And I might, if this challenge had not forced me to write about my preferences in such a condensed fashion. Writing a new post every day (or five in one day and scheduling them out) has given me a fresh perspective on my likes and dislikes. While I knew that my tastes were fairly narrow, I am finding myself to be incredibly annoying, talking about the same things all the time.
So I dug around in my brain and looked for something that wasn't the knee-jerk reaction.
Yes, off the top of my head, JK Rowling is my favorite author. The little tidbits (go check out a fan-created list of origins of character names, spells, etc on Mugglenet if you want to see some for yourself) she left throughout the series are ingenious and worthy of all the accolades thrown at her.
However, since I wanted to sing the praises of somebody else this time around, I opted to think deeper and find an author who has written thirteen books that I found absolutely incredible: Terry Goodkind.
Goodkind wrote the Sword of Truth series (which was adapted into the terrible, terrible TV series Legend of the Seeker), which spanned eleven novels, one prequel novella and a spin-off novel. Five more related novels (one related to the spin-off and three related to the original series) are due out over the coming years.
Obviously, I can't satisfactorily sum up the story of more than seven thousand pages here in one blog post.
The story follows Richard, the Seeker of Truth, as he works to rid the world of tyranny and oppression and give all men the chance to live free lives. The ultimate goal isn't happiness or true love or successful ascension to power. The ultimate goal is much simpler: freedom. Freedom to choose how to live one's life. With freedom, of course, comes the chance to mess up. The chance to make mistakes. The chance to learn from those mistakes and try, try again.
Richard recognizes the power of freedom and fights for it in every way imaginable- sometimes by even giving up the fight and forcing citizens to rise up and fight for themselves. He is leadership embodied, showing that leaders must do what is best, even when is hard, and that sometimes a leader must do what he is asked, even when it breaks his heart to do so.
My favorite quote:
Freedom is never easy to keep and can be easily lost; all it takes is willful indifference.
A mantra we can certainly use today- sitting by and allowing a tide of evil to swirl up into our lands and our homes is as destructive to our liberties as actively seeking out evil and implementing it in our lives.
Apparently, Goodkind felt the political thrust of his story was getting lost in the swirl of cloaks and swords and magic, so he wrote a related (not sequel) novel that is set in modern-day middle America with the same theme.
While his books are definitely reading I would only recommend for mature readers (at least sixteen and older, maybe even eighteen and older), they are incredible. Complex, with rich characters and story lines. Each novel stands on its own, up until the last three (Phantom, Chainfire and Confessor) and you can easily put them down and come back to them later. The story is complex, but not so convoluted that it is difficult to keep track of what happens. Plus, you gotta give props when a man writes a female character as the most powerful character in his universe, and her power has absolutely nothing to do with her sexuality.
Also, gives some good rules to live by.
A blogging friend of mine posted a bookish meme, after reading it on another blogging friend's site. I can't not participate! This post was written in response to the 30 Days of Books.
The full list:
Day 01 – The best book you read last year
Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times
Day 03 – Your favorite series
Day 04 – Favorite book of your favorite series
Day 05 – A book that makes you happy
Day 06 – A book that makes you sad
Day 07 – Most underrated book
Day 08 – Most overrated book
Day 09 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 10 – Favorite classic book
Day 11 – A book you hated
Day 12 – A book you used to love but don’t anymore
Day 13 – Your favorite writer
Day 14 – Favorite book of your favorite writer
Day 15 – Favorite male character
Day 16 – Favorite female character
Day 17 – Favorite quote from your Favorite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favorite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favorite romance book
Day 21 – Favorite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favorite book you own
Day 23 – A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favorite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your Favorite book of all time
