Goodkind follows this formula in the whole series. And it works indeed! I was surprised to read about such things like morazeths and agile knives...Are those remain something? :) No, he doesn't suffer from self plagiarism. These small similar elements are just elements, that had send us to other books and make to think whether the every civilization must go through the same steps. Even in a fantasy world :) But here comes a question whether the world is only fantasy? I think Goodkind brought a bit real history in his books. Or I know what was his inspiration. A large ancient army which was petrified by powerful wizards and stood as statues for many centuries...Tell you what that is like for me? Yes, the terracotta army of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is harder to guess which prototypes in real life the Norukai with their serpent ships and belief in serpent god have. Their lifestyle and their ships are like viking ones but the serpent god...Yes, viking warriors did believe in Jörmungandr but in different way. Such belief was common for...khmers. It is unexpected isn't it? :) So, this word 'unexpected' is the most suitable for what I've read! This series pretend to be even more exciting than The Sword of Truth. And I was glad when saw that each book had no firm end and curious to read the continue of such an excellent story! The last one seems to start an entirely new chamber of lovely characters advetures.