Terry Goodkind's latest novel only to be available as an eBook

[Australis]

My grandfather built a press in his garage to self-publish his books and he certainly wasn't rolling in "Sword of Truth" levels of money before or after.

Just out of curiosity, were they any good?

Seeker, my library has ereaders that come loaded with books, and I think you can ask for the loan of specific ebooks too. Ask at yours.

 

[Venardhi]

Not especially. Interesting for me to read and get the insight into his mind now that he is gone, but they were mostly questionably-researched historical war dramas about the Picts.

 

[JoeZhang]

I think you're missing Robert Maxwell's point.

He was referencing the "hippie massacre" Terry Goodkind is notorious for. His hero slaughters pacifists for their "lack of moral clarity".

Oh, I see. Well I haven't read anything by him.

In the books, the hero has a getout in that he has the magically power of 'moral clarity' which means that whatever actions he takes are automatically the right choice, so when he murders a group of unarmed middle aged peace protesters as mentioned above, it is the right and moral thing to do. Similarly when his assistants torture people for information or he punches a little girl hard enough to shatter her jaw, that is also the right and moral thing to do.

 

[Australis]

Not especially. Interesting for me to read and get the insight into his mind now that he is gone, but they were mostly questionably-researched historical war dramas about the Picts.

Mmm, I know what you mean, there was a writer Michael Moorcock championed back in the 70s, who wrote novels reminiscent of Robert E Howard's Pict stories, only not so much of the weird and more of the historical adventure, but I can't recall his name for the life of me, and a quick search didn't find anything. Ah - a bit like Rosemary Sutcliff and 'The Eagle of the Ninth' (spoiler: The Ninth Legion did not lose its eagle in Scotland).

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Mmm, I know what you mean, there was a writer Michael Moorcock championed back in the 70s, who wrote novels reminiscent of Robert E Howard's Pict stories, only not so much of the weird and more of the historical adventure, but I can't recall his name for the life of me, and a quick search didn't find anything.

You're probably thinking of Henry Treece.

 

[Thestral]

I think you're missing Robert Maxwell's point.

He was referencing the "hippie massacre" Terry Goodkind is notorious for. His hero slaughters pacifists for their "lack of moral clarity".

Oh, I see. Well I haven't read anything by him.

In the books, the hero has a getout in that he has the magically power of 'moral clarity' which means that whatever actions he takes are automatically the right choice, so when he murders a group of unarmed middle aged peace protesters as mentioned above, it is the right and moral thing to do. Similarly when his assistants torture people for information or he punches a little girl hard enough to shatter her jaw, that is also the right and moral thing to do.

Well isn't that... convenient.

 

[JoeZhang]

They raced out from the long shadows of the buildings and poured around the corner. The people off at the end of the street all turned when they spotted Richard's force coming. More people--men and women from the city--surged into the street in front of the compound of buildings the soldiers had taken oup as barracks and a command post. The people looked like a scraggly lot.


"No war! No war! No war!" the people shouted as Richard led the men up the street at a dead run.

"Out of the way!" Richard yelled as he closed the distance. This was no time for subtlety or discussions: the success of their attack depended in large part on speed. "Get out of the way! This is your only warning! Get out of the way or die!"

"Stop the hate! Stop the hate!" the people chanted as they locked arms.

They had no idea how much hate was raging through Richard. He drew the Sword of Truth. The wrath of its magic didn't come out with it, but he had enough of his own. He slowed to a trot.

"Move!" Richard called as he bore down on the people.

A plump, curly-haired woman took a step out from the others. Her round face was red with anger as she screamed. "Stop the hate! No war! Stop the hate! No war!"

"Move or die!" Richard yelled as he picked up speed.

The red-faced woman shook her fleshy fist at Richard and his men, leading an angry chant. "Murderers! Murderers! Murderers!"

On his way past her, gritting his teeth as he screamed with the fury of the attack begun, Richard took a powerful swing, lopping off the woman's head and upraised arm. Strings of blood and gore splashed across the faces behind her even as some still chanted their empty words. The head and loose arm tumbled through the crowd. A man made the mistake of reaching for Richard's weapon, and took the full weight of a charging thrust.

