New Terry Goodkind Book!

[maulkin]

Richard is an autocrat. He has unlimited power and is not afraid to use it. In fact, he feels justified in using it because he believes that his decisions are based on "reason" while those of others are not. He is encouraged in these beliefs by Zed and his other henchmen. Like all autocrats, Richard cannot tolerate dissent and he responds to it by physically eliminating the dissenters. Richard's actions at the conclusion of Confessor constitute genocide. The fact that his ideological opponents are "transported to another world" rather than killed is irrelevant. From the perspective of his world he has destroyed them.

The narrative of the story excuses Richard's actions by portraying his enemies as brutal thugs with no redeeming characteristics at all (and therefore deserving of the fate that is meted out to them by the benevolent dictator). Richard is also constantly portrayed as the underdog so that all of his actions, however brutal, have the gloss of victory against overwhelming odds. The story could almost have been written by Richard himself.

One of the many things that appeals to me in Hobb's writing is that, unlike Goodkind's, her characters are complex and flawed and her plots are based around the complex interactions between these characters rather than around simplistic clashes of ideologies.

Having said all of this, I have actually enjoy reading most of Goodkind's books. I just disagree with the philosophy that underlies them.