Stop and think about what makes a typical derivative high fantasy. You need a hero, preferably in the Luke Skywalker mold. You need at least one love interest. You need a pseudo-medieval land. You need a wizard or sorcerer, or preferably multiple ones. You need a sword that, if not actually magical, is definitely special and superior.
The result: Designated Hero meets a Mysterious Designated Love Interest, learns he is the Chosen One, gains a Magic Sword with magical powers, teams up with an eccentric old Wizard Mentor, and goes on a Heroic Quest to save the Generic MedievalLand from the Evil Designated Villain. I swear, I think Goodkind came up with this plot by playing a sort of high fantasy Mad Libs.
... and then you need a lot of rapey women in leather with taser-dildos, like a teen boy's fantasies after finding a BDSM magazine.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NMGZOBRU7nc/VG7ge9cbRCI/AAAAAAAAFT0/0-gkSOQHDfw/s400/I%2527m%2Bnot%2Beven%2Bgoing%2Bto%2Bmention%2Bthe%2Bball%2Bgag.gif
Yeah, this is like Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series... except with a crazed Ayn-Randian approach to the world, the subtlety of a cinder block to the face, and some really weird sexual hangups. And it doesn't help that the hero, rather than just being a Stu, is a repellent piece of shit who never shuts up.
- Wizard's First Rule Chapter 1
- Wizard's First Rule Chapter 2
- Wizard's First Rule Chapter 3
- Wizard's First Rule Chapter 4
- Wizard's First Rule Chapter 5
- Wizard's First Rule Chapter 6