Sword of Truth Similarities

[joeybsmash]

i don't really want to compare series. i just want a soapbox to preach about how lame the sword of truth is. it is so lame. when richard rahl isn't just pulling things out of his butt to save the day in some insanely coincedental plot of a henry steven keeler bent, then the story is just a graphic description of violence that is not nearly disturbing enough, or he is using his books as a platform to spread his insane, pre-new deal ideology. terry goodkind sucks.

[Guest cwestervelt]

It's a toss up between "Book 1" and "It always sucked". Never having read passed Wizard's First Rule I can't comment on the rest.

[Luckers]

Have you guys heard they are making a Sword of Truth miniseries.

 

This annoys me, because A) theres gonna be people who assume that RJ stole from Goodkind because the films give his series the illusion of prominence. B) it kind of kills any chance of WoT being made into a movie... no filmmaker is going to create something so similar to an existing film. C) That a talentless hack like Goodkind can get that sort of recognition is just plain bad.

 

My favorite thing is the quote of RJ responding to someone who asked about the similarities between the two series' and RJ replying "I'm aware of Mr. Goodkind." I thought that sort of said everything.

[Guest Egwene]

If you just want a soap box about SoT... this thread should be on General Discussions...

 

... where as luck has it, there already is one...

 

http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5128

 

I read both series... they are as different as chalk and cheese as far as I am concerned. WoT is my favourite, but I have enjoyed SoT as well. I am not quite sure why people feel the need to get so heated up about it. A rational discussion quoting chapter and verse, yes... 'it sucks'... a one sided poll... hmmm... I think that is called a rant and shouldn't be here either.

.

[Guest cwestervelt]

I don't get worked up about it comparisons with Goodkind and Jordan. I remember being amazed that people even tried comparing them as I never saw them as being remotely equal. I read Wizard's First Rule before I ever started The Wheel of Time. As a result, my dislike of Goodkind's work has nothing to do with Jordan's. I did find it to be a rip-off of previous works and concepts though. The most notable being Terry Brooks' The Sword of Shanarra.

 

Luckers, I too have always liked that particular RJ quote.

[Zardi]

From what I've read of SoT...not much, admittedly...I don't think they're all that similar. As for Luckers' fear, I think it's more likely that people would accuse Goodkind or RJ of stealing from LotR, and as such, I don't think the making of SoT would kill the making of WoT. In fact, if the SoT miniseries is popular, it might prompt them to do a WoT one as well.

 

I actually did like the first book when I read it, before discovering WoT. I thought the second one was alright, but couldn't finish the third, so I picked the third book in the poll.

[Musenge]

The Sisters of the light do remind me of Aes Sedai and specifically Red Ajah.

 

Mord Sith could be likened to Maidens of the Spear but not too much so since they are victims not actual soldiers.

 

Rand and Richard are both Messianic prophesised saviors of "good" but then that's common in most fantasy. They do both seem to suffer quite a bit though and have both become increasingly less likeable.

 

As for when SOT went downhill I believe it was after the excellent Faith of the Fallen. Richard is extremely irritating now and the preachiness is bugging all readers of that series

[Kadere]

Wow. Aren't there already like 5 or 6 threads who exist for the sole purpose to bash SoT? Do we really need another one? If you hate TG so much, don't read the books. The ideas that TG "stole" from RJ are mostly basic fantasy ideas most of which RJ "stole" form Tolkien and Herbert. TG has been able to create his own world, which revolves around his own philosophy which is completely different from RJ's work.

 

As for the likelihood of someone thinking RJ ripped off TG, that person just needs to A) check publication dates B) read a LOT more fantasy and C)relizes that the films were based on another medium.

 

And as for killing the chances of WoT being made into a movie because of simularities.... LotR was already made into a film, and there are MUCH more similarities to that then their are to SoT, so techincally people should be bored with the idea of making WoT into a film already.

