Month: April 2012

Review of the Sword of Truth Series

The Sword of Truth series is written by Terry Goodkind. It features a number of interesting characters, but the focus is on two characters, Richard and Kahlan. Richard’s grandfather, Zedd, also plays a major role in the book series, but not in the way Richard does. Richard is the Seeker of Truth, which would be an auspicious goal for any hero. The other characters come and go as needed to fill out the various scenes. It’s not that the book series lacks depth due to too few characters—quite the contrary, the book series is actually quite detailed and rich. The series consists of these books (in the order that you should probably read them):

 


Anyone familiar with the series will see that I left Debt of Bones out of the list. Yes, this book is also part of the series, but take my advice, save it for later. The eleven books that contribute to the main part of the series will take quite a while to read and reading Debt of Bones does present a few spoilers that I would rather not have known. It’s a good book to read after the fact, much like watching Legend of the Seeker (the ill fated television series based on the book) adds to the experience. It’s possible that there are other additions to the Sword of Truth series, but this review doesn’t discuss any of them.

I’m going to try hard not to spoil anything for anyone who hasn’t already read the series by providing a detailed overview of the plot. If you really want to spoil your reading experience, read the reviews on Amazon. However, the series does contain everything needed for a good fantasy. There are the usual heroes and villains. The hero has a pretty girl to protect. As in any good fantasy, magic is a must and you’ll eventually encounter mystical creatures such as dragons.

Terry is a great writer in many ways. His writing style reminds me quite a bit of Tom Clancy, another favorite author of mine. Rather than gloss over the details, Terry writes about them with vigor. It almost feels as if you’re seeing the fantasy world through a camera—the vivid details are nothing short of fantastic. However, reading the details isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, so you’ll see lots of complaints that Terry doesn’t move the plot along quickly enough. It’s true, the plot does seem to drag at times because you’re reading about details that may not matter much to the story. From my personal perspective, I greatly enjoyed the detail because it helped me envision the world of Richard and Kahlan in ways that would have been impossible otherwise.

A problem with the series is that it runs across so many books. Terry must repeat details for readers who could read the books out of order and not know about details in other books. I tried reading one book out of order and the repetition wasn’t a problem at all. However, reading the books in order did leave me feeling at times like I was getting buried in repetition. The series would have been far better if Terry had limited it to four or possibly five books. Leaving out a little of the non-essential detail and all of the repetition would have accomplished the task in a far more elegant manner. However, this is a minor nit that plagues an otherwise well-written series.

Some people have complained that Pillars of Creation should never have been included in the series. I disagree. Part of the reason that this series has kept me interested is that Terry takes side quests. You wander about the four main lands of the series: Westland, The Midlands, D’hara, and The Old World and really examine things. If Terry had never used the material from Pillars of Creation in other parts of the series and used that material effectively, I probably would have said that the book didn’t belong in the series either, but the fact is that Terry does use that material to good effect. It’s one of those situations where you must read with the idea that the author requires time to develop part of the plot for you.

A few people were appalled by some of the graphic detail in the books. I must admit that I could have probably done without a little of that detail myself. There is only so much that I want to know about the blood, gore, broken bones, and other horrors that the protagonist has faced. In this case, the exquisite detail of Terry’s writing didn’t serve to make the series more enjoyable, not unless you’re of the Marquis de Sade persuasion. There were a few small sections that I scanned briefly because I didn’t relish the graphic details in them.

Richard represents many good elements that I have found in few books. His emphasis on loving life and living it to the fullest because you want to do so is presented in unique fashion. Terry does seem to get on the stump at times and I found the long diatribes distracting, but I did approve highly of the way in which Richard presented the facts to others and encouraged them to live their lives. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that these passages often motivated me to grasp life a bit more strongly and robustly.

The sign of a great author is the ability to do the unexpected—to entertain in a way that surprises the reader. I feel that Terry has succeeded to a high degree in this regard. His solutions to the problems created for the hero and his associates to overcome in the book series are interesting and incomparable. The fact that readers got so worked up about some of the solutions that many of them chose to write reviews about them tells me that the author has achieved that rarest of goals—a strong emotional response. The readers are obviously engaged and fully appreciate the characters that Terry has provided.

