Book One of the The Sword of Truth series
Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind is the first book in the Sword of Truth series. It was first released on August 15, 1994, and has been re-released multiple times, with numerous covers. It is followed by Stone of Tears.
Synopsis[]
The primary protagonist in Wizard’s First Rule is Richard Cypher, a young woods guide. Richard lives in an area of the world known as Westland, which is the only part of the world that at the time contained no magic. Westland is separated from the other lands by a dangerous magical boundary that prevents anyone without powerful magic from passing through it, except at a small pass near King's Port. On the other side of the boundary lie many sovereign nations, jointly known as the Midlands, and the empire of D'Hara. Richard works as a woods guide leading important political figures and travelers through dangerous forests, while his brother, Michael Cypher's interests lie entirely in politics.
Richard is naturally compelled to investigate the mysterious murder of his father, George Cypher, during which he happens upon a woman named Kahlan Amnell. He helps keep her alive, as she is being hunted by a group of four men, known as a quad.
After saving Kahlan’s life, Kahlan reveals she has come through the boundary with the help of a Night Wisp and is now searching for the First Wizard, who is rumored to have crossed into Westland after the creation of the boundaries. Richard feels that this woman is in need of protection and takes her to the only man he can trust, his best friend and mentor, Zedd.
Richard discovers that this close friend of his has kept many secrets from him for his entire life; Zedd is not the simple man that Richard had presumed him to be, but rather the wizard for whom Kahlan is looking.
Kahlan tells him of the events taking place on the other side of the boundary. An evil leader called Darken Rahl is leading his army against the Midlands. After which, Richard identifies Zedd as the old wizard they were looking for, prompting him to give Richard the Sword of Truth as a final test. Zedd needs to know Richard can put the sword, and the anger it brings through its magic, away. Zedd then names Richard the Seeker of Truth. The three begin their journey together to stop Darken Rahl and prevent him from opening the boxes of Orden, magical devices which can give absolute power over life. They first go and recruit Chase, head of the boundary wardens and a close friend of Richard's.
Unfortunately, along the way, Zedd and Chase are left unconscious, and Richard and Kahlan are forced to cross the boundary alone. They go on to the village of the Mud People in hopes of finding out where the third box of Orden is hidden. From there, they learn that only the witch woman, Shota, in Agaden Reach, has the power to reveal to them the location of the last box of Orden.
Richard and Kahlan then meet back up with Zedd and proceed to the castle, where Kahlan has most of the prisoners freed and they find that the wizard Giller used Wizard's Life Fire to give his life to protect someone else, as his soot tastes sweet rather than salty. This leads them to conclude Darken Rahl does not have the final box of Orden. As they leave are leaving the castle, Richard finds he cannot pass across a bridge some distance away, as he is caught in a boundary web drawn by the court artist, James. Richard, using his knowledge of art, changes the drawing so that the spell captures James instead, and kills him. James claims he was only going to capture Richard, not let the spell kill him, but Richard does not spare him. Richard exits the cave and is captured by the Mord-Sith Denna after he attempts to use the Sword of Truth on her without knowing she can capture his and the sword's magic.
Richard is "broken" (through torture) within a few days, but he partitions his mind to save his core self. After this, they travel to the People's Palace in D'Hara. Darken Rahl is at first furious until he learns what happened. No Mord-Sith can break a partitioned mind. Richard proves to him that he has memorized the Book of Counted Shadows by taking the cover off the second box of Orden - Rahl had already removed the first box's cover. Rahl allows Richard to go at this point, as a guest, after casting an enemy web on him. Richard returns to Denna and uses the love he has come to feel for her to turn the Sword white, which is a power a Mord-Sith cannot control, due to their three breakings completely stripping them of love. He slides it into her heart as he kisses her goodbye.
After leaving the People's Palace, Richard meets the dragon, Scarlet, which Rahl has been using as transportation. He promises to get her egg back from the community of gars Rahl placed it in to keep Scarlet under control and goes through the Shadrin Cave to retrieve it. He uses the whistle he got from the Bird Man, which he is unable to use properly, to signal to all the birds in the area "Come, food!" The birds begin eating the blood flies, causing general chaos as the gars try to kill the birds before they can eat all of the blood flies. Richard uses this chaos to grab Scarlet's egg and she flies in to rescue him and it, with only a few of the gars noticing and attacking them. They escape and Scarlet promises to take Richard to his allies.
Richard first meets Kahlan, Zedd, and Chase as they travel toward the People's Palace to attempt to stop Darken Rahl and save Richard. Due to the enemy web, they see him as Rahl. Zedd attacks him with Wizard's Fire, which he is able to block by holding the Sword of Truth as a shield, with the end of the blade in his left hand. After, the group can't understand anything he says or carves into the ground with his sword. They see the carvings as High D'Haran, which none of them have any knowledge of. Richard, frustrated, runs his fingers through his hair and decides to try going to see Michael, reasoning that he may be able to convince him by performing the "loser's salute" they used to perform when one lost a mock sword fight with the other.
