Sword Of Truth discussion

I just wanted to know if anyone else is tired if incessant trashing of SoT series as well as Terry Goodkind's imagined personal failings. I get that his writing is not for everyone as he definitely comes from a particular POV and is not to shy to pound it into the readers' heads. That being the case, by now it's well known. Goodkind has been very vocal about what he's trying to accomplish and how he writes. Any new readers should realize what they are getting into and IMO have no reason to then complain about "wasting their time," as if they were tricked into reading the series with false advertising.

*End Rant*

Thoughts? Am I just being too sensitive about my favorite fantasy author, or has someone else noticed the same pattern in recent GR discussions?

no you are right! i am sick of the goodkind bashing... like they have written best selling novels ha! i see it this way if you do not like sot or goodkind then do not read anything by him and keep your ignorant pov to your sorry ass self!

Terry Goodkind faces the same problem that many other modern authors do. If you do not write in a way that is perceived of as politically correct then you become a sidelined figure. Terry Goodkind writes in a way that encourages the individual to become the best that he can be. Since this does not require a "village to raise a child" and a totalitarian central government he must be silenced and his work discredited. By the way this is not only true in literature, but also in most other fields in America today. Michael Creighton went from a media darling who could do no wrong and a guest of every talk show until he wrote his politically incorrect State of Fear after which he was never heard from or seen again. Yes, I am aware that Michael Creighton died a few years ago, but this was not until several years after his book was written and published in deep silence without the fanfare that always accomplanied every new Creighton book.

It just amazes me that the same people who can spend hours reading descriptions of magic spells, or characters walking through the woods for pages at a time with nothing happening, become terminally bored with a paragraph or two that actually discusses ideas.

I do understand that some readers are in it strictly for entertainment, and I'm not one to judge, but this is not the entertainment-only kind of writer. Never was, never will be. Do your research and pick the books that suit your taste; no need to trash the author because you expected something different.

Personally I thought there was enough drama, action, etc, that didn't hinge on you agreeing with the views. I know some "liberals" who love the series. I don't mind people not liking it for those reasons, but it seems like there is a type of person that has no values of their own and just prefer to go around trashing authors like Goodkind. Their entire life depends on it since they would, say, join a Koontz forum just to bash Goodkind. lol

I've always preferred to focus on what I do like and let the rest follow.

Goodkind had a quote on this topic somewhere...

Haha Eddie, come to think of it, one of the biggest Goodkind fans we both know is an Obama supporter. But some liberals do respond to the sense of the heroic and the greatness of humanity that Goodkind's books promote, even if their politics does not reflect it.

Still there's a double standard. If a work is permeated with liberal bias, it's "normal," not even noticed. (Steven King, anyone?) If it has pro-freedom message, that's "preaching."

We all read sometimes solely for entertainment, to momentarily escape to another world. But we will always find things in books that someone doesn't like..... and I think that's part of the point, to gain an understanding of different ideas, to see things from another point of view. It isn't something that needs to be agreed or disagreed with, or argued about, but listened to and considered.

I recently wrote on another post somewhere about this. Terry Goodkind puts his beliefs front and center in his novels. But, at least he is consistent and you easily determine if this is something you want to continue reading. I can live with that much better than the tactics of OSC. He will take your money and use the royalties to fund some bigoted crackpot political group. Hopefully the word will get out and the movie of Ender's Game will bomb.

Haha Dany! Personally I don't like any trashing threads. I find myself spending a lot of time on GR defending authors and books I don't even 100% like. (No, ladies, reading 50 Shades will not kill your marriage and make you sick-except maybe from boredom- and it's not what's wrong with this country etc, etc.). I don't know what it is with people's need to trash.

As to OSC, if I based my seeing/not seeing movies on the creators' politics, I would save enough $$ on movie tickets to pay off my mortgage.

Now I'd like to get back to our shared love of Goodkind. Please?

lol well said masha well said. does anyone by chance know if we can pre order the up coming new s.o.t book?

The Third Kingdom is available for pre-order on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Third-Kingdom-T...

