Terry Goodkind has done it again with the sequel to Wizard’s First Rule. I must say I was more than impressed when I read the first book in the Sword of Truth series, and only a few days after completing it I picked up the sequel and began reading.

            Now in retrospect, this wasn’t the best idea because when I read the first book, it sucked so much of my time away that the things I needed to get done, didn’t get done. And the sequel is no different; it is just as good and in many ways excels above the first book in the series.

            Stone of Tears picks up almost exactly where the previous book left off, showing us a new dilemma through the eyes of Zedd, the highest ranking wizard still alive. The problem here is that now that one of the boxes of Orden has been opened, they are all unsure as to how to close it, and even more disturbing, a black tear shaped stone has actually come out of the box.

            Before Zedd is able to formulate a plan, a creature of the underworld reveals itself and nearly destroys the entire palace.

            I don’t want to give too much away because every bit of this book is a joy to read, and even more so when you have no idea what is going to happen; that, I have to say, is a skill of Terry Goodkind. Both in the first book and this one I truly had no idea how it would end; I was kept in suspense for all 979 pages.

            What I can tell you is that we see all of our favorite characters again, even some we wouldn’t expect to see again, and all of it flows together seamlessly. I was worried that he might not be able to reuse the same characters and keep the story fresh, and yet he did, rather magnificently I must add.

            This story is every bit as engaging and entertaining as the first and Mr. Goodkind manages to keep it fresh despite the fact that we have already been introduced to the characters and world.

            Stone of Tears is a testament to what sequels should be, it keeps all the magic of the original while making it original enough to be just as moving of an experience.

            The only flaws I can really think of are spelling and punctuation errors. At first I thought it was just me, and that it was text I didn’t understand, but as it happened more and more, I couldn’t deny it. I often saw missing periods or capitals in the middle of sentences for no reason. Maybe there was reasoning for this, but who knows.

            I also found that Terry Goodkind used rape as a way to horrify the audience into hating the enemy, which works, but it seemed a little over used. Don’t worry though; it never describes one it just points out that it happened. When I think about it, I don’t really blame him though; I mean in this day and age what will shock us? He wanted us to hate the enemy and somehow regular violence doesn’t work anymore. This is kind of a sad realization, but I won’t place any blame on Terry Goodkind, he just did what he had to and it worked.

            I recommend this book to everyone who loved the first book, and if you never read the first one, then go read that one and then read this one, they are both an experience not to be missed.