The Sword of Truth

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On the cover of Stone of Tears, Richard is seen holding, presumably, the Sword of Truth.

The Sword of Truth, written by Terry Goodkind, is an epic fantasy series encompassing the stories of a diverse cast of characters. Each volume is self-contained, in that the primary conflicts of each novel are resolved within that novel; however, binding it together are the delicately interwoven threads of the many underlying characters and ongoing events throughout the works of this highly complex series.

Thus far, it consists of eleven novels and one novella. According to Goodkind, Confessor brings the current story arc to its final conclusion. Although the current story arc concludes, Goodkind states that he does not plan on ending the series entirely, as he expects to continue writing other stories that will take place in the Sword of Truth universe.^[1]

1 Novels of the Sword of Truth
2 Themes of the novels
3 Audience
4 Geography and History
5 Magic
6 Sword and Seeker of Truth
7 Pronunciation of names
8 Characters
9 The Sword of Truth live-action weekly series
10 Political aspects
11 References
12 External links

[edit] Novels of the Sword of Truth

The Sword of Truth is an epic fantasy series featuring a vast cast of characters. The main character is a young man named Richard Cypher, a simple woods guide who lends a hand to a stranger seeking a nameless Wizard who disappeared many years ago. Over the course of the series, Richard learns about his heritage while seeking to stop the evil that others would unleash upon the world of the living. By refusing to sacrifice his values and living his life as a free man, others begin to understand the nobility of man and what it means to be free. Each book is loosely themed around a Wizard's Rule, tenets by which all wizards should abide.

The eleventh full-length novel in the saga, Confessor, is the third of a trilogy that concluded the current story arc of the Sword of Truth series.^[2]

The novels in the series are:

Wizard's First Rule (1994)
Stone of Tears (1995)
Blood of the Fold (1996)
Temple of the Winds (1997)
Soul of the Fire (1999)
Faith of the Fallen (2000)
The Pillars of Creation (2001)
Naked Empire (2003)
Chainfire (2005)
Phantom (2006)
Confessor (2007)

In addition, Goodkind wrote a short story titled Debt of Bones for the 1998 anthology Legends, edited by Robert Silverberg. The story takes place in the Sword of Truth universe and is set a few decades before the events in the main series. In 2001, the story was published as a stand-alone novella.

Keith Parkinson was the cover artist for most of the novels, beginning with Stone of Tears and up through Phantom. He also painted new covers for Wizard's First Rule and Blood of the Fold, which appear on the paperback and new hardback editions of the books. Parkinson died on October 26, 2005, but not before completing the cover art for the last two novels in the series.

[edit] Themes of the novels

Goodkind portrays in his novels that individuals can remain true in the face of adversity without sacrificing their values and moral beliefs. Goodkind's protagonists show that they have courage when making choices, even when faced with difficult situations, and they remain steadfast even when faced with mistakes in their own judgment. The Sword of Truth series is also known^{[citation needed]} for its intricately woven political intrigue, offering a stark contrast between Objectivist and socialist or collectivist beliefs.

The first few volumes of the series present^{[citation needed]} a much more subtle tone of Objectivist philosophy, but as the protagonist Richard grows into his role through the series, Goodkind's works feature a more pronounced focus on the philosophical themes.

[edit] Audience

The Sword of Truth series is written with an adult audience in mind. There are sections in which topics such as philosophy are addressed at a level beyond the interest of most younger readers, as well as frank depictions of the sometimes brutal and violent nature of life in a medieval world. Goodkind himself has stated that he wrote the books with mature adults in mind, not children or those seeking to escape reality.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Geography and History

The first novel begins in a place called Westland. It is revealed by the end of the book that Westland is a region of what is called the New World. The New World can be divided into three distinct roughly equal-sized regions: D'Hara in the east, Westland in the west, and the Midlands between the two. The three regions are divided by mountain ranges and, at the beginning of the first novel, by magical barriers called the boundaries as well. Additionally, the Midlands are roughly split by the immense Rang'Shada mountain range.

In the second novel, the Old World is introduced. The Old World is described as being much larger than the New World, and little is known of its geographical features. The background history to the series involves an ongoing war fought for many thousands of years over whether or not Wizards should be allowed to rule people or required to serve them. The story's focus is in large part tied to a dramatic attempt to stop the war roughly three thousand years earlier.

