The Fantasy Review’s list of 6 Fantasy Books Better Than Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind, According to Goodreads.
Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind is the first book in the Sword of Truth epic fantasy series, with a rating of 4.12. Here is a list of similar books with a higher rating on Goodreads.
Pawn of Prophecy (The Belgariad, #1) by David Eddings (4.16)
From the blurb:
Long ago, so the Storyteller claimed, the evil God Torak sought dominion and drove men and Gods to war. But Belgarath the Sorcerer led men to reclaim the Orb that protected men of the West. So long as it lay at Riva, the prophecy went, men would be safe.
But that was only a story, and Garion did not believe in magic dooms, even though the dark man without a shadow had haunted him for years…
Magician: Apprentice (The Riftwar Saga, #1) by Raymond E. Feist (4.18)
From the blurb:
Orphaned boy Pug is apprenticed to a powerful court magician named Kulgan in the world of Midkemia. Though ill at ease with the normal ways of wizardry, Pug soon earns his place as a squire after saving the life of one of the royals at court. But his courage will be tested still further when dark beings from another world open a rift in the fabric of spacetime to rekindle the age-old battle between the forces of Order and Chaos...
The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, #1) by Robert Jordan (4.19)
From the blurb:
The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.
When a vicious band of half-men, half beasts invade the Two Rivers seeking their master’s enemy, Moiraine persuades Rand al’Thor and his friends to leave their home and enter a larger unimaginable world filled with dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light.
Assassin’s Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1) by Robin Hobb (4.20)
From the blurb:
Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father’s gruff stableman. He is treated as an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him secretly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz’s blood runs the magic Skill—and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family...
The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1) by Patrick Rothfuss (4.52)
From the blurb:
My name is Kvothe.
I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.
You may have heard of me...
The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1) by Brandon Sanderson (4.66)
From the blurb:
Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter...
