Sunday 17 February 2008

Crap fantasy book covers #4

I don't normally agree with anything Terry Goodkind says. It's difficult to agree with someone who said that gang-rape is "democracy in action." I'm not sure Plato would agree, Terry. I certainly don't. I could go on at great length about how much I disagree with the holier-than-thou words of Goodkind, but perhaps I'll save that for another day. Or until his next interview, which no doubt will throw up a few new gems.
But, back to the point. Goodkind said something the other day that I actually agreed with: that some of his book covers were shit. Now, he probably thinks this because they are too 'fantasy' for him (Goodkind doesn't write fantasy, you see. He writes literature. Apparently). Well, whatever his reasons I can at least see where he is coming from. Check out this one, from his third novel Blood of the Fold:


Not great is it? A dragon clinging to a pillar. A bloke - Richard Rahl, one presumes - wearing some hideous yellow shirt his uncle gave him for Christmas. Some stripper in red bondage gear complete with eighties femme de mullee (that's female mullet, to you and me). And that's about it. Hardly inspiring. Still, at least Goodkind's publisher recognised his work as fantasy, which is more than we can say of Mr Goodkind himself.

Crap-o-meter rating: 8/10

2 comments:

Todd Newton said...

Hilarious!
This one can fight Silverthorn for the title.

I've never read a Goodkind book (or interview) but I have thought about it once or twice. I guess I always thought that the Big Names in the genre were loved by all.

James said...

I think Silverthorn's cover is worse. At least there is some degree of artistic ability in the Blood of the Fold one.

As for Goodkind, I can't think of another author who is more loathed by such a large percentage of the fantasy community. Sure, he has his fans. I've actually read three of his books and thought they were ok. But it's the stuff he comes out with in interviews; he has a rather high opinion of himself, to put it bluntly. Some of the comments he has made about fantasy and genre fans in general are pretty apalling. It's therefore no surprise that on some forums there are huge threads devoted solely to Goodkind bashing.