Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind

[Webin]

I read this entire series and really enjoyed it. I know a handful of guildies have also read this series as well. The first book is called Wizard's First Rule. I highly suggest you give these a try if you enjoy fantasy.

[greekrefugee]

The series gets kind of formulaic as it goes on, but it's still pretty good regardless. The first book is amazing, so if you only read that one it'll be worth it. The series got really good again with Faith of the Fallen. I don't think I've read the last one or two that have come out so I have no clue how those are.

[Reedu]

The series gets kind of formulaic as it goes on, but it's still pretty good regardless. The first book is amazing, so if you only read that one it'll be worth it. The series got really good again with Faith of the Fallen. I don't think I've read the last one or two that have come out so I have no clue how those are.

qft

[Lazloth]

I've been reading through this series and I've actually found my own experiences to be the exact opposite of what has been said here and to me elsewhere. I thought the first book was exceedingly poorly written with plot development focused in the wrong places and the scenes lacking congruity, not to mention a severe overemphasis on scenery description. Where there were three pages worth of descriptions proving how many different types of trees he knows about, somehow barely a few sentences were devoted to him "becoming the seeker", making the entire concept seem trivial at best. That in particular irked me for quite some time, but in my persistence I read on. In contrast, I have enjoyed the subsequent books immensely, and am at times hard pressed to even believe it to be the same author. Stone of Tears and Blood of the Fold I particularly relished. I suppose something is to be said of a person's development as a writer over the course of their career, but I find it interesting that my experience has been so different than most others, though I guess that sort of thing should hardly surprise me anymore considering its entrenchment in my life.

On a different note regarding the series, I was quite surprised when I first began reading to find that the television show currently being produced - of which I had seen a number of episodes prior to reading the books - is in almost no way a true representation of the themes in the books. In fact, aside from the names of the characters, there is hardly anything to draw parallel to. Further, in comparison to the novels, the show is.....a mess, to say the least. As an author I would think to be quite upset to see my work mangled in such a fashion, but I guess that's what happens when you sell off the rights. Shame on you Terry.

[Aus]

I think I watched about 4 episodes of the TV series (having read all except the most recent book) and was just like...abhorred and disappointed and angry at what they did to it.

[Webin]

For me the best book of the series has been Faith of the Fallen. This is probably the only book I can pick up and just read over and over again. Tell me what you think of it when you get to it Laz.

[Aus]

Yeah, I agree that's far and away the best one, but overall I can't think of any I particularly disliked with exception of half of Naked Empire. I felt that entire book lacked action and was just straight up boring.

[Azurai]

The show is pretty terrible. I don't even have to read the books to know that it isn't a very accurate depiction of them.

[Lazloth]

At the moment I'm about a quarter through Soul of the Fire, which is as yet my least favorite, but that could change based on whether or not these Ander pieces of shit get killed off. Either way, Faith of the Fallen next, so I'll let you know what I think.

As for the show, like I said, it boggles me. In reality they've simply taken the names of the characters and the sword, and created a completely new, not to mention sub-par, storyline. Thirty thousand benjamins doesn't seem like enough to warrant the butchery of a writer's life's work.

[Raeus and Ashra]

For me the best book of the series has been Faith of the Fallen.

Agree completely.

As for the show, Ash and I had watched the first three episodes and were appalled. It seems to have taken up the Hercules/Xena slot as the Shitty-fantasy on basic cable (admittedly I watched those growing up). I cannot even imagine how they mutilated the Denna scenes (I have only heard the collective woes of the fans). One interesting perspective that I had encountered when discussing the Sword of Truth TV series was when someone related it to how one does a retake on Batman or X-Men. Using the same characters, but with a new writer/inker/visionary to reformulate the story in "their" image~ a rehashing. I have no problem with this (ie The Dark Knight, X-Men Trilogy/Origins). What I do have a slight problem with, is how this show could have gone so wrong with Terry Goodkind (supposedly) helping with production/scripting. I think if I was on set watching my story being turned into something that awful I would have quit/pulled the plug.

Terry should have pulled an Alan Moore and distanced himself as much as possible from the production. I hope the series doesn't ruin it for those interested in picking up the books.

[Lazloth]

I finished and enjoyed Faith of the Fallen. I'm not sure of it being my "favorite", but its up there. In general the sisters - both flavors - really grate on my nerves, and I have to admit sometimes finding difficulty in pressing forward through the throngs of self righteous zealotry. While I'm quite certain that is the intended effect, and is a testament to the writing, that doesn't make it any easier for me to swallow. A few times, and not just in this volume, I found myself wanting to scream at the lunacy. Speaking however of lunacy, I did like the Nicci character a lot as a bit of a twist to the somewhat formulaic Richard-Kahlan-Separation. I only now hope that the later books in the series start taking different turns as well; I can only handle so many naive and ignorant characters in pivotal roles. A couple hundred pages into Pillars of Creation, the introduction of Jennsen seems to detract from the likelihood of that hope coming to fruition, but we'll see.

