Terry Goodkind
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| Born: | 1948 Omaha, Nebraska |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s): | Novelist
<tr><th style="text-align: right;">Genre(s):</th><td>epic fantasy</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align: right;">Debut work(s):</th><td>Wizard's First Rule</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align: right;">Influences:</th><td>Ayn Rand, Aristotle, Sir Winston Churchill, Founding Fathers of the United States</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align: right;">Website:</th><td>http://www.terrygoodkind.com/ |
Terry Goodkind (born 1948) is a contemporary American writer and author of the best-selling epic fantasy series, The Sword of Truth, which according to his publisher TOR in an August, 2006 press release<ref name="Pressrelease">Press release regarding the production of a Sword of Truth Mini-series</ref> has more than 10 million copies in print and been translated into 20 different languages.
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[edit] Biography
Goodkind was born in 1948 and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, where he also attended schooling in art and Catholic Catechism Instruction.
Goodkind learned early in his life that he suffered from dyslexia, a cause of constant frustration while he was in high school. He later dropped out of college, and has worked as a carpenter, a violin maker, and a restorer of rare and exotic artifacts and antiques. Prior to starting his career as a writer Goodkind was best known for his realistic marine and wildlife paintings.<ref>USA Today Article.</ref> In 1993, during the construction of his home on the forested Mount Desert Island off the coast of Maine with his wife Jeri, he began to write his first novel, Wizard's First Rule, and his writing career was launched with its publication in 1994. In addition to his home in Maine, Goodkind and his wife built a second home in the desert southwest where he now spends the majority of his time.<ref name = "Official Bio">Terry Goodkind Bio at terrygoodkind.com.</ref>
[edit] Career
Goodkind's first book, Wizard's First Rule, sold at auction in 1994 for more than six times the price ever paid for a first fantasy novel,[citation needed] a record which was still holding twelve years later.[citation needed] With a first print run of sixty thousand copies (three to five thousand is the norm), it became an international bestseller.
Goodkind has subsequently published nine other novels and one novella to great commercial success. All of his books, with the exceptions of Stone of Tears and Wizard's First Rule, have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List.<ref>Hawes' archive of New York Times bestsellers from 1994-2005.</ref> Of his latest novels, Chainfire debuted at #3<ref>Hawes' archive of New York Times bestsellers - Week of January 23, 2005.</ref> in January 2005 and Phantom at #1 <ref>Hawes' archive of New York Times bestsellers - Week of January 23, 2005.</ref> in August 2006 on the NYT Best Seller List.
[edit] Influences
Terry Goodkind has been largely influenced by the books of Ayn Rand and is a strong supporter of her works and of Objectivist philosophy. While he acknowledges writing in the fantasy genre, he perceives his novels to be more than just traditional fantasy due to their focus on philosophical and human themes.<ref name="vabooksign">Interview with Terry Goodkind at a Virginia book signing</ref>
[edit] Themes
Goodkind's Sword of Truth series is generally considered a fantasy series by both readers and critics alike. The awards it has been nominated for or won are all fantasy-related, and since the series contains all the standard fantasy elements such as magic, a more or less medieval level of technology, and fictional countries, it has been marketed as a fantasy series. Goodkind, however, perceives himself as more of a novelist than a fantasy author.<ref name="vabooksign"/> Goodkind believes that using the fantasy genre allows him to better tell his stories and better convey the human themes and emotions which he desires to share with the reader. Regardless of the genre of his novels, Goodkind states his main goal in writing is to inspire.<ref>Sci-Fi Dimensions Interview.</ref>
[edit] Published works
Goodkind's novels include:
- Wizard's First Rule (1994)
- Stone of Tears (1995)
- Blood of the Fold (1996)
- Temple of the Winds (1997)
- Soul of the Fire (1999)
- Faith of the Fallen (2000)
- The Pillars of Creation (2002)
- Naked Empire (2003)
- Chainfire (2005)
- Phantom (2006)
In addition, Goodkind wrote a short story titled Debt of Bones for the 1998 anthology Legends, edited by Robert Silverberg. The novel takes place in the Sword of Truth universe and is set a few decades before the events in the main series. In 2001, the story was published as a stand-alone novella.
[edit] Other media
In August, 2006, it was announced that the Sword of Truth series would be produced as a mini-series. According to the press release, Sam Raimi, the director of Spider-Man and his partner Joshua Dohen would produce the mini-series.<ref name="Pressrelease"/>
[edit] Awards and nominations
1995 - British Fantasy Award, Icarus (Newcomer) (Nomination)
1995 - Wizard's First Rule Locus Poll Award, Best First Novel (Place: 7)
1996 - Stone of Tears Locus Poll Award, Best Fantasy Novel (Place: 15)
1996 - Stone of Tears SFBC Award, The Science Fiction Book Club's Book of the Year Award (Nomination)
1997 - Blood of the Fold Locus Poll Award, Best Fantasy Novel (Place: 18)
1999 - Locus Poll Award, Best SF/Fantasy Author of the 90's (Place: 49)
2004 - Prometheus Award - Naked Empire (Place: 4)
2006 - Prometheus Award - Chainfire (Finalist)
[edit] References
<references/>
[edit] External links
- http://www.terrygoodkind.com - official Terry Goodkind website
- http://www.terrygoodkind.net - unofficial Terry Goodkind website (endorsed by Terry Goodkind)
- Terry Goodkind at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- "'Spider-Man' director buys rights to Goodkind series", The Book Standard, July 24, 2006. Retrieved on September 4, 2006.
| Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind | |
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Prequel: Debt of Bones | Book 6: Faith of the Fallen |
| List of the Wizard's Rules | |
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