Dragaera

Avoiding Jordan (Was: Re: POTD question...)

Gomi no Sensei gomi at speakeasy.net
Thu Jan 23 16:40:31 PST 2003

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.