Men behind Richard hit the line of evil's guardians with unrestrained violence. People armed only with their hatred for moral clarity fell bloodied, terribly injured, and dead. The line of people collapsed before the merciless charge. Some of the people, screaming their contempt, used their fists to attack Richard's men. They were met with swift and deadly steel.

At the realization that their defense of the Imperial Order's brutality would actually result in consequences to themselves, the crowd began scattering in fright, screaming curses back at Richard and his men.

Plus of course there is the 'chicken that is not a chicken':

Hissing, hackles lifting, the chicken's head rose. Kahlan pulled back. Its claws digging into stiff dead flesh, the chicken slowly turned to face her. It cocked its head, making its comb flop, its wattles sway. "Shoo," Kahlan heard herself whisper. There wasn't enough light, and besides, the side of its beak was covered with gore, so she couldn't tell if it had the dark spot, But she didn't need to see it. "Dear spirits, help me," she prayed under her breath. The bird let out a slow chicken cackle. It sounded like a chicken, but in her heart she knew it wasn't. In that instant, she completely understood the concept of a chicken that was not a chicken. This looked like a chicken, like most of the Mud People's chickens. But this was no chicken. This was evil manifest.

 

[Brendan Moody]

But blaming it on mustache-twirling collusion by major publishers is pretty silly, and the air of defeated self-pity from someone whose books have sold 25 million copies doesn't help.

The problem with that statement is that content companies ARE colluding on a daily basis to try to maintain monopoly control over their shrinking market share.

It's ironic that Goodkind is using e-pub, because e-pub is the tool the content companies are counting on to eventually make it so they never sell you anything, but rather "rent" it, either on a per-use or limited number of uses basis. Their ultimate goal is to get you paying them every time you open up their content.

All true (at least up to a point), but Goodkind's specific claim that he can't release a print edition because of publisher collusion is not defensible. If anyone has the power to work outside that system, he does, not least because he (like any other bestselling writer) has been benefiting from that collusion in a big way for 18 years. If he doesn't want to make that effort, that's reasonable, as I and others have said. But to frame the story so that he's the morally-righteous victim and crusader is a little much.

 

[Starbreaker]

Just buy the ebook or don't. Stephen King's next book is only going to be paperback and that makes me a little pissed off, but everybody has their reasons.

 

[Australis]

Mmm, I know what you mean, there was a writer Michael Moorcock championed back in the 70s, who wrote novels reminiscent of Robert E Howard's Pict stories, only not so much of the weird and more of the historical adventure, but I can't recall his name for the life of me, and a quick search didn't find anything.

You're probably thinking of Henry Treece.

YES! Thanks for that! The ol' memory ain't what it used to be (it used to be my spleen).

 

[Brendan Moody]

Goodkind has thoughts on e-books, many thoughts. He would like to share them with you.

 

[Skywalker]

They raced out from the long shadows of the buildings and poured around the corner. The people off at the end of the street all turned when they spotted Richard's force coming. More people--men and women from the city--surged into the street in front of the compound of buildings the soldiers had taken oup as barracks and a command post. The people looked like a scraggly lot.

"No war! No war! No war!" the people shouted as Richard led the men up the street at a dead run.

"Out of the way!" Richard yelled as he closed the distance. This was no time for subtlety or discussions: the success of their attack depended in large part on speed. "Get out of the way! This is your only warning! Get out of the way or die!"

"Stop the hate! Stop the hate!" the people chanted as they locked arms.

They had no idea how much hate was raging through Richard. He drew the Sword of Truth. The wrath of its magic didn't come out with it, but he had enough of his own. He slowed to a trot.

"Move!" Richard called as he bore down on the people.

A plump, curly-haired woman took a step out from the others. Her round face was red with anger as she screamed. "Stop the hate! No war! Stop the hate! No war!"

"Move or die!" Richard yelled as he picked up speed.

The red-faced woman shook her fleshy fist at Richard and his men, leading an angry chant. "Murderers! Murderers! Murderers!"

On his way past her, gritting his teeth as he screamed with the fury of the attack begun, Richard took a powerful swing, lopping off the woman's head and upraised arm. Strings of blood and gore splashed across the faces behind her even as some still chanted their empty words. The head and loose arm tumbled through the crowd. A man made the mistake of reaching for Richard's weapon, and took the full weight of a charging thrust.

