In the eagerly awaited second volume of bestseller Goodkind's Chainfire trilogy, which will wrap up his long-running Sword of Truth series, star-crossed Richard Cypher (aka Lord Richard Rahl) searches for his beautiful "phantom" wife, Kahlan Amnell, who lost her memory in 2005's Chainfire after the Sisters of the Dark cast a spell on her. Meanwhile, Richard has memorized a magical instruction book, The Book of Counted Shadows, which will help open the three boxes of the Orden, though the consequences could be dire for the Old World: "Open the correct box, and one gains the power of Orden-the essence of life itself, power over all things living and dead... Open the wrong box... and every living thing in existence is incinerated into nothingness. It would be the end of all life." Despite the simplistic good vs. evil conflict and bland prose, the author expertly juggles many complex plot lines and brings to life a host of colorful characters.