[Webin]

man, you're a reading machine.

[Rael]

Laz, hurry up and finish this. You have to start reading Dune!

[greekrefugee]

I've been reading through this series and I've actually found my own experiences to be the exact opposite of what has been said here and to me elsewhere. I thought the first book was exceedingly poorly written with plot development focused in the wrong places and the scenes lacking congruity, not to mention a severe overemphasis on scenery description. Where there were three pages worth of descriptions proving how many different types of trees he knows about, somehow barely a few sentences were devoted to him "becoming the seeker", making the entire concept seem trivial at best. That in particular irked me for quite some time, but in my persistence I read on. In contrast, I have enjoyed the subsequent books immensely, and am at times hard pressed to even believe it to be the same author.

Well, in general I tend to cut fantasy writers a lot of slack. I enjoy a well written novel, but I grew up on Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms (for fantasy anyway), and that shit wasn't Hemingway, lol. So when I say I liked the first one a lot, it was more...I don't know..as a thematic unit than a book with a given writing style. While I liked the other books, I got tired of a) the crazy multiple wife/woman thing going on with Richard and b) each book had a new fucking end of the world and in solving it, Richard has yet another ability that hasn't been seen in 5 thousand years. C'mon. The Blood of the Fold kind of annoyed me. I get the chacracter prototype/historical metaphor. Whatever. Chalk it up to taste I suppose. It was similar to the frustration you mentioned regarding the Sisters. I get the point, just got old, you know?

So I guess I tended to like particular subplots in many of the books more than the books as a whole. The Richard/Kahlan dynamic. Whatever. Too cheezy. I know it's fantasy. Blow me. On the other hand, they're entertaining, and quicky reads. Doesn't hold a flame to Song of Ice and Fire imo. I think that series really raised the bar for my expectations of fantasy, and as I reread series I used to like, I find them less appealing.

[Lazloth]

Well, in general I tend to cut fantasy writers a lot of slack. I enjoy a well written novel, but I grew up on Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms (for fantasy anyway), and that shit wasn't Hemingway, lol. So when I say I liked the first one a lot, it was more...I don't know..as a thematic unit than a book with a given writing style. While I liked the other books, I got tired of a) the crazy mutliple wife/woman thing going on with Richard and b) each book had a new fucking end of the world and in solving it, Richard has yet another ability that hasn't been seen in 5 thousand years. C'mon. The Blood of the Fold kind of annoyed me. I get the chacracter prototype/historical metaphor. Whatever. Chalk it up to taste I suppose. It was similar to the frustration you mentioned regarding the Sisters. I get the point, just got old, you know?

So I guess I tended to like particular subplots in many of the books more than the books as a whole. The Richard/Kahlan dynamic. Whatever. Too cheezy. I know it's fantasy. Blow me. On the other hand, they're entertaining, and quicky reads. Doesn't hold a flame to Song of Ice and Fire imo. I think that series really raised the bar for my expectations of fantasy, and as I reread series I used to like, I find them less appealing.

Those ideas are pretty similar to a lot of my experiences with this series. While I don't actually have an issue with the love story dynamic, the repetitious nature in which the situations are shaped has been a sore spot for me. Similarly the X ignorant character does something stupid until X other character shows them the truth and then everyone has a picnic theme makes me crazy. I finished Pillars of Creation last night and honestly I could barely even get through it. Six hundred pages of Jennsen being deluded and misguided was more than I could take, particularly when it more than abundantly clear from the very first moment the characters in her life arrived what their true intentions were. At the very least there could have been some mystery or veiling about Sebastian's subversion, not to mention that in spite of constant allusion to her (Jennsen's) "intelligence", it never occurred to her that his own mission/needs/whatever were entirely non-existent. One would think an "intelligent" person might surmise that something fishy was going on. Most of my time with the book was spent punching myself in the thigh screaming "WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID" - Not an enjoyable experience.

I think you also hit on an important point with reference to A Song of Ice and Fire biasing readers. By comparison really to any other fantasy I've read before or since, they seem to have more of everything that draws me to the genre and less of the nonsense filler that pushes me away. The stories are all rich and well intertwined, and leave you with questions unanswered that really whet the appetite for more. I don't recall ever feeling the urge to skip entire pages like I do with Goodkind's descriptive alphabetic diarrhea, for example. However, in light of George Martin's writing speed - or lack thereof -, I'm unsure if his work is a curse of a blessing. Either way I still often find myself grumbling about dragon heads when my bookshelf catches my eye.

For the most part I'm not really upset with the things I've encountered not to my taste; I've still enjoyed most of the books and am hoping for some positive change in the last few, but I knew what I was getting into when I first started the series. Like you said, it ain't Hemingway.