On Thu, 23 Jan 2003, Davis, Iain E. wrote: > Oddly, that makes a certain amount of sense. However, that kinda puts > it in the "Yet Another World" category for me. Hmm. I'm trying to think > of some books that I liked that the characters weren't important (to me > at least). At first I couldn't think of any, but then I remembered > Asimov's "Foundation Series". Mostly, though I think I tend more toward > books that have characters that are interesting to me, or cool, or I > relate to. > > Which is, of course, why I love the Vlad Taltos books, I relate to Vlad > (sometimes), he's darn cool and interesting. This is certainly why I got tired of Jordan (circa book 7) -- the characters, instead of filling out, actually _deflated_ into caricatures. Female characters in particular ring incredibly false -- does Jordan _know_ any women? One of the rewarding things about the Taltos series is watching Brust's skills develop -- not to imply the early stuff is not good, but the later stuff shows improvement. paul e.