Blood of the Fold

Sword of Truth, Book 3

By: Terry Goodkind

Narrated by: Buck Schirner

Length: 22 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

An Epic of Two Worlds

In a world as rich and real as our own, Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell stand against the ancient forces which besiege the New World - forces so terrible that when last they threatened, they could only be withstood by sealing off the Old World from whence they came. Now the barrier has been breached, and the New World is again beset by their evil power.

War and treachery plague the world, and only Richard and Kahlan can save it from an armageddon of unimaginable savagery and destruction.

In Blood of the Fold, Terry Goodkind, author of the brilliant bestsellers Wizard's First Rule and Stone of Tears, has created his most masterful epic yet, a sumptuous feast of magic and excitement replete with the wonders of his unique fantasy vision.

Epic edge: listen to more in the Sword of Truth series.

©1996 by Terry Goodkind. (P)1999 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic Reviews

"A complex epic fantasy that crackles with vigor and magical derring-do." (Publishers Weekly) 

"Buck Schirner is an adept reader, expert at rendering this vast, glittering tapestry of a world." (Library Journal) 

Audible needs to redo narration for consistency

The blame lies with Audible. They’ve already spent their money for the narration of a blockbuster book series and don’t want to redo it.

Why would they change narrators so often? Why would they not redo a series that still continues to be of tremendous interest to Audible customers? Why?

Audible recognizes this fault and has the final books of the series all narrated by Sam Tsoutsouvas. But when they ask Audible customers to pay $300 for the series, it is an insult that they refuse to redo the original books to have the same consistency.

Zed turns Irish in this book, and in the books after this one other narrators pronounce main characters’ names totally differently from every other book. Audible should pay the audio studio to have the main narrator redo these first books for consistency. Turning Irish or mispronouncing names isn’t the fault of the narrator, it’s the responsibility of Audible to provide consistency in their narration. Why would you take a famous series and let the characters change from book to book by bad production management? Many, including me, may not continue the series (with its large price tag) because of this bad move by Audible.

Please redo books with same narrator.

Story arcs tie in and more to look forward to!

I like how the story lines tie in a bit more in this book...but, also a few more new story arcs begin, keeps it very interesting and never boring, with the exception of the Narrator! Please go back and have Sam Tsoutsouvas(?) re-record these audio books! He is truly the best Narrator for Mr. Goodkind's books in this series!

Narrator... From bad to worse in this book

OK, I got hooked with "Wizard's First Rule", and bought the next two books right away. I had to really struggle through the 2nd book because of the terrible narration. The story was great, but the narration of Jim Bond was the worst I have ever heard. On a scale of 1 to 100, I wouldn't have given him even a 007. After forcing myself to listen to this guy for over 38 hours, I couldn't wait to start "The Blood Of The Fold", becase I knew it had a different narrator and knew it couldn't get much worse... Well, it did. After less than 15 minutes I had to turn it off. Not only does Buck Schimer pronounce names differently, his voice just grates on you, and to top it off... He has a lisp! I couldn't take it any longer. I don't know who chooses the narrator for these books, but what would have been wrong with keeping the same guy for all of them? Then I looked, and books 4 and 5 both have a new and different narrator. What's up with that? Are they just trying to run off their listeners? This book is probably as good as the others, but I am afraid I will have to buy it in paper form and read it to find out.

Finally!!!

I am very pleased to say that this is the first book in the series to live up to the hype. I found myself listening to the book even when I wasn't at the gym or driving, which is a good indicator of a book that draws you into the story.

I think the main factor that made this book worthwhile was the stories of the supporting characters. The intrigues at the Palace kept me wanting to find out more, and I think that Verna and Warren, as well as many of the supporting characters, show far more depth than we've seen in previous books.

Ann, Nathan and Zed's plot line was also fun to follow, and this is the first book where I really began to like Zed (I think the poor narration in the first book gave me a dislike for his character). I think that Nathan might prove to be a very interesting character as well, if he's given the right plot lines.

Even Richard's plotline was interesting, as in this book they finally appear to make consequences for some of the more idiotic things he does (although in the end it ended up being the perfect thing for him to do, but for a while they seemed to be slightly more realistic with him).

One of the best advancements in this book was the villains. The sisters of the dark's plotline kept me intrigued, and I couldn't wait to get more details on the Emperor (what powers did he have, what supporting characters did he have on his side), as well as the BoTF plotline.