Men behind Richard hit the line of evil's guardians with unrestrained violence. People armed only with their hatred for moral clarity fell bloodied, terribly injured, and dead. The line of people collapsed before the merciless charge. Some of the people, screaming their contempt, used their fists to attack Richard's men. They were met with swift and deadly steel.

At the realization that their defense of the Imperial Order's brutality would actually result in consequences to themselves, the crowd began scattering in fright, screaming curses back at Richard and his men.

And that, right there, is why I've decided to never bother with these books. My cousin gave me a copy of Wizard's First Rule years ago, but I never got around to reading it. And after seeing some examples of how the series turned out, including this one, I'm glad I never did.

 

[Professor Zoom]

They raced out from the long shadows of the buildings and poured around the corner. The people off at the end of the street all turned when they spotted Richard's force coming. More people--men and women from the city--surged into the street in front of the compound of buildings the soldiers had taken oup as barracks and a command post. The people looked like a scraggly lot.


"No war! No war! No war!" the people shouted as Richard led the men up the street at a dead run.

"Out of the way!" Richard yelled as he closed the distance. This was no time for subtlety or discussions: the success of their attack depended in large part on speed. "Get out of the way! This is your only warning! Get out of the way or die!"

"Stop the hate! Stop the hate!" the people chanted as they locked arms.

They had no idea how much hate was raging through Richard. He drew the Sword of Truth. The wrath of its magic didn't come out with it, but he had enough of his own. He slowed to a trot.

"Move!" Richard called as he bore down on the people.

A plump, curly-haired woman took a step out from the others. Her round face was red with anger as she screamed. "Stop the hate! No war! Stop the hate! No war!"

"Move or die!" Richard yelled as he picked up speed.

The red-faced woman shook her fleshy fist at Richard and his men, leading an angry chant. "Murderers! Murderers! Murderers!"

On his way past her, gritting his teeth as he screamed with the fury of the attack begun, Richard took a powerful swing, lopping off the woman's head and upraised arm. Strings of blood and gore splashed across the faces behind her even as some still chanted their empty words. The head and loose arm tumbled through the crowd. A man made the mistake of reaching for Richard's weapon, and took the full weight of a charging thrust.

Men behind Richard hit the line of evil's guardians with unrestrained violence. People armed only with their hatred for moral clarity fell bloodied, terribly injured, and dead. The line of people collapsed before the merciless charge. Some of the people, screaming their contempt, used their fists to attack Richard's men. They were met with swift and deadly steel.

At the realization that their defense of the Imperial Order's brutality would actually result in consequences to themselves, the crowd began scattering in fright, screaming curses back at Richard and his men.

Please tell me that Richard is a bad guy, please tell me that Richard is a bad guy....

 

[BillJ]

I think you're missing Robert Maxwell's point.

He was referencing the "hippie massacre" Terry Goodkind is notorious for. His hero slaughters pacifists for their "lack of moral clarity".

Oh, I see. Well I haven't read anything by him.

In the books, the hero has a getout in that he has the magically power of 'moral clarity' which means that whatever actions he takes are automatically the right choice, so when he murders a group of unarmed middle aged peace protesters as mentioned above, it is the right and moral thing to do. Similarly when his assistants torture people for information or he punches a little girl hard enough to shatter her jaw, that is also the right and moral thing to do.

Sounds perverted.

 

[Relayer1]

They raced out from the long shadows of the buildings and poured around the corner. The people off at the end of the street all turned when they spotted Richard's force coming. More people--men and women from the city--surged into the street in front of the compound of buildings the soldiers had taken oup as barracks and a command post. The people looked like a scraggly lot.


"No war! No war! No war!" the people shouted as Richard led the men up the street at a dead run.

"Out of the way!" Richard yelled as he closed the distance. This was no time for subtlety or discussions: the success of their attack depended in large part on speed. "Get out of the way! This is your only warning! Get out of the way or die!"

"Stop the hate! Stop the hate!" the people chanted as they locked arms.

They had no idea how much hate was raging through Richard. He drew the Sword of Truth. The wrath of its magic didn't come out with it, but he had enough of his own. He slowed to a trot.