In an attempt to end the conflict, both sides began constructing towers that derived their power from Wizards' life forces. The Black Towers were invested with the life force of Wizards who were forced to surrender their lives unwillingly. The White Towers were invested with the life force of Wizards who gave themselves over willingly by believing that doing so would eventually end the war. Both sides rushed to complete their series of towers first, but neither side was able to complete their line of towers, as any wizard who came close enough to create the last tower was killed by the powerful magics. This created a virtually impenetrable but ultimately incomplete barrier separating the New World and the Old World and ending the war in a stalemate.

Afterwards, several thousand years passed, during which magic among human beings suffered a marked decrease due to the power of magic being choked off in the Temple of the Winds.

In the New World, there was a continual struggle among wizards who believed that their magical abilities gave them the right to rule over others and wizards who opposed this view. A number of conflicts over this issue are alluded to but not expanded upon in the series.

The immediate lead-up to the series sees Panis Rahl, leader of a nation called D'Hara, conquering his neighbors one by one until the entire eastern third of the New World, which is now collectively known as D'Hara, is under his sway.

The Midlands were made up of several separate yet distinct lands and Kingdoms while still bowing to the rule of the Council of the Midlands. The Council of the Midlands is made up of ambassadors and representatives from all the Kingdoms of the lands of the New World and was ultimately presided over by the Mother Confessor of the Confessors Order.

In an attempt to gain power and rule over the New World, Panis Rahl invaded the Midlands, re-igniting the reasons for the age old war. One of the main characters of the novels, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander (nicknamed Zedd), led the battle against Panis, and in an act of desperation, used ancient and powerful magic to create a magical boundary between D'Hara and the rest of the New World, effectively separating them and bringing the war to an end. In a last act of revenge for causing Zedd to kill his own wife (Panis critically wounded her, and set a trap that would kill her if magic was used to try to save her), Zedd cast a ball of Wizard's Fire into D'Hara to kill Panis, an act which also severely wounded Darken Rahl, his son, the main antagonist of Wizard's First Rule.

After the raising of the boundary, people of the Midlands who wanted nothing more to do with magic of any kind were allowed to travel to Westland, where magic would be forbidden and forgotten following Zedd's creation of an additional boundary between Westland and the Midlands.

It is at this point that the series begins, some thirty or so years after the boundaries were raised. The story finds D'Hara ruled by Darken Rahl, the gifted heir of Panis Rahl, working to bring down the boundaries and gain control of an ancient power over life called the magic of Orden.

As the series continues, bits and pieces about the war three thousand years ago are revealed as Richard is captured by the Sisters of the Light and taken to the Old World where he is trapped in a spell of time. While at the Palace of the Prophets, Richard learns more about his gift, who he is, and why he must get back to the New World. In the meantime, unbeknownst to Richard, the Imperial Order, a powerful army led by Emperor Jagang (also known as the Dream Walker), continues its military campaign to rule all the nations of both the Old World and the New.

[edit] Magic

There are many types of magic within the series. Additive magic has the power to heal, create, and alter things by adding or altering what is already there. Additive magic can be used as a destructive force as well as a creative one. Subtractive magic derives from the underworld and has the power to eliminate, kill, destroy, or otherwise remove things from existence. When both sides are combined, magic can be used for great good or great destruction. For the past 3000 years, most wizards had been born with only one side of the Gift (or natural ability); the power of additive magic. However, Darken Rahl and the Sisters of the Dark learn subtractive magic, though the Sisters of the Dark learn by making a pact with the Keeper of the Underworld, whereas Richard is born with the natural right.

There are five general types of magic-users:

Wizards
Sorcerers
Sorceresses
Witch Women
Warlocks
Warwizards

Wizards are found in both the New World and Old World. They are born with their abilities (the Gift) or have the calling for magic. Thousands of years ago, Wizards were most usually born with both sides of the gift; now, only the additive side is common. There are various classifications of wizards, including healers, prophets, and War Wizards, among others. Wizards are able to draw upon things and people around them to make their power work. They also can create Wizard's Fire, a magic flame that is extremely hot and self-sustaining, similar in essence to napalm in that it has a liquid quality. A wizard can release his life force into what is referred to as "Wizards Life Fire", causing great destruction. When a wizard gives his life over in "Wizards Life Fire", he leaves behind the essence of reasoning for committing this act. If he died for a noble cause (such as to protect another), the ashes will taste sweet. If he died simply to protect himself from pain or for selfish reasons, the remaining ashes will taste salty and sour. Wizards also live by Wizard's Rules, which are a series of guidelines and bits of wisdom to help them understand humanity.

