Wizard's First Rule (Sword of Truth, Book 1) by Terry Goodkind - Goodkind's first volume of an epic fantasy series relates the efforts of three friends to save the world from Darken Rahl, the sadistic ruler who seeks to control and possibly destroy the world. The magical boundaries between the three lands of forest guide Richard Cypher's world are crumbling: Strange beasts from the Midlands, where magic still exists, appear in his Westland forest. And so does Kahlan Amnell, a young woman with some interesting powers and four assassins on her trail. She is in search of the great wizard who left the Midlands not long after he set the boundaries. He is the only one who can possibly thwart Darken Rahl, an evil wizard who has set in motion a process that will result in the enslavement of the three lands. When Richard's eccentric friend and mentor, Zedd, is sought out for advice about finding the great wizard, Kahlan identifies Zedd as the object of her search. The process that Darken Rahl has initiated requires him to obtain the three boxes of Orden, and, within one year, to open the proper box. As time grows short, Richard, Kahlan, Zedd, and a border guard, Chase, go in quest of the one box that the evil wizard still lacks. Among the truths that Richard learns along the way is the wisdom of the Wizard's First Rule: People are stupid and will believe almost anything. A wonderfully creative, seamless, and stirring epic fantasy debut.

Stone of Tears - The second volume of The Sword of Truth continues the quest of Richard Cypher, reluctant hero turned magical warrior, and his beloved Kahlan Amnell, the last Mother Confessor. Twisting the traditional roles (now common enough in fiction but done particularly well here), it is Richard who has to handle the magical part of the quest and Kahlan who must lead armies against the surviving forces of the dead mage, Darken Rahl.

Blood of the Fold

Temple of the Winds

Soul of the Fire - When last we saw our heroes (Richard Cypher (the new Lord Rahl) and Kahlan Amnell) they each had made enormous sacrifices to save one another from certain doom. To save her beloved, Khalan, Mother Confessor of the Midlands, had spoken the three chimes, summoning these chaotic beings from the world beyond and unwittingly releasing incredibly destructive power. Now the chimes are stealing souls, and malevolent forces are reshaping the world itself. To save everything from almost certain doom, Richard, Kahlan, and the wizard Zedd must hunt the elusive chimes and reharness them before it's too late.

Faith of the Fallen

Pillars of Creation - Seven books into his Sword of Truth series, author Terry Goodkind continues to expand and enlarge the fantasy realm D'Hara. But with the Pillars of Creation he takes a detour from his usual approach, leaving his primary protagonists in the background to spin a story of one woman's battle to discover the truth of her heritage. Told in vivid and often gruesome detail, Goodkind's fable grabs the reader with a familiar archetypal theme: a young woman, Darken Rahl's illegitimate daughter Jennsen, flees her home in the wake of murderous forces rising from her lineage. She runs in the shadows of Lord Richard Rahl's domain with a spy sent by Emperor Jagang, the enemy of D'Hara. With his help, she journeys across the entire realm, chasing rumor and misinformation to ultimately discover the truth of her heritage.

Debt of Bones - As the armies of Panis Rahl spread across the land, a young woman from a beleaguered town begs a boon from First Wizard Zedd, ignorant of the consequences of her request. This revised version of a novella that first appeared in the fantasy anthology Legends illuminates the period in history before the events of Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series. The conflict between love and duty forms a central theme in this brief and touching tale of people caught up in events they cannot fully control.