This seems to be a common issue and is not exclusive to good kind haters. I have noticed this a lot when I am reading some reviews. I personally have read all his work and absolutely love it and I think he his very good at really making you think about his pov.

They need to be realistic in what they expect from these books and if it is not something that you like then close the book and move on. Trashing any author or book doesn't make you seem like you are more intelligent or cultured.

Well said, Kristen. If you can't handle a different philosophy than your own, then put it down and walk away.

-Begin Rant-

I hate that Game of Thrones, which sucks imo, is more popular than Sword of Truth when Sword of Truth is a far better series. I hate when people say they've heard of Game of Thrones but not Sword of Truth. I hate that most people wont even take the time to read Sword of Truth, or when they do they are more interested in Game of Thrones. This series is still my favorite fantasy series, or at least one of them. I wish people wouldn't down rate it.

I haven't found anything in the media bashing him, but to be quite honest, I find this way more appealing than a brother fornicating with his sister and people finding that as entertainment.

I made my dad read Wizard's First Rule, and he enjoyed it. I feel like I've done my part in exposing him to the 'good kind' of fantasy.

-End Rant-

Jeffrey: Goodkind is an Objectivist. I have now idea how he votes. AFAIK, Objectivists are pretty split up politically. As far as stuck up, I can't stand those people either, no matter what their income. I once met a 50-something guy who literally still lived in his Mom's basement and he was going on and on how he was so smart. I had a hard time keeping a straight face.

Agreed on awesome characters, not just Richard and Kahlan but most of them are very memorable and feel like real people.

I agree bud I tried talking to him at comic con in Ontario... He totally brushed everyone off like he had a chip on his shoulder...

He does come off harsh. And I don't appreciate him saying he's not a "fantasy author" like fantasy is second rate or something (back to the comment above about me hating snobs).

It seams when you read reviews of his work its all ways they point out the same thing from faith of the fallen and i really think 99% of those haters have not even read one singel one of his book they just listen to what other say and the regurate what they have been told and pass it off as there own thoughts to seam cleaver

I will admit I had trouble getting through the first book (Wizards First Rule). I thought about stopping halfway through the first book and yet I'm now on book #5. I think a lot of haters don't even give the first book a true chance and don't finish the first book, or they grab like book #7 and read it first and feel totally lost. His books you should and in my opinion must read in order or you won't like them because you won't truly understand.

I think it helped me that I knew he was an Objectivist, so I could recognize what he was doing with the "messaging" rather than be puzzled by some of it.

personally I love the story, the only thing I find annoying with it is the constant reminders of what happened before, i.e what kahlans power is, where it came from, how she met Richard etc. I find myself skipping pages to get past it. but that must be a minor thing because I am still reading through them time and again.
I only like 1 series of books more than I like these and that's the spinward fringe series.
I don't think it matters what the authors political viewpoint is, if its a good book I will read it

He's trying very hard to make every book stand on his own; hence the constant recaps. Brandon Sanderson does it much better in his series by just throwing little clues here and there rather than having full recap paragraphs.

If Goodkind has a philosophy, it is that his philosophies are superior to everyone else's. His philosophical merit hierarchy is as follows, in descending order of merit:

1. Goodkind
2. Ayn Rand.
3. Rest of the world.

Marina wrote: "It just amazes me that the same people who can spend hours reading descriptions of magic spells, or characters walking through the woods for pages at a time with nothing happening, become terminall..."

Ideas? More like opinions, close enough in fervour to be dictates.

It really seems to me like this is a bigger circlejerk than the goodkind thrashings that you seem to abhor.
It really seems like he is against this type of stuff and that he encourages people to have genuine discussions instead of
"THIS IS GOOD ANYBODY WHO LIKES THIS IS DUMB" and that's the same as "ANYBODY WHO HATES THIS IS DUMB"
Not to mention how much I bleeding hate "I've done my part in exposing him to the 'good kind' of fantasy." LIke honestly your pretentious ,and completely subjective, ideas of what defines 'good' and 'bad' fantasy is quite simply dumb
I like the books but sheesh you guys are circlejerks.