Sword of Truth - Blistering Review (Wizards First Rule)

[@DanielGreeneReviews]

What are your thoughts on Sword of Truth? AGAIN if you like it, that’s totally cool and my opinion does not infringe on yours at all. From previous video reactions, need to keep repeating that.

[@joewells6252]

I thought some later books got better. Some Decent Characters. But it seemed the Author had no idea where the story was going so plot points arise as new books come out. He Blatantly rips of The from Robert Jordan constantly. And The last several books were the worst ever. I will never read him again. worst ending to a series ever.

[@drakona84]

@@joewells6252 I liked 1-4,6,9-11 books :)

[@tatestaples3127]

I started listening to it on audible. I began listening to it and didn’t like it. I started listening to it at 3x speed to try to get to the part that got good but I didn’t make it through

[@joewells6252]

@Krasimir Hariznov. Ok, I admit that there are some pretty good books in here. Wizard of first rule was Written as a one and done if you wanted to. I liked the Character of Richard and Khalan. The Wizard Zed, also pretty cool. .......But these books are bad. One whole book is basically a Manifesto against Comunism.... or perhaps a love of Ann Rand? Book 7 was a useless entry introducing Jennsen. Richards sister. Did she do anything in these books afterward? I forget. I don't know. It's been to far since I read it for me to make specific points. A bad series with some really good stuff in it. I'm going to good reads as a refresher to my thoughts.

[@kevinwarden2450]

I LOVE Sword of Truth, but I love it in a weird "just a cheap action fantasy ostalgic childhood" sort of way. Everything you said in the review I agree with, only I still like this series. It's a really odd place in my mind. XD

[@davidhampton5122]

I still remember Jordan being asked about Goodkind's plagiarism. I loved the way he professionally, almost passive aggressively, stated: "I am aware of Mr Goodkind." And that was his answer. Lol.

[@christopherbacon1077]

And later, when Jordan was in the hospital with a heart condition Goodkind mocked said heart condition. Yes, he is a terrible person. I don't hate the Sword of Truth series as much as Daniel did, it's basically Wheel of Time with more BDSM until around the sixth book when he goes full Objectivist. Never go full Objectivist.

[@johnmatthews5778]

And it was the most perfect shade.

[@fredrikgranstrom6743]

@@christopherbacon1077 what happens then

[@Spaced92]

The ultimate power move.

[@VancePetrol]

@@fredrikgranstrom6743 You get the city of Rapture, from the bioshock series

[@KingsandGenerals]

Problem is, it gets more original down the line... And that makes it even worse.

[@izangomso]

huh kings and generals here?!

[@Ravi9A]

wtf you guys are everywhere

[@nickd5158]

Then it gets less original as he rips off Ayn Rand.

[@GaysianAmerican]

Ah pillars of creation

[@GaysianAmerican]

I read the comment in their narrator quote voice

[@robertshell4176]

My first exposure to Goodkind was him talking about how he has changed everything and his writing is superior and transcendent, and what seemed to be an implication that he in all his greatness was the greatest mind of humanity....it was all a bit shocking as I had absolutely no idea whatsoever who on earth he was...if only I could still have no idea whatsoever who on earth he was, that would be a wonderful thing indeed.

[@OldGamerMegara]

I can’t stand Goodkind. He’s a real piece of work. However, I don’t think criticism of the author belongs in criticism of their work. I can’t stand Rowling, either, but that’s nothing I’d bring up if I were doing a critical analysis of the Potter book, and no one can deny they’ve been influential. Of course, in this case, Goodkind is only mediocre as a writer and doesn’t understand how to be inspired by rather than simply copy, so I’m not complaining about attacks on him too much 😂

[@ヴァリ-z3e]

@@OldGamerMegara >I can’t stand Rowling, either, Ooh, massive tangent: Twitter is a cult. Yes, seriously. The transgender movement is completely false. They are just Otherkin. You bought into a madman's delusions basically because of peer pressure.

[@arti-lantern3088]

@@ヴァリ-z3e wow that was weird and unrelated and uncalled for

[@teajay3671]

@@ヴァリ-z3e Not a SOUL asked

[@tictacterminator]

the only 2 books you need in life atlas shrugged and faith of the fallen they will bring out ur ability to do capitalism better or something like that

[@markyoung1816]

I had been trying to get my wife to read Brandon Sanderson's stormlight archives and she finally agreed but only if I read wizards first rule too. Oh boy did I get the short end of the stick!

[@ZamWeazle]

Lol brilliant

[@spiffythemantis4201]

Both books are good take the book for what it is

[@princessthyemis]

I'm reading the Stormlight Archive too, and it's amazing!!!!

[@asarishepard8171]

your wife did not like good books did she?

[@somerandomguy2991]

You have my sympathy and respect

[@starlinguk]

So, I get the feeling that Daniel didn't like this book very much.

[@Spthomas47]

How so? ;)

[@myciemouse9112]

Really? Im watching him talk about it now and it seems like he loves it!

[@gaybowser4648]

I had no idea, until I watched it for the 923rd time.

[@fredrikgranstrom6743]

WEIRD!

[@sebastiencimpaye5871]

Not only does he seem to love the books, but especially the author

[@calebmauer1751]

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." -John Rogers

[@semicolon4278]

Lol, but I did actually somewhat enjoy Atlas Shrugged

[@calebmauer1751]

@@cg5081 I've never read it I just like that quote. You can find lots and lots of writing from other people about why it's bad though if you're interested. I can't really speak authoritatively on it.

[@calebmauer1751]

@@cg5081 No but I did play Bioshock.

[@calebmauer1751]

@@cg5081 The Bioshock thing was a joke because the game is a fictional takedown of objectivism while Atlas Shrugged is allegedly the opposite. And holycrap I didn't know there was a Wheel of Time game, I think I'd be afraid to play it. Seems like it should be an RPG though, like something like Knights of the Old Republic.

[@calebmauer1751]

@@johnfriday5169 For you comrade, I read it. This speech is definitely correct on a very superficial level, but that's what happens when you argue with strawmen. If you're arguing against an artificial position it doesn't win you a lot of converts because it's cheap. The phrase "money is the root of all evil" isn't about money at all, it's about doing evil things to get money, including stealing money from other people, which this speech seems to be about. I'm guessing in the book there's something before it that maybe justifies why the speech is arguing such a weird point. I looked it up, Americans didn't invent the phrase "to make money". And the author says that's our greatest distinction, not the federalist constitution with freedom of speech? There's some irony in the author bringing up looting over and over again then phrasing Americans, who looted a continent from the original owners. Overall this speech just reeks of being written by a college student with a very narrow view of life. The author should read more history and gain some perspective. Wealth is not created in a vacuum, everyone who produces anything in our society is only able to do so because of the infrastructure around them and the people who came before. We do all owe something back to the community. From there, you're just haggling over how much. Now I read that, you should go play Bioshock. They're both fiction, but Bioshock is a lot more fun.

[@JamesTullos]

I read this book when I was 14 and even then I thought it felt like something that the ghost of Ayn Rand would write after skimming over a copy of The Hobbit.

[@drakona84]

The Hobbit is for 6 years old

[@drakona84]

Like a first book ever

[@InfiniteText]

The ghost of Ayn Rand....you're killin' me 😂😂😂

[@ec_me]

@Adam Cosper lol absolute M A D L A D 😂

[@DanielGreeneReviews]

That’s a better review than my whole 14 minute video. God damn.

[@somebody-un1fd]

I've always thought of Robert Jordan as the creator and Terry Goodkind as the dark one...

[@omegonitsalpharius]

This makes it so funny considering the last battle 🤣🤣🤣

[@lukemichal7867]

I just literally laughed out loud and several people looked at me.....thanks.

[@orion351us]

Now that WoT has its first 5 main characters for the series, I could care less about any talk that pertains with sword of truth.

[@CraigJack]

I personally think Terry Brooks is the creator of Terry Goodkind. Harder to read but same story concept.

[@lukemichal7867]

@@CraigJack ahahahah, I literally just laughed out loud

[@Vavutsikarios]

I remember trying to read this thing many years ago. It was the worst thing i had read in my life so far. The thing is, at the time i prided myself for being able to read anything, never leave the book i started unfinished. So i kept torturing myself. Then something miraculous happened. While i was walking in my house, passing in front of the bathroom door, which happened to be open for some inexplicable reason, the book almost magically flew off my hands and it landed inside the toilet. I kid you not. I dont know how that happened. I was forced to quit reading it after that. It was such a relief. True story.

