Goodkind's Sword of Truth series optioned

[Zaren]

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=1&id=37350

 

 

With one book left in the series, Sword of Truth looks like it is going to get a treatment from an established director.

 

Phttphhbbt. I want my Eye of the World miniseries first.

[TheDiceAgain...]

In my opinion, this is a terible waste of directing talent.

 

I enjoyed the first few books on this series when Mr. Goodkind actually seemed to be attempting to tell a fantasy adventure story. The last several books have been nothing more than a treatise on objectivism interspersed with Goodkind's personal hatred of anything resembling organized religion. I also hate the fact that he spends 17 pages descibing the gore and eviscerated flesh left in the wake of the Imperial Order when it could have been done just as powerfully in 4 sentences and then spends about a page and a half per novel actually developing his characters. This series had such potential but it has been destroyed by its creator. It's just sad.

 

 

P.S- Before any of the fanboys out there tear me a new one for ripping the series without really knowing what I'm talking about, I have read every single one of these books hoping for a return to the enjoyment I got out of WFR but unfortunately it has just gotten worse. I literally skipped about 30 pages towards the begining of Phantom and I swear I missed nothing other than some rather grotesque destcriptions of torture and dead bodies and a 17 page long diatribe on the value of the individual. Frankly, if I want to be preached to, I'll go to church.

[Hannibal King]

So you've read the books. Big deal. I've read every one several times and could read them again right now. Sam Raimi, the director for the SoT series is a huge fan of Goodkind, so it won't be a waste of his talent. In my opinion, Goodkind's books have gotten better over time, starting with Faith of the Fallen.

Naked Empire was also spectacular. I, personally can't wait for the mini-series to come out, although I hope they don't ruin it.

 

P.S. The descriptions of the brutality of the Imperial order didn't bother me because in an interview TG said that he was trying to show people just how evil the IO was. In my opinion, it worked.

 

P.P.S. I've never heard of a "fanboy" before, but if that means mega fan, then I am the biggest Goodkind "fanboy" in the U.S.

[TheDiceAgain...]

Hey look, you can love them all you want, I was simply expressing an opinion.

 

In my opinion, the grossly overdone descriptions of mangled flesh serve no purpose other than to sicken and disgust the reader (me) while not advancing the story much at all. I know the point he is trying to make, but trust me, I get it. I'm an intelligent guy, you don't need to beat me over the head with the fact that the IO is evil.

 

In my opinion, reading a fantasy novel shouldn't involve wading through 50 pages of philosophical meanderings on the nature of free choice and individualism. As I said, if I want to hear a sermon, I'll go to church. And by the way, just how free are the D'Harans when they must swear allegance to an all powerful Lord simply to be protected from the "evil dream walker"?

 

In my opinion, a former woods guide with little training shouldn't be able to "figure out" supposedly extraordinarily complex contructs that are never explained or descibed that no one else can see by "instinct".

 

In my opinion, placing "get out of jail free" cards in just the right places 1000 years in advance "just in case" so that your archetype 'savior' character can be prodded along in the right direction is bad writing. The plot doesn't flow, it's forced from one happenstance to the next through some completely contrived plot device.

 

In my opinion, taking one of the central plot points of the first book (Richard's knowledge of the Book of Counted Shadows) and and saying "oops, I need to write a new book but that doesn't fit any more, so let completely nullify what I said before and start over" is just a painfully obviously ploy to sell more books.

 

That's my opinion, take issue with it if you want, I really don't mind or care. All I'm saying is that I would much rather a directorial talent like Raimi take a look at a series that's no quite so contrived...

[glassgirl]

I have to agree with Diceman. Loved the series at first, not so much in love any more. However, I still bought Phantom the day it came out.

[fats_oz]

i read the first six books, i got bored with them very easily. the first three i really enjoyed, but for me personally, it went down hill really quickly after that. i really have to agree with everything dice says. would much rather see the wot miniseries before i see this...

[Word]

TheDiceMan: If you have read GRRM's a Song of Ice and Fire, you should go over to Westeros.org and check out their forums. When Phantom came out I think they filled up 4 or 5 threads of 17+ pages making fun of TG and SoT it was pretty humorous to be honest. I read the books when I am bored, but I would have to agree that from a literary standpoint GRRM and WoT blow SoT out of the water. Just something to read while I am waiting for ADWD and AMoL :(

[the dude]

can't say i'm much surprised that this guy's getting a movie. it'll be a disaster. just like the books.

 

not that i intend to watch it. i stopped reading those trashy books after volume 3 or 4, and never looked back.

