My Re-read of Temple of the Winds by Terry Goodkind

It’s been a while since I re-read the third installment of Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series, and after starting two novels that I decided to not finish within the first few dozen pages, I returned to something familiar. Temple of the Winds is the 4th novel in the series, and perhaps the first novel in the second major arc of the series.

After the Imperial Order has revealed themselves to Richard and Kahlan, Emperor Jagang and his captured Sisters of the Dark have cursed the leaders of the new world with a dangerous bit of magic that Richard’s sword can’t defeat: a deadly plague. Only by finding the long-lost Temple of the Winds will Richard and Kahlan have a fighting chance at saving the lives of millions.

While I intended to re-read this novel this year (2020), it was well-timed considering the viral outbreak in the actual world. That was the most enjoyable element of the story for me. Reading characters in a fictional world fight to preserve life from an unexpected plague played brilliantly in parallel with current events.

Not far behind on my enjoyment scale was the adventures of Zedd and Ann. I could read an entire series of misadventures with these two. It reminded me of Zedd’s adventures with Adie, but because the two are more at odds with each other, it changes the dynamic in a way that suits their characters.

While I found two of the previous novels to be structurally well-crafted, this one was almost clockwork. It felt almost as if the author was testing out a new approach to storytelling within this world to expand what he was capable of in the long run, making this story stand out against the series as having a much more procedural crime novel feeling.

I also appreciated how the Mord Sith were given more depth in this novel. Cara and Kahlan’s relationship is developing well, and I love the mutual respect they have for each other.

For the first time in this series (and this isn’t empirical), it felt as though the reader had more page time outside of the protagonist’s point of view than within it. A lot of our page time is spent with Kahlan and other characters rather than Richard. This leads to a bit of lost (and much needed) sympathy for Richard. In Stone of Tears, his turmoil was much more relatable. But in Temple of the Winds, the Seeker comes off as a bit of a jerk in many instances. In addition, Kahlan feels like a “weaker” strong female protagonist in this volume. While she has a lot of great moments, much of her agency and intellect evaporate anytime she’s in the room with Richard. And because this story is so Kahlan-centric, it was disappointing when she wasn’t given a heroic arc. However, the story’s side characters are this installment’s saving grace.

If you’re similarly frustrated with these parts of the novel but the story is still checking the majority of your boxes, I wouldn’t quite recommend this novel as the next exit ramp. Instead (with the foresight I have from having previously read the series), I would recommend continuing on through book 6 if the story is still checking the majority of your boxes.