Personal Beliefs put forward in books...

[jenna]

lol, goodkind was definitely the first name to pop into my head just from reading the title of this topic!
now, i have to state i'm all for writers putting their own beliefs into their stories, i think they'd be quite soulless if they didn't. But it should be done with subtlety, and with relevance to the story as a whole.
for a lesson in how NOT to do it, read Naked Empire by goodkind (borrow it though, don't waste your hard earned cash). he seems to think that by adding speech marks to a 3 page sermon he is making it part of the story. i totally totally disagree. i almost caught a plane to America to throw this book at goodkind's head, it was that infuriating. what could have been said in half a page turned into a 3 page speech, followed invariably by some unenlightened peasant saying "but i disagree", followed by the same 3 page speech reworded slightly. after a couple of these the unenlightened peasant would suddenly understand and everyone would go on their merry way. grrr.
it didn't help that i think his "philosophy" (objectivism) is one of the biggest loads of crap i've ever heard.

oh, and in my opinion, he was never advocating communism, he was showing communism as being evil...

 

[Adasunshine]

Just a theory...

Eddings seems to believe in the multiple Gods theory. I've yet to come across a book or series of his which doesn't feature a world ruled by more than one God.

It's just a thought. I could be wrong, I mean which fantasy nut hasn't done a bit of reading on the Roman and Greek God mythologies???

xx

 

[Galah]

Hi guys,
maybe this should be another thread - but I hope it's pertinent enough - I'm a relative newcomer to the sff genre(s) but I wouldn't go near the works of L R Hub bard because of what i have recently learned about $cient ology. Have a bit of a google and make up your own minds but i consider that organisation to be unconscionable in its actions and ... um ... let's say tenets.

I don't think Ellron himself believed in anything but a quick buck. I mean - billion-year contracts? for good's sake give us a break . . . His original scam was to claim scientific validation for his - what - technologies? but he got religion real quick when he realised the benefit$ of tax-exempt status.

Anyone else boycott an author for similar reasons?

p.s. I have checked out hundreds of recommendation threads and sites and I get the impression that while Goodkind may be popular - a good writer he ain't. Currently on loan from my local library - Wolfe, Farmer, Czerneda, Cordwainer Smith, Kim Stanley Robinson and Madeleine L'Engle.

 

[jackokent]

Maybe there is a difference between being preached to and subtly shown another veiw point. I certainly thought I was being preached to by Huxly (Island / Brave new world etc) but other writers have made me think hard about things that clearly mean a lot to them, but without (in my view) preaching. Jamie O'Neill is one (At swim 2 boys) altough not Si Fi or fantisy so maybe off the subject. Again, I thought Octavia Bulter's beliefs came across very strongly and although I enjoy her writing I do feel a bit like I've just come out of a lecture. Hans Bemmann (the stone and the flute & Broken Goddess) seems to have a very gentle way of expounding his messages.

 

[Gary Wassner]

You might find Jeff Vandermeer's article in Emcit interesting regarding Politics in Fantasy. It spurred a bit of a debate that I am sure is going to get bigger as the days go by. here: http://www.emcit.com/emcit125.php?a=2 and here:

http://noggs.typepad.com/the_reading_experience/2006/02/in_an_interesti.html#comments


Also, The Fantasy Times responded to it here using my books as an example:

http://thefantasytimes.com/

We all have points of view. How could we not. It's how we express them that matters. I don't like to be told how to think, whether it's through a movie, a book, a government or a Pope for that matter. I like to form my own opinions, hopefully informed ones, and I like to take the time to figure out where I stand on issues that matter to me. When I write, I certainly write about issues that concern me. If I didn't then I couldn't write honestly and from the heart. I have my own personal beliefs and concerns and they infiltrate my characters and my books, but I defy any reader to cull from them what side I'm actually on. There is definitely a little part of me in each character, no matter how dark they may seem. And just because someone seems to be the protagonist and just because it may appear that my perspective is clear, don't bet on it. That's what's so nice about a series. Things change. Things evolve. What seems to be so obvious in the beginning may not be quite that obvious later on. I think of a book as a process in which the reader plays a serious role. I like to ask more questions and offer fewer answers, and let the reader find the answers if they are to be found.