Kahlan is nothing more than the archetype "damsel in perpetual distress." She is there to serve as character conflict for Richard, nothing else. If you want to consider that a female lead, OK, but she isn't a strong or even good lead. Half of the problems Richard faces (and then solves on pure accident at the end of the novels--another issue entirely) are due to Kahlan being a complete moron. As a general rule, I detest stories that rely on character stupidity to further the plot/conflict. Goodkind has become a master of this avenue of story-telling, all-the-while coating it with a false, thin facade of intelligence by ripping off Ayn Rand.
But hey, some people like it. More power to them. If it gets them reading so they can be introduced to better authors like Erikson, Jones, Abercrombie, etc., then awesome. All I have to say is each person likes different things. Just because you don't like Blue Sword, doesn't mean others wont. Just because I detest Goodkinds garbage, doesn't mean others wont think it's awesome. But don't knock someone because they happened to like a novel and recommended it. We aren't a fraking Hive Mind on book tastes.
That said, most of the novels I read have a ton of characters, both female and male. I mean, Erikson, Abercrombie, Martin, Lloyd, Mieville, Barclay...they all have strong female characters in the series. I think the best novels have a nice mix of male vs. female characters. I do enjoy some novels that have mostly an all-male cast--usually they are balls-out action novels--but I cant really get into novels that are mostly female led. Those novels usually have unicorns on the front (Mercedes Lackey anyone?). I just cant stomach that.
