The Omen Machine: A Richard and Kahlan Novel

Terry Goodkind

Nov 2011 · Richard and Kahlan Book 1 · Sold by Tor Books

About this ebook

In The Omen Machine, #1 New York Times-bestselling author Terry Goodkind returns to the lives of Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell—in a compelling tale of a new and sinister threat to their world.

Hannis Arc, working on the tapestry of lines linking constellations of elements that constituted the language of Creation recorded on the ancient Cerulean scroll spread out among the clutter on his desk, was not surprised to see the seven etherial forms billow into the room like acrid smoke driven on a breath of bitter breeze. Like an otherworldly collection of spectral shapes seemingly carried on random eddies of air, they wandered in a loose clutch among the still and silent mounted bears and beasts rising up on their stands, the small forest of stone pedestals holding massive books of recorded prophecy, and the evenly spaced display cases of oddities, their glass reflecting the firelight from the massive hearth at the side of the room.

Since the seven rarely used doors, the shutters on the windows down on the ground level several stories below stood open as a fearless show of invitation. Though they frequently chose to use windows, they didn't actually need the windows any more than they needed the doors. They could seep through any opening, any crack, like vapor rising in the early morning from the stretches of stagnant water that lay in dark swaths through the peat barrens.

The open shutters were meant to be a declaration for all to see, including the seven, that Hannis Arc feared nothing.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ratings and reviews

Painful to read. I love the Sword of Truth series, but I'm having a hard time understanding how any fan of the series could love this book and the Third Kingdom following (still not sure if I want to read Severed Souls). I started the Sword of Truth when I was a kid so I'm not sure if the writing has always been this bad or if I've been spoiled by better writers since, because the writing in these books is terrible. The characters are stupid — that is, the established characters seemingly acting out of character and behaving stupidly — and the world has gone full retard. I didn't enjoy reading this book one bit, but I did, and still do, want to complete Richard and Kahlan's story since I've already invested so much into it. There is just so much dumb about this book, then the Third Kingdom following this isn't much better (but it is better). Goodkind's writing has become a terrible, repetitive mess. Or maybe it's always been that way and I was too young to see it.

Although it still entertains (and I read it because I've read the rest of Sword of Truth series), I was very disappointed at how Richard sometimes seems omniscient, coming to realizations that were not even foreshadowed or that, even revealed to us, would not be easy to conclude and yet makes some of the stupidest decisions ever like remaining willfully and stubbornly ignorant (when the location of needed information is known) and refusing to be transparent (even if admitting lack of understanding).

The Sword of Truth series ended with an almost literal deus ex machina. Without spoiling the ending of that series, I will say that the godlike powers shown at the end should have made the events of this book impossible. If not, Richard was incompetent. The book didn't even try to explain how the villains even exist afterward. The story itself wasn't bad, but the premise of even thinking of setting this book after the events of Sword of Truth were enough to break my suspended disbelief for most of the book.

About the author

Terry Goodkind (1948-2020) is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. His books include the multi-volume epic fantasy Sword of Truth series -- beginning with Wizard’s First Rule, the basis for the television show Legend of the Seeker -- and related series Richard and Kahlan and The Nicci Chronicles.

Goodkind was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, where he also attended art school. Alongside a career in wildlife art, he was also a cabinetmaker and a violin maker, and did restoration work on rare and exotic artifacts from around the world. In the 1990s he relocated to Nevada, where, when not writing novels, he was a racing-car enthusiast.