Quote:
Originally Posted by xg4bx
kinda OT but i'm curious as to why goodkind draws such a visceral reaction from his detractors in general. do you just think the writing is tripe? do you disagree with his politics? i've read 99% of his books and i don't see what the hubub is about, i found them to be pretty standard fantasy fare.
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Mostly, it's because he comes across as a bit an ass. The "
I don't write fantasy" quote comes to mind.
Quote:
First of all, I don't write fantasy. I write stories that have important human themes. They have elements of romance, history, adventure, mystery and philosophy. Most fantasy is one-dimensional. It's either about magic or a world-building. I don't do either.
And in most fantasy magic is a mystical element. In my books fantasy is a metaphysical reality that behaves according to its own laws of identity.
Because most fantasy is about world-building and magic, a lot of it is plotless and has no story. My primary interest is in telling stories that are fun to read and make people think. That puts my books in a genre all their own.
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Usually, I'm pretty successful at ignoring authors' personal sides, but every now and again... one comes along who manages to show off his "assi-ness" at every opportunity. Terry Goodkind is one of those authors whose personal
smarminess, I have trouble overlooking/ignoring. I suspect I'm not alone.
And while I'm OK with subtle, social subtext in my escapist literature, I'm not particularly fond of being preached at by an author though one of his characters in that same escapist literature. If you're not writing fantasy... then tell your publisher to stop putting your work in the fantasy section. Your little self-pub experiment is the perfect opportunity to put your mouth where your money is, Mr. Goodkind. You may not
write fantasy, but you sure as hell don't mind
selling it.
