[Aptorian]

Reading it honestly makes me want to slap him. He's incredibly full of himself.

[Terez]

Another gem:

Tairy said:

Lexington, KY: Will there ever be an updated map to include the geography of more of the Old World?

Terry Goodkind: No. The reason is that I consider the map a distraction to the story. The map was put in the book as one of the cliched fantasy elements that fantasy publishers require. In recent books I've been giving less and less emphasis to the map.

When John Grisham, for example, has a character going from a restaurant to a courthouse, readers don't have to flip to the map to see where the restaurant and courthouse are. There's another reason why I don't expand the map, and that has to do with the very nature of what Richard is doing in the story. Richard, physically and metaphorically, is off the map in what is, for him, uncharted territory. He must use his mind to find his own way.

I expect readers to use their minds when they read the story, without the artificial aid of maps.

We need maps for your world because your world DOESN'T FUCKING EXIST YOU FUCKTARD.

[Yellow]

Aptorian;330768 said:

I've finished the Dragon Reborn yesterday and today I'm about forty pages into The Darkness That Came Before by R. Scott Bakker. It's a completely different level of awesome to read this.

Amen, Brother.

Aptorian;330768 said:

Reading the Wheel of Time has only made me confident that I could write my own fantasy novel. Abundantly so.

Coolio. I had the same thing reading an Ian Irvine book, and it actually got me off my arse and into a writing chair (er, back on my arse again, but this time: writing!).

So thank god for shitty books! Or something.

[Yellow]

Terez;330885 said:

Another gem:


We need maps for your world because your world DOESN'T FUCKING EXIST YOU FUCKTARD.

Although I agree with the reaction to Goodkind's attitude and general arrogance... I do find myself agreeing with him that maps are redundant for most stories. If people want to see how the world looks, then cool, but if it was actually necessary for the story, then something has fallen down along the way.

[Aptorian]

That I can agree with, but when Goodkind mentions one country after another and mountains and wastes and borders, etc. you get kind of curious.

For example I was more than a little confused when I read that Richard rides for two to three weeks without a stop, using fresh horses which he gets from each city he passes, before he reaches the city of the confessors. How far did he travel? That must be like a thousand miles or more, exactly how big is "The New World`" then? On the map it looks like a small trip from Paris to Berlin or something.

[Terez]

That's probably what he meant about it being a distraction from the story, lol...

Maps aren't supposed to distract...just give a general idea of what lies where in the world.

[Mushroom]

Hey there is a dedicated thread to Tairy Goodkind Bashing..

[Terez]

Well, since there was all that comparing going on, I had to illuminate a few things. We can stop now...Tairy bashing gets old quick, since it requires actually contemplating the horse manure that comes out of his mouth.

[Slum]

I spun a wheel once. The Wheel of Fortune. Me and RJ sitting in a tree....

[Gabriele]

I wonder if I should give it a try.

I've never attempted WoT because I kept hearing the series detoriates and I abandon enough series without that preknowledge (fe. Midkemia, Shannara - never finished the first of that and the same goes for Goodkind's pseudo philosophy, thought Elenium was a light and fun read but Tamuli had too many plotholes, Gabaldon's Outlander got repetitve after book 3 ...) and now I'm spoiled by Martin, Erikson, Keyes and other writers who have changed the Fantasy genre. I still love Tolkien, though (and David Gemmell, Bernard Cornwell, Lois McMaster Bujold, Jacqueline Carey, Alexandre Dumas ... to give you a sample of my eclectic reading tastes. I don't think I need to mention Dostojevsky, Thomas Mann and Henry James in context of WoT. .

So, is it worth nevertheless to give the first books a shot, and is there some sort of conclusion before the books get bogged down by braid tugging, so that I at least would not be left hanging too badly if I give up after book 3 or so?

[Kulp Diet]

Quote

Terry Goodkind: No. The reason is that I consider the map a distraction to the story.

