Anyone read Terry Goodkind?

[Glacophane]

I was just curious and thought I would ask. Occasionally I come across threads about novels and which ones people like to read and I haven't heard anyone mention Goodkind's fantasy series yet.

 

[tygirwulf]

Yeah, GKE mentioned the Sword of Truth in the Wheel of Time thread. RW is a fan of that series too, or he was a while back. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I read it as well, and thought it was better than Wheel of Time in some ways. There are quite a few other SoT readers here, I'm sure.

***edited to add***
What? I've had that string through my pips for a few posts and I never noticed till now! Finally! I'll bet Antony will change the number of posts needed to have it in a few days here. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[RW7427]

Me likey the Sword of Truth series. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif It's one of my favorites.

To those that have not read the series. Try it. It's very good. I am a fan of epic fantasy, so this one is excellent IMHO. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Glacophane]

I think its a great series, I just finished the Pillars of Creation the other day and all I have to say is wow...I just love how an entire book can be devoted to characters other than the main ones.

 

[GKarsEye]

Despite the fact that RW likes it, it's still a great series.


(Kidding, I'm just playin' my man. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif )


The first book was a great action/fantasy story that hooked me into it. But the great thing about the series is that as soon as it's in danger of getting boring and repetitive, it changes its focus and keeps fresh. The major shift in direction was in terms of plot, where the enemy changed from the evil Rahls and the "Keeper" to the Jagang's Empire.

But the most surprising and recent shift was hinted at in Soul of the Fire and came to complete fruition in Faith of the Fallen: the series has become an allegory for Ayn Rand-ian Objectivist philosophy. It hit me like a sledgehammer while reading Faith (ironic title, then, eh?). At first I was a little worried, as I hate being preached at. But the story was still good and I was more forgiving since I generally do agree with that world view.

 

[RW7427]

**Whacks GKE in the head with "The Wizard's First Rule". /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[dawnchild]

Terry Goodkind`s "Sword of Truth"-series is very enjoyable reading I`d say! I still believe Tolkien`s "Lord of the Rings"-trilogy , Robert Jordan`s "Wheel of Time"-series and George R R Martin`s "A Song of Ice and Fire"-saga are even better ( they are fantasy-classics!!

) but Goodkind`s books are well worth reading as well!

My fav book in the "Sword of Truth"-series is book 2 "Stone of Tears" which I thought was excellent! , also book 6 "Faith of the Fallen" was very good indeed. Personally I thought book 7 - the last as of yet - was a poor entry but the story of Richard and Kahlan is surely an epic one!

 

[RW7427]

I liked the earlier books better, especially ones with Darken Rahl, Jagang, the Sisters, and the Mord-Sith.

 

[Glacophane]

I was just browsing the Tor website today and it had a list of upcoming books...Naked Empire by Goodkind is scheduled for July. I hate this..reading series of books that will take years to complete..lol. Sometimes i can't remember what happened in the previous books.

 

[RW7427]

Oooh, another SoT book! I hope this one has more of the Sisters, people like Nathan Rahl, and places like the Wizard's Keep!

 

[GKarsEye]

The best and worst thing about Goodkind is that he will describe things that happened in previous books a lot. On the one hand, it helps you to remember things you may have read 4 years ago, as well as making each novel work as a stand-alone story (try doing that with Wheel of Time book). On the other, it can be really annoying if you do remember those things, especially if they are very basic. How many times must I read about how Richard and Kahlan met?

 

[RW7427]

Yeah he is good that way.

I was way confused when I read one of those Weel of Time books.

 

[GKarsEye]

Which one did you read? Did you start with one of the books in the middle of the story? If so, no wonder you were confused. You really do have to them in order.

 

[RW7427]

Um...A Crown of Swords.

 

[GKarsEye]

Ah, book number 7 I believe. Yeah, you missed a lot.

That was actually one of the better books of the series.

 

[RW7427]

Well, I saw it in the store, thought it looked good, and bought it.

 

[dawnchild]

There are many great books in the Wheel of Time- series , all in all a marvellous fantasy-saga!

- but as others have mentioned here : the story must be read from the beginning ( book 1 : "Eye of the World" ) for it to make the most sense.

It is after all one waylong fascinating epic story broken into 10 ( so far ) parts ( books ) and with a few more to come.

Happy reading - enjoy!

 

[tygirwulf]

what are you doing starting with book 7, RW? lol

When I see a book that looks nice, I make sure it isn't the middle book of a series. If it is, I buy all the previous books first.

 

[RW7427]

That was they only one there.