Having read a good chunk of the Sword of Truth series when I was younger, and then coming into the knowledge that Goodkind is controversial as are his books, I struggle with whether I should finish the catalog. In this book, which chronologically occurs first in the events of the series, Magda becomes the first confessor as part of her journey to find the truth. In the great war they are engaged in, she must work with the wizard Merritt to discover who has betrayed the Midlands, but this is very much Magda's story. This book provides details to a long forgotten lore only referenced in the main books of this series. For that reason, I found it quite interesting and I thought the story was neat and the writing was fine. However, I did notice some of the more insidious characteristics of Goodkind's book including a tendency to hypersexualize women and emphasize assault. ( )

As usual for Goodkind, a good story with bad writing. I assume the 4-star average review for this is just because it gives the backstory for so much that happened in the Sword of Truth series. ( )

La narrazione di La leggenda di Magda Searus si sviluppa attraverso una serie di dialoghi e il racconto di scene di magia non sono piu’ di due o tre (tra l’altro in un libro di oltre cinquecento pagine!).

Speriamo nella serie maggiore…

Alcuni brani:
Magda si domando’ se le storie che in futuro la gente avrebbe appreso avrebbero avuto qualche somiglianza alla realta’. La storia, come i ricordi stessi, tendeva a diventare distorta con il passare del tempo, o peggio, corrotta dai secondi fini di coloro che la scrivevano. (84-5)

(Merritt) “Ci sono persone che vogliono delle cosa,” disse “ma non sono disposte ad ascoltare la verita’ sulle cose che vogliono.” (274)

Anche se non possedeva il dono, poteva avvertire chiaramente il potere della magia che la spada ora possedeva. Era un potere diverso da qualunque cosa lei avesse mai immaginato. Ribolliva come aveva fatto la tempesta. Conteneva piu’ energia di quanto ne avesse avuta la tempesta. Era furia e rabbia, amore e vita, tutto ripiegato assieme, piu’ e piu’ volte, fuso in strati sottilissimi di qualcosa di nuovo, qualcosa di straordinario. (380)
( )

As with Goodkind books, this will keeping following along even when you think you know what is going to happen next (and BOOM--there is a twist). This if it is read out of the writing sequence will have you scatching your head about what you think you know about the Midlands universe. Just hold on to your pants and read the others... it will make sense and you'll be surprised! ( )

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Terry Goodkind comes The First Confessor, the prequel to the Sword of Truth

In a time before legends had yet been born...

Married to the powerful leader of her people, safe among those gifted with great ability, Magda Searus is protected from a distant world descending into war. But when her husband, a man who loved life and loved her, unexpectedly commits suicide, she suddenly finds herself alone. Because she is ungifted herself, without her husband she no longer has standing among her people, and she finds herself isolated in a society that seems to be crumbling around her.

Despite her grief, she is driven to find the reasons behind why her husband would do such a thing--why he would abandon her and her people at such a profoundly dangerous time. Though she is not gifted, she begins to discover that there may be more to her husband's suicide than anyone knew. What she finds next, no one is willing to believe.

Without anyone to help her, she knows that she must embark on a mission to find a mysterious spiritist, if she even exists, so that she may speak with the dead. This quest may also be her last chance to unravel what is really behind the mysterious events befalling her people. What she discovers along the way is that the war is going far worse than she had known, and that the consequences of defeat will be more terrifying for her and her people than she could have imagined.

As mortal peril begin to close in around her, Magda learns that she is somehow the key to her people's salvation.

Journey with Magda Searus into her dark world, and learn how true legends are born.