[Kadere]

I think it's going to be sweet. Sam Rami is a very good director, and WFR would make a perfect film or miniseries. It's all action and romance, and moves very quickly. So yeah, it' going to be awesome.

 

I read all the books. I thought 1-6 were fantastic, 7 was... different, but ok, 8 was pretty boring, but then 9 and 10 both ROCKED!!!

 

I love how people get mad about TG's "preaching" as though they don't understand that he's an objectivist and he's trying to do the same thing as Ayn Rand did, expressing his views in an entertaining way.

 

I also think that the "grotesque" writing is the best part of his books. He does a fantastic job at making you hate the evil characters to a point that most authors can't get to. There's never any point where we think that one of his evil characters is cool or sympathtic, we just hate them and want them to die in horrible nasty ways.

 

Yeah I liked the books, and I love that they're coming full circle now. I'll see the mini series. It'll be good.

[Hannibal King]

I think it's going to be sweet. Sam Rami is a very good director' date=' and WFR would make a perfect film or miniseries. It's all action and romance, and moves very quickly. So yeah, it' going to be awesome.

 

I read all the books. I thought 1-6 were fantastic, 7 was... different, but ok, 8 was pretty boring, but then 9 and 10 both ROCKED!!!

 

I love how people get mad about TG's "preaching" as though they don't understand that he's an objectivist and he's trying to do the same thing as Ayn Rand did, expressing his views in an entertaining way.

 

I also think that the "grotesque" writing is the best part of his books. He does a fantastic job at making you hate the evil characters to a point that most authors can't get to. There's never any point where we think that one of his evil characters is cool or sympathtic, we just hate them and want them to die in horrible nasty ways.

 

Yeah I liked the books, and I love that they're coming full circle now. I'll see the mini series. It'll be good.[/quote']

 

 

 

Yeah!! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!!

GOOD FOR YOU KADERE!!!!

[chuckievi]

I'm with Dice. I got how evil the IO was with all the raping, pillaging, and general carnage they caused throughout the entire series. TG seems to think that we may have forgotten about all that and beats us over the head with it again. I loved the series at first, but it keeps feeling like the eries is about to end, but then all of a sudden something else bad happens that has to be solved. The "jerky" flow of it is whats ruining it for me, that and the fact that everything always turns out for the better.

[loki redfern]

wooo with kaders (sorry it just sounds good in my head) and hannibal king all the way. i think i just like the plot/storyline whadever. starting book 7 now cant actually see what the big deal is about the preaching

[Hannibal King]

Yeah! Another fan! Way to go loki! Is it just coincidence or is your forumname based on Jilian's raven in Chainfire?

[TheDiceAgain...]

I'm curious; you seem overly excited about finding another fan of the series. Though I'm no longer a big fan, Goodkind seems to have a pretty large and undoubtedly rabid fanbase. It's not at all strange to find them here on a website dedicated to another fantasy series as a lot of people tend to have an affinity for certain genres. Mind you Mr. Goodkind apprently doesn't think that he is a fantasy author which he considers a "tired, empty genre", but rather that they are placed in the fantasy section mostly economic reasons.

 

He aslo claims that anyone who criticizes his books:

 

"...were not fans, and that they hated that his novels existed. He also claimed "their goal is not to enjoy life, but to destroy that which is good... These people hate what is good because it is good."

 

His words, not mine...

 

Frankly, I and many others have said here on multiple occasions that there are parts of The Wheel of Time that I don't like, but Mr. Jordan has never accused us of hating that his books exist or hating what is good because it is good. Sound slightly fanatical to me. Probably why his fans are so touchy about criticism...

[Isabel]

So how are they going to do the Torture scenes in book 1? I am kindof curious about that and the preaching and rationalisation of killing civilians by Richard and ofcourse the cutting off the ears on the orders of Richard.....

 

Anyway, I won't spend my money on watching it.

[Angel of Death]

I like these books, granted they aint as good as WoT, but they are still good in there own right. I dont know if they would work as a movie but hey lotr and harry potter did, if eragon is big, it might be worth a try.

[Guest Egwene]

I love and hate the SoT books at the same time. Love the characters and some of the story lines (a couple of the later books were a bit boring) but the way TG lingers on the gory/nasty bits... sometimes I feel that he actually enjoys those scenes too much, to be continously writing them in such detail. It makes me very uneasy about what sort of person the author is.

 

He does manage to make those scenes relevant to the story or at least provoke thought. The torture/rape/violence at the end of book one for example... The whole experience shapes the main character and influences many of his actions in the story later on. It is also a chapter that should make any reader ponder how a victim of a crime turns into someone inflicting the same crimes on others.

