WRITER TERRY GOODKIND 1948 - 2020 : FANTASY FICTION

 

Terry Goodkind, the author of the best-selling epic fantasy series ''The Sword of Truth,'' died on Sept 17 at his home in Boulder City, Nev.

Mr. Goodkind was a latecomer to writing. He spent years as a woodworker and a wildlife artist before publishing his first novel, ''Wizard's First Rule,'' when he was 45.

But that book - the story of a heroic forest guide, Richard, who teams with a beautiful women, Kahlan, to defeat an evil wizard, Darken Rahi - won legions of fans and earned positive reviews when it it was published by Tor Books in 1994.

Kirkus Reviews called the novel, which became the first book in the ''Sword of Truth'' series, ''a wonderfully creative, seamless and stirring epic fantasy debut.''

Over the next 24 years, Mr. Goodkind's series grew to include 17 books, several of them best sellers. Together the ''Sword of Truth'' books have sold more than 25 million copies worldwide.

In 2008, the books were adapted by the director and producer  Sam Raimu into a television series,  ''Legend of the Seeker,'' that aired for two seasons on ABC.

''Goodkind's books are popular in part because, in a complicated world, he boils things down to stark contrasts,'' the New York Times book critic Dwight Garner wrote in 2006, after the 11th book in series, ''Phantom'' debuted at No 1 on the The Times hardcover fiction list. ''Good is good. Evil is evil, and heroes are 'studly, hyper-rationale armies of one.''

Mr. Goodkind made no apologies for writing old-fashioned heroes in the Doc Savage mold, and he said he regarded Richard and his other fictional protagonist as extension of himself.

''When you're reading a book, you're looking at the soul of an author,'' he said in a promotional interview for ''Phantom.'' ''He's telling you what he thinks should be normal about mankind. I believe that heroes should be somebody worth looking up to. What life can be, what's the best of what life can be.''

While Mr. Goodkind attracted numerous readers with his storytelling, he angered some others with his worldview and the criticism of fantasy fiction. He was the follower of Ayn Rand, whose Objectivism prized the individual over the collective, and he spoke about her ideas publicly and inserted them into his novels.

He also often distanced himself from the genre in which he had achieved fame. 

The World Students Society thanks author, Steven Kurutz.