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Wizard's First Rule: Book 1: The Sword Of Truth Series (GOLLANCZ S.F.) (Paperback)

I actually enjoyed this book as a light read. I was entertained: I laughed along with the characters so I at least have a positive experience of reading this book. This book was on a list of books that are not worth reading in the fantasy genre, so I decided to test that recommendation and find out for myself.

The writing style is fair but not great. The characters are somewhat believable as real people but at times they feel a bit one dimensional. The content is very fitting to the archetype of fantasy: good vs evil with a whole host of strange people, magic powers and a dragon. The characters talk about good and evil not being so simple and binary but the actions of the characters, and the plot, betray this supposed complexity. The characters talk about a complex relation between good and evil but it isn't actually the case in this book, unlike (say) A Game of Thrones. So if you take the book at a surface level then you might be entertained.

The title of book is irritating though. The title is revealed about half way through but I was disappointed with such a cliched statement, it is almost insulting to the reader which is not a great way to attract the reader back for later books in the series.

There is a fair amount of warning about part of the book that is essentially about torture. This may be too much for some readers but it really isn't that bad. It is superfluous to the story and doesn't seem like a wholly necessary plot device but this particular section is a page turner. You actually want to find out what happens next, I found myself slightly perplexed but also interested to know what would happen.