While each novel was written to stand alone, except for the final three that were intended to be a trilogy, they follow a common timeline and are linked by ongoing events that occur throughout the series.

[3] A television series adaptation of the novels, titled Legend of the Seeker, produced by ABC Studios and broadcast via syndication, first aired on November 1, 2008.

The eleventh full-length novel, Confessor, concludes the series' central story arc regarding the invasion of the Imperial Order, an empire in the Old World led by Jagang.

The first book, Wizard's First Rule, takes place in the New World, some twenty or so years after two magical boundaries were raised to separate Westland, the Midlands, and D'Hara.

The story deals with the growth of the D'Haran Empire under its leader, Darken Rahl, as he invades the Midlands, taking over its territories while seeking to gain control of an ancient power over life called the Boxes of Orden.

In the third novel, Blood of the Fold, Richard's plan to reunite with Kahlan is delayed by the arrival of beast-like assassins called Mriswith and by the advancement of Jagang's army into the New World.

Having accepted his identity as a war wizard - and as the gifted son of Darken Rahl—Richard decides to claim the throne of D'Hara as a means of unifying the fractured Midlands, which, in Kahlan's absence, has weakened to the point of being unable to resist the Order.

Kahlan, along with the sorceress Adie, is captured on her way back to Aydindril by the Blood of the Fold, a violent group of zealots who oppose magic on religious grounds.

While Verna, the new Prelate, leads the Sisters of the Light and their students to join the D'Haran army, Richard and Kahlan return to Aydindril and defeat the Mriswiths, as well as the Blood of the Fold.

The fourth novel, Temple of the Winds, tells of the struggles Richard, Kahlan, and their friends face as they attempt to stop a plague released by Jagang and to prevent him from seizing important items that will help him win the war.

As Richard's ancestor Nathan Rahl receives books from Jagang under a tentative deal struck between them, he sends Zedd and Ann, former Prelate of the Sisters of the Light, to destroy the prophecies found within the Jocopo Treasure.

Directly following Temple of the Winds, Soul of the Fire revolves around Richard and Kahlan dealing with two threats: the gradual disappearance of all magic and the leaders of the nation of Anderith, who are considering surrendering to the Imperial Order.

The novel ends with Richard banishing the Chimes and deciding to return to Westland, where he will help Kahlan recover from injuries sustained in Anderith and wait until the people of the New World prove to him that they truly want freedom.

Nicci, a Sister of the Dark and a follower of the Imperial Order, captures Richard and forces him to travel with her to the Old World by using a magical spell that allows her to control Kahlan's life.

Richard and Kahlan learn that the people of Bandakar are pristinely ungifted like Jennsen and Oba, and that they have been overrun by the Order because they have shunned all forms of violence, refusing to fight for their own lives.

The Sisters use Kahlan to steal the boxes of Orden from the People's Palace in D'Hara, which they intend to use to unleash their master, the Keeper of the Underworld, into the world of the living.

In addition to the novels, Goodkind wrote a short story titled Debt of Bones for the 1998 anthology Legends, edited by Robert Silverberg.

The story takes place in The Sword of Truth universe and is set a few decades before the events in the main series, focusing on the creation of the boundaries that separated Westland, the Midlands, and D'Hara in Wizard's First Rule.

The trio crosses the Phantom Coast, fights off Viking-like Norukai and vicious sea monsters, stops a mad judge who froze an entire population with a cursed necklace, meets the last dragon left in the Old World, and discovers an ancient archive of arcane magic.

Picking up where Death's Mistress left off, Nicci, Nathan, and Bannon find Kol Adair, a mountain pass which leads to a field full of petrified soldiers.

Nathan recognizes some of the soldiers' insignias, claiming them to be the army of a General Utros, a powerful military commander who served another would-be despot, Emperor Kurgan, 1,500 years prior.

Prelate Verna Sauventreen and General Zimmer, having returned to Tanimura to lead an excavation of the Palace of the Prophets, decide to assist Nicci and Nathan.

Commander Maxim, husband of the city's defeated leader, goes missing, and shortly thereafter, General Utros's army of stone soldiers awakens and renews its war on Ildakar in the name of an Emperor long dead.

[10] Heart of Black Ice, released January 21, 2020, is the fourth and final entry in the Nicci Chronicles and the 21st Novel, chronologically, in the Sword of Truth universe.

After Nicci travels north to warn the cities of the Old World of the impending attacks, the leadership of Ildakar betray her and her allies, recreating the Shroud of Eternity and leaving them stranded.

As the third Sliph, an emphatic supporter of old Emperor Sulachan, realizes that Nicci is her enemy, she decides to strand her alone in the ruins of the city of Orogang, somewhere in the mountains of the Phantom Coast.

[12] In July 2006, Goodkind announced on his official website that he had entered into negotiations with The Evil Dead and Spider-Man director Sam Raimi and producer Rob Tapert to bring The Sword of Truth to life as a TV live-action weekly series.

[14] The show was renamed Legend of the Seeker because the producers wanted to be able to continue the series beyond the first book, and they felt the title Wizard's First Rule was too restrictive.

He later confirmed: Sam Raimi and his team want to keep the TV series true to my vision, so rest assured that I am going to be intimately involved in the writing of each of the episodes.

[34] The influence of Goodkind's political philosophy in his writing has been noted by reviewers and commentators[35][36] and has led to divisive reactions about his novels, with some criticizing their Objectivist themes and others praising them.