Kevin's Watch

Yeah, I broke down and made a Terry Goofer - I mean, Terry Goodkind forum. Anyone out there want to talk about this guy? Because I'm gonna feel really silly if you don't.

There are worse writers out there, but...

I dunno, First Rule was decent. He writes well, but... well, he writes fantasy fluff. You can't exactly blame a guy for making a living writing amusing stories, though I suppose you can blame him for dragging it out. That, and the last couple of books have been really preachy. I kind of like it when an author tries to make a point, but he's no Vonnegut and way too heavy handed. That, and I disagree with his points in some ways.

But have any of you looked at his picture on the back cover? It is to laugh. I can just see him saying to the photographer, "Wait, wait. The ponytail has to be draped just so."

He kinda goes for the Hells Angels look .. the biker boy thing goin'!

Yeah I agree he writes well enough .. but as much as I didnt mind his characters I always wished Goodkind would come up with something better than .. Dick and Jane for names

or their equivalents He introduces a fantasy world which is quite intriguing .. and then gives them regular names! That griped me right through WFR ..

it kinda lost my interest by the 4th book i think it was ..

And he's got quite the dark side has Goodkind .. but thats no giant flaw! .. just got a bit yukky in spots!

I think a very good arguement could be made that he no longer is writing fantasy, but writing political fables. Rather than the dragons he began with, he is now featuring pet goats.

He started off with okay story and bad writing, now he's a better writer, but he fills his books with all the political stuff - and he's not so good with dialogue (everyone seems far too knowledgable and eloquent at times) or consistency, either.

As I mentioned in another thread, I have bought all of the books in The Sword Of Truth series ... but haven't read them yet (waiting for the series to conclude)

Now I find out that most of you think he's a horrible author!

For the love of fantasy literature ... what have I done??

somewhere i read that Goodking has sort of a writing disability. considering that, i think "Wizards First Rule" is an interesting novel. he might have some strange ideological views, though.

heh, thats Goodkind of course

*grin* yeah...his books are essentially political podiums (yes, we GET it, Terry, communism is bad)...he's got some good story lines, and I just have to love Zed....but he definitely needs to stop preaching *rueful grin*

Okay ... tell me straight, I can take it: am I gonna regret reading the Sword of Truth series?

Metal-Demon wrote:Okay ... tell me straight, I can take it: am I gonna regret reading the Sword of Truth series?

Yes.

OH NO!!!

Aw ... Hellfire!

If you're waiting for the series to conclude, you might be in for a bit of a wait, too. I have heard that he said in an interview that he'd keep writing 'em as long as people keep buying 'em.

The main thing is -- just don't expect it to be fantasy stories after the first couple of books. Think of it more in terms of political fables like Animal Farm, but with S&M scenes with hot girls in skin tight red leather.

In all seriousness, Pillars of Creation might be the worst book I have ever read. I finished it with something akin to a sense of wonder that anything could be that bad! Though I have not read Newcomb's The Fifth Sorceress, which is supposedly the worst fantasy book ever written, so there is worse out there!

Goodkind also seems to have something about chickens. One of the books had evil beings in the shape of chickens, and the aforementioned Pillars of Creation also featured a really twisted scene with a psycopathic serial murderer/rapist and -- you guessed it -- a chicken.

You know something ... I have Newcomb's The Fifth Sorceress (and it's follow-up book) in my "To Read Pile" as well!

Damn it! What the Hell am I doing????

I don't regret reading Goodkind...I have a few issues with his writing style...but there are some loveable parts.

Iryssa ... are you telling me that there is indeed hope, and that all is not lost?

As to the series' end, I think I remember reading that Goodkind was planning to write two (three?) 'trilogies' to end the series.

Metal-Demon wrote:Iryssa ... are you telling me that there is indeed hope, and that all is not lost?

Nope, she's wrong. I can state in fact that indeed there is no hope. And that everything is in fact lost. You might as well end your life because of it.

Umm ... can I end my life later? I have a bunch of stuff I need to do first, roughly 50 or 60 years worth.

Metal-Demon wrote:Umm ... can I end my life later? I have a bunch of stuff I need to do first, roughly 50 or 60 years worth.

LOL!

ok... I'll let you live...

For now...