Legend of the Seeker

A long time ago, I remember reading about two characters named Richard and Katherine, Kaelin, something with a K. It was a great start to a new fantasy series. And then, for some reason, I stopped reading the books.

Eleven books later, Terry Goodkind has finished his Sword of Truth series. I was recently turned on to this world again through a television series loosely based on his books. Called Legend of the Seeker, the story follows a young man named Richard Cypher, who turns out to be the Seeker, a person who follows truth and is destined to destroy a great evil plaguing the lands-- a man/sorcerer named Darken Rahl (see the dude in red, to the right). Along the way, Richard is paired up with a Confessor named Kahlan and a sorcerer named Zedd. He also fights the evil Darken Rahl, who's played by a guy doing a terrific villain. In other words, the acting is surprisingly good, not overdone. I won't go into too much detail, save to say I was expecting a cheesy Xena Warrior episode and received a shockingly good series instead.

The series is fun and addicting. I haven't read Goodkind's books and can't remember the one I did read, so I wasn't expecting the series to follow faithfully to the characters. From the reviews I've read from die-hard Sword of Truth fans, this is a good thing.

The dude who plays Richard is attractive, Kahlan is pretty, and Zedd is, well, wiley. The forbidden romance makes the stories flow, and the tension between the leads sizzles. There's plenty of martial arts and sword play in the show. The special effects aren't stellar, but they're not bad. What I really like about the series is that although the Confessor (heroine) wears a wacky dress, she fights like a champ. She uses daggers and can "Confess" anyone to do her bidding (while making them mental slaves for life, alas, so she uses it sparingly). The hero isn't always saving her. It's usually the other way around.

A strong heroine, empathetic hero, forbidden love, a terrific villain, and sorcery make this show a must see. Each episode is an hour long, and season 2 starts the weekend of November 7th. I caught the entire first season on Netflix (streaming video). Gotta love Netflix. It's better than Facebook for stealing away your life. haha

Check out Legend of the Seeker. It's worth the fantasy fix.