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...know when to fold 'em...know when to walk away, know when to run...
Skip to the end for a limited time offer!
From an official Amazon review of Faith of the Fallen (SoT):
"Fantasy series fans may argue over the relative merits of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth, George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, and Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, but in a world of middle books that go nowhere and endless waits between episodes, Goodkind is certainly still serving up some of the best fantasy on today's menu."
I don't know at which book I stopped reading Wheel of Time. I think I read to book four or five, but it might have been six, and anyway he's on, what, twelve, now? He lost me when I realised that the extent of my emotional involvment was wanting to bitch-slap every female character. This amazon review has one of the most beautiful examples of damning with faint praise that I've ever seen: "...(work saved by)...his ability to create fully realized characters (though his treatment of sexuality will appeal primarily to adolescents)."
At the same time I dumped WoT, I becamse enamored of the Sword of Truth series. When I started rereading them I found them a bit facile (though the first few are entertaining). The pedantic philosophy had killed my interest by Faith of The Fallen. I'm now planning on reselling the SoT books I own. I almost NEVER get rid of books. Still, there are a whole lotta good books, and not enough days in the year.
Now, the one epic series with which I'm thrilled (so far...dum dum dum!) is Grrrr Martin's the Song of Ice and Fire. I could go on and on, but basically, he gets a few things right that the other two flub up to one degree or another.
1. SHIT HAPPENS. Bad shit. Good shit. Never-a-dull-moment holy-mackerel raining storms of shit. The multipile plot-lines all actually have plots. This is why the amazon review above is particularly puzzling, because it ascribes Martin's virtue to Goodkind's work (probably because Goodkind didn't start to drag until the book AFTER the one reviewed).
COROLLARY: People DIE. As well as realistic and dramatic, this helps to narrow down the amount of plot lines he juggles at once. Jordon should learn from this and start massacring characters (if he needs help, I volunteer).
2. MORAL GREY AREA. Jordan has shallow bitchy characters. Goodkind has characters that are deeply good or deeply evil, and occasionally switch. Martin has characters which are both good and bad at the same time, and that's the only kind I've ever met.
Them's the big two. Have interesting people and keep 'em in interesting situations. There are other things I like about Martin's work, and things about Goodkind's that I liked in the early stuff, but those two points are the deal breakers. I strongly recomend that should you find yourself in a series where
A. Characters are 2-dimensional and/or
B. Nothing happens
you should bail out. Now. While there's still time.
**Limited Time Offer!** I gots Sword of Truth books, including Faith of the Fallen in hardcover, and I might give/trade 'em at you if you catch me before I make it to a used book store.
Skip to the end for a limited time offer!
From an official Amazon review of Faith of the Fallen (SoT):
"Fantasy series fans may argue over the relative merits of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth, George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, and Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, but in a world of middle books that go nowhere and endless waits between episodes, Goodkind is certainly still serving up some of the best fantasy on today's menu."
I don't know at which book I stopped reading Wheel of Time. I think I read to book four or five, but it might have been six, and anyway he's on, what, twelve, now? He lost me when I realised that the extent of my emotional involvment was wanting to bitch-slap every female character. This amazon review has one of the most beautiful examples of damning with faint praise that I've ever seen: "...(work saved by)...his ability to create fully realized characters (though his treatment of sexuality will appeal primarily to adolescents)."
At the same time I dumped WoT, I becamse enamored of the Sword of Truth series. When I started rereading them I found them a bit facile (though the first few are entertaining). The pedantic philosophy had killed my interest by Faith of The Fallen. I'm now planning on reselling the SoT books I own. I almost NEVER get rid of books. Still, there are a whole lotta good books, and not enough days in the year.
Now, the one epic series with which I'm thrilled (so far...dum dum dum!) is Grrrr Martin's the Song of Ice and Fire. I could go on and on, but basically, he gets a few things right that the other two flub up to one degree or another.
1. SHIT HAPPENS. Bad shit. Good shit. Never-a-dull-moment holy-mackerel raining storms of shit. The multipile plot-lines all actually have plots. This is why the amazon review above is particularly puzzling, because it ascribes Martin's virtue to Goodkind's work (probably because Goodkind didn't start to drag until the book AFTER the one reviewed).
COROLLARY: People DIE. As well as realistic and dramatic, this helps to narrow down the amount of plot lines he juggles at once. Jordon should learn from this and start massacring characters (if he needs help, I volunteer).
2. MORAL GREY AREA. Jordan has shallow bitchy characters. Goodkind has characters that are deeply good or deeply evil, and occasionally switch. Martin has characters which are both good and bad at the same time, and that's the only kind I've ever met.
Them's the big two. Have interesting people and keep 'em in interesting situations. There are other things I like about Martin's work, and things about Goodkind's that I liked in the early stuff, but those two points are the deal breakers. I strongly recomend that should you find yourself in a series where
A. Characters are 2-dimensional and/or
B. Nothing happens
you should bail out. Now. While there's still time.
**Limited Time Offer!** I gots Sword of Truth books, including Faith of the Fallen in hardcover, and I might give/trade 'em at you if you catch me before I make it to a used book store.
