Book Review – Naked Empire

Sword of Truth Book 8
Finally I want to slap the shit out of someone. It’s been awhile but I am glad that this series doesn’t disappoint me. Although surprise surprise, it isn’t Kahlan this time. It’s Richard. Damn this boy gets on his soapbox and just does not get off. The story picks up right after the Pillars, so Jennsen, Tom, Friedrich, Cara, Richard and Kahlan are trying to figure out what to do next. “When out of the darkness clearer and clearer, the sound of sobbing comes nearer and nearer”…sorry, reading this with my son, and this phase is just stuck in my head. So out of nowhere appears Owen, and everyone has a bad feeling, drink. Owen wants Richard and team to come liberate his people, the order has come and he needs the savages to come and get rid of them. His are an enlightened people that do no violence. Richard sends him packing. Soon after meeting up with Owen, Richard who has been getting headaches due to his magic, starts feeling even worse. But it’s not until a group of the Order soldiers try to take them out and Owen weasels his way back to the group that we find out that Richard has bee poisoned and must go with Owen and get rid of the Order before he gives him the antidote. Wacky high jinks ensue.

Where does my slapping Richard come in? When he meets up with Owen’s insurgents he starts to wax poetic on the philosophy of life and freedom, for like hundreds of pages. I am not sure why this annoyed me so much, but it did and I have come to accept it and move on. We do find out more on where the folks invisible to magic went.

All is not slapping, Zed and Adie are kicking about and damn I just enjoy them, even when there is torture about.