Severed Souls:

I thought things couldn't possibly get worse in Severed Souls, but of course they have.  Instead of being captured and tortured, Richard is just plain dead.  Kahlan died too, but was miraculously brought back to life via lame magical excuses.  That's the problem with magic, when people are never 'really' dead it's impossible to feel anything when people supposedly die.  It robs death of all meaning.  Like time travel, it turns everything into a farce.

What are the odds Richard stays dead for any length of time?  In the next book, Warheart, I guarantee you he'll somehow be magicked back to life and save the day, because that's how these things go.

Zedd died too, but no one cares about Zedd so there was no reason to bring him back to life with magic, so he was allowed to die.  It isn't sad when unneeded people die either.  Especially ancient people like him who are already tired of life.

Samantha, who up until now had been a sensible, kind girl, snaps and turns into a psycho murderer, in a completely unbelievable twist.  She should have trusted Richard's judgment when it came to him killing her mother, because she has traveled with him for a long time and knows he's always been wise and just, plus he has a reputation built up over a lifetime as being a great leader who has saved the world multiple times.  Why would you believe your mother in the right and him in the wrong, just because she's your mother?  And all of Richard's acquaintances, they're all lying too?  The ones agreeing with Richard are all evil too?  What are the odds?  And then to summarily kill Kahlan as revenge without even asking for an explanation or evidence of her mother's wrongdoings, all of which was available.  It's utter madness.  Does anyone act this way?  More importantly, does Samantha, who has up until now loved Richard, trusted Richard, and relied on Richard as a mentor, act this way?  Kahlan was killed by a plot hole, and then brought back to life by another plot hole.  How much more ridiculous can a story get?

And for some reason Dreier died due to archery when earlier in the series he proved archery couldn't affect him and snapped all bows that attempted to harm him.  But alongside magic making death a farce, it isn't even consistent with itself, so when the plot demands it magic magically stops working as well.

How am I supposed to care about such a phony world?  I wish none of these books had been written and the story ended with Confessor.  Nothing of value has been added to the story, while lots of originally good stuff has been diluted or overturned.  He's filled the books with so much pain, death, and gore, and for what?  To deus ex machina a solution at the end, after he's cornered his own characters with his own bad writing into too many impossible situations?  Well, one more book to go and then supposedly the series will really be over.

Terry Goodkind kept writing more Sword of Truth books until he keeled over from old age.  This was clearly not a good idea.  He should have ended the story while in full control of his faculties, still mentally and spiritually sharp, still able to think things through clearly.  This comes of not knowing when to end your story.  A problem I see everywhere, from Indiana Jones to Shenmue, all these creators never quit while they're ahead.  They have to drive every great franchise into the ground.

Meanwhile, I added 'Legendary Future' to my music hall of fame, the latest song from fripSide.  That makes 5462.