Legend of the Seeker

Kahlan Amnell, pursued by soldiers of Darken Rahl, the tyrant who rules the Midlands, flees that province and uses magic to cross the Boundary into Westland. Richard Cypher, a simple Westland woodsman, helps her escape them. Ranssyn Fane, commander of the soldiers, survives his confrontation with Kahlan and Richard and continues to pursue them. Returning home, Richard is sent by his father, George, to find an old man named Zedd. Richard learns that Zedd is really a powerful wizard from the Midlands, and Kahlan is a Confessor, a woman with the power to make someone tell the truth. Zedd reveals that Richard is the Seeker, the person destined to defeat Darken Rahl. Zedd hands Richard a magical weapon, the Sword of Truth. And Kahlan gives Richard the object of Fane's pursuit, the Book of Counted Shadows, which contains the secrets Rahl needs to capture ultimate power. In disbelief, Richard returns to his father, only to find that Fane has mortally wounded him. With his last breath, George reveals that what Zedd says is true. Richard confronts Fane, wanting vengeance. But Fane escapes with the coveted Book. Knowing he must stop Fane, Richard accepts his destiny as the Seeker and begins his training under Zedd. Rahl orders his forces in the Midlands to take down the Boundary into Westland and kill Richard, while Fane tries to return to Rahl with the Book. Just as Rahl's forces come through the Boundary, Richard catches up to Fane and retrieves the Book. Surrounded, Richard calls upon the newfound power of the Seeker and defeats the attacking troops. The Boundary now open, Richard, Kahlan and Zedd head into the Midlands to begin their dangerous quest to find and defeat Darken Rahl.

In a distant land, Richard Cypher discovers his true destiny.

After Richard, Kahlan and Zedd survive an unprovoked attack by a mercenary named Denfir, they discover that Darken Rahl has placed a hefty bounty on Richard's head. Sebastian, a maker of magical maps, has sold three of them designed to track the Seeker, one each to Denfir and two other bounty hunters, Gunther and Rolf. A woman named Lilly helps Richard and his friends escape another ambush, then asks his help to save her brother Liam from the Shadrin, a vicious mythical creature. But first, they must fight off an assault by Gunther. Zedd goes to find the mapmaker who put everyone on their trail, while Richard and Kahlan continue with Lilly. But her plea is really a trap – Lilly captures Richard to deliver to Darken Rahl's D'Haran soldiers, leaving Kahlan trapped with the Shadrin. Lilly reveals that her brother was actually imprisoned by the D'Harans, who will execute him, and she plans to exchange Richard to gain his freedom. But Kahlan, having escaped the Shadrin, catches Lilly, only to be cornered by Denfir and Rolf. Zedd returns in time to save them all from the bounty hunters, and Richard decides to help Lilly rescue her brother, despite her lies.

Richard returns to the town of Brennidon, where he was born during Darken Rahl's massacre of every eldest son to avert the prophecy of the Seeker. He finds that the townspeople have given up their freedom under Rahl's rule, and discovers a secret from his past.

Darken Rahl's D'Haran soldiers capture Renn, a ten-year-old boy known as a Listener, a person with the ability to read anyone's thoughts, and a very valuable tool for those who control him. When Richard and Kahlan take Renn from his captors, the mind-reading child threatens to reveal their deepest of secrets to each other.

Richard, Kahlan and Zedd discover that peddlers are selling the villagers of Drundril elixirs, potions that temporarily give them magical powers. Searching for the makers of the potions, Zedd confronts a wizard who was once his student, but is now a dangerous and powerful rival.