Blood of the Fold

Sword of Truth, Book 3

By: Terry Goodkind

Narrated by: Buck Schirner

An Epic of Two Worlds

In a world as rich and real as our own, Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell stand against the ancient forces which besiege the New World - forces so terrible that when last they threatened, they could only be withstood by sealing off the Old World from whence they came. Now the barrier has been breached, and the New World is again beset by their evil power.

War and treachery plague the world, and only Richard and Kahlan can save it from an armageddon of unimaginable savagery and destruction.

In Blood of the Fold, Terry Goodkind, author of the brilliant bestsellers Wizard's First Rule and Stone of Tears, has created his most masterful epic yet, a sumptuous feast of magic and excitement replete with the wonders of his unique fantasy vision.

Epic edge: listen to more in the Sword of Truth series.©1996 by Terry Goodkind. (P)1999 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"A complex epic fantasy that crackles with vigor and magical derring-do." (Publishers Weekly)

"Buck Schirner is an adept reader, expert at rendering this vast, glittering tapestry of a world." (Library Journal)

Finally!!!

I am very pleased to say that this is the first book in the series to live up to the hype. I found myself listening to the book even when I wasn't at the gym or driving, which is a good indicator of a book that draws you into the story.

I think the main factor that made this book worthwhile was the stories of the supporting characters. The intrigues at the Palace kept me wanting to find out more, and I think that Verna and Warren, as well as many of the supporting characters, show far more depth than we've seen in previous books.

Ann, Nathan and Zed's plot line was also fun to follow, and this is the first book where I really began to like Zed (I think the poor narration in the first book gave me a dislike for his character). I think that Nathan might prove to be a very interesting character as well, if he's given the right plot lines.

Even Richard's plotline was interesting, as in this book they finally appear to make consequences for some of the more idiotic things he does (although in the end it ended up being the perfect thing for him to do, but for a while they seemed to be slightly more realistic with him).

One of the best advancements in this book was the villains. The sisters of the dark's plotline kept me intrigued, and I couldn't wait to get more details on the Emperor (what powers did he have, what supporting characters did he have on his side), as well as the BoTF plotline.

My only hope is that the rest of the series is like this one, and not like the first two. If so then my faith in TG will be restored, as it was nearly destroyed by the first two books.

One note; did I hear correct? Ann's horse was named Bella? And TG says he never read WoT!

Narrator

I love gratch! The story line is still great, but Terry is sticking to the same plot line. Something bad happens, but you call ready know that the last few chapters of the book everything will work out. I still look forward to listening to how everything does work out though.

Great story/Bad narration

I love the series and this book in particular but I could barely deal with the narration. I won't be purchasing another book by this narrator.

Great book!

This book is great. All of the sword of truth books are. The narrator takes a little getting used to. his voices aren't as diverse as some of the others. Still a great listen!

I like this narrator better than the other 2.

Book 3 of this series is narrated by someone new! His reading is fun, energetic and great with the many characters. Hopefully by now u already know what an amazing series this is and I don't have to entice you to read it. if not, and u like fantasy, JUST READ IT! start w book 1 tho.

Loved Every Word!!!

The story was awesome! I love this series. I have listened to the first 3 in about 2 weeks. I can't stop. The reader was fantastic also. My favorite of the three. He got so animated while reading like he was really excited about it.
The only thing I didn't absolutely love was that I felt the ending was a bit unresolved, but I plan on getting the next one right now so it's ok. I totally reccomend this book to anyone who likes fantasy. But please read the first 2 first.

Story is Excellent - Narrator needs more work.

What did you love best about Blood of the Fold?

The introduction of the NEW villain (villains) was well done. I read the series before I ever listened to a single audio-book, so I already knew what to expect. I believe that makes me a little more critical of the narrators, but I also believe I am being fair in my evaluations.

Buck Schirner is a much better narrator than Jim Bond (of course, everyone is better than Jim), and better than Sam Tsoutsouvas (although Sam did do a decent job on 2 of the books), but Dick Hill is the best (although he does need to learn how to pronounce Kahlan) and Christina Traister right behind him.

This book is one of the best in the Sword of Truth Series. Probably because there is so much going on, and a lot less chance for repeated dialog. The introduction of the main sisters of the dark, and finally getting to meet and visualize the Emperor was wonderfully depicted.

You will finally truly be able to get into this new world and understand what is at stake while allowing yourself to be enveloped in the story.You will be able to feel rage at the short term villains and glad they are dispatched, and fully believe you would done the same. You will be drawn into the world of the mord sith - and start feel a real sorrow for the women behind the appellation.

You will be looking forward to finding out what comes next.

What other book might you compare Blood of the Fold to and why?

I am not sure you could compare this book to any other, because, even though it could be a stand alone book - you would almost have to have read or go back and read the previous books.

However, I will compare it to other books in the series.

This book was well worth the time of the read and or listen. It was informative and exciting. I found myself wanting to skip chapters to get back to a specific story line. The way Terry writes - he has several stories going on, at the same time, within the whole book - you find yourself impatient to get back to where you left off in a previous chapter.

In comparison, books later in the series are packed with dogma/dialog running ON and ON to the point of frustration, and introduction of characters and story arcs that end up taking whole books - when they should have only taken 5 or 10 chapters. (ie. "Naked Empire", "Pillars of Creation").

"Blood of the Fold" was well worth Your time - whether you read it or listen to it on audio.

What does Buck Schirner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Like I wrote in a previous section. Buck Schirner does a decent job with voice inflection, and he is better than Sam and Jim, but I will not brag on him as a favorite.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would have liked to listen to the audio all in one sitting, but that just isn't feasible. The narrator just did not have enough enthusiasm and voice differences to keep me interested for that long a period of time.

Any additional comments?

For as long as these books and more precisely this series has been around - I would think that Brillance Audio could get the best narrator/actor to redo the whole series. (ie. Dick Hill or Christina Traister)

as usual

I've always loved Terry Goodkind's work. But the fight scene in this 3rd book is my FAVORITE! All the scenes link together n the best ending. But we always get good stuff from Goodkind

8,000% improvement in narration

Thank you for the improved narrator. I almost didn't buy this book because the last narrator was literally the worst reader I have ever heard in any audio book I've ever listened to. I honestly would have rather had Siri read the previous book to me; this in addition to many negative reviews saying the narrator was somehow worse than the previous scared me but I bought the book anyway and do not regret it. this narrator is like 100x better than the last guy, not as good as the narrator for wizard's first rule, but pretty decent. don't listen to the "most helpful" review stating this guy has a lisp and is horrible, he in no way has a lisp and he only took like 5 minutes to get accustomed to. he does a decent job with voices and reading and pronouncing things.

the story is pretty good as are the other books in the sword of truth series. I haven't read wheel of time books so I can't compare the story to that series as many reviews of this series do. I enjoy the books and they keep a decent pacing for the most part. this book was very enjoyable

new narrator saves the day

I really love the stories. But the previous narrator was pretty bad. This new narrator isn't my favorite but he does an excellent job bringing the story back to life. Where the previous book may have been the slog to listen through this one was amazing