Critical Myth-Interpretations

I’ve mentioned before that I prefer to wait until a series is completed to begin reading, because I’m always worried that the series will never actually be completed or I’ll be too frustrated by the waiting.  So there are several science fiction and fantasy series out there waiting for my attention, and I thought it was about time to add some of those novels to the mix along with the classics.  I chose this novel specifically because Sam Raimi is producing a syndicated television series based on Goodkind’s material.

After ripping through the more than 800 pages of material, I can see why someone would want to adapt it for television.  The story is remarkably simple and the progression of the story is oddly episodic.  There are some basic ongoing mysteries to be solved, each of the three main protagonists has a progressive increase in sheer power, and there’s more than enough sex and violence to go around.  As I was reading, I found myself marking, all too easily, where the episodes could begin and end without a hint of disruption to the story.

Essentially, this book feels like it should have been a single volume.  I honestly have no idea where the author could go from here.  Richard, Kehlan, and Zedd all hit a level of power that transcends all logic and pre-established rules, which is usually a good time to bring the tale to a close.  I’m intrigued by the second volume in the sense that I want to see if the author can manage to overcome his own escalation mistakes.

I’d also like to see if the author can overcome other self-imposed challenges.  The first on the list would be the lack of distinctiveness.  Nothing hurts a fantasy novel more than a lifeless world with little or no inherent character.  The characters need to exist within a world that is real and distinct to them as they travel from challenge to challenge.  I never had a true sense of the world and its cultures; events just took place on different points on the barebones map.

The second problem is the character development itself.  In essence, the characters barely have a personality beyond the archetypical needs of their plot-driven functions.  This makes it very easy to adapt to television (since the cast can provide the additional layering in the roles), but it’s bland in prose.  This is precisely the same problem encountered in the recent “Dune”, except the authors of those novels give a lot more variety to make up for what they lack.

The third problem is the writing style itself.  Setting aside the severe need for an editor (driven more by the market’s desire for thick volumes than story demands), the writing does not flow well.  The author writes in small sentences.  He uses them to describe.  And then he repeats himself.  He repeats himself more powerfully than ever before.  (That should give you some idea of the pacing…and yes, it was harder to write that badly than I thought it would be.)  Goodkind’s writing style is, to be frank, reminiscent of a fan fiction writer who thinks he’s ready for the big time, because a few dozen people who never read anything else thought “his” ideas were brilliant.

The final problem is the attempt to rectify the first few problems by adding elements of extreme sexual violence to the story.  This is meant to make the story more “adult”.  Generally speaking, I have no problem with kinky adult themes in fantasy.  I loved the “Kushiel” series, for example.  But the world and its cultures need to be designed to make those elements viable.  The author seemed to relish the addition of sadomasochism to the story, and it shows in the detail given to those scenes, but the treatment is juvenile and simplistic.  Once again, the problem is that the cultural depth is simply not there.

Even so, I see some measure of hope that this is just the usual problem with the first volume of many series, and that the series will get better.  I’m willing to give it another go with the second volume, based on the series’ enduring popularity, but I do have my reservations.  And I’m not sure that I would recommend the book to anyone else until I can see the progress for myself.

Rating: 5/10