that challenge is where the story succeeds and makes this book a worthwhile read despite its shortcomings.