Though there could theoretically be female wizards, none are known of at the time, though many Sisters of the Dark have gained the power of wizards by bleeding their life force into a dark statue called a "Quillion". This statue holds the essence of the male's gift and is transferred to a "Namble", one of the Keeper's minions, during the ritual to imbue a female with the male gift.

War Wizards, a rare breed of wizards, always have both the additive and subtractive sides of the Gift. Their abilities arise from great need and intense anger. Unlike other Gifted, they pull their power from within themselves rather than from the world around them. War Wizards are also known to have many facets of the Gift, including but not limited to the talent for prophecy. As a consequences of the flow of subtractive magic being choked off at the Temple of the Winds, Richard is the only War Wizard to be born in three thousand years.

Another exceedingly rare breed of wizard is a Prophet. Prophets tap into magic's ability to foresee potential events of the future. We are told in Faith of the Fallen that prophets are generally born once every 500 to 1000 years. Prophets are described as being the gardeners of the tree of prophecy, an analogous term for the entity that would be all past, present, and future prophecy. The idea is that prophets will be able to discern what is going to happen at a future point. Many prophecies are given. Some turn out to be false, therefore create false branches of prophecy, while some turn out to be true, giving way to new forks of prophecy. The only known prophets in the novels are Nathan Rahl and Warren. Both are among the wizards trained and, at various times, imprisoned by the Sisters of the Light, who consider prophets both very valuable, because of their insight into the future and the vast body of existing prophesies, and also very dangerous, because of the potential for prophets to use their knowledge of prophecy cause strife (even perhaps unintentionally) to the world around them. Nathan Rahl, for example, is known to have caused a civil war by revealing a prophecy to an ungifted woman who was unfamiliar with the intricacies and complications of prophecies, and took the issue at face value. Nathan, however, has hinted that the war caused the death of the mother of a then unborn man who would grow to become a tyrant who would kill countless more, suggesting some intention and benevolence in revealing the prophecy.

The only known Sorcerer is Brother Narev, the spiritual leader of the Imperial Order and Emperor Jagang's mentor. Sorcerers, we are told by Nicci, are as rare as War Wizards. The main feature of Sorcerers is that their magic cannot be divided in subtractive and additive parts, giving them the ability to enhance and recreate some spells made by wizards with additive and subtractive magic. They also possess the unique property that their magic cannot affect a wizard and a wizard's magic cannot affect them.

Many of the sorceresses are known as Sisters of the Light in the Palace of the Prophets in the city of Tanimura. They are a religious order who serve the Creator and whose mission is to train young boys who have the Gift. They have several magical artifacts left to them by the ancient wizards to help them in this task. Secretly, there are Sisters of the Dark who are pledged to the Keeper. Sisters refer to their magical force as "Han". While the majority of sorceresses present in the story are Sisters of the Light or Dark, there are other sorceresses in other places that have no association with them.

Currently there are two witch women in the series, a woman named Shota, and another witch woman named Six. Witch women are talked about as being very powerful women, but as yet we are unclear as to what exactly their powers entail. It is stated that Witch Women are able to see events in the flow of time, which is also a form of prophecy; however, the events that they can see, while true, ultimately do not occur as one might expect. Their powers, as Shota frequently tells Richard, include but are clearly not limited to visions of things that may occur. Six comes from the Old World, and her name is intended as an insult. According to Shota, the seventh born child of a witch woman is special, so naming the child Six is a constant reminder of inferiority. After a fight ensues between Zedd, Nicci and Six, Zedd reveals that a witch woman has the ability to turn wizards magic against themselves. To counter this, when Zedd fought Shota, and then again when he fought Six, he only uses a minute amount of magic so the witch women couldn't turn the magic back onto him.

Very little is known of warlocks, except for a passing reference of them by Zedd.

In addition, other groups, such as Confessors, Dreamwalkers, gars, mriswith, the Sliph, and Slides were created via magical means and have magical powers but are not themselves born with the gift. Instead they are merely endowed with magical abilities or attributes. 3,000 years ago only Wizards with both sides of the gift were able to create these constructs, but at the time of the series the art was lost. This ability was resurrect by Jagang through the combined efforts of the Sisters of the Dark who created both Nicolas the Slide and the Blood Beast.

