A Song of Ice and Fire
fantasy
Series · epic fantasy
Sword of Truth
The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind has 13 known books (13 published). It is best read in publication order, starting with Wizard's First Rule (1994). The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus is the latest book with a fully recorded publication date.
- Books
- 13 known books (12 novels + 1 novella)
- Published
- 13
- First published
- 1994
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Fantasy
Start here: Wizard's First Rule (1994)
— then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Wizard's First Rule
Wizard's First Rule opens the Sword of Truth series in 1994, introducing woods guide Richard Cypher as the last War Wizard and Kahlan Amnell, the Mother Confessor whose touch can strip away free will, as they take on the tyrant Darken Rahl. It runs 579 pages. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Wizard's First Rule - Book 2:
Stone of Tears
At 768 pages, Stone of Tears is the second entry in Sword of Truth, published in 1995, continuing Terry Goodkind's epic-fantasy framework of political intrigue, brutal violence and philosophical argument around Richard and Kahlan. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Stone of Tears - Book 3:
Blood of the Fold
Blood of the Fold follows Stone of Tears and precedes Temple of the Winds in the Sword of Truth series, published in 1996 as Goodkind's elaborate magic system -- Additive and Subtractive Magic, the underworld realm of the Keeper -- keeps expanding. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Blood of the Fold - Book 4:
Temple of the Winds
The fourth book in the Sword of Truth series, Temple of the Winds was published in 1997, running 786 pages, one of the doorstopper entries in Richard and Kahlan's fight against Darken Rahl's successors. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Temple of the Winds - Book 5:
Debt of Bones
Debt of Bones, published in 1998, is a novella set roughly twenty years before the main Sword of Truth story, introducing the wizard Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander and sitting outside the main numbered sequence between Temple of the Winds and Soul of the Fire. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Debt of Bones - Book 6:
Soul of the Fire
The fifth numbered book in the Sword of Truth series, Soul of the Fire was published in 1999, running 508 pages as Richard and Kahlan's relationship continues to be tested by prophecy and impossible choices. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Soul of the Fire - Book 7:
Faith of the Fallen
Faith of the Fallen followed Soul of the Fire in the Sword of Truth series, appearing in 2000 at 544 pages, part of the run where Terry Goodkind wove his Objectivist ideas most explicitly into the epic-fantasy framework. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Faith of the Fallen - Book 8:
The Pillars of Creation
The seventh book in the Sword of Truth series, The Pillars of Creation was published in 2002, running 736 pages, between Faith of the Fallen and Naked Empire in Richard and Kahlan's continuous eleven-book story. Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Pillars of Creation - Book 9:
Naked Empire
At 670 pages, Naked Empire is the eighth entry in Sword of Truth, published in 2003, continuing the fight against the imperialist Jagang and the Imperial Order that dominates the series' later books. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Naked Empire - Book 10:
Chainfire
Chainfire follows Naked Empire and precedes Phantom in the Sword of Truth series, published in 2005 and giving its name to one of Terry Goodkind's signature pieces of magic-system worldbuilding, the Chainfire spell. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Chainfire - Book 11:
Phantom
At 589 pages, Phantom is the tenth entry in Sword of Truth, published in 2006, part of the battlefield-scale, magic-system-driven plotting that runs through the series' final volumes. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Phantom - Book 12:
Confessor
Confessor follows Phantom and precedes The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus, published in 2007 as the eleventh and final numbered novel, closing out Richard and Kahlan's continuous story and the fight against the Imperial Order. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Confessor - Book 13:
The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus
The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus (2012) closes out the Sword of Truth series as a prequel novel set generations before the main story, tracing the founding of the Confessors' order that gives Kahlan her terrible power. Alternative text for cover: Cover of The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus
The order the story's events happen in, novellas slotted where they belong.
- Book 1:
The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus
The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus (2012) closes out the Sword of Truth series as a prequel novel set generations before the main story, tracing the founding of the Confessors' order that gives Kahlan her terrible power. Alternative text for cover: Cover of The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus - Book 2:
Debt of Bones
Debt of Bones, published in 1998, is a novella set roughly twenty years before the main Sword of Truth story, introducing the wizard Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander and sitting outside the main numbered sequence between Temple of the Winds and Soul of the Fire. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Debt of Bones - Book 3:
Wizard's First Rule
Wizard's First Rule opens the Sword of Truth series in 1994, introducing woods guide Richard Cypher as the last War Wizard and Kahlan Amnell, the Mother Confessor whose touch can strip away free will, as they take on the tyrant Darken Rahl. It runs 579 pages. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Wizard's First Rule - Book 4:
Stone of Tears
At 768 pages, Stone of Tears is the second entry in Sword of Truth, published in 1995, continuing Terry Goodkind's epic-fantasy framework of political intrigue, brutal violence and philosophical argument around Richard and Kahlan. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Stone of Tears - Book 5:
Blood of the Fold
Blood of the Fold follows Stone of Tears and precedes Temple of the Winds in the Sword of Truth series, published in 1996 as Goodkind's elaborate magic system -- Additive and Subtractive Magic, the underworld realm of the Keeper -- keeps expanding. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Blood of the Fold - Book 6:
