Terry Goodkind (born in 1948) is an American writer and author of the epic fantasy The Sword of Truth series as well as the contemporary suspense novel The Law of Nines, which has ties to his fantasy series, and The Omen Machine, which is a direct sequel thereof. Before his success as an author, Goodkind worked primarily as a painter, as well as doing carpentry and woodworking. Goodkind is a proponent of Ayn Rand's philosophical approach of Objectivism, with references to Rand's ideas and novels in his works. The Sword of Truth series sold twenty-five million copies worldwide and was translated into more than twenty languages. It was adapted into a television series called Legend of the Seeker; it premiered on November 1, 2008, and ran for two seasons, ending in May 2010.
Goodkind's first book, Wizard's First Rule, was auctioned to a group of three publishers in 1994 selling it for a record price of $275,000. Goodkind has subsequently published 11 other novels and one novella. All of his books, with the exceptions of Stone of Tears and Wizard's First Rule, have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list. Of his latest novels, Chainfire, debuted at #3; in January 2005, Phantom at #1 in August 2006; and Confessor at #2 in November, 2007. Goodkind's twelve books in the The Sword of Truth series have sold twenty five million copies and been translated into more than 20 languages.
Debt of Bones (1998) (Prequel novella)
7.The Pillars of Creation (2002)
The First Confessor: The Legend of Magda Searus (2012) (Prequel novella)
1.The Omen Machine (2011)
2.The Third Kingdom (Summer 2013)
The Law of Nines (2009)
On July 24, 2006, it was originally announced that the Sword of Truth series would be produced as a mini-series produced by Sam Raimi and Joshua Dohen. The series was ultimately dubbed Legend of the Seeker in order to differentiate it from the novels and allow an episodic format of self-contained stories that moved beyond the first novel. Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Ken Biller and Ned Nalle served as executive producers for the series, distributed by ABC Studios. The first episode aired in syndication on November 1, 2008, and the show lasted for two seasons, but it was canceled in May 2010.
"Wizard's First Rule: people are stupid." Richard and Kahlan frowned even more. "People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true. People's heads are full of knowledge, facts, and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool.
"Because of Wizards First Rule, the old wizards created Confessors, and Seekers, as a means of helping find the truth, when the truth is important enough. Darken Rahl knows the Wizard's Rules. He is using the first one. People need an enemy to feel a sense of purpose. It's easy to lead people when they have a sense of purpose. Sense of purpose is more important by far than the truth. In fact, truth has no bearing in this. Darken Rahl is providing them with an enemy, other than himself, a sense of purpose. People are stupid; they want to believe, so they do."
The greatest harm can result from the best intentions.
It is explained in the book as follows: "It sounds a paradox, but kindness and good intentions can be an insidious path to destruction. Sometimes doing what seems right is wrong, and can cause harm. The only counter to it is knowledge, wisdom, forethought, and understanding the First Rule. Even then, that is not always enough. [...] Violation can cause anything from discomfort, to disaster, to death."
Passion rules reason.
It is explained in the novel as follows: "Letting your emotions control your reason may cause trouble for yourself and those around you."
There is magic in sincere forgiveness, the magic to heal. In forgiveness you grant, but more so, in forgiveness you receive.
It is explained in the novel as follows: "Forgiving and being forgiven are powerful elements of healing for the soul. Forgiving others grants by the giving of forgiveness but more so one receives self healing by the necessity of letting go of bitterness through forgiveness of others."
Mind what people do, not only what they say, for deeds will betray a lie.
It is explained in the novel as follows: "People will lie to deceive you from what they truly mean to do. Watching the actions they take will prove their true intentions."
The only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason.
It is explained in the novel as follows: "The Sixth Rule is the hub upon which all rules turn. It is not only the most important rule, but the simplest. Nonetheless, it is the one most often ignored and violated, and by far the most despised. It must be wielded in spite of the ceaseless, howling protests of the wicked. Misery, iniquity, and utter destruction lurk in the shadows outside its full light, where half-truths snare the faithful disciples, the deeply feeling believers, the selfless followers. Faith and feelings are the warm marrow of evil. Unlike reason, faith and feelings provide no boundary to limit any delusion, any whim. They are a virulent poison, giving the numbing illusion of moral sanction to every depravity ever hatched. Faith and feelings are the darkness to reason’s light. Reason is the very substance of truth itself. The glory that is life is wholly embraced through reason, through this rule. In rejecting it, in rejecting reason, one embraces death."
Life is the future, not the past.
It is explained in the novel as follows: "The past can teach us, through experience, how to accomplish things in the future, comfort us with cherished memories, and provide the foundation of what has already been accomplished. But only the future holds life. To live in the past is to embrace what is dead. To live life to its fullest, each day must be created anew. As rational, thinking beings we must use our intellect, not a blind devotion to what has come before, to make rational choices."
Deserve victory. (Translated from "Talga Vassternich" in High D'Haran, a literary fictional language)
It is explained in the novel as follows: "Be justified in your convictions. Be completely committed. Earn what you want and need rather than waiting for others to give you what you desire."
A contradiction cannot exist in reality. Not in part, nor in whole.
It is explained in the novel as follows: "To believe in a contradiction is to abdicate your belief in the existence of the world around you and the nature of the things in it, to instead embrace any random impulse that strikes your fancy - to imagine something is real simply because you wish it were. A thing is what it is, it is itself. There can be no contradictions. In reality, contradictions cannot exist. To believe in them you must abandon the most important thing you possess: your rational mind. The wager for such a bargain is your life. In such an exchange, you always lose what you have at stake."
Wilfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one's self.
It is explained in the novel as follows: "People who for whatever reason don't want to see the truth can be acutely hostile to it and shrill in their denunciation of it. They frequently turn their venomous antagonism on whoever dares to point out that truth ... To those seeking the truth, it's a matter of simple, rational, self-interest to always keep reality in view. Truth is rooted in reality, after all, not the imagination."
The rule of all rules. The rule unwritten. The rule unspoken since the dawn of history... But Barracus wanted you to know that it's the secret to using a war wizard's power. The only way to express it, to make sure that you would grasp what he was intending to tell you, was to give you a book unwritten to signify the rule unwritten.
Richard goes through great struggle to obtain a book left for him by Baraccus, a great wizard from the past. The book entitled Secrets to a War Wizard's power is a means for him to understand how to use his gift and therefore is in essence the solution to major problems. When he obtains the book, its pages are blank and Zedd informs him that Baraccus left it blank to illustrate the meaning of the phrase "rule unwritten". Using this knowledge Richard reasons that the Book of Counted Shadows could not be the key to the boxes of Orden, and that the Sword of Truth was the only way to harness Orden's power. As far as the knowledge within the book was concerned, there was "nothing in it", much like Richard's Secrets to a War Wizard's Power. The Sword of Truth, representative of its namesake, was key to life. The secret to Richard's power is that he seeks the truth. In seeking truth he turns a blind eye to corrupt ideas and embraces the essence of life itself. The Sisters of the Dark assumed the truth to be what they had always been told by others and never thought to verify it themselves, and died for it; but would never have been able to access the power by reason of acting in hate. Richard, on the other hand, intended to use the power to help those he cared about and thus had the ability to harness the power.