Naked Empire: Book Eight of The Sword of Truth (Sword of Truth, 8) Paperback – June 1, 2004

Beginning with Wizard's First Rule, Terry Goodkind's The Sword of Truth fantasy series contains fiction that is both entertaining and challenging. Goodkind's latest foray seems to take on allegorical undertones that are none too subtle.Today's current struggle with terrorism is a curious one. There are those who would denounce the existence of evil, claiming that there is no such thing. What is perceived as evil is nothing more than people who can be nurtured and shepherded into normal life with only the open arms of love. President Bush became enmeshed in a quagmire of negative criticism when he declared the existence of a triumvirate of evil that existed in the world during his State of the Union address.Perhaps Goodkind used Bush's speech and subsequent criticism as the basis for Naked Empire, and mayhap he merely was inspired by presidential candidates who actively denounced the United States' war against Iraq. Clearly, Goodkind's intention is to level profound criticism upon the spirit of appeasing political tyrants.The hero of The Sword of Truth, Richard Rahl, finds himself coerced to help an empire of people who are simply known as pillars of creation. These people are born without a single spark of magic. Magic cannot touch them and these people are blind to magic's wonders. These pillars of creation have built an empire that is truly `enlightened'. There is no death penalty. People who resort to violence are banished. No decision is reached without social enlightenment.Along comes the invasion of Jajang and his Imperial Order. If ever there was a comparable Saddam Hussein figure in literature, the evil Jajang is he. The empire of the pillars of creation is sacked, and the people are used and abused royally. They refuse to fight back, choosing instead to use appeasement as their weapon of choice.Things get worse. In order to assist the pillars of creation, Richard tries to elicit their help. He offers a history of their people, telling why the pillars of creation were banished and allowed to form their own empire."`...banished your ancestors not only because they couldn't see magic, but, more importantly, because they couldn't see evil.'"One of the pillars answers, "`But what you call evil is just a way of expressing an inner pain.'"Another says, "`Saying someone is evil is prejudiced thinking. It's a way of belittling someone already in pain for some reason. Such people must be embraced and taught to shed their fears of their fellow man and then they will not strike out in violent ways.'"Richard loses his patience and informs them that those who banished the pillars of creation "`feared you because you are dangerous to everyone...you embrace evil with your teachings. In so doing, in trying to be kind, to be unselfish, in trying to be nonjudgmental, you allow evil to become far more powerful than it otherwise would. You refuse to see evil, and so you welcome it among you. You allow it to exist. You give it power over you. You are a people who have welcomed death and refused to denounce it.'`You are an empire naked to the shadow of evil.'"These are powerful words that could be spoken by today's left and right presidential candidates. As the last line spoken by Richard Rahl indicates, the book's title lurks within his final climatic statement. The pillars of creation will discover those words to be as sharp and true as the sword of truth itself.Unlike other fantasy series that seem to lose momentum with each book, Terry Goodkind writes with a crescendo of adventure, usually insuring that each new book in the series surpasses the last. The Naked Empire is no exception. Not only does Goodkind entertain, he also sheds light upon today's current events. Put simply, when it comes to creating brilliant allegorical fantasy, nobody does it better.

Terry Goodkind continues to impress with gripping story telling, imbedded with clear moral messages to impress upon his readers. Just as Faith of the Fallen illustrated Ayn Rand's Objectivism and the fallacy of blind altruism, Naked Empire illustrates the necessity of violence in the defense of freedom and liberty. This book is was clearly influenced by recent world events (i.e. The War in Iraq), and shows the inherent danger to societies which unconditionally reject violence. There is a danger in distilling the actions of evil men to mere root causes, Goodkind successfully argues that we are accountable for our actions and those who commit crimes should be punished accordingly. Goodkind recognizes that those who protect evil men in the guise of enlightened morality are no better then the men they protect. A common theme is simply, evil exists and must be recognized as such, and not explained away. These messages are incorporated into the story of a lost people and expands on the plot initiated in The Pillars of Creation, while advancing the larger story of the struggle to keep the New World free.All of our favorite characters are back, but the novel focuses largely on the travels of Richard, Kahlan, Cara, and Jennesen. Zedd has a good supporting role and we get a chance to see the reemergence of some beloved secondary characters (sorry you'll have to read it to find out). The book introduces new bad guys you'll love to hate and hints at more to come (sorry no chicken monsters).Goodkind does touch on past books to remind readers of those events, which I found useful as we are now up to book eight and it is at this point that readers may have trouble remembering the details of past plots and the interrelationships of secondary characters. It is well done, with just enough information presented to remind readers of past events without becoming a burden. Nevertheless, this series is reaching a point where a glossary or a prologue would be helpful, but thankfully is nowhere nearly as convoluted as say, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series (which is totally out of control).Minor negative criticisms some readers might feel is that the book lingers on the moral of the story more then the story itself, Richard delivers speeches that GW Bush could only dream of making (too perfect), and the polar beliefs of the lost society are so extremely foreign it seems unbelievable (well, maybe just to me). However, all in all Naked Empire has a great message surrounded by a good story that will entertain and educate readers both new and seasoned to the overall story. This series is a must read for all fantasy lovers.

There are vital life lessons in this book about being true to ourselves and living life to the fullest. By being honest with ourselves about what’s important and striving towards our highest values and goals. The stories in here help remind me of what it means to accept myself fully.

good

Onto the next book in the series. Recommend this to the few fantasy readers that dont know of the sword of truth series

Ce livre vient conclure la saga sword of truth qui nous aura fait vivre et traverser mille et une aventures. on est juste un cran en dessous du seigneur des anneaux, mais c'est prenant et personnellement je n'ai pas lâché les bouquins.

Returning to the format of the previous books is great, set the pace and the impending dilemma on the first pages and watch the readers turn pages with hurry and anxiety to see how they get out of this scenario.. perfect format

Per chi apprezza il genere un buon libro e per chi lo compra per qualcun' altro sicuramente un ottimo regalo nel periodo di Natale