Confessor

I finished the long awaited end of the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind this morning. I will say that although it ended the way I wanted, I was left with a feeling that the author was tired of writing and chose the creative path of least resistance. Goodkind is a man with firm convictions about how we are to live our lives. Each of us is responsible for the actions we take and the choices we make. Blaming anyone else for our failures or bad decisions is chosing to give up our freedom. Once we have gone down that path enough, it becomes a way of life and we are nothing more than followers for those who would command us to their will.

Blindly following someone because they promise a better life is another way to give up our freedom. If you cannot think for yourself and reason through what someone says to you than you again become nothing more than a slave to that person. This goes for gang members or religious zealots that are convinced that their vision of Christ is the only way to salvation. If you fail to really read the words of Christ for yourself and instead listen to those that spew words of hate, it diminishes you and empowers them.

Goodkind's message comes though loud and clear. Be in charge of who you are. Love life and those around you. He uses his characters to show the full display of those beliefs. What he fails to do is create the dynamics of his beliefs into the finale. His conclusion brings most of the threads together but the power behind the other books fizzled in the last 15 pages. I guess it is impossible to maintain the momentum through eleven books. Well, at least Harry Potter managed to surprise and delight to the end. That makes it one for three this year. Potter was first and managed to delight. Dune came next and was a rewrite of the third Matrix film. What a waster of paper. At least Goodkind let the good guys triumph and the bad guys die the death of true villians. So much for epic novels.

Icool

Cobb