The Faith of the Fallen by Terry Goodkind

Fantasy series fans may argue over the relative merits of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth, George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, and Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, but in a world of middle books that go nowhere and endless waits between episodes, Goodkind is certainly still serving up some of the best fantasy on today's menu.

The Seeker of Truth and his Mother Confessor are both looking a little worse for the wear after their chime-hunt in Soul of the Fire. To top that off, Lord Rahl finds himself a reluctant prophet with the vision that their cause, the fight for freedom against the Imperial Order, is essentially sunk. (Chalk that up to part of the Wizard's First Rule: people really are stupid.) The two lovers soon find themselves separated, Richard off to the Old World thanks to treacherous Sister of the Dark Nicci, and Kahlan left behind, forced to betray Richard and his prophecy by raising an army to fend off the approaching armies of Emperor Jagang.

Whether it's fair or not, Goodkind will likely get beaten up a bit for visiting the trough once too often, à la Jordan. But fear not: Faith of the Fallen does progress at a good clip, and its conclusion--while by no means a final payout--should satisfy.