[@nogaamram4387]

This is amazing.

[@klararosengren5314]

Even if you were lying about this, it's too good not to be liked.

[@carl6149]

Good thing it wasn't an ebook. There goes your ipad!

[@thesilentinterloper9464]

That was literally me when I read this last year. I thought it was good because my coding teacher whom I looked up to told me it was and because I had this habit of reading way too fast when chapters got long and not getting all the details. I had a good idea what was going on but I didn't really grasp it and neither did I want to. This happened with the sexual parts way too many times to count. So, it felt like I was going through the motions of completing a chore when I was reading this book so I was cutting corners and didn't really have enough details to realize fucked up some of the parts of this book were.

[@Pillzpop]

Well, it wanted to return from where it came.

[@Connor_Crain]

Sword of truth was one of the first fantasy series I ever read and therefore part of me will always appreciate it for getting me in to fantasy. That said, I completely agree with you!

[@jachyra4]

"When I first encountered it I was like 'ok, this is paying homage.' But then with the pattern of the rest of the story, if everything that is in your story is an homage you've not made an original thing, you've just taken from others." You've just encapsulated how I felt about The Force Awakens. Thank you.

[@numericalhorror185]

I’m not trying to undermine what you’re saying but at least TFA is in the same franchise at the movies it’s ripping off. Goodkind is literally out here robbing people and not admitting to it

[@sylph8005]

Good point

[@brrr375]

force awakens is worse imo because it's not only ripping off a story, it's completely resetting another universe and thus making the previous works worse. The original trilogy is now bad because nothing that happens matter, the empire will come back and luke won't play a part in it, thus everything he ever did is meaningless. It even managed to undermine the prequel trilogy, because darth vader doesn't matter, the skywalker family has no impact on anything, palpatine's rise to power doesn't matter, just all build-up is gone and reversed. All 9 of the movies now just boil down to "palpatine is evil but rey has 2 lightsabers and the universe is saved." It's honestly impressive how effectively a single movie managed to destroy the entire franchise by reversing absolutely all progress it's ever made. At least wizard's first rule didn't ruin anything else.

[@kirstencorby8465]

Well, the Force Awakens is a straight-up retread of A New Hope, and they never even pretended otherwise. In fact they affirmatively said so. At least they were honest I guess.

[@michaeldavis4980]

@@brrr375 It was Disney that killed the Star Wars Universe at the end. But if you want bad, think how back Wizard's First Rule was, Disney actually managed to make something worse, Legend of the Seeker.

[@greensnake6943]

As a person who read the first 3 books back when I was 16-17 (8 years ago) and REALLY enjoyed I have two things to say: 1: I am happy I DID NOT continue it 2: I am happy I didn't know much fantasy when I read it and was able to enjoy it because of that

[@RDeathmark]

I also really enjoyed the book and I'm not sure I agree with the overall sentiment of this video but I absolutely agree with your first point as someone who did read the entire series at least until apparently he continued it after the series ended originally but I digress. the last book in the series is one of the worst books I've ever read I described it as the Mass Effect 3 of books and it actually ruins the Wizard's First Rule as a book with some of the things that it does and how it retcons certain events

[@Radolus555]

Holy shit same. I didn't even enjoy the edgy parts of the story for the edge and I was 16 myself at the time. I guess what I found enjoyable was where the story was heading. I had read very few fantasy books before and all of them were targeted at a younger audience so it was a nice change of seriousness I guess. The bad part is I have red 5 and a half tomes of it and then kinda dropped it, always believing this will be the series I will come back to. Behold me, right now, 8 years later still believing I was going to do that. Not anymore. I am thinking however about coming back to fantasy books now (mostly because I've been dm'ing DnD for past few years). I might need a recommendation what series would be good to catch up on.

[@jamesalexander958]

When this book came out, people were hungry for fantasy that wasn't just Tolkien/D&D stuff. I enjoyed it then, but I'm sure if I reread it, I'd hate it

[@Nicksta177]

What are some fantasy books you recommend for me then? I’ve read all of the main sword of truth books.

[@K9Cop2314]

Same. It was my first introduction to Fantasy

[@andrewwinkelmeyer6503]

I’d give the books more slack if Goodkind didn’t come off so pompous in every interview or Q&A.

[@fredrikgranstrom6743]

or mocking jordans heartcondition

[@alja343]

You: Smeagol Me, an intellectual: SaMuEl

[@Dark-wy9yb]

What? Without this comment I would never realize that Samuel could be for someone copy of Smeagol... I see they have some similarities, but Samuel wanted a Sword he belived was rightfully his, not some Ring. And he was (before Richard) a Seeker or at least sword owner, because real Seeker was only named by first wizard. Smeagol was never owner of the Ring as much as Frodo and Bilbo weren't too. No one except Sauron ( and Tom Bombadil), even Gandalf or Saruman could control One Ring. It has no owner. Sword on the other hand was rightfully Richard's. But even Richard wanted to " always have sword close to him" and he felt "really uncomfortable" without sword ( he lost it few times in books but always recover). Seeker and sword were united as one thing. Even without sword real Seeker could use sword magic, but he still feel better with sword. So I don't see any problems.

[@alja343]

@@Dark-wy9yb I'm not familiar with this book so I believe you that there are differences but I think Daniel is saying that considering all major tropes are so similar/generic, it seems plausible that this character is also influenced by Smeagol

[@calebmauer1751]

@Corvidae Yeah, of all the ripoffs in this I think the Smeagol / Samuel thing is the most blatant.

[@jmadmaxx7295]

Dark Psychopath you just took down your own point. Samuel is a character who finds a magical Macguffin that ends up corrupting him and turning him into something worse. Sméagol is a character who finds a magical macguffin that ends up corrupting him that turns him into something worse. I’m okay with retreading characters, but this was insane.

[@turtleanton6539]

@@Dark-wy9yb so itsa sword instead of the ring.

[@JeskaRain]

This was the very first fantasy book I ever read as a young teen(13-14 ish) and having no frame of reference back then I thought it was amazing. It was also the first novel written in English I ever read so there was a bit of a struggle and language barrier for me to overcome too. Funny enough I picked up the book by chance in a library because I was drawn by the cover art. The very art that Terry took a shit on. Still, being a child the problem of originality was a non issue for me because to me, what I was reading was novelty. Terry's lack of originality was only made apparent to me later in the series. Even as a kid though the part where he tames Darken Rahl's dragon through the sheer power of swag had me raise an eyebrow. I didn't like the whole ordeal with the Mord Sith but impressionable young me was pretty pumped when he turned the sword white and killed her. To me you've been overly harsh but I know that if I read it again I would see more problems with it so I'd rather keep a fond memory of it as my first ever fantasy novel.

[@HighWarlordJC]

Also read it as a young teen and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Got like his first 8 books in the series; I think Pillars of Creation or something was one of the last books I read. This comes off as "Simpson's did it!" to me now, but I get the feeling that if I read them as an adult I would align closer to Daniel's view.

[@PolinaLee94]

Yeah, same here. Didn't notice any copipasta cause it was the first book of that genre i've read. I didn't even mind gollum look-alike)

[@mriswith88]

I agree with everything you said, and I feel the same way, since Wizard's First Rule was the first fantasy book of its kind that I ever read, back in 2004. This was before I had a cell phone or any easy access to the internet. Even if I did readily available access to the internet, it didn't even have NEARLY as much news content as it does now. So I had the privilege and joy of not knowing much of anything about Terry Goodkind himself or his personality while I was reading the books. And I had no other fantasy novels to really compare it to. I was drawn into the Sword of Truth novels because the writing was just...captivating. And the characters were interesting and memorable and funny and tragic and detestable and loveable and all of the above. Say what you will, but Goodkind knew how to write a story that kept you engaged, at least in his prime. Many years later, I still remember vividly told scenes from the books. Critics sometimes forget that they have the privilege of critiquing from a modern, informed, nuanced perspective that most readers don't have, or event want. Sometimes, people just want to innocently remember their childhood stories fondly.

