Terry Goodkind is a renowned American fiction writer. He is famous for his fantasy and suspense novels. His notable works includes a suspense novel The Law of Nines and an epic fantasy The Sword of Truth.
Goodkind was born in 1948 and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. He suffered from dyslexia in his childhood therefore felt discouraged to write anything. The years leading up to his professional career, he took on a number of odd jobs. He worked as a violinist, cabinet builder, wildlife artist and a marine. After marrying his wife Jeri, he moved to Maine where he built a house. He has participated in several automobile racing competitions.
During construction of Goodkind’s house he initiated writing his first book. His debut novel Wizard’s First Rule marks the first book in the epic fantasy series The Sword of Truth which was published in 1994 by Tor Books. The book was sold for a record price of $275,000 in an auction held for three publications who wanted to publish the book. The success of his first book paved way for more sequels. He has penned over eleven novels and a novella. With the exception of one novel all of Goodkind’s work climbed up the The New York Times Best Seller list. This epic fantasy has sold more than twenty five million copies in twenty different languages.
The Sword of Truth comprises 14 novels. The series revolves around the larger-than-life protagonists Richard Cypher, Kahlan Amnell and Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander. They set out on the quest to save the world from the evil oppressors who intend to rule them with the use of evil powers. The books are set in a divided world known as the New World and the Old World. The central Richard Cypher, lives in the New World, is the Seeker of Truth, who is required to maintain law and justice. Now it is his duty to stop the D’Haran Empire leader Darken Rahl from attaining, the magic of Orden, which is an ancient power. The books leading up to the final book focuses on the virtuosity of Richard and the Wizard’s Rule imposed by the order.
Goodkind’s fantasy fiction is not just traditional fantasy novel for its main emphasize is on philosophy. He is of the view that writing in fantasy genre provides him with the opportunity to further explore the human theme and emotions. His fiction work including the plot, characters, themes are strongly inspired by Ayn Rand’s books. Ayn Rand was a Russian-American writer who first developed the philosophy of objectivism. According to this theory only the sense perception of human being can decipher the reality. It determines the purpose of one’s life through inductive knowledge. Goodkind is a major proponent of Objectivism, applied in Rand’s works. In his novel Faith of the Fallen, the objectivist theme is more pronounced. The heavy employment of this philosophy in the novel erupted controversies and dissatisfaction among his fan base.
Critics’ opinions are divided on Goodkind’s writing. Most of them are of the view that his books have a cynical angle that makes the read depressing. The protagonists are said to have admiring qualities only if set against the diabolical villains. Also the books are criticized for having strong sexual and sadomasochistic content. Despite the heavy criticism, the series was adapted into a television series by the title Legend of the Seeker in 2008.
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