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Debt of Bones
Written by Terry Goodkind
Narrated by Sam Tsoutsouvas
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A milestone of storytelling set in the world of The Sword of Truth, Debt of Bones is the story of young Abby's struggle to win the aid of the wizard Zedd Zorander, the most important man alive.
Abby is trapped, not only between both sides of the war, but in a mortal conflict between two powerful men. For Zedd, who commands power most men can only imagine, granting Abby's request would mean forsaking his sacred duty. With the storm of the final battle about to break, both Abby and Zedd are caught in a desperate fight to save the life of a child...but neither can escape the shadow of an ancient betrayal.
With time running out, their only choice may be a debt of bones. The world — for Zedd, for Abby, for everyone — will never again be the same.
Book Actions
Start ListeningBook Information
Debt of Bones
Written by Terry Goodkind
Narrated by Sam Tsoutsouvas
Description
A milestone of storytelling set in the world of The Sword of Truth, Debt of Bones is the story of young Abby's struggle to win the aid of the wizard Zedd Zorander, the most important man alive.
Abby is trapped, not only between both sides of the war, but in a mortal conflict between two powerful men. For Zedd, who commands power most men can only imagine, granting Abby's request would mean forsaking his sacred duty. With the storm of the final battle about to break, both Abby and Zedd are caught in a desperate fight to save the life of a child...but neither can escape the shadow of an ancient betrayal.
With time running out, their only choice may be a debt of bones. The world — for Zedd, for Abby, for everyone — will never again be the same.
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Reviews
This novella, set several decades before, is a sort of prequel to the 'Wizard's First Rule' series, explaining how Zed, as a younger wizard, set up the wall that kept magic out. Nicely written, though it's been a while since I read the series (so I don't have a basis to compare this story with the main series).The only thing I would recommend is not to read the introduction first. Goodkind sets a challenge to your morals at the end of it, and it wasn't (for me) the nicest way to start reading a story. It would have been alright to have been challenged after having read it, though.
Might have been more enjoyable if I had already read the series that this is related to. A bit thin. Good beginning, made me interested in Abby and her mission, but her behavior at a key point seemed excessively histrionic, or perhaps my dissatisfaction is that Zedd responded to her while he was in the middle of a major struggle. Abby is not a strong heroine, understandably as she has been threatened & knows her family's lives are also at risk.Synopsis: Abby learns to put the survival of the majority ahead of her own mother instincts.
Ok...I'm sold.Very well written book and I will now have to read more of Goodkind's works.
A short story about Zedd as First Wizard during the war with Panis Rahl and D'Hara, and how the barrier came to be.
On topic and not drawn out. A nice shot story.
A little laboured, particularly for s book of this size - on several occasions we got to hear the same thing said three times but slightly differently, and I found Abby's thoughts and reactions to be unconvincing and often frustrating, probably because I didn't believe her as a character.
Despite the slightly clumsy reveal, I did enjoy the last 30 pages, and it's for that I give it 3 stars.
Despite the slightly clumsy reveal, I did enjoy the last 30 pages, and it's for that I give it 3 stars.
This is the only prequel Goodkind has written for the Sword of Truth series. I remember looking at it once when I was reading the series for the first time, but it didn't seem all that relevant and was a fairly short book. Just having reread the series I decided to read this book as well this time around. I was a little disappointed with it, but that could be due to the fact that I just finished the epically good series. If you are a Goodkind fan, this is perhaps worth reading but it's not the same as the series’ itself. Not nearly long and developed enough. Still, it was okay. We do get to see Zedd as a young man which was nice. Still, I like Richard and Kahlan much more than I like Abby or even Zedd himself. Actually I didn't much like Abby at all. I think it has to do with the fact that she feels very under-developed compared to Richard or Kahlan or Nicci or Cara or... I could go on. Or maybe it's just a mood. Who knows. Glad I got it out of the way at least. Again, I do recommend if you are a hard core fan of Goodkinds.
I agree with the reviewer who called this book thin--both in length and plot (and really theme.) It's 119 pages and apparently the story first appeared as just one of three stories in the anthology Legends, so if you're going to insist on getting it, I suggest you seek out that book, which also included a novella by GRR Martin in his Song of Fire and Ice series and a novella by Anne McCaffrey in her Pern series. I don't think this adds much to the mythos of the Sword of Truth series. And as for a backstory for Zedd, I agree with the reviewers who say he's pretty unrecognizable here from the character I loved in the series. By the time Goodkind had published this prequel, the way he inserted his morality and politics, derived from Ayn Rand, into his books had become nigh unbearable. And I say that as someone who is more sympathetic than not to the philosophy. But when Goodkind through Zedd speaks dismissively to a young mother trying to save her child that he has no sympathy for her--that children's lives don't matter more than adults, well, I felt cold, cold, cold. And mind you, this is the reaction of a reviewer who rated the first book in the series, Wizard's First Rule, five stars.
This book was written as a prequel to the Sword of Truth series. It was intended to explain the origins of some of the characters and other aspects of the series. I have since discovered that it is better to read 'Wizards first rule' before this installment. Dang! This story is a light and easy read.
I wouldn't recommend reading this book before reading a couple from the Sword of Truth series. Characters have already been well established in future books (this is probably why many who read it first felt it lacked elaborate characterization). It's a great easy read that lets you know some of the history before Richard's time. If you love Zed you'll love the book. I felt it was interesting seeing Abby then and how much she's changed. I feel that the events that made Zed the way he was already took place even before the events in this book but it did uncovered some of the why.I would have preferred it to go on a bit longer to cover Zed's midlife in Westland in a similar story telling style as the other books but that would have changed the scope of this book dramatically.
This first book was incredible. Unfortunately, each successive volume got more and more mundane.
"Debt of Bones", by Terry Goodkind, is a prequel to "Wizard's First Rule". It is a fantasy about a magical world split in two by a magical veil that separates the magical world from the nonmagical world. Where a wizard struggles with the question of saving his daughter, or saving everyone. I would recommend this book because it is a good read, and it has good moral lessons that could be taken with you.
Not a bad break in the action while moving through the rest of the Sword of Truth series looking back at an important event and giving us a view into the early life of Zedd. Quick read, could have finished in a matter of hours if I put my mind to it. Wish this could be fleshed out into a full lenth novel as it would be interesting to read about the early years of Zedd. The Sword of Truth truly has a strong back story that could lend itself well to many, many novels. This is probably a good one to read at least after reading the first 5 or 6 books in the main series first.
A really good short story, only 119 pages. If you enjoyed or are enjoying the Sword of Truth series you will like this book. It doesn't matter what book you are on you can read this one next as it is a prequel to Wizard's First Rule, With a young Zedd as first wizard in the war with Panis Rahl before the boundary was put up.