[@M4ttNet]

I mean I get why people hate him, he's a total dick. Though I don't get why people misrepresent details in the book. He didn't tame the dragon thorugh the "power of swag" lol. I might be off on details, its been years, but even now I can recall Darken Rahl extorted the dragon by holding it's egg, the Dragon demands Richard free her egg first then she'll help him. Basically no risk to herself but she might get freed. I mean there's nothing wrong with that turn of events lol. Of all things for people to pick on and misrepresent I don't get it. He's worthy of hating but it doesn't excuse people misrepresenting things. Hate him for what he said and did not what he didn't.

[@stonzi32]

My husband recommended I read this book and then started to tell me about the main character... He's a self insert.

[@mariebourgot4949]

100%

[@yams8905]

He isn't a self insert. Richard is the mcguffin for the mcguffin for the mcguffin. The entire series was a tongue and cheek representation of the genre from the perspective of a writer reading a mcguffin. The entire plot of the series is about going against all odds to endorse the tropes of the genre that would make him a profit while being the antithesis to exactly what he was writing about. The entire series was a dramatic representation of the culling of creative writing through the need to bypass creative tropes in fantasy.

[@spacedoohicky]

@@yams8905 Is that so? I'm not even sure what that means.

[@EtherealDoomed]

@@yams8905 Yes, he badly wrote endless cliches with no irony, originality or punchline as a satire. That seems plausible /s

[@yams8905]

@@EtherealDoomed Still made him some sweet cash. He knew who he was writing for. Himself and others like him. He wrote a 50 shades of grey for angry libertarians. Getting butt hurt over some shit any of us could have wrote as satire but didn't is laughable. You still read it. He won in the end. Every angry communist that read his book caused another freckle to form on his flesh. "But muh plagiarism!" If anyone really gave a fuck about that, outside of butthurt chuckle fucks, then the entire music industry would be dead.

[@cagankaplan5302]

I study Terry Goodkind while writing my own novel. I STUDY WHAT TO AVOID.

[@fredrikgranstrom6743]

SMART MAN

[@Nalabones2]

definitely a smart move to avoid the over 26 million in sales if you want to be a failure

[@fredrikgranstrom6743]

@@Nalabones2 LOOOL

[@benjaminthibieroz4155]

@@Nalabones2 You can never tell if your book will have success, copied or not. But you can tell if you as an author is proud of it. Which for me is the first step to everything.

[@GD-be8zf]

I remember reading this book when I was a teenager. I read many of the subsequent books as well, although I was unable to complete the series - I eventually couldn't take the torture porn any more. It taught me a lot as a young reader. Specifically that you can often tell what the writer thinks and feels about the world and what kind of person they are through how they tell their story and develop their characters. It also taught me that some adults are just seriously eff-ed up people

[@jeremyallen9624]

Except you really can't tell what the writer thinks and feels or what kind of person they are. For example, take John Norman's "Chronicles of Counter-Earth" series. By reading it, you'd swear he advocates for the enslavement of women, but he actually doesn't. The series was written as an exaggerated rebuttal to third-wave feminism.

[@jackskellingtonsora]

@@jeremyallen9624 Nah. You can definitely tell. When you write, you tend to insert your own morals into a story. If someone was anti-feminist, like in the book you're talking about above, they'd probably insert anti-feminism as the moral good of the story. Which they apparently did. Or they just really wanted to write erotica, which is also fine, in which case we get an in depth look into the author's fantasies. When you're reading, you're having a conversation with the author about what they like or what they value or what they believe. That's one of the things I absolutely love about reading.

[@EricDurrant-k5z]

@@jackskellingtonsora JohnJakes is a standout example of this: an author who championed racial equality, and yet.... was a blatant misogynist and homophobe in every single book. The contradictions made me laugh, but apparently, the irony was completely lost on him.

[@kyriross5145]

Just wait for the last half of the series which is essentially a multiple-thousands-of-pages anti-communist pro-capitalist rant/manifesto. It's like the longest reddit post ever

[@kyriross5145]

@kacangbumbu987 it's not the fact that he is a conservative, it's the way it is written. It really comes across as "this is the only acceptable way of life and anyone who disagrees at all is an idiot and they deserve to be tormented forever" he just raves it for several thousand pages. How people don't deserve to be saved unless they agree that his (Richard Cypher) point of view about society is absolutely correct

[@tompadfoot3065]

@kacangbumbu987 so first, most people hate Goodkind because he's an insufferable prick and blatant plagiarist. So there's that. But to dive deeper, after like book 3 the series essentially becomes one long love letter to Ayn Rand and libertarianism. There's an empire in the series in what is called the Old World that is run as a conservative's idea of what socialism is. So people that make any money are forced to give it away to those that don't, which makes them poor too, so they have to beg for money from those it was given too, etc. The MC subverts all this by introducing capitalism as though it is a completely alien concept to these people and all of the sudden they launch a pro-capitalist, pro-individualist revolution. Its a completely ham-fisted retelling of Atlas Shrugged in the worst possible way. Look up Faith of the Fallen, that's where that particular series of events happens. I can't write more about it without giving myself an aneurysm

[@jamiemahoney2446]

@kacangbumbu987 As far as I can remember, the book after chainfire I think the MC goes on many page rants to any and all in his vicinity multiple times about the merits of his vision. I remember a similar rant happening at least four times. I remember it being something along the lines of think for yourself as long as you do what I tell you. It got so bad that the MC cast a spell that got rid of any that disagreed with his vision to another world that sounded a lot like Earth. I say remember because I might be wrong in the memory.

[@mitchellanderson3960]

@Vox Populi yeah, it's the conservatives in America that are intolerant of others views and are demanding laws to impede the ability of others to express their opinions😒. If your political leanings are blatant in your writing, means you didn't write a compelling story, but an annoying rant of your politics (see majority of Disney films produced in the last decade). Sounds like Goodkind is an ass.

[@JohnBrowningsGhost]

Im not so sure hating commies is the worst thing about these novels tbh.

[@akkristor]

Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth was my introduction to Fantasy. It turned me off the entire freaking genre until a friend got me to read The Dresden Files. Thank you, Jim Butcher.

[@Schwaaaang]

Many years ago, I was collecting this series before beginning it. It seemed to have cool covers and a large following- why not? I randomly came across a Q&A where he responded to someone curious if his and Jordan's worlds would possibly be connected, and he answered "If you notice a similarity, then you probably aren't old enough to read my books". I had my mouth open for about five minutes before I just said "You know? I don't think I want to read anything this dude thinks". I gave them all to a charity shop

[@DragonHeart613]

The art work of the book covers is also what first caught my interest in The Sword of Truth series many many years ago. I had previously never heard of The Sword of Truth series before but I thought that the art work of the book covers was amazing with Temple of The Winds being my favorite cover and it was because of the very cool cover art that I got curious about Sword of Truth. I also liked the TV show adaptation Legend of The Seeker. I only began collecting the hardcover versions of the books last year but since hearing Daniel's thoughts about book #1 and about Terry Goodkind's hugely arrogant & egotistical comments & treatment of others, yikes. I've yet to start reading the books myself & maybe I'll like it or maybe I won't but one thing is for sure, I will never ever again buy or pick up another Terry Goodkind book except for the last 3 Sword of Truth books that I've yet to get to complete the collection but that's it.

[@nbeutler1134]

@@DragonHeart613 honestly, cover art matters way more than it should to me, so I was really disappointed when I found out about this guy because damn those covers are amazing but everything else I've heard is repelling me away from reading them

[@mordis8518]

Now i'm just really happy that my grandma got me a copy of The Eye of the World for Christmas when i was 13. That could have gone so badly

[@333pinkelephant333]

dam, Eye of the World is a hefty book to get for a 13 year old.

[@xandara75]

@@333pinkelephant333 nah perfect age to start, you still have the time to finish the whole series in a couple of months at that age. its great :D

[@Winchester1979]

@@xandara75 If the whole series is available, maybe. I started reading the series at sixteen... about a month after Lord of Chaos came out. I spent quite a few years waiting for the rest of it.

[@calebmauer1751]

@@333pinkelephant333 I and many others have read LotR before age 13. Wheel of Time is pretty light in comparison. I think you're underestimating most 13 year-olds.

