The Omen Machine

by Terry Goodkind Narrated by Sam Tsoutsouvas

Overview

In The Omen Machine, #1 New York Times-bestselling author Terry Goodkind returns to the lives of Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell-in a compelling tale of a new and sinister threat to their world.

Hannis Arc, working on the tapestry of lines linking constellations of elements that constituted the language of Creation recorded on the ancient Cerulean scroll spread out among the clutter on his desk, was not surprised to see the seven etherial forms billow into the room like acrid smoke driven on a breath of bitter breeze. Like an otherworldly collection of spectral shapes seemingly carried on random eddies of air, they wandered in a loose clutch among the still and silent mounted bears and beasts rising up on their stands, the small forest of stone pedestals holding massive books of recorded prophecy, and the evenly spaced display cases of oddities, their glass reflecting the firelight from the massive hearth at the side of the room.

Since the seven rarely used doors, the shutters on the windows down on the ground level several stories below stood open as a fearless show of invitation. Though they frequently chose to use windows, they didn't actually need the windows any more than they needed the doors. They could seep through any opening, any crack, like vapor rising in the early morning from the stretches of stagnant water that lay in dark swaths through the peat barrens.

The open shutters were meant to be a declaration for all to see, including the seven, that Hannis Arc feared nothing.

Editorial Reviews

SEPTEMBER 2011 - AudioFile

Fans of the Sword of Truth series found it hard to believe Goodkind was leaving some of their favorite characters behind. Starting with Goodkind's new book is a bit like making friends with people who have all enjoyed many adventures together. Knowing their history is less critical than in earlier books. Sam Tsoutsouvas is a no-nonsense narrator who wastes no time diving into the new undertakings of Richard and Kahlan. Tsoutsouvas’s style is sometimes pensive, and references to past history are generally presented as asides. He proceeds with intensity and focus as the characters unravel the mystery of prophecies that are being delivered by a machine that was lost for millennia. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

A mysterious device appears that seems to possibility of telling the future. At first, its predictions seem merely novel and harmless. Nevertheless, Zeddicus believes the Omen Machine must be destroyed, an edict quickly forgotten when the mechanical oracle lays down a cataclysmic future that will tear apart the lives of Richard and Kahlan. A Sword of Truth you will never forget.

From the Publisher

Praise for Terry Goodkind

“Mr. Goodkind’s compelling prose weaves a magic spell over readers.”

—RT Book Reviews on Faith of the Fallen

SEPTEMBER 2011 - AudioFile

Fans of the Sword of Truth series found it hard to believe Goodkind was leaving some of their favorite characters behind. Starting with Goodkind's new book is a bit like making friends with people who have all enjoyed many adventures together. Knowing their history is less critical than in earlier books. Sam Tsoutsouvas is a no-nonsense narrator who wastes no time diving into the new undertakings of Richard and Kahlan. Tsoutsouvas’s style is sometimes pensive, and references to past history are generally presented as asides. He proceeds with intensity and focus as the characters unravel the mystery of prophecies that are being delivered by a machine that was lost for millennia. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

This new entry in Goodkind's longstanding Sword of Truth series directly follows the events of the previous volume, Confessor (2007). Following the dreadful and debilitating war against the Imperial Order for control of D'Hara--though there are no bodies, no wounded or any damage; the main consequence seems to have been that the leading characters lost half their brain cells--Richard, Lord Rahl and his wife Kahlan, the Mother Confessor (she neither hears nor makes any confessions), settle down at the People's Palace to enjoy, so they hope, a period of peace and prosperity. However, everybody from the realm's assembled dignitaries to the lowliest peasant is suddenly obsessed with prophesy. Though the prophesies all come true, they seem fairly trivial, like "the roof will fall in," until scholars reveal that the exact same prophecies occur in an ancient tome. Then, during a terrible storm, a glass roof does fall in, causing the floor beneath to collapse and revealing the huge, ancient magic-powered machine of the title. The machine commences to churn out the same prophesies. Various unpleasant things happen, convincing the dignitaries that they should be ruled by the prophesies rather than Richard. And, despite the intractable idiocy of the protagonists, some enemies are revealed: the Hedge Maid, whose magic is proof against Richard's irresistible sword, and Hannis Arc, a naked, tattooed super-wizard with a grudge against the Rahls. Such is the general bewilderment that even favorite figures like the old wizard Zedd are given little to do except stand around frowning in puzzlement and stoically ignoring the obvious. There's general agreement that the series has gone downhill since book 6 or 7. This is book 13, dismally slapdash and often just plain dumb.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169672541
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	08/16/2011
Series:	Sword of Truth Series , #13
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

do not post

Videos