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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 TOR has sold over 11 million copies. However, these numbers may not include the entirety of his foreign sales.

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; Goodkind was best known as an artist of realistic marine and wildlife paintings before the release of his novels. 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.

Career

Goodkind published his first book, Wizard's First Rule in August 1994, fulfilling his lifelong dream of being a novelist. He has subsequently published numerous others, to great commercial success. Wizard's First Rule sold at auction for more than six times the record price ever paid for a first fantasy novel, a record that still holds to this day. With a first print run of sixty thousand copies (three to five thousand is the norm) it has become an international bestseller.

All of Mr. Goodkind's books, with the exceptions of Stone of Tears and Wizard's First Rule, have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List. Of his latest novels, Chainfire debuted at #3 with Phantom debuting at the #1 spot in August 2006 on the NYT Best Seller List.

Influences and themes

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 admits to 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.

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.

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)

References

1. "Terry Goodkind Bio at terrygoodkind.net".
2. "Terry Goodkind Bio at terrygoodkind.com".
3. "Lynn Flewelling Interview".
4. "Hawes' archive of New York Times bestsellers from 1994-2005".
5. "Hawes' archive of New York Times bestsellers - Week of January 23, 2005".
6. "Hawes' archive of New York Times bestsellers - Week of January 23, 2005" (PDF).
7. . Interview with Terry Goodkind at a Virginia book signing

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.

• 1948 births
• Living people
• American fantasy writers
• Sword of Truth
• People from Nebraska
• Objectivists