After reporting on Death’s Mistress by Terry Goodkind, set in the world of the Sword of Truth novels, I decided to go back and read the books I missed between the two series. The Omen Machine picks up the story of Richard Rahl and Mother Confessor Kahlan sometime after their victory over the wicked Jagang.
Ruling from the People’s Palace in D’Hara, Richard starts to hear what seems to be prophesy from some unlikely sources, prophesy that is coming true very quickly. Officials from around the Empire are up in arms, believing that Richard is keeping prophesy from them, especially when they hear of an Omen Machine spouting the same prophesies. These are tricky issues for Richard, but everything comes to a head when he realizes that Kahlan’s life is in danger.
The Omen Machine is the first of four books subtitled “A Richard and Kahlan Novel.” All the same characters are back from the original series, and I enjoyed spending time with them again. I did find the original series more interesting since it involved a lot of discovery by Richard, and Goodkind was particularly skilled writing about that. The breadth was also much greater, following many groups of people across the known world.
That said, The Omen Machine is a well-written book with much excitement. And true to form, Goodkind keeps readers in suspense until the very end, where he finally resolves all the critical issues. A good book, worth reading.