Coexisting beside the human race is a plethora of unique magical creatures. Some of these are part human with only small magical function, while others are able to use limited magic. An example are the Mud People who use magic to speak with their Spirit Ancestors. Other creatures are primarily magical, such as Night Wisps, Gars, dragons, and Andolians (who have both human and animal qualities).

[edit] Sword and Seeker of Truth

The Sword of Truth was created as a weapon for The Seeker of Truth, both to help bring about and maintain justice as well as a counter and aid to the various forms of magic including "The Chainfire event". The Sword is imbued with magical properties including, but not limited to additive and subtractive aspects to its magic. It absorbs and keeps the memories and knowledge aspects of those who have used it previously. It has the ability to cut through anything considered a threat, including iron and steel, and other materials that can generally not be cut with a sword. Conversely it will not work or harm anyone or anything not considered a danger. While wielding The Sword of Truth one must have absolute conviction or its magic will not work. The sword also instills and amplifies great anger and rage thereby giving the one wielding it added strength, agility and conviction to its user. It also endows its user with the memories of past Seekers in order to enhance and aid the Seeker, allowing for the passing on of knowledge and skill to each subsequent Seeker.

One ghastly aspect of the Sword of Truth's magic is that it drains the life force from the one wielding it, slowly and over time changing all the seekers into a Gollum-like creature. When Richard discovers Samuel, the last Seeker and confronts Zedd, Zedd can only offer a glimmer of hope to Richard that the prophecies speak of "The one true Seeker who will master the sword and be protected from that terrible fate".

As Richard learns from his father Darken Rahl, there are "two sides to everything" up to and until that point all previous Seekers including Richard had only utilized that one specific aspect of the Swords magic, the anger and rage. Richard comes to understand that the anger and rage being only one aspect of the swords magic, that the "other" side would be love and forgiveness. As Richard grasps this understanding, he is able to turn the blade of the Sword white for the first time since it's creation, thus forgiving the Mord-Sith Mistress Denna who captured him by the anger and rage of the swords magic.

[edit] Pronunciation of names

Goodkind has provided no canonical way of pronouncing any of the people, places, or things in his series. Goodkind has stated "My feeling, though, is that once a reader has a book, it's his to experience in his/her own way. Therefore, it does not bother me that people pronounce things other than the way I do." However, it is possible to establish how he pronounces certain names based on question-and-answer sessions, multimedia clips of the author speaking (see audio interviews), and the audio book adaptations. In a short audio clip on Goodkind's website, he pronounces Kahlan's name as "KAY-lin".

Additionally, a fictional language known as High D'Haran^[3] is spoken by some characters and used in the incantation of magical spells. There is no canonical way to pronounce these names.

[edit] Characters

The protagonist of the series is Richard Rahl, who is originally introduced as Richard Cypher. Other important characters include:

There is also The Creator, and The Keeper, who represent the beginning and end of life in the world of the living. They are often associated as being benevolent and satanic, but in truth are no more than forces of nature that keep the cycle of life in balance.

See also: A partial list of characters in the Sword of Truth

[edit] The Sword of Truth live-action weekly series

In July 2006, it was announced on Goodkind's official website that he had entered into negotiations with The Evil Dead and Spider-Man director Sam Raimi to bring The Sword of Truth to life as a TV live-action weekly series . According to the article, Raimi and his production partner Joshua Donen plan to begin work on the Wizard's First Rule live-action weekly series in May of 2008 . On January 29, 2008 Terry Goodkind's official website posted that production of 22 episodes is scheduled to begin in May of 2008, which will be aired in the fall and will be produced by ABC Studios. The project is very expensive, time consuming, and very involved. Sam also wants Terry Goodkind to remain intimately involved with the project.^[4]

[edit] Political aspects

Goodkind offers his political views in many of the volumes of the Sword of Truth series. In Soul of the Fire, for example, the antagonists named Bertrand and Hildemara Chanboor are stated to mirror the real world politicians Bill and Hillary Clinton^{[citation needed]} . Furthermore, the book Naked Empire is often interpreted as a critique of the American anti-war movement.^{[citation needed]} Terry Goodkind himself has stated in interviews that he is not writing fantasy, but rather is writing about important human themes: stories about heroes who can overcome, to project a life worth living. ^[5]