 

Agree with Chuckievi about the jerky flow. Apart from the EotW which to me had a sudden gear change at the end, I feel the WoT moves along as one story. Where as the SoT series is more of a stop and start. Having said that... it's good each author has a different style. Wouldn't it be boring if they were all the same?

 

How do you define Fantasy books? Some of the books our local book store has in that section, I'd put under fiction. And vica versa. Who cares about the label? As long as the story is a good one.

.

[Hannibal King]

I'm curious; you seem overly excited about finding another fan of the series. Though I'm no longer a big fan' date=' Goodkind seems to have a pretty large and undoubtedly rabid fanbase. It's not at all strange to find them here on a website dedicated to another fantasy series as a lot of people tend to have an affinity for certain genres. Mind you Mr. Goodkind apprently doesn't think that he is a fantasy author which he considers a "tired, empty genre", but rather that they are placed in the fantasy section mostly economic reasons.

 

He aslo claims that anyone who criticizes his books:

 

"...were not fans, and that they hated that his novels existed. He also claimed "their goal is not to enjoy life, but to destroy that which is good... These people hate what is good because it is good."

 

His words, not mine...

 

Frankly, I and many others have said here on multiple occasions that there are parts of The Wheel of Time that I don't like, but Mr. Jordan has never accused us of hating that his books exist or hating what is good because it is good. Sound slightly fanatical to me. Probably why his fans are so touchy about criticism...[/quote']

 

I'm just glad that there are fans of Goodkind here after seeing all of the remarks that came before them. And by the way Goodkind said that Fantasy was a dead genre that has become cliched tripe, and he is right. He agrees that some fantasy is decent(he read David Drake's Lord of the Isles and Terry Brooks' Shannara) but he acknowledges that it is becoming cliched. P.S. Enough of the psychotic ideas, TG's fans are not fanatics, they are just good fans. I'm sure that if someone came onto this site and did nothing but bash RJ, I'm sure that there would be a few here that would try their hardest to correct that opinion.

[Guest Egwene]

We do have a few people here whose sole reason for becoming a DM member seems to be to put down tWoT. Bit like attending a party with the intent to spoil the atmosphere. Personally, I think that just makes those guys look pretty petty and narrow minded.

 

Same with TG. I think to say that an author with a series as long running as SoT, that is still selling well, deserves no merit, is false in the extreme. You don't have to be anti TG to be a RJ fan and vice versa either.

 

I hope TG has read fantasy books other than those two authors you mentioned. I read most of their books and whilst they were fun, I wouldn't neccessarily hold them up as the epitome of fantasy. Are they pulished by the same company? A lot of authors seem to be thinking very highly about other books published by their own publisher... pure coincidence, of course

 

Anyway, I think if you have found books that really propel you into another reality, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks!

[the dude]

yeah, check out the "literary whore" thread in "wheel of time discussion" for a good example of that one.....

 

oh, i also read an interview of terry goodkind where he stated his belief that, in canada, you can be arrested just for criticizing the government. just a little tidbit. a window, if you will. what you choose to see when you look through that window is up to you, but i know exactly what i see.

[Guest Egwene]

without having read any of these interviews everyone is citing... just going by the books, I would say that TG is unlikely to be a middle of the road person. I could easily picture him as an extremist of some sort.

 

That doesn't bother me though, when I read the books. I don't have to agree with the authors opinion. Philip Pullman is another that really has political/religious views in his books. The author does lay himself open to criticisms, doing that. In my opinion it adds to the flavour of the story. It is a bit like adding a secret ingredient. Some authors just add a larger chunk of themselves to a book than others..

[Hannibal King]

(For Egwene) Just so you know, TG is a devout objectivist (a philosophy made by an author named Ayn Rand) and he infuses his ideals into his books just like Ayn Rand did in "Atlas Shrugged". Sorry but TG doesn't read fantasy, he said he read those two series, but he usually just reads non-fiction and Ayn Rand and a guy named Dean Koontz. If anyone here wants to listen to an interview to get their facts straight just say so and I'll give you the link for it.

[Guest Egwene]

I find it hard to believe that that he would base a sweeping comment about fantasy based on having read two authors.

[Hannibal King]

http://trashotron.com/agony/indexes/audio_interview_index.htm

 

Here is the site, scroll down a ways and then you'll find his interview. Think about what you're hearing, some will realize how smart he is.

The list also has an interview of RJ.

[Hannibal King]

http://www.objectivistcenter.org/ct-1695-Goodkind.aspx

 

Here is a review by a fellow objectivist.