Goodkind's writing is fairly bad. He overwrites in areas where it is really not needed (torture and almost-rape scenes, mostly) and underwrites in areas where it is (worldbuilding, characterisation, plot, logical coherence, sanity). His stories are grindingly repetitive to the point of tedium. He reuses plot coupons such as amnesia and characters being kidnapped to the point of ridiculousness. He has zero grasp of the realities of combat, reaching its zenith of awfulness when a character continues to engage in battle for several seconds after having his spine removed through his stomach.

The biggest problem, though, is that his main characters - pretty much all of them and the certainly the big three of Dick, Zedd and Kahlan - are fascists who kill, slaughter, maim, torture and massacre their way through the books. They kill the unarmed envoy of an allied nation who expresses doubt over a costly military campaign. They slaughter a bunch of unarmed peace protestors because they 'lack moral clarity'. They invade the evil empire and commit mass genocide against its already-repressed and starving civilian population for 'not rising up against their evil overlords', with apparently millions of deaths.

Most sane authors would have characters doing this stuff in full acknowledgement that what they are doing is wrong, morally corrupting or just plain insane. But Goodkind instead approves of his characters actions and gives them a happy ending in the last book.

The result is a series that actually and readily glorifies in rape, mutilation and death, rather than presenting them as unfortunate facets of existence. It is pornography of the very worst kind and sends out some very disturbing messages, especially to the young teenage audience who is most readily impressed by big doorstepper fantasy series.

Although Jordan is not my favourite writer and has many flaws, it always deeply angers me when I see him being equated with Goodkind. Jordan has knowledge of and depicts fairly well different social structures, cultures, institutions and differing political and ideological attitudes and philosophies in his world. He has some grasp of the subtler nuances of history and philosophy. He knows how armies work, are maintained and fight. Violence and rape are deplorable but sometimes unavoidable consequences of life and of war. Battles are fought for hopefully good causes and because other means to resolve the problem have failed. He makes Goodkind look like the talentless no-hoper he really is.