"Sword of Truth" fans?

[zap]

About a month ago I started reading Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. The first book, Wizards first rule was really great! I thought the characters were wonderful, and I don't think I've ever read a warmer, friendlier book! Everyone was hugging, and caring for each other, I really liked that. The books are set in a fantastical realm, but the theme is anything but fantasy! Fans of Ayn Rand might really appreciate these books. I have to say though that I am not particularly fond of Ayn Rand, so it may be a little odd that I like these books so much. So far there are 9 books in the series, and I have finished the first 5 (yes, 5 long novels in just less than one month......I suppose I really do read fast).

Any other fans of Terry Goodkind, or fans of these books? If I was making some sort of ranking, I would place Tolkien's Lord of the RIngs at the very top, then Goodkind's Sword of Truth, then further down the Sword of Shanara (I can't remember the author right now, sorry) books. Now don't get me wrong, Goodkind's books are not masterpieces, and the writing is a bit plodding in places, even ham-fisted, and there is more than a little mysogyny in these books. The only reason I put up with that is because it is always the "bad guys" that engage in that sort of behaviour. The other side of that coin is the fact that nearly all the female characters are strong, capable women, able to hold their own, with minds of thier own. The women show determination, strength, and wisdom, equal to every male character. Overall, I'm enjoying these books, I figure I'll be done with the remainder of the series by the end of this month, but I think it will be worth it. I'm curious to hear any of yall's thoughts on these books, if you've read them (well duh, why else would I post this :rolleyes: ?)

[LT Garrix]

Goodkind's books are absolutely amazing. I'm ready Pillars of Creation now. You're right about the characters. He has created a wonderful and rich world for us all to enjoy.

Shanara books are by Terry Brooks. I know, lot's of Terrys.

Some other books that I would suggest are the Tad Williams Memory, Sorrow & Thorn books. I really enjoyed those.

If you want something that will take you some time I didn't see you mention Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. Those books are simply amazing. Like Goodkind it's a work in progress. I think he's up to book 11 now. The characters are amazing and the women are strong. There are so many wonderful twists and turns and he lays the way for certain plot twists books in advance. Once I finish Goodking's latest I think I'm going to reread the whole series. This would be the 5th time I've reread them, they're that good. And I keep finding things every time I do reread them.

[zap]

Lt Garrix, do you participate on Goodkind's webpage forum? I just joined it (I'm Esotar there). I've read some Tad William's books also, but the one's I read were the one's set in cyberworld (sea of silver light, et al). Thanks for the tip about Wheel of Time! I really want to re-read the Dark Tower books, and then the last one's also.

[LT Garrix]

No, I haven't done that. I may look into it. The Sea of Silver Light one are very good too. It's acutally kind of scary because I look at society today and it's not to unlikely that something like that could happen. I think I still have one more book to read in that series. I need to go through my books.

I never really got into Stephen King though I have heard many good things about Dark Tower.

For WOT there was a group of us at school that would pass the books around. I've since invested in the hardcover books because they will last to the rereading a lot better than the paperback. The cover fell off of one from overuse. :lol:

[Emeraldcity]

In an effort to make room for yet another bunch of books I am parting with my Sword of Truth series of books. They are all hardbacks with the exception of one and some of them are first editions....... take a look.......

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6917139110&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

[Necron]

Goodkind rocks, I have all his books in hardcover. :) And I only do that for the best of the best becuase HC's are way too expensive. Terry is one of the best Fantasy writes out there. Can't wait for the trilogy to come out that will end the current SOT story arc.

[LT Garrix]

I take it back, I'm reading "Naked Empire". I didn't have the book handy when I last posted, and honestly, there are so many of them now that I have a hard time keeping the titles straight. I say the same thing about the Shanara and WOT books.

What I really love about these is that the long series really allows for a lot of character development, and in the case of WOT, allows you to have several main characters that can go off on their own subplots.

That's another thing I like about Goodkind. It's not just focused solely on Richard and Khalan, he weaves in other characters that become equally important and allows the story to be more vivid and have more depth since there are generally at least 2 or 3 subplots. I also like the way he gives you insight into the badguys and develops those characters just as well as the good guy characters.

[Saajak]

I read the first five books, but I really had to force myself to finish the fifth. I enjoyed the first books in the series, but I just didn't enjoy the later books. I'm not sure why.

Have you read George RR Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, starting with "A Game of Thrones"?

[Kathleen]

I"ll go into more details later, but I absolutely ADORE Terry Goodkind's books! I have all of them, and they have been read repeatedly.

For Saajak: You said that you haven't read past the 5th book. You stopped too soon!!! The sixth book, Faith of the Fallen, is IN MY OPINION, the best book in the entire series!!!!!!!!!!!!! You really should give it a chance. I think you would enjoy it immensely.

