Terry Goodkind - Soul of the Fire.

Soul of the Fire, the fifth volume of the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, was published in 1999.

Again I have a feeling of futility for the two protagonists as yet again when saving each other or the world from an evil they unwittingly unleash an even greater evil upon their world.

The protagonists act like real human adults and are very believable and the world around them is rich and living. But I keep looking for the next evil they just unleashed (in the next novel) and this slightly spoils my immersion in the story.

I would give it a rating of 6 out of 10.

Dean R. Koontz - Velocity.

Velocity is a novel by Dean R. Koontz and was published in 2005. A bartender named Billy finds a note on the windshield of his car after a long day at work.
It says: "If you don't take this note to the police; I will kill a lovely blonde schoolteacher somewhere in Napa County. If you do take this note to the police; I will instead kill an elderly woman. You have 6 hours to decide."
This is just the beginning of a long string of events that force Billy to choose between two evils and the speed of these trials keeps increasing making it more and more difficult for Billy to try to find the killer.

The suspense is quite good and only a couple of times do the protagonist act in another way than I would in the same situation.

I would give it a rating of 8 out of 10.

Dean R. Koontz - Demon Seed.

Demon Seed was first published in 1973 but a 1997 re-write is highly recommendable.
Dean Koontz tells a very chauvinistic story of an artificial intelligence and its measures to attain corporeality in the form of a genetically engineered human body.

Men reading this will perhaps recognize some aspects of themself in the "ramblings" of the AI. I know now that the teenage me suffered from some of these misconceptions and I cannot but wonder if the brave new world with the ever growing part of the public space being erotical or pornographic oriented haven't made it even worse.

I would give it a rating of 6 out of 10.

Terry Goodkind - Temple of the Winds.

Temple of the WInds is the fourth installment of the very good series "The Sword of Truth" by Terry Goodkind. It was published in 1997.

I was a bit let down by this book as I began to have a feeling of futility on the behalf ot the two protagonists. It seems that no matter what they do, they inadvertently fulfill some ancient prophecy that release an even greater evil upon their world. Despite of this the story kept me reading and I like the way the puzzle falls into place at the end.

I would give it a rating of 7 out of 10.

Terry Goodkind - Blood of the Fold.

Blood of the Fold is the third volume in the Sword of Truth series and was published in 1996.

Richard and Kahlan are still interesting and I think the world and environment is at its best yet in the series.
The world expands constantly and I think Terry Goodkind manages to keep it very interesting.

I really like the ending of this book.

I would give it a rating of 8 out of 10.

Terry Goodkind - Stone of Tears.

Stone of Tears is the second volume in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.
It was published in 1995.

The book takes of immediately after the end of "Wizards First Rule" and keeps the same pace and spirit as its predecessor. It still has love in different forms as a main motivator for the protagonists.

Richard the main character is still strong and believable and the universe is colorful and exciting.

I would give it a rating of 7 out of 10.

Terry Goodkind - Wizard's First Rule.

Wizard's First Rule is the first volume in the "The Sword of Truth" epic fantasy series by Terry Goodkind. It was published in 1994 by Tor books.

It is a bit atypical in its story but the characters are strong and easy to relate with. There is an overarching theme of love and its effects on people and the world in general.

I like the pacing of the story and also the main character Richard who is believeable and intelligent.

I will definitely look into the whole series.

I would give it a rating of 8 out of 10.