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Goodkind XXXVIII: The Great Tomato Showdown


Myshkin

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I am a little bit reticient to actually start this Thread for fear of igniting the wrath of quite a few people in this sub-Forum. But I'll take the plunge anyway! As I've stated elsewhere, I'm relatively new to this Forum although I have been a long time lurker. I've popped in on here very occasionally (like, sometimes, just once or twice a month) mostly due to lack of time, and I come most often to the Literature section for the recommendations on new Fantasy series, or other books that may pique my interest. However, one thing I have noticed is quite an intense dislike for the Sword for Truth series and I was wondering why this was so.

If there are other Threads on this subject, than please feel free to lock this one up as long as a couple of links are provided so as to give me some sort of answer to my question! However, there are a few things I would like clearing up as well. First, my own personal backstory regarding my experiences with Sword for Truth.

Many years ago I attempted to read Wizards First Rule and gave up after I reached a certain point. The point where I gave up was where Darken Rahl (what a name!) was talking to one of his underlings and the revolting conversation about little boys 'squirming' made me realise that the series possibly wasn't for me. The other thing that got on my nerves was the constant usage of the word 'Friend' for the first few chapters, making me realise that the book probably wasn't checked over by a half-decent editor. That was it for me.

However, it seems to be quite a popular series. Now I know that Amazon and it's starring system are the worst things to go by when looking for recommendations, but quite a few of the reviews are generally positive. I'm probably NOT going to tackle the series but it does make me a little curious about it.

What is it about the series that people on here don't like? I remember reading somewhere that, quite uniquely, Richard Rahl is fighting communism (??) in the later books and it goes through the repetitious formula of Richard and his sweetheart splitting up and reuniting at the end of the book, every single book, and that chainfire is some sort of rip-off of balefire from Wheel of Time. Is this really so? What else is so bad about this series? And what are Ayn Rand's philosophies that series is supposedly influenced/based on? What is the overall plot of the series?

Oh, and finally, what is it about Terry Goodkind himself that appears to irritate so many people? I know next to nothing about him either as a person or an author.

Sorry if this has all been covered before but, as I said, I can't help but be curious. The series has garnered a kind of infamy I think and I sort of want to read it for it's it's-so-bad-it's-good qualities.
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Terry Goodkind doesn't write fantasy, you've been misinformed. Those books aren't fantasy books, they're an exploration of Objectivism and a very long rant about why Objectivism is the only good, decent way to live your life. In short they're preachy, hypocritical and poorly written.
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Taffy, if you can't find a Terry Goodkind thread in this forum then you aren't really looking. There's been a series of 38+ over the years and there's one on this page. You may want to look for answers there, or perhaps a Mod could merge this with the current thread, which is right [url="http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?showtopic=29267"]here[/url]
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[quote name='Tomekire' post='1418836' date='Jun 27 2008, 22.52']Go[url="http://sandstormreviews.blogspot.com/2006/08/goodkind-parodies.html#rr"]Here[/url] to see why this series is hated. It is extremely funny. I sat and laughed for about an hour.[/quote]


Ah yes, this is exactly what I was looking for :) Thanks for that Tomekire.

And thanks as well Moosicus. I tried doing a search but I seemed to get result which mentioned Terry Goodkind in a whole variety of Threads rather than anything concise. I think I'm not too good with the Search function just yet :/ But thank you for the link as well. This more o' less answers my questions. :)
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[quote name='MinDonadoni' post='1417701' date='Jun 27 2008, 18.16']Not scary? Wait until you hear those three terrible words...


"Bawk... bawk... bawk..."


:uhoh: :leaving:[/quote]
Fuck. That sent chills up my spine.

DO. NOT. WANT.

Seriously. I wonder if Tairy's going to do some bit of research on these new books.
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Tairy doing research would indicate that somebody else knows more than him. And how could that possibly be the case. It may very well be that his new "thriller" novels might bear some very close resemblance to other popular thriller novels, but we must keep in mind that Tairy has never read a book in his whole life. So how could he possibly steal from another author?
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Remember, earlier this month, Penguin Canada released Scott Bakker's [i]Neuropath[/i]. It might be in a year or so that we can start accusing him of ripping off Bakker instead of Jordan :P
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Well in all fairness... for someone wanting to know the basic reasons that TG rubs people the wrong way, those threads aren't the best place to start. IMO. Most of the posts are just jabs at some of the poorly written situations... but in order to understand those jabs, you would have to have read the book.

The bottom line is that all the things that made you quit reading the first book get worse in later books and the level of preaching is escalated to new heights.
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[quote name='Dylanfanatic' post='1417356' date='Jun 26 2008, 22.01']And now, [url="http://www.terrygoodkind.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3572"]special words from Tairy[/url]:[/quote]


Is it just me or did TG throw TOR under the bus here?

[i]Putnam is a team of talented people at the very top level of publishing. To be chosen to partner with a publisher of their stature has long been my objective;[/i]

And despite the ret-conning of that statement within the same letter, there just isn't a real expression of confidence or gratitude towards TOR. Continuing to refer to "my new publishers". Yeesh. Poor TOR.
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It shouldn't come as a surprise that Tairy ditched TOR, after all, they had the temerity to market his books as fantasy, which is clearly absurd. I wonder if his new books will be marketed as thrillers, and if so, will Tairy still be complaining that they aren't sold in the philosophy section of bookstores.
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I want one of his new books to have a gun on the cover. Then I wanna see him bitch about it.
His new books will be put in the fantasy section.
His response:
"I PUT TWO DRAGONS IN THIS BOOK IT DOES NOT MAKE IT FANTASY GAH I FUCKING HATE PUTNAM THAT'S IT I'M GOING INDEPENDENT."
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The new book will be about a detective, named Roger, and his new client, a mysterious woman named Karen. She needs Roger's help finding three boxes of orders that went missing at the Parkin' Mall. Roger seeks the advice of his mentor, Zipp. Zipp gives him his special snub-nosed .38 and says "this is the truth, baby". The case leads Roger into New York's seedy underworld sex trade, where he poses as a submissive in Mistress Jenna's bondage club. Later it turns out that the Parkin' Mall is only the beginning. Things go from bad to worse when Roger realizes that the source of all the trouble is the infamous criminal organization known as the "Jah Gang". They run an illegal import/export business using a corrupt Canadian shipping company - Imperial Orders - as a front. But first, Roger must get past the Dark Sistahs. Evil women who sold their souls to gangsta-rap recording companies in order to have their demo tapes played. One of the Dark Sistahs, Vicki, kidnaps Roger and takes him to Europe, with all its Old World charm, and hopes to convert him to her cause. While there, Roger goes to a lot of museums and learns to paint just as well as a renaissance master. His paintings plant the seeds of liberty within horrible European regimes, like France and Germany. Ultimately Roger learns that the only way to defeat the Jah Gang is to beat them at their own game. Rugby. Reaching back to his days as a foozball champion, Roger quickly becomes the best Rugby player in the world, nobody able to withstand his "spin kick". However, nobody knows how the book ends, because nobody gets this far without shooting themselves. Terry Goodkind's comments regarding this will revolve around people not choosing life, and that they're missing the big picture.
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[quote name='Moosicus' post='1420801' date='Jun 30 2008, 11.30']His paintings plant the seeds of liberty within horrible European regimes, like France and Germany.[/quote]

Goddamn. That means the Bandakarians are either the Swiss or my people. I gotta get the hell outta here before I piss Roger off with my 'hatred for moral clarity'.
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