Terry Goodkind - Stone of Tears: Book Two of the Sword of Truth

An Epic of Awesome Power Kahlan has at last gained the one goal she had always thought was beyond her grasp ... love. Against all odds, the ancient bonds of secret oaths, and the dark talents of men long dead, Richard has won her heart. Amid sudden and disastrous events, Richard s life is called due to satisfy those treacherous oaths. To save his life, Kahlan must forsake Richard s love and cast him into the chains of slavery, knowing there could be no sin worse than such a betrayal. Richard is determined to unlock the secrets bound in the magic of ancient oaths and to again be free. Kahlan, alone with the terrible truth of what she has done, must set about altering the course of a world thrown into war. But even that may be easier than ever winning back the heart of the only man she will ever love.

Kirkus called Wizard's First Rule, Book One of The Sword of Truth, "a wonderfully creative, seamless, and stirring epic fantasy debut." Piers Anthony lauded it as "a phenomenal fantasy, endlessly inventive, that surely marks the commencement of one of the major careers in the genre. It starts in early and keeps hitting you with new magical wonders, building into a truly gripping adventure." In Wizard's First Rule, Richard Cypher's world was turned upside down. Once a simple woods guide, Richard was forced to become the Seeker of Truth, to save the world from the vile dominance of Darken Rahl, the most viciously savage and powerful wizard the world had ever seen. He was joined on this epic quest by his beloved Kahlan, the only survivor among the Confessors, who brought a powerful but benevolent justice to the land before Rahl's evil scourge. Aided by Zedd, the last of the wizards who opposed Rahl, they were able to cast him into the underworld, saving the world from the living hell of life under Rahl. But ...