I must disclose that the Sword of Truth series is easily one of my top ten fantasy series and the final book in this series Confessor (Part 3 of the Chainfire Trilogy) brilliantly concluded this amazing series. However fans such as myself wanted to read more about the heroic couple Richard, a War Wizard and his wife Kahlan, a Confessor and thankfully due to the overwhelming response from fans, their story continues in The Omen Machine - A Richard and Kahlan Novel.

Prophecy has always played a key role to the Sword of Truth series and once again the Seeker of Truth, Richard is unwilling caught up in ancient and deadly game about ill fated omens. The novel starts innocently enough as those people who have been touched by the ability to prophesise begin to inform the populace of minor omens. Richard and Kahlan are soon brought into this game when a blind woman warns Richard that the sky will fall in.

Richard who has never been a true believer in prophecy ignores the warning but when strange things begin to happen and more importantly citizens of D'Hara begin to act strange, it is time for him to investigate. To compound the situation, some of the people who have been touched with the gift of prophecy have been involved in violent crimes against their family in order to save them from the darkness that is about to bestow these lands. In order for them to save their family from this approaching darkness, they do the unthinkable and murder their children. A puzzle has now been opened for Seeker of Truth!

Although the action is kept to a minimum in this story, it's actually quite nerve racking to follow Richard and Kahlan as they attempt to solve this puzzle. Without spoiling the story, the sky does indeed fall in for Richard which leads him to discover an ancient machine under the Garden of Life which could threaten the very world.

Joining Richard are the familiar faces from the previous novels such as Richard's grandfather Zedd who will use every resource available to him to destroy this machine to Richard's loyal Mordsith, Cara and her husband Benjamin who attempt to keep peace and order as the populace begins to panic about the truth behind these omens. Other characters such as Nathan Rahl, the world's oldest prophet and Nicci, a former Sister of the Dark are also used quite well throughout this story which is more a mystery than a classic sword and sorcery novel. Unfortunately for Richard and Kahlan, they are involved in a catastrophic prophecy with no way to stop unless a deadly price is paid. This is there journey.

Once again Terry Goodkind draws you in from the very first pages of this novel and before you know it, it will be over and you will be craving for more. Goodkind has a magic when it comes to writing as every word, paragraph and chapter flows so well. He creates relatable characters in a world that seems as real as ours which is why his novels are so popular.

Final Thoughts?

Reading Terry Goodkind's The Omen Machine is like coming home again to familiar friends and family. It is the familiarity of this novel that makes it such a great read but more importantly seeing the the perfect couple of Richard and Kahlan once again drawn into this dark world with only themselves as redemption is where this story shines. This has definitely been written for the fans!

Highly Recommended!