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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
I read this as sort of a joke. Heres what happened.
In 2008, a mere 18 year old me picked up a corny fantasy show that I ended up loving. I mean REALLY loving. Legend of the Seeker was one of my favorite shows. I saw that there were books, but they also looked like they had a lot of words and old school covers and I was like "nope".
So years later, with a full understanding that Terry Goodkind is an objectivist weirdo, I decided "why not"?
Wizard's First Rule is cut from the Wheel of Time 1990s-early 2000s era of Tolkien inspired heroes journey stories. These would often be bulky tomes attempting to pull fantasy out of the swords and sorcery genre, and back to long, classic narratives (with more of a PG13-R feel) In that, Wizard's First Rule actually fits rather well.
Reading Goodkind, a few things are immediately clear:
- He writes at a middle school level. This isn't a wholly bad thing, it makes the book less of a slog. I hate this era of fantasy, admittedly. This is at least readable, but it's very childish.
- He has a tone problem. This book is a chaotic mess. This book goes from a PG fantasy romp to a literal BSDM slave fic. There are so many times when this book shifts from ye ol' olden times to feeling like a modern-day urban fantasy.
- The naming convention is wack. You have fantastical names- then you have characters named "Chase". There's no linguistic commonality to the naming, it's genuinely all over the place, borrowing some aspects from Wheel of Time and then ham fisting popular American names
- This is an episodic story in nature. Richard and his crew spend 800 pages going on various mini-adventures that are very disjointed from each other. It really feels like this book was meant to be read in installments- like in a magazine or written to be a TV show.
None of this is deal-breaking, though.
My biggest issue with the book is having a deeper understanding of Terry Goodkind's philosophy, and how he's chosen to weave that into his story. Goodkind is an Objectivist and a Libertarian. He despises socialism, and the Sword of Truth series is a thickly veiled commentary on Socialism = bad. The first book as I understand is "light" on these references. That doesn't stop a 3-page scene where a farmer is telling a queen his family is starving because he has to n"give away all of his food" and she tells him its for the greater good. Yeah. Goodkind does not know how socialism works.
I believe that Darken Rahl and his hold over the land is supposed to possibly represent North Korea? I can only assume that because they focus a lot on Rahl's cult of personality that he's created, effectively creating a religion out of himself. This is where things go super off the rails, because the characters in this book are not raised with him as a leader- he basically just shows up, oppresses the shit out of them, and we are meant to believe that folks find it in themselves to worship him. There are also some linguistic hints to this-the use of his military force being called "The People's Army". Subtle.
But my gripe here is that this cult of personality and blind worship of the villain is extremely strange and unearned. There was no goodwill shown by Rahl to track the folks of the Midlands that he is good. Likewise, they spent a lot of time explaining that Rahl believes what he's doing is right and that's what makes him dangerous. That people are easily manipulated by good favor. But HOW is what I want to know- because all Rahl does is be terrible to them.
Darken Rahl himself is also not the morally grey character, the true believer that the book is constantly saying he is. His intro chapter lays out plainly that he despises women and is more or less a sociopath with no true belief system- which is going directly against this philosophy that Goodkind is trying to represent. He wants to say "Socialism is dangerous because socialists trick the population into thinking it's good for them, and Rahl is dangerous because he genuinely believes that too. But like- he doesn't. He's literally just evil.
So uh? What did I like?
The women in the story, despite not being treated fairly, were great.
This is an easy book to read. I was rarely bored, just disappointed. To me, the worst thing a book can be is boring. I may have even rated this book 3 stars if it wasn't for the chaotically shoved in Ayn Rand philosophy clashing hard with the textual writing of the villains and main conflicts.
Finally, nearly at the end of the book, Wizard's First Rule completely goes off the rail and becomes a BDSM slave fic porn for like, 6 chapters or so. They are the best chapters in the whole book. Reasonably sexy. The Mord Sith characters are more complex and interesting than anything else Goodkind has ever touched. If the man would have just stuck to writing high fantasy porn, his books would be better.
Goodkind has some amazing ideas. He loves to play with power. Confessers and Mord Sith are REALLY cool. I wish someone else was able to take all of his ideas, filter out the capitalist circlejerk, and write them the way they deserved.
In 2008, a mere 18 year old me picked up a corny fantasy show that I ended up loving. I mean REALLY loving. Legend of the Seeker was one of my favorite shows. I saw that there were books, but they also looked like they had a lot of words and old school covers and I was like "nope".
So years later, with a full understanding that Terry Goodkind is an objectivist weirdo, I decided "why not"?
Wizard's First Rule is cut from the Wheel of Time 1990s-early 2000s era of Tolkien inspired heroes journey stories. These would often be bulky tomes attempting to pull fantasy out of the swords and sorcery genre, and back to long, classic narratives (with more of a PG13-R feel) In that, Wizard's First Rule actually fits rather well.
