Wizard's First Rule
core novel 1994 Sword of Truth
Record
| First published | 1994 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.12 (255,523 ratings, collected 2026-09-13) |
| Page count | 836 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780312857059 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
Wizard's First Rule opens in a world divided into three regions: the magic-free land of Westland, the magical coalition of the Midlands, and the wizard-ruled empire of D'Hara. Richard Cypher, a woods guide in Westland still reeling from his father's mysterious murder, encounters Kahlan Amnell, a fugitive woman fleeing assassins, and is drawn to the home of Zedd, an old friend who turns out to be far more than he seems. Richard learns that the tyrannical D'Haran ruler Darken Rahl has activated a set of ancient magical artifacts called the Boxes of Orden, which, depending on how they are used, could grant Rahl dominion over the world, annihilate all life, or destroy Rahl himself.
Where it sits
- Universe: Sword of Truth
- Series: Sword of Truth (main sequence) core; position 1 of 15 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Terry Goodkind
Awards (verified)
- Locus Award (Best First Novel), 1995: finalist; Locus reader-poll placement, ranked 7th.
- British Fantasy Award (Best Newcomer ("Icarus Award", the category's 1988-95 name)), 1995: nominated; Lost to Maggie Furey. "Icarus Award" is the period name of the Best Newcomer category, not a book title.
Notes
- From the series record (Sword of Truth (main sequence)): 15-novel continuous main sequence; publication order equals internal chronology throughout. Correction: The Pillars of Creation's first US edition is 2001 (Nov 20), not 2002 as some secondary listings state; 2002 is a paperback/reprint date bleeding into 'first publication' fields.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series Sword of Truth (main sequence): position 1 of 15: next Stone of Tears (1995)
Sources
- Terry Goodkind official site
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sword_of_Truth
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard%27s_First_Rule
- https://www.sfadb.com
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