Does anyone read Terry Goodkind?

[mcoleman44]

I have all of his books, and I cant get enough. I re read them twice every year. I know Im lame, but I dont care. Does anyone agree or have any comments about his books? (negative comments are welcome as well)

[Crunchy the Headcrab]

Yeah, I read The Wizard's First Rule.

You should read the Wheel of Time. Just sayin...

[toupeiro]

My father in law gave me a copy of wizards first rule about 3 or so years ago and its a great read. Very good author.

[mkendall]

Read the first 2.5 books. Something came up that interupted my reading for awhile and now I can't make myself care enough to go back to finish the third book. The writing and stories were passable enough that I could finish the first two but not good enough to go back and complete reading what was interupted.

[Barrucadu]

I've read from Wizard's First Rule to Naked Empire, I don't have the rest of the books yet though.

[anaconda]

I have read all of his books. More than once...

Including the newest "the rule of nine"

And all of them were good. (the rule of nine being the worst so far,,)

PS: don't really care about the cruel parts.. eg. being tortured by Denna etc. Those parts I have read only once...

[gnomeuser]

I read about just past the halfway point in Wizards First Rule and then gave it up in utter horror. The man has absolutely no sense for making a world that feels real and his characters are the worst stereotypes I ever encountered, no subtly what so ever. I mean even his villain doesn't stop short of pedophilia.

The man is a worthless waste of air, his writing is uninspired and I will never get the hours of my life back he stole from me without even the reward of a good read.

That being said, really good convincing fantasy is hard to find and being a old style gamemaster who likes to weave his own worlds and adventures I am hard to please but boy did Goodkind disappoint.

A friend of mine recently recommended Steven Ericson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series to me with the words "best epic fantasy he had ever read". Gardens of the Moon just arrived today and I plan to devote my afternoon to enjoying it. I have a good feeling about it and my friend has never steered me wrong when it comes to books.

[mcoleman44]

I read about just past the halfway point in Wizards First Rule and then gave it up in utter horror. The man has absolutely no sense for making a world that feels real and his characters are the worst stereotypes I ever encountered, no subtly what so ever. I mean even his villain doesn't stop short of pedophilia.

The man is a worthless waste of air, his writing is uninspired and I will never get the hours of my life back he stole from me without even the reward of a good read.

That being said, really good convincing fantasy is hard to find and being a old style gamemaster who likes to weave his own worlds and adventures I am hard to please but boy did Goodkind disappoint.

A friend of mine recently recommended Steven Ericson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series to me with the words "best epic fantasy he had ever read". Gardens of the Moon just arrived today and I plan to devote my afternoon to enjoying it. I have a good feeling about it and my friend has never steered me wrong when it comes to books.

Wow!! That is a review Ive never heard before. Have you tried any Brent Weeks?

[HoboJ]

I've read the entire sword of truth series up to Phantom. I have the last book ready to be read but I don't know if I can bring myself to do it.

The story was very interesting and engaging, it made me want to read more to find out what happens next. Then about midway through the series an extremely bizarre and unwelcome plot twist occurs where the old world attacks the new. (sorry if this is too much of a spoiler, trying to be vague) This changed the whole atmosphere of the series and almost made me stop reading it altogether. In many ways the whole tone of the books slowly changed from epic fantasy to desperate romance. Overall though it's an excellent read until you get to mentioned plot twist.

[gnomeuser]

Wow!! That is a review Ive never heard before. Have you tried any Brent Weeks?

Can't say I have but reading over the wikipedia page for his work it seems to be highly focused on magic which I always considered a crutch in good fantasy writing. With magic suddenly you have an out for everything but you create a ton of plot holes to fill. It takes a certain kind of genius to wield it such as it complements your story and your world rather than dominates it.

I'll give him a try after I finish my current Steven Ericsson trial and as always enjoy my Terry Pratchett stories. The latter is mostly just really funny which I enjoy more than it's fantasy element and at the price they are going for Amazon is cutting their own throats.

I am, I suspect, an unusual advocate of realism in fantasy. I don't so much like dragons and magic, I don't like 80's style heros of pure virtue and blond hair. I like a world I can believe in, I like a foundation in characters that feel real and stories that are dark.

[mcoleman44]

I've read the entire sword of truth series up to Phantom. I have the last book ready to be read but I don't know if I can bring myself to do it.

The story was very interesting and engaging, it made me want to read more to find out what happens next. Then about midway through the series an extremely bizarre and unwelcome plot twist occurs where the old world attacks the new. (sorry if this is too much of a spoiler, trying to be vague) This changed the whole atmosphere of the series and almost made me stop reading it altogether. In many ways the whole tone of the books slowly changed from epic fantasy to desperate romance. Overall though it's an excellent read until you get to mentioned plot twist.

I rather like the plot twist. It does become more of a romance with Richard/khalan/Nicci, but I like it. It turns out Im a romantic. Who would have thought. The only two books I can say that I didnt care for were Pillars of Creation and Chainfire. Chainfire just frustrated me and Pillars of creation was simply put, pointless.

[mcoleman44]

With magic suddenly you have an out for everything but you create a ton of plot holes to fill. It takes a certain kind of genius to wield it such as it complements your story and your world rather than dominates it.

So do you have anyone in mind that has that genius? Im always looking for a good read. :)

[Crunchy the Headcrab]

*cough*Wheel of Time*cough*

Read it dadgummit! (btw I don't really use this word irl).

[gnomeuser]

So do you have anyone in mind that has that genius? Im always looking for a good read. :)

I did rather enjoy parts of Philip Pullmans His Dark Materials series. The world though feels very tailored to that story specifically but the lessons in it are generally good.

Even as an atheist though I felt that the scenes with Lord Asriel ranting on the evils of the church were too head on, it felt very much like the delightful subtle style of the rest of the story was entirely dismissed in those sections.

Recently I have been making my way through the Discworld books (the City Watch series and now the Moist von Lipwig stories). I like how the later Discworld books are less the focused on magic and instead you have politics as the center piece. The world is fun and the references to pop culture and science always amuse me.

I don't read much fantasy these days, I try to create my own instead. Mainly because I have been unable to find the perfect writer who embodies what I find fascinating about such fantasy worlds. Though I am at heart a roleplayer so that is the form my creation takes place not a book. I like the social aspect of telling a story that way. Also I am not a terribly talented writer so this is the best approach for all concerned :)

[mcoleman44]

Read it dadgummit! (btw I don't really use this word irl)Take a chill pill and chillax man, Ill read it next. Lol.