Now that I have finished the series, one of the biggest questions I must answer is whether I’d read the series again. A book series of this sort is best when it attracts a second or third reading. I must admit that I’m going to put Richard and Kahlan away for a while, but I definitely plan to take them for another stroll in a few years after I have forgotten enough book details to make the reading enjoyable once again. This is the kind of series where the surprises that the author has included are a distinct part of the series as a whole. You want to read because you don’t know what the author will do with the characters next.

Is this a good book series? It’s not Tolkien, in that the styles are different and the sort of fantasy differs as well. Terry produces a great book that’s an easy read and something that will most definitely entertain, but I don’t really feel it’s a classic. Of course, time could easily prove me wrong. Given what I know now, I’d still buy the books and I’d still enjoy them. I hope that Terry sees fit to produce another series—perhaps one that omits a few of the fit and finish problems with this one.

 

Get Ready…Get Set…Garden!

Every year Rebecca and I go to a special educational event called Get Ready…Get Set…Garden! In fact, I reported on it in my Ongoing Education post last year. We both feel that ongoing education is a gardener’s best friend. Otherwise, you don’t learn new ways of doing things that could save time or effort. For that matter, new techniques often help you produce food that is more nutritious or lasts longer in storage. Sometimes, the education is just fun (as it was for the hosta course we took last year), but this year was all business.

This year was supposed to start with a session entitled Growing Small Fruits. We’re having a few problems with our blueberries and I had hoped to ask the instructor some questions about them. It turned out that the instructor never showed up. Instead, we received a master gardener short course called, “Vegetables A to Z.” A lot of the information was already familiar to us, but we picked up some tidbits of information. I especially appreciated some bug management tips for our zucchini and confirmation that the technique we use to plant asparagus is still correct (see Planting Asparagus – Part 1 and Planting Asparagus – Part 2). It turns out that we may not actually be planting our peas early enough and the winter planting of spinach should work better than it did for us (more on that later). The poor woman was roped into giving the impromptu speech, so I could hardly fault her for any flaws in presentation. Still, it’s wasn’t the usual smooth presentation and her persistent cough made things less enjoyable for everyone. Overall, we did get our money’s worth, but didn’t receive the information we really wanted.

The next session was phenomenal. It was a short course entitled, “Native Prairie Flowers and Grasses.” As a result of that course, I plan to obtain some native plant seeds and redo our septic mound. In fact, I have several really good reasons for undertaking the project now:

 


  • The mound will be less inclined to get wet because the native plants will use up the excess water more efficiently.

  • The flowers will attract helpful insects such as bees to pollinate our vegetables and fruits and parasitic wasps to deal with some of the bugs on our plants.

  • Our mound is impossible to mow in some areas due to the incline and ruggedness of the terrain—using the native plants makes mowing unnecessary.
  • Using native plants will reduce the eyesore factor of the septic system as it currently exists.


The only problem with this particular session is that the instructor had way too much information to give us in a single session. He should have requested a double session. I certainly would have paid extra for the valuable information I received. As it was, the instructor was most definitely rushed and I’ll have to refer to the handout he provided for some information regarding my septic system upgrade.

The third session, Dehydrating Fruits and Vegetables was more pertinent to Rebecca since she does all of the dehydrating in our house (I help, but she’s the one doing most of the work). I do know that she received some valuable information, such as how to preserve the color of her herbs a bit better. I may eventually write a post about the things she has learned after she has had a chance to actually try them to see whether they work. I was able to brag on my wife a bit—Rebecca always makes me wonderful dehydrated snacks for the winter and spring months and I was able to share her approach with the rest of the class.

We had a wonderful time. No, I really shouldn’t have taken the day off, but it’s the only day of the year when we get this kind of educational opportunity and I really couldn’t pass it up either. It’s essential that you do take time to educate yourself. Feeding your mind is a critical part of the human experience and you’ll be a better person if you do it. Let me know if you have any insights into any of the topics covered by our latest educational experience at [email protected].