[@Goomyx1492]

I've read so many negative reviews of Sword of Truth, and I know I'll never read the book or series, but damn if the negative reviews aren't entertaining lol

[@Windupchronic]

I read this book when it first came out. I was working in a library at the time, and was reading pretty much everything I could get my hands on. Went on a big fantasy binge at one point, reading Brooks, Eddings, Goodkind, Tolkien, etc. A few years after I read it, someone asked me if I would recommend it. I remember pausing, thinking, and finally had to admit, "You know, I don't remember a damn thing about it. So... I guess not."

[@derykhunter1730]

I used to refer to the entire series as “the Ayn Rand monologues”

[@shosty575]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@Heidelmann]

Like FotF

[@shosty575]

@@Heidelmann what is that?

[@Heidelmann]

@@shosty575 Faith of the Fallen, in my opinion his most Randian novel.

[@shosty575]

@@Heidelmann oh ok tq

[@revpembroke3082]

Oh! And you haven't even reached the demon chicken yet!

[@IamMeHere2See]

Oh yeah! I remember that! Gosh, which one was that? Temple of Wind? Soul of the Fire? I'm surprised I continued with the series after reading those, but I was voracious in my early years.

[@maohpeach1425]

soul of the fire

[@masterprocrastinator225]

You mean the chicken that's not a chicken

[@jessi4894]

It clearly WASN'T a chicken. It looked like a chicken, but only Kahlan, the smartest woman in the world, could tell that it was eeeevil.

[@merrittanimation7721]

To emphasize the ridiculousness of the chicken (my only exposure to it is the direct quote below), there's a similar description of a beagle in the podcast Welcome to Night Vale, but that manages to actually terrifying because it has decent writing.

[@bruh-zy1dp]

Whenever I feel down I read fifth sorceress and wizards first rule and it makes me feel good because it makes me realise anyone can be a published writer

[@CurieBohr]

Almost anyone can get published, but few will sell millions and millions of copies. Few will write multiple sequels that also sell well.

[@nextpageadventure9160]

I love this book but it has been over 13+ years since I've read it. and I feel like you're describing a completely different book then what I loved as a teenager. I wonder what I'd think about them now that I'm a more critical reader.

[@OlStinky1]

It really is terrible. I tried reading it and had the same reaction as Daniel. I am genuinely at a loss as to how it became a blockbuster fantasy series somehow. The power of publishers pushing something perhaps?

[@KPruchE99]

I read this when I was 14 and loved it, even read a few sequels. I read it again at 30 and saw through it all, it's bad.

[@THEmobius77]

Don't go back and read it. I loved it when I read it as a kid, probably cuz it is not a kids book. Reread it a couple of years ago and.. no, just don't.

[@aaronnichols9338]

That's my fear as well. I was able to pull out negatives when in my early 20s reading it, now nearly 29 years later I am afraid to re-read as I think the memory is stronger than the actual book was.

[@Grubnessul]

@@KPruchE99 That's pretty much the reason why I'm not rereading it. If your 12 and it's the only fantasy series available in your (none English) language in your library, I guess it's good and original. I shiver of the thought to reread it. Zed is cool, though.

[@abbashaidari8313]

"Terry Goodkind" he's neither Good nor Kind

[@firstnamelastname7244]

Nominative determinism my ass.

[@rubensanchezramirez7028]

Goodkind is short for “Good grief you’re kind of a douche”

[@esobelisk3110]

For some reason, every time I see his name, my brain substitutes Goodkind with Pratchett, and I get a mild case of whiplash.

[@dale2283]

Terry goodkind more like Terry badkind

[@jasonkimball1709]

Terry Badrude

[@thekavestation]

I'm gonna start writing novels if goodkind can make a living doing it then most people can

[@solon2923]

also Trump became president, more power to the cause. Anything is possible

[@johnnywatson4914]

@@solon2923 and a bunch of dead people voted for Biden. Yep. Its all wild isn't it?

[@vullord666]

@@solon2923 tbf Trump being president was actually a pretty predictable outcome. Heck, its happened before with Andrew Jackson. 1) At this point we should all know negative PR is still really good PR. All the news every talked about was him and as someone who learned in government that most people that do vote (which mind you isn’t a ton even during presidential elections) do so based off of recognizable names and faces. JFK literally won because he was hot and that was the first campaign with national television. For all intents Nixon should have won (having the most experience and being setup politically (presidents were kinda determined by the elite when there wasn’t as much news spread or communication networks)) and doing the most campaigning, but it backfired with him looking tired during the televised debate. Anyway Trump was the only candidate consistently talked about by literally everyone. 2) The two party system just shot itself in the foot going years building a narrative where third party candidates aren’t even considered a possibility (and for good reason with how difficult it is for them to even get on the ballot due to laws set by the two parties together). 3) Trump came at a time when distrust and frustration at the government was at an all time high (and its just getting higher). He represented what the people saw as a breath of fresh air. Even with how awful it was people saw that as more honest than the current government and preferred it. On the other hand Hillary was getting caught doing the very crap that got the people believing in Trump’s honest/open idiocy. Really she should never have been the dems best pick. Anyone who knew her in previous elections knew her entire campaigns and character were built around the wishy-washy politics and nothing flip flop principles the people were frustrated by. That said Its really unfortunate that we got Trump because all he managed to do was stir the pot and worsened the political bipolarism.

[@vullord666]

Real talk, the kissing booth getting a movie and sequel is proof enough ANYONE can make it

[@jamesrich5640]

Thank you for this review. I am taking this off my tbr. I know you have said in the past not to base my opinion on yours. However I completely respect your opinion and I think you are very thoughtful on how you review. Since this is a large series, your review, the feelings I have had about the author for a while from watching interviews all are saying run....so I will run. Great review as always

[@drakona84]

well that was not smart to say

[@jamesrich5640]

Not sure what you mean by that

[@drakona84]

@@jamesrich5640 I was annoy by the video. Sorry

[@drakona84]

@@jamesrich5640 The book are for teenagers.

[@docvaliant721]

Sheep follow

[@screamingtongue]

Accidentally saving the day with magic kind of becomes Terry's go-to move with this series. He codifies it at some point by basically saying that Richard's magic can't be learned or controlled, and that it all derives from his need. This means that whether it's shooting lightning to destroy thousands of enemies at once, or just knowing the cure to a poison he's been given, Richard can always solve everything exactly when the plot needs him to, and not a moment sooner.

[@frankm.2850]

Rand had a character give a seventy page long monologue in one of her books. So he’s just following his precious.

[@Darth_Xionn]

70 pages? How?!

[@nomisunrider6472]

She also had a character dynamite an entire house, go to trial, and then give a speech so good that everyone in the courtroom claps and lets him off scot-free for it. Hence why the main character is a giant asshole but everyone still loves him, because Objectivists believe that "great men" should be allowed to do whatever they want and we peons should be grateful for their existence and take anything they say as absolute truth.

[@Darth_Xionn]

@@nomisunrider6472 You're joking, right?

[@nomisunrider6472]

@@Darth_Xionn Nope, that's literally how The Fountainhead ends. Roarke designs a building, someone changes the design, and so he decides to blow it up (at night, when no one's there) for subverting his vision. He is arrested, represents himself in court, and his closing statement speech about the rights of the individual is apparently so powerful they decide he's not guilty.

[@tangerinebasket]

@@nomisunrider6472 jesus christ i think i would rather read 80k of kpop slow burn fanfic written by a 14 year old

[@clairemeehan4141]

"Arsehole brother trope" - lol!!! Wasn't that one of the plot twists in the bible...

[@georgeheingartner6995]

Claire Meehan Yeah, but you can use it if you’re able...

[@ryanbohn5358]

Not to mention the title of the second book is literally The Stone of Tears and is just one letter off from The Stone of Tear in WoT

[@Ben_the_Rosafan]

FFS, even calling it "The Stone of Sorrows" would've been better.

[@3velina]

The Smeagol part made me laugh so hard! You can´t steal such an iconic character and get away with it!

[@Charistoph]

Honestly, I didn't make the connection, but there were many years between reading Tolkien, reading Goodkind, and seeing the movies. Though, Samuel had the witch who could control him, so a slight difference there.

[@Dark-wy9yb]

He did not stoled Smeagol. It is different story. You can't just say every person that "really want something" and is "obsessed with it" is a copy of Smeagol. Smeagol wanted Ring and Samuel wanted sword of the Truth. This is one of most classic themes in mythology. And also Tolkien is not creator of this. Is it believed he took "one ring" idea from "treasure od Nibelungs", famous germanic legend, where magic powerfull ring that everyone want is big part of the story, or from Richard Wagner opera calles literally " Ring of Nibelungs".

