V: The Second Generation
After years of teasing us with news of another 'V' miniseries, a remake of the original miniseries, or even a theatrical release, there is finally some solid news to get excited about. Kenneth Johnson, writer/director of the original NBC miniseries, is set to release a brand new novel that picks up 20 years after the original miniseries. ""V: The Second Generation" is due to be released on October 2nd by Tor Books.
Mister B. Gone
For those of you keeping track, it has been nearly 6 years since Clive Barker released anything for a mature audience. Sadly, the long-awaited "Scarlet Gospels" doesn't yet have a release date, so we'll have to wait a while longer to find out how Pinhead handles Harry D'Amour. In the meantime, "Mister B. Gone" will be hitting stores on Halloween (appropriately enough) to tide us over. Details are sketchy as yet, but Barker has described it as "a tale of a demon amongst men and women, observing their ways, observing evil, observing human evil."
The Wheel of Darkness
If you're a fan of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, you'll be pleased to know that Special Agent Pendergast returns to the page on August 28. A remote monastery in Tibet, a rare and dangerous artifact, and the maiden voyage of the world's most luxurious passenger liner are sure to set up another classic adventure for the greatest hero to come out of the FBI since Special Agent Mulder.
Confessor
Finally, we come to "Confessor," the final novel in Terry Goodkind's 'Sword of Truth' saga. Come November 13, we'll finally discover the fate of Richard, Kahlan, and the world they inhabit. Goodkind's teaser certainly promises a return to the qualities that made the first book such a classic: "It started with one rule, and will end with the rule of all rules, the rule unwritten, the rule unspoken since the dawn of history."
Showing posts with label Terry Goodkind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terry Goodkind. Show all posts
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
REVIEW: Phantom by Terry Goodkind
What is there left to say about Terry Goodkind and The Sword of Truth saga that hasn't been said before? At times, he has been nothing less than brilliant. Wizard's First Rule and Stone of Tears are classics of epic fantasy. They were fresh, they were original, and they were challenging. The 'Seeker of Truth' . . . the 'Mother Confessor . . . the 'Mord-Sith' . . . daring, creative, fascinating concepts, with believable characters behind them. The philosophical moralizing was heavy-handed at times, yes, but still a welcome change from the typically 'spiritual' distinction between good and evil.
After that, the series began slipping downhill. Goodkind admitted that he was more interested in exploring his philosophies than in following the plotting of an epic fantasy - and boy did it show. Action gave way to talk, and talk gave way to . . . well, more talk. What was once original became boringly repetitive.
Ironically, it was a book that hardly featured Richard or Kahlan at all that recaptured my interest. Pillars of Creation was not what I expected after 6 volumes, and I couldn't have been more pleased. There was still more talk than action, but Lauren breathed new life into a stale series. Too bad Naked Empire couldn't sustain it.
That brings us to Chainfire. I generally loathe it when characters are stripped of their powers/identities, just to create tension and restart a sagging plot. It rarely works for me, and this was no different. Richard and Kahlan are great people, but it's hard to get excited when there's no seeking of truth and no explosive confessions. Not only that, but the plot felt . . . recycled. After all, we'd already dealt with the Boxes of Orden in the first 2 books of the series.
The only reason I picked up Phantom is because I'm curious to see how Goodkind plans to wrap everything up in this, the 2nd volume of the 'final' trilogy. Things don't start out well. Over 200 pages of talking, of saying the same thing over and over again, of bashing us upside the head with the obvious. I was about ready to give up when, suddenly, we rediscover the lost art of the plot.
Not to spoil anything for those who haven't read it, but there are some really interesting developments in this book. After building up the armies of the Order to the point where they truly are unstoppable, Goodkind deftly sidesteps the issue of confronting them with Richard's shocking advice to the D'Haran troops - and it absolutely works for the reader. We get a confrontation between Jagang and the Sisters of the Dark that beautifully resolves so many nagging questions, and sets the stage for a new conflict. Richard learns a lot more about himself and his role in the grand scheme of things, and all the myriad plot pieces finally begin coming together.
The ending is a shocker, and something I never expected to see. For the first time in a long time I am looking forward to the next book of the series. If Goodkind delivers on even half of what he seems to be promising, it will be well worth the wait.
After that, the series began slipping downhill. Goodkind admitted that he was more interested in exploring his philosophies than in following the plotting of an epic fantasy - and boy did it show. Action gave way to talk, and talk gave way to . . . well, more talk. What was once original became boringly repetitive.
Ironically, it was a book that hardly featured Richard or Kahlan at all that recaptured my interest. Pillars of Creation was not what I expected after 6 volumes, and I couldn't have been more pleased. There was still more talk than action, but Lauren breathed new life into a stale series. Too bad Naked Empire couldn't sustain it.
That brings us to Chainfire. I generally loathe it when characters are stripped of their powers/identities, just to create tension and restart a sagging plot. It rarely works for me, and this was no different. Richard and Kahlan are great people, but it's hard to get excited when there's no seeking of truth and no explosive confessions. Not only that, but the plot felt . . . recycled. After all, we'd already dealt with the Boxes of Orden in the first 2 books of the series.
The only reason I picked up Phantom is because I'm curious to see how Goodkind plans to wrap everything up in this, the 2nd volume of the 'final' trilogy. Things don't start out well. Over 200 pages of talking, of saying the same thing over and over again, of bashing us upside the head with the obvious. I was about ready to give up when, suddenly, we rediscover the lost art of the plot.
Not to spoil anything for those who haven't read it, but there are some really interesting developments in this book. After building up the armies of the Order to the point where they truly are unstoppable, Goodkind deftly sidesteps the issue of confronting them with Richard's shocking advice to the D'Haran troops - and it absolutely works for the reader. We get a confrontation between Jagang and the Sisters of the Dark that beautifully resolves so many nagging questions, and sets the stage for a new conflict. Richard learns a lot more about himself and his role in the grand scheme of things, and all the myriad plot pieces finally begin coming together.
The ending is a shocker, and something I never expected to see. For the first time in a long time I am looking forward to the next book of the series. If Goodkind delivers on even half of what he seems to be promising, it will be well worth the wait.
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