Temple of the Winds
The fourth book in the Sword of Truth series, Temple of the Winds was published in 1997, running 786 pages, one of the doorstopper entries in Richard and Kahlan's fight against Darken Rahl's successors. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Temple of the Winds - Book 7:
Soul of the Fire
The fifth numbered book in the Sword of Truth series, Soul of the Fire was published in 1999, running 508 pages as Richard and Kahlan's relationship continues to be tested by prophecy and impossible choices. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Soul of the Fire - Book 8:
Faith of the Fallen
Faith of the Fallen followed Soul of the Fire in the Sword of Truth series, appearing in 2000 at 544 pages, part of the run where Terry Goodkind wove his Objectivist ideas most explicitly into the epic-fantasy framework. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Faith of the Fallen - Book 9:
The Pillars of Creation
The seventh book in the Sword of Truth series, The Pillars of Creation was published in 2002, running 736 pages, between Faith of the Fallen and Naked Empire in Richard and Kahlan's continuous eleven-book story. Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Pillars of Creation - Book 10:
Naked Empire
At 670 pages, Naked Empire is the eighth entry in Sword of Truth, published in 2003, continuing the fight against the imperialist Jagang and the Imperial Order that dominates the series' later books. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Naked Empire - Book 11:
Chainfire
Chainfire follows Naked Empire and precedes Phantom in the Sword of Truth series, published in 2005 and giving its name to one of Terry Goodkind's signature pieces of magic-system worldbuilding, the Chainfire spell. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Chainfire - Book 12:
Phantom
At 589 pages, Phantom is the tenth entry in Sword of Truth, published in 2006, part of the battlefield-scale, magic-system-driven plotting that runs through the series' final volumes. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Phantom - Book 13:
Confessor
Confessor follows Phantom and precedes The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus, published in 2007 as the eleventh and final numbered novel, closing out Richard and Kahlan's continuous story and the fight against the Imperial Order. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Confessor
Key facts about the Sword of Truth series
Our list has 13 books in the Sword of Truth series. Since all 13 are out now, you can read the whole list today. 12 are novels, while the rest is a novella.
Start with Wizard's First Rule, since it opens the publication order in 1994. Stone of Tears is book 2, from 1995. Blood of the Fold is book 3, from 1996.
Temple of the Winds is book 4, from 1997. Debt of Bones is book 5, from 1998. Soul of the Fire is book 6, from 1999.
Faith of the Fallen is book 7, from 2000, while The Pillars of Creation is book 8, from 2002. Naked Empire is book 9, from 2003.
Chainfire is book 10, from 2005, while Phantom is book 11, from 2006. Confessor is book 12, from 2007. Since the list above shows all 13, you can find the rest there.
However, the story's own timeline begins with The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus. Use the order switch above to see that timeline.
The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus is the latest book with a full release date, out on 2 July 2012. Since the catalogue marks the series as complete, we list no next book.
The books came out between 1994 and 2012, while their length runs from 192 to 786 pages. That is a run of 18 years.
Terry Goodkind has 29 books on our list. Additionally, they write Richard and Kahlan, The Nicci Chronicles and The Children of D'Hara. We shelve the books under epic fantasy.
About the Sword of Truth series
Sword of Truth follows Richard Cypher, a humble woods guide in the peaceful land of Westland, who discovers he is the last War Wizard and the prophesied bearer of the Sword of Truth -- and that Kahlan Amnell, the Mother Confessor he's fallen for, wields a magic so absolute that her touch can strip away a person's free will forever. Their fight against the tyrant Darken Rahl, and later the imperialist Jagang and the Imperial Order, spans eleven doorstopper novels of political intrigue, brutal violence and philosophical argument -- Terry Goodkind wove Ayn Rand's Objectivism into an epic-fantasy framework more explicitly than almost any other author in the genre, giving the series a distinctive, sometimes divisive, ideological backbone alongside its magic-system worldbuilding and battlefield-scale plotting.
Goodkind builds an increasingly elaborate magic system across the series -- Additive and Subtractive Magic, the Chainfire spell, the underworld realm of the Keeper -- while keeping Richard and Kahlan's relationship, tested by prophecy, separation and impossible choices, at the emotional center. The series became the basis for the 2008-2010 TV adaptation Legend of the Seeker. Two additional books sit outside the main numbering: Debt of Bones (1998), a novella set roughly twenty years earlier introducing the wizard Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, and The First Confessor (2012), a prequel novel set generations before the main story that traces the founding of the Confessors' order.
Frequently asked questions
How many Sword of Truth books are there?
Eleven numbered novels, from Wizard's First Rule (1994) to Confessor (2007), plus two extra books outside the numbering: the novella Debt of Bones (1998) and the prequel novel The First Confessor (2012).
What order should I read Sword of Truth in?
Publication order, starting with Wizard's First Rule. It's one continuous story rather than standalone entries, so the books need to be read in sequence.
Are Debt of Bones and The First Confessor required reading?
No. Both are prequels set earlier in the timeline and can be skipped -- Debt of Bones introduces the wizard Zeddicus, and The First Confessor tells the founding story of the Confessors, generations before Wizard's First Rule.
Is Sword of Truth connected to the Richard and Kahlan series or the Nicci Chronicles?
Yes. Both are direct continuations of the same story with the same characters, published under separate series titles by the same author -- Richard and Kahlan picks up after Confessor, and the Nicci Chronicles runs alongside it following a supporting character.
Is there a TV adaptation of Sword of Truth?
Yes, Legend of the Seeker (2008-2010), a loose adaptation of the first two novels that diverges substantially from the books.
If you like the Sword of Truth series
Last updated