Reading Goodkind, a few things are immediately clear:
- He writes at a middle school level. This isn't a wholly bad thing, it makes the book less of a slog. I hate this era of fantasy, admittedly. This is at least readable, but it's very childish.
- He has a tone problem. This book is a chaotic mess. This book goes from a PG fantasy romp to a literal BSDM slave fic. There are so many times when this book shifts from ye ol' olden times to feeling like a modern-day urban fantasy.
- The naming convention is wack. You have fantastical names- then you have characters named "Chase". There's no linguistic commonality to the naming, it's genuinely all over the place, borrowing some aspects from Wheel of Time and then ham fisting popular American names
- This is an episodic story in nature. Richard and his crew spend 800 pages going on various mini-adventures that are very disjointed from each other. It really feels like this book was meant to be read in installments- like in a magazine or written to be a TV show.
None of this is deal-breaking, though.
My biggest issue with the book is having a deeper understanding of Terry Goodkind's philosophy, and how he's chosen to weave that into his story. Goodkind is an Objectivist and a Libertarian. He despises socialism, and the Sword of Truth series is a thickly veiled commentary on Socialism = bad. The first book as I understand is "light" on these references. That doesn't stop a 3-page scene where a farmer is telling a queen his family is starving because he has to n"give away all of his food" and she tells him its for the greater good. Yeah. Goodkind does not know how socialism works.
I believe that Darken Rahl and his hold over the land is supposed to possibly represent North Korea? I can only assume that because they focus a lot on Rahl's cult of personality that he's created, effectively creating a religion out of himself. This is where things go super off the rails, because the characters in this book are not raised with him as a leader- he basically just shows up, oppresses the shit out of them, and we are meant to believe that folks find it in themselves to worship him. There are also some linguistic hints to this-the use of his military force being called "The People's Army". Subtle.
But my gripe here is that this cult of personality and blind worship of the villain is extremely strange and unearned. There was no goodwill shown by Rahl to track the folks of the Midlands that he is good. Likewise, they spent a lot of time explaining that Rahl believes what he's doing is right and that's what makes him dangerous. That people are easily manipulated by good favor. But HOW is what I want to know- because all Rahl does is be terrible to them.
Darken Rahl himself is also not the morally grey character, the true believer that the book is constantly saying he is. His intro chapter lays out plainly that he despises women and is more or less a sociopath with no true belief system- which is going directly against this philosophy that Goodkind is trying to represent. He wants to say "Socialism is dangerous because socialists trick the population into thinking it's good for them, and Rahl is dangerous because he genuinely believes that too. But like- he doesn't. He's literally just evil.
So uh? What did I like?
The women in the story, despite not being treated fairly, were great.
This is an easy book to read. I was rarely bored, just disappointed. To me, the worst thing a book can be is boring. I may have even rated this book 3 stars if it wasn't for the chaotically shoved in Ayn Rand philosophy clashing hard with the textual writing of the villains and main conflicts.
Finally, nearly at the end of the book, Wizard's First Rule completely goes off the rail and becomes a BDSM slave fic porn for like, 6 chapters or so. They are the best chapters in the whole book. Reasonably sexy. The Mord Sith characters are more complex and interesting than anything else Goodkind has ever touched. If the man would have just stuck to writing high fantasy porn, his books would be better.
Goodkind has some amazing ideas. He loves to play with power. Confessers and Mord Sith are REALLY cool. I wish someone else was able to take all of his ideas, filter out the capitalist circlejerk, and write them the way they deserved.
A little long-winded, but an exciting well-written fantasy adventure.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I can't seem to pick up anything else besides pure escape/easy entertainment...so decided to try Terry Goodkind.
After reading about 1/3 of this book, I conclude that Terry Goodkind is terrible! Will never read any more of his books!
After reading about 1/3 of this book, I conclude that Terry Goodkind is terrible! Will never read any more of his books!
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
To the point and fast paced adventure. The "chosen-one" explores his newfound powers while trying to save the world against all odds and also finds himself in a forbidden romance. All of these typical fantasy tropes fill a plot weaved together like gently interlocking riddles. Some outcomes are a little telegraphed while some are genuine surprises. There's also a pretty consistent internal logic to the magic, wildlife, and cultural elements. The world is compelling and characters find themselves in surprising circumstances despite certain cliches. A major theme is duality. Love vs hate. Anger vs forgiveness. Perception vs reality. A sizable amount of the dialogue is spent in consideration of these concepts. With a clear set of principles filtering through. I admit I'm sympathetic to most of what the book advocates. Unfortunately it all feels a bit contrived. I'd recommend it to young adults if it weren't for the drawn out and graphic abuse that dominate 3-4 chapters of the book. As a result it ends up straddling a blurred line between mature and immature audiences. I loved it when I first read it at 17 years old. The flaws are more apparent now that I'm 37. Still good overall.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Sexual harassment
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A 10-book series (it's completed-no waiting!). Now there is a tv show 'The Legend of the Seeker' that airs Saturdays but it doesn't follow the book well at all so you are best to read the book- so much more detail and structure.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated