I thoroughly hate Sword of TruthFollow

****SPOILER ALERT*****

I will be talking about plot elements nothing from the newest book but stuff throughout the series.

Now Hate might be to strong of a word because I enjoy the first 3 or 4 books a great deal. Its just the last couple that I have disliked.

I got turned onto the series by a friend and read the first couple books, they were pretty decent. I believe i liked the series immensely up until the book where he goes to the Palace of the Prophets or where the sisters of the lights were.

After that book the series became what I would term mind numbingly repetitive. Every book he would have to put a synopsis of the last into the exposition. Im not sure if he assumed that the reader had the memory of a developmentally challenged Orangutan or if he just got paid by the word.

Anywho the mind numbing repetition and reiteration aside the series slowly turned into a politcal commentary that is so painstakingly obvious and ham fisted that only the most obtuse would miss it. Needless to say the author is no Jonathan Swift or Frank Herbert.

The story slowly picked back up when Richard gets taken to the old world by nicci to bask in the glorious splendor of the heart of the empire, I liked elements of the story, and it was a fun read but the fact that he spent the entire book attacking communism was distracting and took away from the joy of the book. Newsflash the commies lost and gave up in 1991, capitalism is victorious.

Now its not that i particularly disagree with what he is saying but the fact that as previously mentioned that he is so heavy handed. I dont mind politics in a science fiction or fantasy book. Ive read through Dune more times than I care to count but really. Also the fact that he is just wringing the series for all its worth. I read the one and the main characters didnt even appear until the last 50 pages of the book.

anyways rant off,

its not a horrible book but as the series goes on it tends to get bogged down in telling the reader what has happened before way to often and also because a red white and blue propaganda attacking communists, advocating a nations right to defend itself and attacking the notions of pacificism.

Zedd, Richard, and co are all fun characters and I will always re-read the first couple books because its to much fun reading along as Richard punches the princess that kept the little girl locked in the box or teaches Verna to care for her horse but that doesnt mean I am going to keep reading the series when it has quite clearly degenerated.

Edited, Wed Mar 16 04:27:41 2005 by bhodisattva

I have to go with the first poster... I don't HATE his first few books, I enjoy them thoroughly, for what they were intended to be--fantasy, pure and simple. And they were fun fantasy books that in some places didn't take themselves too seriously (how can you take serious a book that has a dragon named Scarlet that speaks with a southern drawl?).
However, somewhere along the line Goodkind started thinking of himself more as a "serious" writer and wanted to put in a deep, philosophical message. This is all good and well, and I applaud the attempt, but the fact of the matter is that it is a failed attempt. His writing comes off as preachy, and quite frankly, it is out of date in many respects, not having to do with the real issues that surround us today. An attack against communism, for example, is all well good and nice... but is it needed in today's society where the world is mostly capitalist?
If he were to take some problems that are going on in today's society and reflect them into his literature, then I would be able to stomache his philosophical tangents a bit more. But he plays the coward route and only speaks out against things that everyone in the world already agrees on.

Well, I've read the first one and did not find it interesting, therefore haven't read the others, but I can tell you for sure that the Wheel of time series is by far the most repetitive and circular in terms of plot.

I enjoyed the aspect of the book on who Nicci was shown the error of her ways by Richards ability to do good without being selfless, and that those who try to create gains for themselves are not neccesarily evil.
I am a sucker for the conversion of bad person to good in a book though, so my opinion is a bit biased.