Translation: I'm distracted by all the readers who keep asking me, "How come the first time Richard travels from point A to point B (Mud People to Peoples Palace, to Temple of Prophets, remote forest to Old world, etc.) it takes him weeks or months, and then the return trip or successive trips take about a day or two?" LEAVE ME ALONE! I'm not very good at what I do, but I'm trying.

[Aptorian]

Gabriele;331007 said:

So, is it worth nevertheless to give the first books a shot, and is there some sort of conclusion before the books get bogged down by braid tugging, so that I at least would not be left hanging too badly if I give up after book 3 or so?

Even though the series continues, the books don't close with cliffhangers. The main story concludes and the ending sets up the next book.

I don't regret reading the first three, but if you've read todays greats, this old stuff gets a bit tired.

I'm going to continue reading now because the very concept of the wheel of time and rands struggles is too cool to not see it to the end.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Yeah, RJ had some cool ideas. It was just the actual application of those ideas that I'm not a fan of. I read it because I would like to at some point consider myself at least somewhat well-read in the genre, and it seemed this was something I should have read. So, I don't regret reading it because that is accomplished, but as far as being glad iread it for the sake of the story, then no.

[Terez]

Most of the complaints with the later books have more to do with people having to wait years for them to come out than them actually being bad books. Like, the Perrin/Faile plotline in the last few books doesn't take too long to read through now that they're all out, but it's frustrating when it takes years to get through because there's only one book every other year or so.

I think they were all great books.

[Gabriele]

Aptorian;331015 said:

I don't regret reading the first three, but if you've read todays greats, this old stuff gets a bit tired.

I still have Magician and the next two of that series on my shelves.

Quote

I'm going to continue reading now because the very concept of the wheel of time and rands struggles is too cool to not see it to the end.

Yeah, I can see that if you've been with the series to book 8 or 9 in hope it'll get better again, you want to see it through. After all, 12 will be the last.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Terez;331051 said:

Most of the complaints with the later books have more to do with people having to wait years for them to come out than them actually being bad books. Like, the Perrin/Faile plotline in the last few books doesn't take too long to read through now that they're all out, but it's frustrating when it takes years to get through because there's only one book every other year or so.

I think they were all great books.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion. I read them all after they had all come out, so my complaints were about content, not wait time.

[Optimus Prime]

Robert Jordan had talent. He had some great ideas. He got a little lost in his plot lines and unfortunately it hurt his series.

That being said, he is the sun and Terry Goodkind is a dirty, ice turd circling the sun at some 55,432,452,566,221 miles distant. Seriously, Goodkind ripped Jordan off and he knows it. He's a complete tool.

[Kulp Diet]

Aptorian;331015 said:

Even though the series continues, the books don't close with cliffhangers. The main story concludes and the ending sets up the next book.

Knife of Dreams ended with a big, fat cliffhanger. Wouldn't you know it, that's the last book before RJ kicks the bucket.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Xander;331066 said:

Robert Jordan had talent. He had some great ideas. He got a little lost in his plot lines and unfortunately it hurt his series.

That being said, he is the sun and Terry Goodkind is a dirty, ice turd circling the sun at some 55,432,452,566,221 miles distant. Seriously, Goodkind ripped Jordan off and he knows it. He's a complete tool.

TG is a blatant rip-off crap artist. I can't believe his crap, trying to say he's not read RJ. What crap. It's like he was reading WoT at the same time as writing his piece of crap Sword of Crap crappy series. (Which is not fantasy, by the way. It's.....wait for it......wait for it......

Spoiler

COMPLETE AND UTTER CRAP!!!!!!!

[Terez]

Kulp Diet;331140 said:

Knife of Dreams ended with a big, fat cliffhanger. Wouldn't you know it, that's the last book before RJ kicks the bucket.

I think there was a lot of resolution at the end of Knife of Dreams, so I wouldn't call it a cliffhanger. Crossroads of Twilight was a cliffhanger ending, though, and The Path of Daggers to a lesser extent.