[@Charistoph]

@@Dark-wy9yb, the fanatic desire isn't the problem, otherwise we could include Bilbo in that same list. It is the fact that the person was altered in to a degenerate being by the magical item along with their fanatical desire that makes them connected.

[@Charistoph]

@crazy knight teleported from medieval times , as I said, it was more about the time between the exposures which did not make me think about the similarities. There is a difference, though, in the witch for Samuel. Smeagol had no such break. There is also the difference that Samuel received the Sword as a political prize and Smeagol found the ring by happenstance, but that means little in character development, I think. No need for the profanity, though.

[@ElinorMahoney]

Dark Psychopath LMAO ‘stoled’ isn’t a word

[@alexbubblemint2434]

There's no greater joy for me than when someone I like hates something I hate. Props to you for even finishing the book, because I couldn't. It was recommended to me years ago by someone I now know I do not share the same tastes as. The book felt like a better than average fan-fiction, there's no other way for me to describe it. Hated it thoroughly and I'm so happy you think the same.

[@charlesmason6508]

I admit, I picked up the book and read it without even knowing Goodkinds history. I had liked it, but on that note I haven't read very many books since middle school. I had read Harry Potter, and Animorphs, as well as a few of Fred Saberhagen's Berserker series, but since then Wizards First Rule was the first book I read in like 10 years. I've been attempting to write my own fantasy novel, and I've been putting off reading more books for fear that I might be too inspired by something and then not be original.(I've only been reading books lately to get an idea of grammatical structure) Which is something I'm already going to struggle with. Any reader that picks up my work is gonna be like "this dude plays a lot of DnD". I'm not sure if it's a super bad thing or if I should embrace it. I don't like Terry Goodkind as a person, but before I learned his nature I thought it was inspiring that he sat down age 45 without doing any writing before, and just wrote a book. I'm 27 at the moment and I've had a story in my head for 6 years now, and I have no idea what I'm doing but I started writing last August, and so far I'm 80k words deep and still going.

[@matthewpettipas8233]

Just embrace it man and be as original as you can be. Remember, everything has already been done a hundred times over. Try your best and enjoy the writing process, and create something you can be proud of. At the end of the day, at least in my own opinion, that's whats important, crafting a story you love. I've written around fifteen chapbooks and one novel. I haven't sold many copies, but I love every story I've written. So write what you want and enjoy the craft. Best of luck!

[@JC111414]

I have the same fear as I read more and try not to copy off other authors

[@AntediluvianRomance]

What would be a shame, is not reading something but unconsciously copying a significant part of it.

[@M4ttNet]

I still enjoy the SoT despite despising who Goodkind was personally. I also find the claims he plagarised other authors laughable, the guy himself showed a massive ignorance of the quality of other fantasy writing out there, I think he genuinely didn't read most of it (something he said and seems consistent). Things similar in say the WoT have historical roots on many cases... Things like using a collar to control someone, a religious woman's order, etc. Enjoy what you enjoy don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Also it's fine to be inspired by others, they were inspired by others. Even the great George R R Martin copied pretty shameless from history. For example the wealthiest family in Westeros that then usurped the crown were the Lannisters. In history during the Wars of the Roses that was the Lancaster house. I mean didn't even change the name much lol. Countless other cases, sure this is history though it'd be fair to suggest he could've changed the names a bit more (also the Starks are very similar to the Percy family who were the "Wardens of the Marches", the norther end of England who fought of Scots clans very similar to the Starks being the Wardens of the North fighting off the wildlings) etc. Additionally much of this history is encapsulated in various literature include some famous works by Shakespeare. Everything is copied from so many things, many originating in history. Just don't be a dick like Goodkind and hate on fantasy authors lol

[@camillerijess]

Lol. Please give us 20 minutes of everything Terry ripped off from other series! This review was hilarious. Confirmed everything I've heard about Sword of Truth. Definitely not reading.

[@Lakedanielle1]

camillerijess I wish I had seen this review before wasting my time reading the book. It was awful!

[@turtleanton6539]

😂😂😂😂👏👏

[@fenixchief7]

@@andreaporter9879 examples?

[@fenixchief7]

@@andreaporter9879 thought so.

[@isaacaccomando435]

Dude, you shouldn't believe that everyone's opinion on a book is what you think of it... I've spent all my life reading all kinds of fantasy books and this series is by far my favorite... Idk what you hienas are all bitching about... And if you haven't even read the book then why hate on it?

[@mikbdee2186]

Ha! You read the whole book. I stopped halfway through. As my wise sister said "Life is to short to read books your not enjoying."

[@brucewayne4128]

Surprised you made it halfway through. The first chapter was super boring.

[@AllenFreemanMediaGuru]

She makes sense. I guess I will not finish: NOS4R2, Small Fry, Princess Diarist....but determined to finish The Institute. (Since everyone says it's good and I’m 70% done) update: Finished “The Institute” and glad I did as the second 1/2 was awesome.

[@sleepcheek7472]

your sister is a wise woman

[@AntediluvianRomance]

I stopped halfway because the edition I was lent at the time split each volume into two, and I only got the first one. Never bothered to look for the rest of it.

[@DDVargas1983]

I had a co-worker who loved this series and recommended me to read it. I had just finished the Brimstone Angels Saga and the first two Earthsea books. I couldn't even get past the first 100 pages of Wizard's First Rule. I feel like I earned a Purple Heart just for surviving that long.

[@zenon3021]

first 3 books are very readable, but I can confirm: the series tanks as the author runs out of ideas and basically just phones it in :P

[@CHlNY]

I love the blurb that he wrote for/about himself on the dust jacket. Something along the lines of "Terry Goodkind is becoming a legend in his own time" Absolutely worst author I've ever read. Obviously living vicariously through his own main character. Everything remotely interesting in his books stolen from other authors - including literally stealing the "Sword of Truth" from Terry Brooks. Probably stole his first name too.

[@graysonfost8679]

David Caro He also goes out of his way to mention how much money he got for Wizards First Rule

[@Bish186]

The amount of time ive said to myself "terry brooks sword of truth series"

[@arte0021]

I mean Terry Brooks pretty much copied the Sword of Shannara from LOTR ( the sequels are better though) Whats it with authors named Terry being unoriginal?

[@StarryEyed0590]

​@@arte0021 Terry Pratchett doesn't deserve to be tarred with that brush

[@MetalFire1998]

@@StarryEyed0590 wanted to write that xD. Pratchet is with Tolkien the reason why i write. Both can inspire to true creativity.

[@nicolasalejandromedina5109]

I bought it. Read 10 pages. Gave it away to charity. Felt bad for the charity afterwards.

[@artemisjones2121]

A friend of mine was reading this book at the same time I was reading Midnight Tides from the Malazan series. He sworn this book was the best thing since sliced bread. I read the first chapter and nearly died of mediocrity.

[@fredrikgranstrom6743]

AAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAHA!

[@Firedrakul2]

Dude, it's like eating wagyu beef and then freaking McDonald's

[@artemisjones2121]

@@Firedrakul2yep, well put my friend

[@CulinVlau]

This is a book you read in your teens, before reading other stuff. Also, Paolini's Inheritance series goes in the same category.

[@melissaroberts2299]

I actually liked the Inheritance series more but hated the ending

[@sergezede]

Started off well, considering g he was 15 when he started, the rolled down a hill until the end when it fell off a cliff into the abyss.

[@cjmars822]

Funny. I have never read Robert Jordan. I started my fantasy novel readings with Wizards First Rule, and I loved it so much I read the entire line of 20-ish books. Oh well, clearly makes me the outcast here

[@dustindidham8213]

I personally enjoyed this series. About your point where Richard shrugged off the trauma he endured. Richard does touch on it in the later books. Anyways thanks for the video, I enjoy hearing your thoughts and opinions and even though I didn't agree it was very entertaining

[@avrilfan0521]

Bruce Wayne Yeah he not only touches on the trauma it is a BIG part of his character later on

[@CatsBanana-1983]

The trauma comes and Denna comes up throughout the entire series.