[Lews Therin Telamon]

I dont think the Sword of Truth series is rubbish i just think Terry Goodkind cant think of his own ideas. There is one aspect (only one, mind!) that I think is better about the Sword of Truth books, and that is the Sword of truth itself. More or less everything in Sword of Truth has an equivalent in Wheel of Time which Terry Goodkind stole off Robert Jordan, and i like Richards "significant magic sword" better than Rands.

 

Now Im going to try to get rid of the feeling of guilt for giving Terry Goodkind a small victory.

 

Rand drive the blade of Callandor into the tiles in the Heart of the Stone to show the Tairen Lords that he will come back to them at some point because he needs Callandor. Richard does the EXACT same thing with the Sword of Truth.

 

Also, Terry Goodkind has written the first two books of the Trilogy which will end the Sword of Truth series. The seires is called Chainfire, and Chainfire is a spell that cant "unravel the universe." Balefire springs to mind. Balefire is such a brilliant idea, one of my favourite One Power features in Wheel of Time, and then Terry Goodkind comes along and commits a daylight robbery offence by stealing it and using it as his own! Grrrr

[Lews Therin Telamon]

QUOTE "Also, Terry Goodkind has written the first two books of the Trilogy which will end the Sword of Truth series. The seires is called Chainfire, and Chainfire is a spell that cant "unravel the universe." Balefire springs to mind. Balefire is such a brilliant idea, one of my favourite One Power features in Wheel of Time, and then Terry Goodkind comes along and commits a daylight robbery offence by stealing it and using it as his own! Grrrr"

 

I mean it CAN unravel the universe

[Magicana]

QUOTE "Also' date=' Terry Goodkind has written the first two books of the Trilogy which will end the Sword of Truth series. The seires is called Chainfire, and Chainfire is a spell that cant "unravel the universe." Balefire springs to mind. Balefire is such a brilliant idea, one of my favourite One Power features in Wheel of Time, and then Terry Goodkind comes along and commits a daylight robbery offence by stealing it and using it as his own! Grrrr"

 

I mean it CAN unravel the universe[/quote']

 

Balefire and the Chainfire spell are completely different ;)

 

I am a fan of both series (WoT to the death, and was my first one), and I cant see why it is being bashed. It is a good story, and it does not deserve the criticism it recieves. Are you all so juvenile, that when something you barely know anything about is criticised by one person, you immedietly jump on the bandwagon and join in.

 

For those that have read it, you are not being grouped into everything in the above post.

[Luckers]

I dunno. Are you so arrogant you'll assume that simply because we hold an opinion that is different to yours we have no idea what we are speaking about?

 

I have read the Sword of Truth several times. Goodkind is a pedantic writer, with a tendancy to repeat things, and over-glorify his hero. In the first four books there is a disturbing similarity to the Wheel of Time, and in the latter books he grows delusions of Ayn Rand. The plot, without deviation, involves Richard and Kahlan being seperated, and coming together. Increasingly even that is shoved aside for Richard going from person to person preaching, and somehow convincing them that he is right and they are idiots.

 

There is no cohesive plot. Richard is an unsatisfying hero who strikes me as Goodkind trying to right down what he thinks he himself is, or wishes to be. The other characters respect Richard unrealistically... those that oppose him are either incredbly stupid or evil, and those that follow him fawn, and have no real depth of their own.

[Magicana]

I dunno. Are you so arrogant you'll assume that simply because we hold an opinion that is different to yours we have no idea what we are speaking about?

 

I have read the Sword of Truth several times. Goodkind is a pedantic writer' date=' with a tendancy to repeat things, and over-glorify his hero. In the first four books there is a disturbing similarity to the Wheel of Time, and in the latter books he grows delusions of Ayn Rand. The plot, without deviation, involves Richard and Kahlan being seperated, and coming together. Increasingly even that is shoved aside for Richard going from person to person preaching, and somehow convincing them that he is right and they are idiots.

