2004-10-09: Pre-vacation haul
I'm heading out for a two week vacation at the Oregon coast on Thursday,
and will likely be very out of touch for the whole period (for the first
time in quite a while). I'm hoping this will prove to be incredibly
relaxing. So far, it hasn't, because I've been frantically running around
trying to get everything taken care of and lined up before I leave.
As soon as I hit the road, though, I won't be able to do anything about
anything I've forgotten, so the goal will then be to let go of all of it,
relax, and do whatever I want to do. I have no plans, no expectations, and
no intentions for that time, just a vacation.
Of course, that means I have to take care of another half-dozen things in
the next five days. Ack!
Anyway, one thing that is done is a pre-vacation Powell's order, picking up
some books that likely will make it with me on the trip:
Michael Bishop -- No Enemy But Time (sff)
Julie E. Czerneda -- Ties of Power (sff)
Julie E. Czerneda -- To Trade the Stars (sff)
Charles de Lint -- Dreams Underfoot (sff)
Charles de Lint -- The Onion Girl (sff)
Laurell K. Hamilton -- Cerulean Sins (sff)
M. John Harrison -- Light (sff)
P.C. Hodgell -- God Stalk (sff)
Lawrence Lessig -- Free Culture (non-fiction)
The two Czerneda, the Hamilton, the Harrison, and at least one de Lint will
all be coming with me, which should make a nice cross-section of stuff. I
think I'll grab Declare to go with them, and maybe some Alastair
Reynolds.
2004-10-13: Faith of the Fallen
Review: Faith of the Fallen, by Terry Goodkind
Publisher: Tor
Copyright: July 2000
ISBN: 0-812-57639-X
Pages: 785
Since this is the first time that I've reviewed a Terry Goodkind novel, I
should probably say something first about why I've actually read this many
of his books.
Terry Goodkind is a bad writer. I think this is pretty much
unquestionable. His sentence structure is simple and rarely varies, the
narration belabors descriptions and emotions endlessly, the characters are
simplified archetypes, the dialog is repetitive, the politics are odious,
and the reader is expected to want everything explained to them in great
detail. The Sword of Truth series is a typical set of fantasy bricks
involving destined and powerful characters saving the world, and the main
character manages to stumble through to victory by being the IQ 90 man in
the land of morons.
So why on earth am I still reading this series? It definitely falls into
the category of guilty pleasure, but there are a couple of things in
particular that I like.
First, the way that Goodkind writes his characters makes them somehow feel
alive despite being walking archetypes. He seems to be using a technique
similar to what I often do with my own, namely try try to get into their
head as far as possible and then watch them react to the world that's been
set up. It's hard to put a finger on why this feels different than most
novels I read, but I get a sense of immediacy and raw reaction from his
characters that makes me interested in their fate no matter how dumb they
are or how poor the writing is.
Second, Goodkind has an enthusiasm for telling the typical fantasy stories
that, while raw and unpolished, comes across very clearly in his writing.
It feels like he's in love with the feel of a mythic world, gets a thrill
out of writing every scene, and treats each archetype like it's the first
time he's ever gotten to think about it. The writing has very little
sophistication and retreads themes that have been handled many times
before, but Goodkind has so much passion for the storytelling and
excitement for the story that I can't help but smile.
So, I'm still reading. Unfortunately, Faith of the Fallen is the
worst book of the series.
Goodkind has been tossing in naive bits of right-wing US "libertarian"
politics for a while now, and I've been ignoring them (I have a very
well-trained ability to read straight past right-wing propaganda).
Previously, he got past it and got on with a story with more traditional
fantasy villains. However, there is no traditional villain in this book;
instead, the villain is the stereotype of a political system. As you can
imagine, in Goodkind's hands this is a slow-motion train wreck.
The evil political system is some sort of bizarre twisted distortion of
Christian socialism, based on the idea of expected total self-sacrifice to
help others, a religion that considers man horribly evil and worthy only of
devoting life to helping the needy, and needy freeloaders who demand
everything be provided for them. This political environment isn't even
remotely believable, particularly given that it has a mysteriously total
lack of a black market (until Richard introduces one single-handedly, of
course) despite political paperwork making it impossible for anyone to do
anything. On top of that, the character put into the story to represent
everything bad about this political system (not that there's anything good)
has parents who are such extreme stereotypes that they'd fit right into an
Ayn Rand novel.
This book reads like an objectivist rant against the pure evil of welfare,
original sin, and charity for the poor. I'm not sure if Goodkind is
objectivist, but if so I think he's working from the Cliff Notes version
since Faith of the Fallen demonstrates no understanding of anything
of substance about either politics or human behavior. Not even Ayn Rand
levels.
Even apart from the politics, the first 400 pages drag on and on, with very
little happening and lots of repetative description. When I got to the
end, though, I couldn't put it down despite the ridiculous politics;
Goodkind does tug the emotional strings of archetypes quite well (at least
for me). I wouldn't recommend this book under any circumstances, and I
think it's going off in a direction that's even worse than the beginning of
the series, but there's still something to Goodkind's writing that I like
and he does the unsubtle "all the good guys win" ending very well. I'd
like to think that I won't get the next book... but I fear eventually I
probably will.
Please don't think I agree with it, though, and don't read it just because
I do.
Rating: 4 out of 10
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