Terry Goodkind Sword Of Truth/ Good Or Bad?

[Sire Of Dragons]

I had been under the impression that this was quit a popular series amongst fantasy readers. Did I miss something? Has the series of books gone downhill?

 

[Rane Longfox]

It's a popular series, but not so much amongst fantasy readers. Plus Goodkind is a... no, I won't start.

 

[j d worthington]

It's a popular series, but not so much amongst fantasy readers. Plus Goodkind is a... no, I won't start.

LOL! No, please, Rane... DON'T!

*sigh* It seems as if every thread discussing Goodkind goes that way fairly quickly, though; and while I'm not a Goodkind reader, that does get a little tiresome after awhile, I must admit....

 

[Lenny]

I openly admit to being a fan. And I must admit to being a heartless monster who didn't realise there were moral messages in them until I joined the Chrons and read threads upon threads upon threads (about four) of people moaning that they had the message forced down their throats.

So yeah, I like them.

 

[Sire Of Dragons]

It's a popular series, but not so much amongst fantasy readers. Plus Goodkind is a... no, I won't start.

I'm not sure if you mean he is what I think you mean, and I would have no way of knowing one way or the other.

But I've seen what he looks like and if thats what the so called judgment is based on then its a foolish one. I have had the long pony tail and I always dressed more like something out the style of the 20's with the colors of the 80's. I even wore the long coats like you see in Highlander.

In fact I think more men that are like that have short hair.

But this isn't about him its about his books I guess I was unaware that he was already such a big topic before now. This was started because of a remark made about his books on another of my threads. Is also why I added the poll.

 

[j d worthington]

It's nothing to do with his appearance -- I'm not sure anyone here would particularly give a damn about that sort of thing -- it's about the philosophy he preaches (and, from what I've gathered from the little bits I have read, and from what others have said, I use the word advisedly) and the gratuitous sexual violence of a lot of his work.... Plus, many just seem to see him as a bad writer, period.

Mostly, though, it's about the unnecessary -- in the sense of advancing the storyline or character development -- brutality in much of his work, especially on a sexual level.

 

[daisybee]

I thought the first few books were good, inventive and exciting, but unfortunately have been dissapointed with the predictability of the plot, and also what at first seemed to be a subtle undertone of the authors personal values becomes rather heavy handed and preachy later on in the series. But hey-books aren't always perfect, and Goodkind just isn't for everybody. If I wanted to live my life according to someones written word I think there are enough books out there to choose from already-you know? I like a lot of grey in my fiction, not stark black and white, its makes for immovable characters and not much growth. (Unless heralded by a violent attack, or kidnapping or whatever.)

Plus Richard is always right, even when he's wrong! and I like my heroes/heroines good and flawed. Like me.

So not good, not bad, just blah.

 

[Rane Longfox]

The series in itself is fairly average, I think - The first book was ok, the others went rapidly downhill. His main characters are unbelievable, their sexual exploits generally uneccessarily violent and denegrative, the morals they espouse ridiculous, and the writing average at best - I could name 20 or 30 authors immediately who are better writers without even thinking that hard about it.

I've continued this in PM, for that parts that aren't directly related to the series.

 

[Sire Of Dragons]

their sexual exploits generally unnecessarily violent and degenerative, the morals they espouse ridiculous,

You see this everywhere tho. Too much for my taste, but its out there. And no it doesn't really take much imagination anymore, but it does its job of grasping at people attention.

 

[Rane Longfox]

You see this everywhere tho. Too much for my taste, but its out there.

Indeed, in a lot of average/bad fantasy... I'm not saying it's unique

 

[kaneda]

It's a popular series, but not so much amongst fantasy readers. Plus Goodkind is a... no, I won't start.

I'll finish!

In a nutshell, everytime I read an interview with Goodkind, he comes across as arrogant with an inflated sense of his own importance. He doesn't believe that he writes fantasy (seems there are a few fantasy authors who believe that!), and insults his fans.

Thats why I don't like him.

Regarding his books, I find them extremely average to be honest. Sloppy writing style and ridiculous characters. Not recommended at all.

 

[the_faery_queen]

i dunno. i've read a fair bit of fantasy and this lot stands out as the most graphically sexual violent i've come across.
they're also badly written with the most annoying characters. i hated richard and khalan and zedd aka belgarath aka gandalf (or whatever old man wise wizard you want to call him) before the rape and violence started. i wanted to smack them all for being so full of their own self worth
then the rape started and i wanted to smack goodkind for being a nasty perv
then i threw the books across the room
then i ebayed them
and now i happily complain about them and talk about how much i hate them. (i read four) cos i hate them THAT much.

 

[Sire Of Dragons]

Yanno this might ruin the thread but I must admit. I had the wrong author in mind this whole time. When I saw someone mention the Sword Of Truth for some reason I immediately was thinking of Robert Jordan's Wheel Of time. Hence my confusion with this whole issue.

Who knows how the hec I mixed these up, but I feel sheepish now.

*Transforms into my smallest Dragon form, turns and walks away with tail between my legs*

 

[Rane Longfox]

*narf*

Wheel of Time is ok. Bit dragged out though.

 

[Sire Of Dragons]

Wheel of Time is ok. Bit dragged out though.

Which is what brought me to ask what I originally meant to in the first place.

 

[GOLLUM]

One of the worst I've come across....

 

[DeepThought]

Yanno this might ruin the thread but I must admit. I had the wrong author in mind this whole time. When I saw someone mention the Sword Of Truth for some reason I immediately was thinking of Robert Jordan's Wheel Of time. Hence my confusion with this whole issue.

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time is a much better series than Sword of Truth (IMHO, of course ). Have to admit though, it pales in comparison with what Martin, Erikson et al are coming up with these days.

Cheers, DeepThought

 

[the_faery_queen]

wheel of time started out good, i managed to read more than 4 of those before quitting (ten actually) but i did quit. they dragged on. they're less offensive, the characters are less annoying, but it's boring after a while because nothing happens and i just stopped caring.

 

[Rane Longfox]

How can you read 10 books of a 12 book series and then give up? Astonishing.

Incidentally, 11 is better than 10.

 

[kaneda]

wheel of time started out good, i managed to read more than 4 of those before quitting (ten actually) but i did quit. they dragged on. they're less offensive, the characters are less annoying, but it's boring after a while because nothing happens and i just stopped caring.

How bizarre. i don't read them personally, but I imagine that if I got to book 10 and the end was in sight I would continue just for the hell of knowing how the series which took up 10 books of my life finished.