Upon arriving near Michael's camp, Richard leaves Scarlet behind so as to be stealthy and slips into the camp unnoticed. He makes his way to Michael's tent and slits a hole in the side large enough for him to roll through. He does so, and before he can perform the loser's salute, Michael greets him in surprise. Richard, realizing this means Michael's true loyalty is to Rahl, speaks with him briefly and leaves the way he came in, after performing the loser's salute for his brother one final time. Michael calls his guards, but Richard is able to escape them and return to Scarlet. With no time left and nowhere else to go, Richard returns to the People's Palace.
In the meantime, Zedd, Kahlan, and Chase are beset by a quad accompanied and led by Demmin Nass, all of whom have had shields of Additive and Subtractive magic combined placed on them by Darken Rahl. The men easily overpower the group, and Nass is about to rape Kahlan when he tells her that Richard is dead, causing her to invoke the Con Dar, or Blood Rage, on instinct alone. She takes Nass with her power, castrates him for his crimes against children, and makes him eat the remains before slamming a mace into his head, killing him. She then paints lightning bolts from her temples to her cheeks. She tells Zedd and Chase the may follow her, but they had better not get in her way.
Later, Richard arrives first at the People's Palace and attends one of the ceremonies in which the D'Haran's chanted the bond affirmation for two hours straight, replacing "Master Rahl" for "Kahlan" in his mind as he did so. He also arrives to the Garden of Life first, where Zedd, Kahlan, and Chase come in intent to kill him, believing him to be Rahl due to the enemy web. Richard takes a few steps backward, running his fingers through his hair again as he thinks of what to do. As Kahlan grabs him by the throat and unleashes her power into him, Zedd realizes from Richard's frustration sign that he was under an enemy web and tries to stop Kahlan before it's too late but fails, and wails in anguish as she falls to her knees, thinking she has taken him with her power. Darken Rahl arrives sometime during these events.
Richard, having paid attention to how Brophy had behaved around Kahlan during their time around him, acted as though the power had taken him, successfully using the Wizard's First Rule to convince Rahl to choose the wrong box even though Rahl had read a prophecy saying that box would kill him. Believing Richard to have been taken by Kahlan's power, Rahl opens the box and is held in a vortex of power momentarily. Kahlan leaves the room and Richard follows after telling him he defeated him with Wizard's First Rule. Rahl accuses Zedd of being Richard's father, and Zedd reveals that he is actually Richard's grandfather on his mother's side. He informs Rahl that Richard was actually conceived when Rahl raped Zedd's daughter at the end of the previous war, before Zedd put the boundaries up. Zedd then reveals the webs he had placed preventing people from knowing he was First Wizard and Richard was actually Richard Rahl, the new leader of D'Hara.
Richard finds Kahlan sobbing in another room, and she commands him to kiss her. He says no. In shock, she asks him what he said. He tells her no, he isn't going to kiss her with the bloody lightning bolts still on her face. Realizing her power had not destroyed his mind, Kahlan goes ahead and kisses Richard anyway, which had been his intent. After, he explains that he understands her power - that all it does is amplify the person's feelings of love to their maximum level and redirect them to her. Since he was already completely in love with her, everything about her, he was spared having his mind destroyed. Zedd arrives and tells them he was sorry and that he knew there was a chance but that telling them might have caused the barest seed of doubt in Richard's mind, which could have made the power destroy his mind after all.
After, Richard and Kahlan leave to have Scarlet fly them back to the Mud People to finish their business in the Spirit Hut, but on the way, a confused Richard is greeted as Master Rahl by the D'Haran guards and presented with his brother. Richard forgives Michael for betraying him personally, but cannot forgive him for what his actions cost other people, and has him executed. The first book ends here.
Resources[]
Wizard's Rule[]
- Main Article: Wizard's Rules
- People are stupid. They can be made to believe any lie because either they want to believe it's true or because they are afraid it's true.
Chapter guide[]
Wizard's First Rule has a total of 49 chapters.
