'To define me as a fantasy writer is to misunderstand the context of my books by misidentifying their fundamentals.' (2) 'The books I write are first of all novels, not fantasy, and that is deliberate I'm really writing books about human beings.' (1) The former landscape painter has told us how he isn't a fantasy author in every interview he's ever given: It is always curious to see fantasy authors who don't consider themselves to be fantasy authors. Neither knows that the rules of battle have just changed. In their darkest hour, hunted relentlessly, tormented by treachery and loss, Kahlan calls upon Richard to reach beyond his sword-to invoke within himself something more noble. Falling in love would destroy them-for reasons Richard can't imagine and Kahlan dare not say. Yet, Richard fears nothing so much as what secrets his sword might reveal about his own soul. Beyond awaits a bewitching land where even the best of their hearts could betray them. In a dark age it takes courage to live, and more than mere courage to challenge those who hold dominion, Richard and Kahlan must take up that challenge or become the next victims. His world, his very beliefs, are shattered when ancient debts come due with thundering violence. (Sept.In the aftermath of the brutal murder of his father, a mysterious woman, Kahlan Amnell, appears in Richard Cypher's forest sanctuary seeking help. Goodkind's writing improves as the book winds on, giving hope that the promised sequel will outclass this volume, but, for the most part, his prose is flat, his ideas hackneyed (Wizard's First Rule is, ``people are stupid''), his characters tediously moralistic and his plot without originality. Many of the best moments here come during encounters with secondary characters: Adie, a crotchety old woman who traffics in Underworld magic by using bones Rachel, an abused child who longs for her hair to be evenly trimmed and Mistress Denna, a sadist who tortures Richard. Stalwart Richard saves Kahlan and, along with a wizard named Zedd, sets out to foil the power-hungry designs of the evil Midlands tyrant Darken Rahl.

After his father is killed for refusing to disclose that book's location, Richard is wandering in his beloved forest when he spies a beautiful woman, Kahlan, being stalked by several assassins who have pursued her from her magic-filled homeland of the Midlands.

He is, at first unknown to himself, the ``Seeker,'' wielder of the Sword of Truth and the only possessor of the arcane knowledge contained in the powerful Book of Counted Shadows. Its hero, Richard Cypher, is no ordinary woodsman. Big, bland and conventional, Goodkind's first novel is an epic fantasy that doesn't conjure up much magic.

Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind