case: (Default)
Case ([personal profile] case) wrote in [community profile] fandomsecrets2026-02-16 06:14 pm

[ SECRET POST #6982 ]


⌈ Secret Post #6982 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 25 secrets from Secret Submission Post #997.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Re: Old Favorites You Dropped

(Anonymous) 2026-02-17 12:30 am (UTC)(link)
When I was a young'un and new to fantasy literature, I loved David Eddings' Belgariad and Mallorean series. But as I got older, I realized how... weird and one-dimensional his female characters were. Ostensibly they were strong women who sassed the male characters, but no matter how powerful they were, they still did the whole "batting my eyelashes at a man to get my way" thing that was portrayed as cute. I also got creeped out by how often he mentioned that one of the female characters was child-like in figure, petite, slender, like a child, etc. etc. in the context of how sexy that was. That wasn't the only issue, but those were the main issues. They were also really repetitive in plot and just not terribly interesting after I'd read more fantasy. Ended up giving away all the books because they bothered me too much.

I dropped Terry Goodkind's The Sword of Truth series because AGAIN the weird sexual hang-up about dominatrix characters with penis-like pain sticks, plus the lame Star Wars plot combined with the author's heavy-handed philosophizing.
greghousesgf: (pic#17098464)

Re: Old Favorites You Dropped

[personal profile] greghousesgf 2026-02-17 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
ew. Glad I didn't ever read those. The idea of making child like women out to be sexy makes me want to throw right up.

Re: Old Favorites You Dropped

(Anonymous) 2026-02-17 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
god, Sword of Truth is the ultimate in "series where the first book is so promising and then it's a fast ride downhill from there." I gave away/sold everything I had except my copy of Wizard's First Rule. It had SO MUCH potential! You can even sort of ignore the weird dom cult chapters and not lose any of the actual story, and it ends solidly with no need for sequels. Once it became a series, it was extremely gross getting way too intimate a look into Goodkind's kinks. Please, no, sir, keep it to yourself. Write fanfic for your own book.

Re: Old Favorites You Dropped

(Anonymous) 2026-02-17 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
Right? It was one of those books where the author's need for therapy and a better outlet for their kinks was so, so naked.
philstar22: (Default)

Re: Old Favorites You Dropped

[personal profile] philstar22 2026-02-17 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
Oh man. I admit that I still somewhat like the early Sword of Truth books. Terrible author, terrible philosophy, but something about the characters and world in the first four books just hooks me.

With Eddings, I own those books, but I never managed to make it through. I really like the world and lore, some interesting ideas, but the characters just never grabbed me and things moved so slowly I got bored. And yes, part of it is the stereotypical way he writes women, even Polgara.

Re: Old Favorites You Dropped

(Anonymous) 2026-02-17 01:24 am (UTC)(link)
The sword of truth books had some really weird dynamics and political messaging. They also started to basically be the same thing recycled over again. I'm glad I dropped them when I did.

Re: Old Favorites You Dropped

(Anonymous) 2026-02-17 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
The thing that really bothered me about Eddings' books was the same as you, but then years later it turned out that they were all co-written with his wife. Which gave me much more ick, a woman writing about coy and sexy younger women, and older women who just wanted to settle down and make their own soap (yes, really).

And THEN it turned out that he and his wife did jail time for abusing their two adopted children. In the late 60s, when you could get away with an awful lot of what would be considered child abuse today. And a lot of their books have adult mentors raising adopted children harshly for their own good.

Re: Old Favorites You Dropped

(Anonymous) 2026-02-17 06:01 am (UTC)(link)
Also Eddings and his wife are convicted child abusers. So there is that too.