Appearances[]
Characters[]
- Adie (First appearance)
- Mother Confessor Kahlan Amnell (First appearance)
- Elder Arbrin (First appearance)
- Bill (First appearance)
- Innkeeper Bill (First appearance)
- The Bird Man (First appearance)
- Chase Brandstone (First appearance)
- Emma Brandstone (First appearance)
- Lee Brandstone (First appearance)
- Elder Breginderin (First appearance)
- Brophy (First appearance)
- Elder Caldus(First appearance)
- Carl (First appearance)
- Cat (First appearance)
- Chandalen (First appearance)
- Regina Clark (First appearance)
- Constance(First appearance)
- George Cypher (Mentioned only)
- First Councilor Michael Cypher (First appearance)
- Richard Cypher (First appearance)
- Lieutenant Delis (First appearance)
- Denna (First appearance)
- Frank(First appearance)
- Frank (First appearance)
- Bradin Gadding (First appearance)
- Gregory (First appearance)
- Wizard Giller (First appearance)
- Elder Hajanlet (First appearance)
- James (First appearance)
- Jenkins (First appearance)
- John (First appearance)
- Lady Kyley (First appearance)
- Queen Milena (First appearance)
- General Demmin Nass (First appearance)
- Nissel (First appearance)
- Rachel (First appearance)
- Lord Darken Rahl (First appearance)
- Randy (First appearance)
- Queens' Lancer Reid (First appearance)
- Samuel (First appearance)
- Elder Savidlin (First appearance)
- Scarlet (First appearance)
- Shar (First appearance)
- Shota (First appearance)
- Siddin (First appearance)
- Elder Surin (First appearance)
- Silas Tannic (First appearance)
- Elder Toffalar (First appearance)
- Princess Violet (First appearance)
- Queens' Lancer Walcott (First appearance)
- Weselan (First appearance)
- First Wizard Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander (First appearance)
- Panis Rahl (Mentioned only)
Creatures[]
- Calthrop (First appearance)
- Dog (First appearance)
- Dragon (First appearance)
- Gar (First appearance)
- Gripper (First appearance)
- Heart hound (First appearance)
- Horse (First appearance)
- Night Wisp (First appearance)
- Raven (First appearance)
- Shadrin (First appearance)
- Shadow People (First appearance)
- Shinga (First appearance)
Events[]
- Darken Rahl Movement
- Fall of the D'Hara-Midlands boundary (Mentioned only)
- Confessor Assassinations
- Murder of George Cypher (Mentioned only)
- Fall of the Westland-Midlands boundary (Mentioned only)
- Attack on the Mud People's village (First appearance)
Locations[]
- Westland (First appearance)
- Hartland (First appearance)
- Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander's home (First appearance)
- Brandstone home (First appearance)
- Michael Cypher's mansion (First appearance)
- Adie's home (First appearance)
- Upper Ven (First appearance)
- Wayward pine (First appearance)
- Midlands (First appearance)
- Aydindril (Mentioned only)
- Wizard's Keep (Mentioned only)
- Agaden Reach (First appearance)
- Tamarang (First appearance)
- D'Hara (First appearance)
- People's Palace (First appearance)
Organizations and titles[]
- First Councilor (First appearance)
- Confessors (First appearance)
- Mother Confessor (First appearance)
- First Wizard (First appearance)
- Lord Rahl (First appearance)
- Wizard (First appearance)
- Sorceress (First appearance)
- Monarch of Tamarang (First appearance)
- Witch woman (First appearance)
- Mord-Sith (First appearance)
- Seeker of Truth (First appearance)
Miscellanea[]
- Magic (First appearance)
- Animal transformation spell (Mentioned only)
- Wizard's Fire (First appearance)
- Lightning (First appearance)
- Night stone (First appearance)
- Fire (First appearance)
- Prophecy (First appearance)
- Power spell (First appearance)
- Boxes of Orden (First appearance)
Extras[]
Cover[]
The cover art done by Keith Parkinson for the first edition cover of Wizard's First Rule (see below) depicts Richard and Kahlan in a scene whose specifics have been highly debated. It has been suggested that it is an adaption of the scene where Richard and Kahlan meet, Parkinson having depicted the occurrence beside a waterfall instead of on a mountain path to illustrate the importance of the moment. It has also been speculated that the scene is Richard's dream of taking Kahlan to see all of the special places he has discovered in the Hartland woods.
The composition of Parkinson's painting is cleverly done. Its positioning on the cover of the book makes the waterfall the halfway line, while Richard's head is the center of the full painting.
Parkinson's painting actually makes an appearance in the books themselves, being a piece of artwork in the People's Palace briefly mentioned in Confessor.
Dedication[]
For Jeri
Awards[]
- 1995 Locus Poll Award - Best First Novel - 7th Place
Facts and trivia[]
- The title of the book refers to the set of Wizard's Rules that are important to the storyline. The first of the rules is revealed in this book, hence the title "Wizard's First Rule".
- Terry Goodkind reports that Wizard's First Rule began with the character of Kahlan, specifically her scene running from the D'Haran quad.
Alternate artwork[]
and mass market paperback (1997)
Published by TOR
Published by Gollancz
Published by TOR