I just finished rereading Naked Empire a couple of weeks ago, and I enjoyed it yet again. It had been a while since I'd read it, and it was great to not remember and be surprised all over again! :D I, too, can't wait til January when the first book in the trilogy comes out!!

I've also read the Memory, Thorn and Sorrow books by Tad Williams. They were good, but just not the same caliber as Goodkind or even Eddings (I LOVE Eddings!!!)... I also read The Flower Wars by Tad Williams about a month ago, and I enjoyed it quite a bit more than his others that I've read. It just flowed better to me.

Anyways, gotta run for now. Still at work, and I don't wanna get busted!! LOL I just couldn't resist replying to this thread. :D

[mfa96]

I read all of the book up until The Pillars of Creation. I saw that Richard and Kahlan were not in it until the end, and put it down (I was buying them in hardcover too). I don't mind if he wants to set a story in the same world with new characters, but market it that way- I'd still read it. I wanted to see what happened next to the characters I had been following for years.

Also, Goodkind seems to re-use the same plot devices every other book. I mean for a powerful hero- Richard sure gets captured a lot...

I have bought Pillars and will read it at some point. I got someone at work hooked on these books, and she says the last 2 are just as good as the rest. We'll see....

[LT Garrix]

Well, Richard and Kahlan are in Naked Empire. I thought it was kind of odd to not have them in the book, but it makes sense later.

Huh, I was just on his website and saw that I somehow missed Debt of Bones, I'll have to check out that prequel. Too many books on my to read list.

And how could I have forgotten David and Leigh Eddings. I love all their work. The stories were very enjoyable. I even bought the Riven Codex as I was traveling through the Amsterdam airport since it wasn't out in the US yet.

[Clarsax]

Spoilers for the whole series.











































I read it up until Pillars of Creation. The series was great until Blood of the Fold, but then it started to slip and each book got a little worse than the one before. Pillars was the last one. I might take out Naked Empire from the library if I have enough free time, but I've been so dissappointed with the last few books that I don't know if I'll keep reading them. It started out so friendly and fun, very creative and not like anything I'd read before. But the last few have gotten very dull, extremely violent, and all the warm friendliness that attracted me to the series is gone.

Also, the thing that bothered me more than anything else: What happened to Chase and Rachel??? They vanished after the second book and all the other characters forgot about them. It's as if they were wiped out of existance. Even when visiting Westland, Richard did not remember they existed. And after all that buildup of Rachel one day growing up to be an important character. Those two were favorites of mine, and I was really annoyed to see them disappear like that.

[BlackThorn]

I love the series up to "Faith of the Fallen." Excellent stuff all around! "Pillars of Creation" isn't that bad, but I didn't care for it. And "Naked Empire" is the one where I truly started to lose my admiration for Goodkind's work. I know he's had a message through the whole series. I think it's a great message. But he used to weave the message into the story, telling it through the story. By "Naked Empire," it seems he's lost that ability, instead turning to just preaching the message and telling a bit of story underneath. "Naked Empire" felt more like being smacked upside the head with a 2x4, "I get it! I get it! No need to be so heavy handed!"

Fortunately, he said he's wrapping the series up with three more books, the "Chainfire Trilogy." The first is due out January 2005. I'm glad because I'm addicted to the story and need to know how it ends, and now I know how many more heavy handed books I'll have to weed through to find out how that story ends.

[LT Garrix]

I'll agree it's heavy handed, at least up to the point where I am. I felt like the last three chapters were incredibly repetitive. Same stuff over and over. Okay, I get it, these people are dense. Move on.

[Kathleen]

SPOILERS FOR GOODKIND BOOKS...
























To Clarsax:
Chase and Rachel return in Naked Empire. They are just as wonderful in that part of the story as they were in the first couple of books. In fact, that part of the book is probably my favorite part of the entire book. I enjoyed the book in general, but it did get very "heavy". I agree with others that you got the feeling his message was more important the the story and the characters.

I was almost turned away by Pillars of Creation. I didn't enjoy it that much at all. Yes, it gave us alot of insight towards Jennsen and Tom and the others, but I felt it unnecessary to create 650 pages of that, then bring Richard, Kahlan and Cara in for the last 50 pages.

As for Faith of the Fallen, I still hold that book to be the very best of the entire series! I love how it flowed, and how Goodkind was able to draw the 2 different parts of the story together. It was an amazing ride through that book, as I was able to really see how Richard was as a person.

As for reading Eddings, I have ALL of the books concerning Belgarath, Polgara and Garion/CeNedra. I, too, have The Rivan Codex. I also bought The Redemption of Althalus and it is FABULOUS!!!!! I highly suggest it! I think I have all but 2 of his books. I've read them all so many times, but they all just satisfy my avarice for reading. There's nothing about those books that I don't enjoy.