[@orion351us]

@@CatsBanana-1983 For some reason, Denna is the only person, in the entire series, I found myself falling in love with. I'm not sure what that says about me. I'm sure y'all will let me know :D

[@CatsBanana-1983]

Michael Monroe honestly I did too. I don’t know why either. It probably has to do with Goodkind writing that every time she helped Richard she was a ‘good spirit with a sad smile.’ If that doesn’t cut deep, I don’t know what does. I think part of it was the intensity with which she ‘taught’ Richard, but how he didn’t break. I think that she loved him in her own way knowing that if he was the one that Darken said he might be, then Richard would kill her. That was my long winded thought, but with all that how could I/you/we not fall in love with her.

[@orion351us]

@@CatsBanana-1983 Thank you for that. I found myself liking more of the villains than I did the protagonists actually. Later on, when Nathan was introduced, I found myself liking him as well.

[@jsmxwll]

I remember loving sword of truth when I first read it. I was maybe 12 at the time. I reread it in my mid 20s and my main takeaway is that without a depth and breadth of experience, good taste is unlikely.

[@Seiaeka]

It really makes me wonder how these people become so popular and yet frequently great works get completely overlooked.

[@jodiz5901]

I've been trying for a long time to remember what book it was that had the "torture porn". Thanks for reminding me! Why is this series so popular???

[@erinsolomon7774]

Because torture porn. Duh.

[@Manpigeon]

We kind of live currently in a really peaceful world...A few hundred years ago that kind of shit was reality. It feels almost...prudish to deny the validity and colorful history of torture that was widespread relatively recently in our history and still exists in some places today.

[@gigangreg7837]

@@Manpigeon That's a very boring way of saying "I think it's sexy"

[@rasheedqe]

Daniel is only inspiring me to read this book. Sounds hilarious.

[@shardsofice]

😂

[@lady_draguliana784]

I got as far as the 5th book in SoT. I'm a WoT Fangirl and was told I'd like this too... but it IS WoT. the series mirrors the progression of the WoT books, Book for Book, released a couple years after the corresponding WoT book. He just straight up plagiarized WoT, added a r4p3 every 200 pages or so, and inverted the politics. I was told I was crazy when I noticed this... I am now discovering that I'm NOT crazy on this particular topic! EDIT: ALSO he even rips of Jordan's Maps, and the MC in SoT follows the same geographic path as Matt and Rand...

[@zachtaylor8222]

i have not watched yet, i want to leave my thoughts first. i got like 6 chapters in, and the dialogue between the male and female lead were so bad that i had to stop and delete it from my phone. this book made baby Jesus cry.

[@lyunardo]

Yes, I bought it and almost immediately deleted it. I did that several times over about 10 years until I finally finished. Just so I didn't waste the money.

[@MikeTheSith200]

You are an idiot.

[@j0nhurry459]

First! I also hate SOT! I think people recommended it to you because they wanted you to destroy it.

[@yoavweiss8779]

Destroy it!! This joke was more original than the SOT

[@-DSet]

CAST IT INTO THE FIRE!

[@rokica66]

Lol, I “accidentally” started reading Terry Goodkind bc I confused him with Terry Pratchett, and it was so godawful that I could not bear to finish it, so kudos to you for that. But this review made me laugh out loud. Here’s the thing. The worrisome thing. Once you are exposed to quality writing and quality concepts in writing, that should take care of Terry Goodkind quality authors who really should have remained in the bowels of fanfic collection sites for unpublishable stuff. Why was he and his writing elevated to being published? Is it that he appeals to the lowest common denominator?

[@animeotaku307]

Fanfic writer here. We don’t want him.

[@corlandashiva2710]

"I am aware of mr. Goodkind". Burn!

[@graves1860]

I clock between 90-100 books a year. I read this book and completely stopped reading for almost two years. I hated it so much I couldn't even look at another book.

[@paullove729]

You read two books a week sure. I think you maybe confusing novels with magazines or newspapers or texts. That is unless this is all you do

[@graves1860]

@@paullove729 It's my job to read. Wasn't always, but is now. My work related reading is 1-2 books a week, the rest is pleasure reading. Not magazines, full novels, short story collections, etc. It's not at all a difficult number to hit. You just have to prioritize reading over other time sinks.

[@paullove729]

@@graves1860 what a fantastic job, thanks for the reply

[@paullove729]

@@graves1860 also could you recommend a good long fantastic fantasy or Sci fi novel really enjoyed for example the king killer books and marian chronicles. Thanks

[@graves1860]

@@paullove729 Fantasy: Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook Sci-Fi: The Ender Quartet/Shadow Quartet by Orson Scott Card or The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey if you want something more modern.

[@raymondwhatley9954]

Are we just gonna all pretend like the villain isn't named "Dark" and his dad isn't named "Penis"?

[@Tyrgalon]

Hmmm...SOT was one of the earlier series I read and I thought it was pretty good. Probably didn´t realize how unoriginal it was due to not having read that much back then.

[@wighty5860]

I read Sword of Shannara before Lord of the Rings and after I finished the book I wasn't really sure why people blasted the it as a rip off. Then I went through Lord of the Rings and it all made sense.

[@glenbe4026]

@@wighty5860 I do not like Terry Goodkind. I loved Robert Jordan. BUT people who go on about Terry Goodkind being unoriginal in "Sword of Truth" whilst championing "Eye of the World" need to check their hypocrisy. EotW is almost a straight retelling of LotR: TfotR

[@picarochi]

@@wighty5860 I was never really that keen on SoS: I always thought it was the weakest of the original trilogy. That being said, EoS and especially WoS were a lot more orginal. Did they use a lot of tropes? Sure. But they still contained a lot of original ideas.

[@wighty5860]

@@picarochi True, EoS is probably my favorite from the entire series. I think Sword was my entry in to fantasy so I hold it higher than it ought to be. But since I hadn't read LotR at that time, I didn't see how closely SoS follows it.

[@f.ah.c2114]

Tyrgalon same thing happened to me with Christopher Paolini. Difference is he didn’t steal, just went full cliche on his work

[@azariusflashfang5716]

I've never actually read Terry Goodkind and after hearing all this pretty sure I never will so thank you for being willing to suffer so the rest of us don't have to. This just sounds like a complete checklist of positively everything I hate in a story: unlikeable Gary Stu main character, magic that's used as a deus ex machina, the old bad boy/girl relationship that's portrayed as totally cool despite how destructive and/or toxic said bad boy/girl is, lack of real stakes, and in general just a complete cut and paste setting. This is the kind of thing I myself tear into when I'm reviewing books.

[@joycerollins2582]

No idea why this showed up in my youtube feed today but I am glad it did! My favorite review ever. Thank you Daniel for this memory!

[@mephestopholes]

Firend's don't let friends read Goodkind. It's been a thing.

[@viperswhip]

I found the book to be poorly written, however, I didn't mind the story overall. I speed read and enjoyed the basic narrative and story, but man it is poorly written.

[@blizzardgaming7070]

How do you spell friend right immediately after spelling it wrong.

[@mephestopholes]

@@blizzardgaming7070 Probably drunk

[@fabiocesar7187]

@@blizzardgaming7070 its his oc race firends short for fire benders.

[@maxroy5246]

Enjoyed these books SO much when I was like 12-13yrs old but yeah by the time i reached the demon chicken i had to give up trying to finish the series

[@pheonix442]

I loved these books as a young teenager, because I watched and adored the subsequent TV series "Legend of the Seeker." Rereading the books in adulthood is... Embarassing. They will always hold a place in my heart for how they made me feel when I was younger, but they are so sexist, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. I appreciate you actually taking the time to really dive into a novel of SoT though- I had no idea so much was lifted from other books (even the Samuel bit- I think as a teenager I went "ha! Gollum" and then moved on.)

[@shadowapple8890]

When I read a book that's part of a series I tend to read everything in that series. I did it for the Wheel of Time (which took a while, as you can imagine). I did it for the Star Wars Legends Expended Universe (so many, many books). I even did it for those Twilight books, because I read one, so I had to read the others, that's how my mind worked at the time. The Sword of Truth series was the first one I forced myself to stop reading. I actually quite liked the first book, I pretty much predicted everything that happened in the book while I was reading it, but I still liked it. Then I read the next one... which was just kind of boring, then the next one, and then the one after that. After a while I felt like I was reading the same book over and over again, they just got more inferior with each iteration. In the end I just put them down and read something else, and not once have I considered reading the rest.

