On Wed, 8 Jan 2003, Philip Hart wrote: > You raise a lot of good points which I still disagree with but don't want > to debate in detail because I should be looking for a car (or working) - > but some general comments: > > > There are plenty of sharp Easterners around in Dragaera (Khaavren's > librarian, the Marxist in Teckla/Phoenix) but relatively speaking > I don't recall many Dragaerans acting intelligently - Khaavren, > perhaps Pel, certainly Sethra in Orca. Vlad's success often depends > on a combination of luck and dumb opponents. This is presumably a result > of necessity in making the plot exciting and fast. I love writers like > John M. Ford whose characters seem smarter than my PhD'd colleagues - but > Ford's or say Wolfe's books are not thrilling in a Brustian manner. Ok, > so Vlad has to remind Aliera that Pathfinder is good for looking for > things, or teach Morrolan basic witchcraft (use your own blood) - mostly > what I don't feel in these books is the sense that the characters have 1k > years of development behind them (well, Sethra is as always an exception). At the risk of distracting you further into debate, I'll add my thought that perhaps it's simply a (young) Dragon trait to forget or overlook the obvious in times of crisis since they're geared more toward direct and swift action. Since Easterners tend to have shorter and more fragile lives, they can't afford that trait. --Brother Ike