I have nothing against philosophy, in a philosophy book. I have enjoyed all of Goodkind's books up till now. Some have been better than others, but all were enjoyable.The main problem with this book was the philosophy. The philosophy he is putting forth is objectivism. I like objectivist philosophy, but from the original writer, Ayn Rand. While it is OK to have a certain philosophy for your characters to work within, Goodkind slaps it on way to thick.The writing style itself is good as you would expect from Goodkind and the actual story line that has a villain and a fight between good and evil is solid. The problem is is that nothing happens. The action is slow and boring; Richard is once again sick, a recurring problem that has to me been used too much; and the book spends way too much time talking about philosophy.