My only hope is that the rest of the series is like this one, and not like the first two. If so then my faith in TG will be restored, as it was nearly destroyed by the first two books.

One note; did I hear correct? Ann's horse was named Bella? And TG says he never read WoT!

"Blood of the Fold"

My Biggest Complaint on this Book is the Nararator.... It would help if he would have listened to the previous "3" books before trying to read this one.... In the first 2 1/2 minutes of the book I was in Awe as to how many times he can pronounce a name wrong. As I progressed through it I come to find out the guys is completely inept at pronunciation. He can't say a name the same way twice. He NEEDS to listen to previous works before attempting to read a continuing Saga.I am 2 hours into the first part of the book and am debating getting hard copy so i dont have to listen to him Butcher this Book any further. I am disappointed beyond all recognition and if I ever see a book in my list with this Nararator I WILL NOT LISTEN TO IT.This book needs to be re-read by a compitent Nararator. I Love the Series, But this Nararator is not the best choice. I cant wait for this book to be Over so i can hear the next Book from a more Adept Nararator..

Narrator not that bad

Before I bought this book the reviews had me scared that the narration would be unbearable. The truth is, it's not that bad. It takes some time to get used to, especially considering the fact that my last book was Wizard's First Rule (which had great narration!). But, after only a few minutes, an hour at most, I was acclimated to the style and enjoyed it very much. The book is a little more graphic than the first (hard to believe) and while good, was a bit long winded. Some of the subplots and characters were left unfinished/underdeveloped and the ending came quickly without much closure. However, being that there are several more books in the series it makes sense that alot is left open for the next installment. Overall, a nice easy listen that keeps you engaged throughout.

story is great but the narrator is terrible

If you could sum up Blood of the Fold in three words, what would they be?

epic story. horrible narrator.

Did Buck Schirner do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

the narrator from the first book was GREAT, but the one in second book was iffy and this one is terrible. i fear how the next one will be if this trend continues.

Good

Everyone says the guys voice is really bad but it's actually alright. I would have appreciated a bit more emotion from him but he wasn't bad.

it just went on and on and on

The narrator did well, considering the material was pretty ordinary. I like long 'epic' books, but this one actually felt LONG. It was like the author was dragging the word count out so that it was similar in length to the previous books, but had nothing more to write about. The plot was predictable and certainly not Goodkind's best work.

narrator

The book was fine but the narrator was not so good.

An acquired taste

The story toddles along, it’s not terribly exiting but it is steady going.
This book is not as good as the first two of the series, and I find I have to struggle a bit to keep my interest up. That being said I will still purchase the next book in the series.

I would only recommend it to people who really love high-fantasy.

Brilliant

Stone of tears is a bohemoth of a book. This has had me spellbound from start to finish. Told in the style of lord of the rings, where the author flits between the players after they have gone different ways, is done well but not portrayed by the narrator too well. Do not listen/read this book without having first listened to The sword of Truth which is the first book in this series. As with the first book the narrator is a little 'wooden' but this by no means subtracts anything away from this masterpiece. A word of warning to parents though there are parts of the book which are not suitable for young children with references to rape and brutality. An excellent book and I am downloading the next book- Blood of the fold -as I write this.

Heading for the doldrums?!

after reading previous it does flesh out the story more and adds characters but the dwelling on pain, torture and rape etc, is wearing and often hard to take, very little lighthearted humour to balance it. stop dwelling in the sorrow and lighten up a bit, it's a story! and a saga.

Great book. Eventually!

Great story, memorable voice, well read. The gaps between the chapters are way too long!

too similar to The Eye of the World

Really disappointed in this volume, it just borrows so heavily from Robert Jordans books.

Fantastic

Another great book, was exciting from start to finish. can't wait to read the next one.

it's good but

I had forgotten how much I disliked the way it goes over things that happened in the past. I enjoy the story but that irritates too much. I think I only got as far as the next book before giving up because of that and imagine it will be the same with audible.

my favourite books

love the series lost count how many times i have listen to it the best

Did it again

Great story, was worried about the narrator being changed, however Buck did amazing job can’t wait to hear the next book

Amazing

Amazing book from the overall series. The story is intricate and the writing captivated. The one thing I don’t like with Terry Goodkind is he reiterates parts of the overall story at times which can sometimes feel slow for the reader, but really it’s insignificant in the overall of the story. Wasn’t so keen on this narrator, but that’s just down to personal preference.