Book Review: The Law of Nines

Karolyn Gray
Book Review: The Law of Nines by Terry Goodkind Review by: Karolyn Gray Author’s note: Please be aware that the following review contains potential spoilers for the book and makes reference to Mr. Goodkind’s previous works in the Sword of Truth series. The Law of Nines is a modern fantasy-thriller that follows Alex Rahl, an aspiring artist in Nebraska, whose life begins to take an unusual turn when his 27th birthday  brings him a chance meeting with a mysterious woman and an unexpected inheritance that attracts the attention of others with sinister intentions. For those who read the Sword of Truth series, the book is an interesting sequel, albeit many millennia since the end of Confessor, that eschews much of the hard core fantasy mores while still providing some interesting tidbits of history between the separation of worlds event and the situation Alexander Rahl finds himself embroiled. There are plenty of clear tie-ins to the previous series, both subtle and obvious, that fans of the series will likely appreciate, and perhaps get some amusement from, but won’t detract from the story for new readers. The writing style and pacing is typical of Mr. Goodkind’s previous work in the Sword of Truth series though it seems he is slightly uncomfortable with the thriller aspect of the story. If anything I felt the word flow for  The Law of Nines was a slightly more refined writing style of Mr. Goodkind’s work. That said, there were aspect of the writing that felt slightly stilted, particularly a couple of the fight scenes. Additionally, a little more exposition would have made some events more plausible than they seem upon first glance. I found the book an interesting and enjoyable read that at times I did not want to put down. Mr. Goodkind clearly leaves an opening for potential sequels to the book. You won’t find the hard core fantasy of Sword of Truth series, but I did find The Law of Nines an interesting take on the thriller genre and an able attempt to combine two normally disparate genres. Rating: 8.0/10.0