Book 2 of The Sword of Truth follows squarely in the footsteps of the first. If you loved the first book, you'll probably love this one. If, like me, you thought that the first one was a generic heroic fantasy pastiche with lots of pointless cruelty thrown in, you'll despise this one too.The sad thing is that Goodkind has a fair amount of talent at jerking reactions out of people. I kept reading because I *did* become involved with the characters, and I kept hoping the overall narrative structure would go someplace interesting.Word to the wise: It doesn't.