THE BAD:
- When you read this book, you're going to have to deal with even more of Goodkind's description of the Order, which has three chapters to itself.
- Not an especially fast moving book, requiring you to read through a fair bit of conversation that neither has bearing to the story nor any other use, except perhaps filler to totally complete the book.
- The plotlines that are being taken have made this book seem more and more dark, something that I don't mind, but I'm tired of seeing the same things pop up again and again.

SUMMARY:
Terry Goodkind continues his series, which has captured the hearts of millions, with the second book in the ending Chainfire trilogy. Whle perhaps holding the position as one of the best authors for books that I have read, I find that Phantom, like the last book, have been of slightly lesser quality than what I have grown used to when I read Terry's excellent books.

First of all, Phantom has started to show that Richard indeed does have unknown skills with magic, when he uses his instincts to combat the effects of a deadly spell being woven by the recently turned over Nicci. I had been growing tired of Richard's seemingly obstinant repelling of his gift since about book two and three, where we see that he can use magic, along with a few other times through books, although nothing large enough to be a real big help. However, Goodkind appears to have set the table with a new danger of magic and the very world it is built on eventually crumbling into ruin.

Phantom lost a few points, however, when it came to halfway through the book, when a surprise visitor comes to describe the horrors of the order. I do think it is about time that Terry stopped dawdling around with that particular subject and get on with the plot, as he has been beating the same message into us since about Book four, Temple of the Winds. While it is all well and good to make sure that we understand the enemies intentions, three descriptive chapters of the horrors of the order and what they were doing is not what I would call good reading in the slightest. I am growing tired of the need from Goodkind to repeat what has already been said for the last half dozen books.

I would also say that, compared to the other recent books of Goodkind, that Phantom is slower than usual. However, it has been a massive improvement over the likes of Chainfire, the slowest book in the series. While there is tons of moving around, I feel that they have been following this plotline a little longer than usual, forcing Goodkind to stretch the book beyond how long it should have been.

When it comes to plot, we are still getting the philisophical ramblings of Goodkind, which is alright, as for the most part, Goodkind has fairly good scenes involved where he has put these things into his stories before, such as Richard in "Faith of the Fallen" when it came to charity and slavery. We're seeing more and more of Nicci now, which is something that I'm happy to see, as she has always been one of the more dynamic characters in the storylines created by Goodkind. We also still have Cara, who seems to have taken up a more cynical sense of humour that fits into the book just fine. Kahlan has also made a few more appearances in a number of interesting scenes, including a few terrifying moments with Jagang and her constant bids for freedom.

As usual, Goodkind has managed to include a number of more elusvie plotlines into the book, tying them all together nicely, an addition that I find rare in most fantasy books.

In summary, Goodkind has created another good book to complement the series. While perhaps not the best in the series, it does complement it well, ties in with the rest of the books, and has set up for an excellent ending book which will involved everything from the continuation of Richard's plans for the final battle, which I personally find interesting, to the involvement of Six and Violet, a witch women and the new queen of Tamarang, making my anticipation to see the hopefully explosive end to this series near unbearable.