[@cassandramuller7337]

I started out the same way. After book four I was over it. I got bored of these people always needing Richard to help them. Everyone dies again, everyone saves the day again, Richard still doesn't wanna be king, he's okay with it, he hates it, somebody else goes missing. i was sooooooo over it

[@jlammetje]

Funny, I didn't have that issue with Sword of Truth, although I do remember the later books to get kind of slow. For me the series that I never continued was "fifty shades of gray". It was a birthday present, which I reluctantly read just to be able to tell my friend I read the gift. Never again. Never.

[@Toliman.]

I would say it "gets better" but that would be a bit of a lie. Because of the time-gap between books, the story derails heavily much like WoT does. In an era where you don't have the Star Wars Disney Trilogy, you could forgive a lot of this as a kind of parody of the fantasy genre, wrapping 3 or 4 different genres of book into a single protagonist. Post-The Force Awakens, or really any kind of lazy reboot, you see that it's ... not ambitious. No Matter how much you cram into the third movie to have two different concepts fit together, there's not enough time to make an entirely new story and fit everything from a grab bag of ideas into the conclusion. Sort of like a lot of Harry Potter parody knockoffs tend to remake the grand conclusion of the return of the dark one/great evil... or paper over this and just unravel the main protagonist's slice-of-life exploration of moderately evil ideas and people who offend the MC, to have the MC save the day again. The major damage to the SOT saga/series is that the 'joke' wears thin. The series basically changes direction about half-way and the B-Plot becomes the A-Plot, only for the C/D/E plots to take over and be solved by the end of each novel. I won't spoil, mostly because it's torturous, the books were never meant to become a series, and by the time there's enough development to allow for this, you have too many events lined up in this series arc, designed to sell more books. Imagine if Disney Lucasfilm decided to make a new Star Wars Trilogy, based on the Casino Planet of Canto Bight, that takes place after Rise of Skywalker. And they make 6 movies based on that premise under Rian Johnson where Rey has to save the galaxy from all of the Evils of Capitalism and Social Justice. And when Rey disappears, you have Kylo come back from the dead to chase down Rey, as a struggling anti-hero.... There's probably fan-fiction already out there on this kind of basis. Without a Big Bad. It's just clones of Sidious and Palpatine that Somehow Return each movie. Or the real Villain is Greed, betrayal and labor laws that slow down the war effort as Kylo and Rey are still chasing down the Empire/First Order that never die. The ending books tie it loosely back into some kind of overall arc and that arc coherence ie. wanting to know what happens to the characters and the plotlines, sic. I suppose you have to be willing to dig through the mud for the sake of the characters. Or seeing if the story arc is actually going to pay off. but there's an ambition to perseverance that you need to get through the later books. Even reading a summary is going to lead to trying to tie plot threads together from multiple novels that don't pay off in any way. I wouldn't even say that the politics is the 'worst' aspect, it's a crutch to give someone a personality. WoT definitely has this aspect of lazy villain writing 101, it's just dialled up to a 7-8 out of 10 in SoT's later half because you need to make the hero ... appear to be making progress in the story. It's mildly creative that the antagonists are not just driven by a single ideology that has no sustainable ambition, sic.

[@ericpeterson8732]

he got the dragon thing from Wizard of Earthsea. One of the amazing things Ged does is talk to this famous dragon. It only takes a chapter, it seems brief, but it's there to demonstrate Ged's skill as a wizard and his use of magic. I'm sure Good kind read that or heard about it and dropped it in. (or maybe I'm giving him too much credit).

[@mynamejeff3545]

You may be giving Goodkind too much credit, he seems to be mostly working off fantasy stereotypes without ever reading the stories where those ideas originated from. I doubt he has read anything by Le Guin, who is his opposite in almost every way

[@M4ttNet]

Getting a dragon to side with you is something that predates and modern literature by quite a bit I'm afraid.

[@amokima2991]

Thank you for articulating what has always felt off to me about this book. I read this book about 20 years ago & while I liked it well enough, there was always something about it that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I managed to read the first two books in this series but then I just couldn't any more. And considering this was during the period where I read almost anything fantasy I could get my grubby little paws on, that was really saying something. Thank you for helping me figure that out after so long.

[@natediaz1863]

Lol what? He didn't articulate anything. It's just vague hate language. He says Richard is a bad person but doesn't tell us how or why. I think this is more of a conservative fantasy series so if you have liberal leanings you'll probably hate it.

[@George.J]

@@natediaz1863 You're the only logical person in the comments. I have seen people rant about books they consider bad and ramble about them, but at least they go in depth about explaining why they don't like the characters etc. This guy just talks with barely any depth and complains left and right.

[@ZackHolleman]

The number of times he says “hot need” as a description is exhausting

[@ZackHolleman]

Haku infinite even without context it’s basically in context 😂 super smutty

[@Keira_Blackstone]

this was my first fantasy series years and years ago, and quite frankly I'm glad you tore it apart. the thing you said that most rings true for the entire series is that the main character is an incredibly flawed, terrible person- but the author thinks he's a flawless ubermensch, which causes massive cognitive dissonance when he does blatantly awful things that are framed as heroic.

[@mr.wilson9941]

Remember this one time he destroys anderith with some sort of magic polluted water avalanche and orders his army to let them all get raped by the empire cause they turned kahlan into mashed potatoes even though anderith produces most of the grain eaten by his empire?

[@nanetteventer9357]

Wow I feel vindicated in my feelings when I tried this many MANY years ago and I honestly couldn't get into it and I didn't know why then. (and then I was actively HUNTING fantacy novels) Daniel just perfectly gave voice to that "Heh" to "Meh" to "Ok that just Happened" feelings I had back then.

[@Steev42]

I came here after watching the Fifth Sorceress review. Because I remember enjoying WFR...but dear lord did he get worse as the series went along. To the point that after the fifth book, I cannot read the earlier books anymore either. So if you thought THIS was bad...

[@xaviour3]

9:40 Gonna defend the "put yourself in a box" method of dealing with torture as not necessarily bad writing. That's a documented method of dealing with torture-specific trauma, taught to people to help them survive torture situations. Its not very classy that his trauma is completely ignored from then on, but the method itself is legit and researched. So you not feeling it's very relatable to your own trauma is slightly invalid. I'm sure you'd have dealt with your own trauma better if you magically stumbled upon an effective psychological method of dealing with your type of trauma immediately, just like Mary Sue Richard.

[@Killdeer101]

Its not really ignored at all. In the second book, a lot of it has to do with him overcoming his trauma from that event. He makes a lot of irrational decisions due to it that is very obviously spelled out.

[@Charistoph]

@@Killdeer101, indeed. It crops up quite a lot throughout the series, but is mostly noted in the second book because of the magic collar. It is then brought up again when he's caught by the Sister later on.

[@gijss2366]

This saved me a lot of time being frustrated. I've read a lot of fantasy books and loved most of them. Being a fan of long, multi book series I've always been curious about the Wizards First Rule series. I've finally borrowed the first rule from a friend and I struggled getting immersed. I'm a third of the way in and I just had to look up a review to know if it would get any better. I'm so relieved to hear it's not just me and that I can skip this one entirely. Thank you Daniel.

[@hathbeenslain]

I’ve never read the books but the tv show helped me get into fantasy in general so ... thank you Terry Goodkind? *shudders*

[@BimBamHeidi]

I watched Legend of the Seeker (the TV show) and was entertained by it, of course being aware that it was campy as hell but I liked that about it. So of course I got the first book and I DNF-ed it after a few chapters. I tried reading it a 2nd time, DNF-ed it again. It was bad. The TV show had this campy humour I enjoy (think Xena or Bruce Campbell) and that made me overlook the less than mediocre plot but the book didn't even have that. It had nothing going for it and I'd rather read a well thought out, well executed fantasy series than waste time with a book/series that is boring, frustrating and poorly done.

[@drakona84]

I hate watched the show.They will do the same with wheel of time in my opinion

[@jonsnor4313]

I think the series just took the best elements, the characters and the bare minimum of plot and did their own thing. And it worked. The series has what many series lack, a strong fun threedimensional villain you can sometimes even root for. Good choice to bring him back in season 2.