"Move!" Richard called as he bore down on the people.

A plump, curly-haired woman took a step out from the others. Her round face was red with anger as she screamed. "Stop the hate! No war! Stop the hate! No war!"

"Move or die!" Richard yelled as he picked up speed.

The red-faced woman shook her fleshy fist at Richard and his men, leading an angry chant. "Murderers! Murderers! Murderers!"

On his way past her, gritting his teeth as he screamed with the fury of the attack begun, Richard took a powerful swing, lopping off the woman's head and upraised arm. Strings of blood and gore splashed across the faces behind her even as some still chanted their empty words. The head and loose arm tumbled through the crowd. A man made the mistake of reaching for Richard's weapon, and took the full weight of a charging thrust.

Men behind Richard hit the line of evil's guardians with unrestrained violence. People armed only with their hatred for moral clarity fell bloodied, terribly injured, and dead. The line of people collapsed before the merciless charge. Some of the people, screaming their contempt, used their fists to attack Richard's men. They were met with swift and deadly steel.

At the realization that their defense of the Imperial Order's brutality would actually result in consequences to themselves, the crowd began scattering in fright, screaming curses back at Richard and his men.

Plus of course there is the 'chicken that is not a chicken':

Hissing, hackles lifting, the chicken's head rose. Kahlan pulled back. Its claws digging into stiff dead flesh, the chicken slowly turned to face her. It cocked its head, making its comb flop, its wattles sway. "Shoo," Kahlan heard herself whisper. There wasn't enough light, and besides, the side of its beak was covered with gore, so she couldn't tell if it had the dark spot, But she didn't need to see it. "Dear spirits, help me," she prayed under her breath. The bird let out a slow chicken cackle. It sounded like a chicken, but in her heart she knew it wasn't. In that instant, she completely understood the concept of a chicken that was not a chicken. This looked like a chicken, like most of the Mud People's chickens. But this was no chicken. This was evil manifest.

And people buy this sh*t ? I'd never read anything by him 'til this.

Assuming his writing psychologically reflects some part of his personality (and lets hope it doesn't) there's something wrong in there...

 

[Brendan Moody]

Please tell me that Richard is a bad guy, please tell me that Richard is a bad guy....

Richard is the hero. Goodkind seems to believe (and I read eight of his books when I was a foolish teenager, so I speak from long experience) in the most literal way possible that good guys can do no wrong; if you're on the right side, torture and the murder of the unarmed are completely justified.

 

[Skywalker]

Please tell me that Richard is a bad guy, please tell me that Richard is a bad guy....

Richard is supposed to be the "hero."

I like the Richard in Legend of the Seeker a lot better. I can't really picture him doing something like that.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Please tell me that Richard is a bad guy, please tell me that Richard is a bad guy....

Richard is the hero. Goodkind seems to believe (and I read eight of his books when I was a foolish teenager, so I speak from long experience) in the most literal way possible that good guys can do no wrong; if you're on the right side, torture and the murder of the unarmed are completely justified.

BLEH. I prefer my heroes NOT SLAUGHTERING people who just disagree with him.

Repugnant. Pass.

 

[JoeZhang]

Sounds perverted.

The books feature a lot of BDSM and while the first is passable, they also get increasingly misogynist in tone.

And remember kids, torture is fine as long as you have moral clarity:

Nicci had no compunction about what she was doing. She knew that there was no moral equivalence between her inflicting torture and the Imperial Order doing what might on the surface seem like the same thing. But her purpose in using it was solely to save innocent lives. The Imperial Order used torture as a means of subjugation and conquest, as a tool to strike fear into their enemies. And, at times, as something they relished because it made them feel powerful to hold sway over not just agony but life itself.

The Imperial Order used torture because they had no regard at all for human life. Nicci was using it because she did. While at one time she would have seen no difference, since coming to embrace life she saw all the difference in the world.

See Nicci (a super-bondage queen who aids the hero) tortures people because she has regard for human life.

 

[wissaboo]

I think this is the way books will be in the future. And I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing. Especially when it comes to textbooks. As long as the price of the book reflects the fact that there are no publishing and distribution costs.