I think the first two books of the series were the best. I thought Blood of the fold was O.K...and Temple of the Winds was not too bad. But this book was terrible. The book had no action in it. I found myself flipping ahead as I read through the pages looking for an intersting part to read but never found one. And what confuses me is that the Series name is named after an object that only appears once throughout the whole novel. This was a major dissapointment indeed. I surely hope Goodkind is not running out of ideas because I think he is one of the most talented fantasy writers I know about.