 

There is no cohesive plot. Richard is an unsatisfying hero who strikes me as Goodkind trying to right down what he thinks he himself is, or wishes to be. The other characters respect Richard unrealistically... those that oppose him are either incredbly stupid or evil, and those that follow him fawn, and have no real depth of their own.[/quote']

 

The majority of my post was for those people who despite only reading, say, Wizard's First Rule, feel quite able to state that the series is bad.

 

Although you may not agree with his style, it is portraying messages which humankind should pay attention to. The wizard rules are more of a social commentary, then actual rules of magic.

 

The seperation of Richard from Kahlan isn't a plot device, per se. It is more of a situational occurance, and even if they were together, generally wouldn't make a huge difference.

 

To your first point; no I am not. Yet alot of users seem hell-bent trying to proove themselves guilty of what you said (I.E, no idea what they are speaking about).

[Luckers]

Lets both agree to be nicer then, in what we say.

 

The seperation of Richard and Kahlan has happened, without fail, in each book. I dont think its a plot device, i think its a failure of the author. Similarily i think the way he's gotten distracted plot-wise is also the sign of a bad author... first darken rahl, then the keeper, the the dreamwalker... he meanders from plot to plot with no cohesion... and dont get me wrong, i do like complex plot, but his writing shows no complexity, it also shows no control.

 

Also, im aware he's trying to write a social commentary, thats what i meant by saying he had delusions of Ayn Rand... he's practically paraphrasing the stuff that she writes about, and he's doing it badly. It's basic, and far too bluntly done. Additionally, no characters offer logical opposition to Richard... all are displayed to be fools for opposing him. This is the greatest failure of anyone trying to write a deep and meaningful message into their text, instead of exploring the theme its preaching it.

[Guest cwestervelt]

Magicana: The majority of my post was for those people who despite only reading, say, Wizard's First Rule, feel quite able to state that the series is bad.

 

cwestervelt: It's a toss up between "Book 1" and "It always sucked". Never having read passed Wizard's First Rule I can't comment on the rest.

 

That is obviously addressed to me, as I am about the only one here who has stated having only read Wizard's First Rule.

 

Did you deliberately take my statement out of context to justify your own diatribe, or are you truly incapable of understanding that, "I can't comment on the rest," restricts my comments to Wizard's First Rule and indicates they do not apply to The Sword of Truth in general? The fact that the first book was insufficiently engaging and original to inspire me to read the rest of the series is criticism solely of Wizard's First Rule, not of the of the series.

 

The first book in a series is one of the most crucial. Many people, me included, do not have the time to read every book of every series that is written. That dictates that, unless the first book shows some promise, I cannot take the time to read further in the series.

[okstate91]

in my personal opinion terry goodkind is a better writer than rj. rj makes things way too involved. give me a nice long and relatively easy to folow read any day.

i would also like to point out that there is no 'it never sucked' option on the poll. this makes it impossible to have a fair poll. you have to get both sides of the story

[Guest cwestervelt]

For me, long and relatively easy to follow lends to boredom. Long and complex, if well written, to enjoyment.

 

A complex and involved plot does not make an author either good or bad but it takes a good author to make a complex and involved plot work. Myself, I like the Wheel of Time partially because of the complexity and intricacies involved. Every re-read reveals something new. You just don't get that when the plot is straight forward.

[Gondring]

Idk, I enjoyed Wizards First Rule, dispite any similarities. And Stone of Tears was ok. I bought Blood of the Fold but never read it.

I kinda like it only when i really have nothing else to read.

[Lews Therin Telamon]

i have read upto the one where Nicci forces richard to go to the old world with her. There are a million similarities. They overlap on several parts ie there are blade masters which is obvious. Aes Sedai have warders and confessors have wizards, but boundary wardens are so much like warders its annoying. Richard and Rand both put their swords in the ground. Richard and Rand are exactly the same except that their hair colours are different.