[@drakona84]

@@jonsnor4313 The tone of the show was like Xena: Warrior Princess. They will do the same whit Wheel of Time

[@wighty5860]

I never watched it, but I was a bit confused when I heard it was made in to a TV series for a basic cable channel. I wondered how close to the story it would be considered the prevalence of rape throughout the entire book series. Seriously, nearly every main character if not all is either a product of rape, a victim of rape or a rapist. Game of Thrones added a lot of sex in to grab an audience, Legend of the Seeker would have to remove a lot just to air.

[@maried6456]

Same for me - never read the books but watched the show. Its entertaining and endearing, not the best but until recently one of very few fantasy tv shows out there.

[@Bloxygames-c1g]

I appreciate your indepth analysis videos... Please keep making more love listening!

[@ReaRea428]

I was obsessed with this series when I was a teenager. I still like the first book at least, mostly because I like some of the characters like Zedd and Chase. I managed to see past the unoriginality because after all, so many fantasy stories borrow from one another. I don't know how I managed to get through all of the political rants, and all of the rape. I blame it on being a teenager and not really knowing myself yet and being almost stupidly naive. I mean, I swear at one point a man who was inarguably a villain was almost befriended by the "Good Guys" because he didn't rape women! Because no one is clearly a bad guy unless he's shown raping women! And bad women need to be put in their place and just have babies already! I didn't learn about all the stealing from the Wheel of Time and other works until later when I was able to distance myself from the books. Reading interviews with the author really sealed the deal for me though. The man needs to get his head out of his own ass.

[@Kmmlc]

Well he obviously didn't because when he died his cause of death still hasn't been released. Would be embarrassing if the report read, head stuck up ass for too long.

[@billyalarie929]

just learned Goodkind is dead. watching this in his honor.

[@arcane9205]

Yo, i didnt even know.

[@5800junker]

Darn, he even stole 'that' ending from Tolkien

[@miracledev2656]

Learned that he was dead yesterday. I’m definitely not going to revel in his death, that’s disgusting, but I’m also definitely not watching this in his honor.

[@buca117]

So was it Colonel Mustard with the candlestick in the drawing room?

[@michaeldavis4980]

But Goodkind finished his stories without help. :P Jordan couldn't even finish his own story.

[@gagekulland3509]

I have to say, this series introduced me to the Fantasy genre. I was initially impressed and like the first couple books. Then I expanded my repertoire and saw all these similarities between this and other works...and wow. Eyes opened

[@Moonstar79]

I want a full Holy Moly remix.

[@CharlesKobernat]

Read Wizard's first rule, I thought it was incredibly derivative and more of a YA novel till... Mord-Sith. As the novels droned on and on basically repeating the same story I finally gave up after the third novel, I was young. Years later I picked up a later book, after reading an interview with Goodkind, just to see... nope still the same.

[@chrisredfield6274]

He basically writes YA and then scoffs at the idea of YA 😂

[@llywyllngryffyn8053]

I've never read a T. Goodkind book and it isn't likely I ever will. I appreciate the fact that you were willing to subject yourself to this for us.

[@MrLister3000]

I really like this book series, but cant disagree with any of these points, all quite fair

[@dreamc4st3r]

I had exactly the same reaction.

[@pizza725]

Yeah. This series is an eternal guilty pleasure of mine, but.... dude isn't wrong about anything, really.

[@Henry-jp3mc]

Love the first 3 books. But they rip off WOT.

[@tokyo_taxi7835]

I read this crap in high school and I'm glad there's someone out there who hated it as much as I did.

[@j.r.cilliangreen4083]

As neither a Jordan or Goodkind fan, your review is accurate.

[@lordinquisitordunn336]

I actually watched the tv series before the books, that's how I found it. and the show was far better than the books. Even though or maybe because there is a large element of in name only, the show was far more entertaining

[@skimmer2332]

You have no idea man. I powered through about 7 books in this series. In the second book he rips the idea of Aes Sedai/Black Ajah straight from WoT. Later on it becomes pure Ayn Rand propaganda. Also, way way too much rape.

[@kristinabissonette1620]

I've been watching your channel for a while now and have mostly clicked on the WoT videos. I really need to re-read this series based on your criticisms. I tend to inhale fantasy novels without ever being critical and am now questioning my vapid hunger. I WILL READ ANYTHING. Maybe that needs to change. Thanks for breaking this down and making me look at my consumption in a new way.

[@michaelburke4048]

I'm glad I found this. I absolutely hated this book, and I thought there must be something wrong with me because it was so popular. I knew exactly where it was going by chapter 3, and I even picked up on the Darth Vader thing, but it was clearly heading toward a twist and I was sure it wasn't going precisely where I expected. At several points, I almost put it down, but I soldiered through just to prove to myself it wasn't going to end how I expected. It did. It went exactly that way. I hated this book like no other. Except perhaps Raymond E. Feist's Magician, but that's for entirely different reasons.

[@thereallocke8065]

I listened to the audiobook about ten years ago as a teenager. I don't remember much about it at all but I do blatantly remember that sex dungeon stuff and how weird it was. Me now much older and a fan of BDSM is still hella weirded out. It's like all the problematic elements of Mat and Tylin but turned up to eleven. You rarely see this with female characters who are captured and raped over a long time but why is it that the guys tend to "fall in love with" and feel bad when their captor dies. At least with Tylin she isn't fucking torturing people

[@Dragon-eu8cb]

It's like Tylin + Tuon.

[@writingwofl5836]

this was 1 of my first fantasy books ever (+ i was 12 y old) and because of that it was less predictable and more enjoyeable

[@RobertWF42]

I couldn't get through this book. However if we're talking about shameless stealing of ideas from Lord of Rings, try Terry Brooks's The Sword of Shannara.

[@Skabanis]

sort of not really

[@HectorLeeRodriguezDMin]

Wow ... had quite the mixed reaction. There are close elements in the narrative and style of Brook's series, but he works so well in bringing us to a world we can relate to, vibrant past its post-apocalyptic demise and rich with so much story, that I forgave Brook's initial style. Brooks, Tolkien, Lewis, Eddings, Donaldson, and Pratchett (in my opinion) provided most of the genre with the tropes that have been beaten until morphed in so many ways ..... Then again, just my taste forming a most likely skewed vision of fantasy. (oh gosh, I almost left out Lloyd Alexander ... probably forgotten in the mists of fantasy's birth, lol).

[@Blizzhobbs]

Feel this way about the ember blade.

[@Slashco]

After finishing LotR, the Shannara series felt like amateurish Tolkien fanfiction. I heard it gets better down the line, but I honestly didn't stick with it.

[@AgencyNighthawk]

No, no. Trust me when I say, the Shannara series are fabulous bastions of originality compared to the Iron Tower Trilogy by Dennis McKiernan.

[@bookterror]

I remember how sad I felt when I first found out how hated his series it. I read them pretty young and did not know anything about his unoriginal plots and so on and I enjoyed my reading. I stopped after book 5 or so maybe? because the overall story got repetitive and yes, the monologues were getting on my mind. For me the biggest draw had been the female characters. Kahlan was this all-powerful Confessor, revered and sometimes feared. And then Cara and all the other Mord-Sith were just badass in their own right. Up until that point I knew of few female characters who featured heavily in fantasy.

[@asdasdasd9269]

Think ive seen this video 50 times at this point, and it still succeeds to cheer me up on bad days :D Thank you Daniel

[@AkosKovacs.Author.Musician]

Ah is this the famous Terry *I don't write fantasy" Goodkind, despite explicitly writing fantasy? Heard he is a true gentleman.

[@donnybuoy]

“If everything in your story is an homage, you’ve not made an original thing, you’ve just taken from others.” Quentin Tarantino: 👀 (Quentin has a unique ability to take elements from his favorite stories and twist them into something entirely his own, however.)

[@Rekaert]

Funnily enough, I seem to remember him slagging off the cover of Wizard's First Rule too, the one with the protagonist riding a dragon. He claimed that was down to the publisher too, and bemoaned the fantasy trope of having a dragon front and center which he claimed misrepresented what his book was about. Seems he has form.

[@gauchesymbiote1039]

I was in high school when this came out and had only just discovered the fantasy genre. The first of course was Wheel of Time, which only had about 2-3 books out at the time. I wasn't much of a reader at the time and had only read a Steven King book here and there. Anne Rice was frequently visited too. I liked the SOT series for a while, but the more I had expanded my reading, the harder time I was having rereading the series. I got to the 5th or 6th book and just couldn't do it anymore. I honestly don't remember.