REVIEW: The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus by Terry Goodkind

Genre: adult, (high) Fantasy

Rating: 4.9/5

In the time before the Confessors, when the world is a dark and dangerous place, where treason and treachery are the rule of the day, comes one heroic woman, Magda Searus, who has just lost her husband and her way in life.

(I am being lazy and stole the summary off of amazon)

This book is exactly what you can expect from a Terry Goodkind book. EXACTLY. All of his books follow the same things, express the same ideas, and contain interchangeable characters. He seems to have a few character types he likes to use, but the main two are: “super big, super-hot mannnnn” who is super talented with weapons, extremely fierce, extremely protective, and artistic (Richard, Alex, Merritt), and a girl who is “SuperMegaFoxyAwesomeHot,” very kind, butt-kicking, etc. (Kahlan, Jax, Magda). He also likes to give characters very long speeches in which they repeat things to each other that we already know. They can go on for pages. Seriously.

But despite all of this, I love his books. Lots of magic, swords, and romance: my favorite things! One of the things I really love about this book is that it is a prequel to the main series, The Sword of Truth (which was the basis of the TV show Legend of the Seeker), and it tells of events that basically set up the entire series. Another plus? A lot less guts and gore. There is so much in the other books that it sometimes it just about makes me sick. But it does have a purpose: it helps create such horrifying villains. Seriously, I have never seen more evil villains than his (except maybe Umbridge), because all these terrible things they’re doing? They think they are doing it for the good of all (which is kind of why I hate umbridge too). That is what really makes me sick. But these terrible, terrible guys are always outshone by our protagonists, and good always wins, even when you think it won’t. That is what I love.

Would I recommend it? Yes. If you’ve read the original series, you will love it. However, it’s only available as an eBook (I believe it’s because he’s had lots of problems with his publishers). If you haven’t read any of his books, you should, but only if you have the stomach for it. I find his (good) characters very inspiring…