Review: Wizard's First Rule

Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind is a hero’s quest in a game of good versus evil. Richard Cypher must save the world by keeping a magical box against the evil Darken Rahl. To help him with the quest is a wizard, Zedd, and a Confessor, Kahlan. Through a series of adventures and missteps, they work to put an end to Darken Rahl’s plans.

The characters in the story were fascinating and mostly realistic. My favorite character is Zedd the wizard. At times I had wondered if Zedd is based on someone Goodkind knows in real life, which could probably be said of most of the male characters in the story. The female characters seemed two-dimensional at times and could use a little more depth.

The story is written with special attention to detail. There were times when the details are so realistic that I could not read the scene and found myself skipping pages. For example, when Darken Rahl killed a boy in order to enter the Underworld, the details were incredibly graphic and was not at all enjoyable. I really did not need the scene played out in my head in order to understand that Rahl killed the boy in a ritual. Another excruciatingly graphic scene is when Richard is being tortured. The torture literally continues for several chapters. I thought I was going to have nightmares. Again, it was unnecessary to show me so much detail about the torture. This is one of those rare occasions when it’s okay to tell and not show. Nothing would have been taken away from the story if I was told the torture went on for so long without having to be there with the character while it was happening.

I would recommend this novel to any reader who enjoys fantasy and stories where the villains are truly evil and the heroes are exceptionally good with a warning about the intensity of the detail given during the story.

 

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Review: Introducing the Ancient Greeks: From Bronze Age Seafarers to Navigators of the Western Mind

Introducing the Ancient Greeks: From Bronze Age Seafarers to Navigators of the Western Mind by Edith Hall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Introducing the Ancient Greeks: From Bronze Age Seafarers to Navigators of the Western Mind by Edith Hall is an exceptional review of the impact of the ancient Greeks and clearly describes how these innovators gained their knowledge and scattered their culture abroad to what ultimately becomes known as the Roman Empire. Hall uses ten characteristics unique to the ancient Greeks and how each of these characteristics manifest themselves, especially in literature and archaeology. Hall begins the tale with the Mycenaeans who inhabited the island of Crete during the late Bronze Age and continues the narrative through the colonization of Asia Minor, the Persian Wars, the Peloponnesian War, and the conquests of Macedonian and Rome. With each time period, she brilliantly connects the characteristics and shows how they evolve and developed over the centuries. The evidence does become rather slim after the conquests of Macedonia under Alexander the Great - almost as if the characteristics become diluted, as if the characteristics became a shadowy reflection of what the ancient Greeks ultimately become.

The most interesting aspects of Introducing the Ancient Greeks were the archaeology commentary. The ancient Greeks left a wealth of information in their pottery, palaces, and temples, giving scholars the foundation in which to understand how the ancient Greeks lived, which only highlighted the evidence of Hall’s thesis that many of the skills and ideas commonly associated with the ancient Greeks have roots in cultures that predate them.

My only complaint about the book is that there is no new information or new theory being presented. It is an ideal book for anyone who is new to the study of the ancient Greeks but those who have studied the culture would find that the book has nothing new to add to the history. If you are really into the ancient Greeks, you will enjoy the book just to reread the philosophy and mythology (who can really get tired of reading those?).


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