On Thu, 20 Feb 2003, Greg Rapawy wrote: > I was a little disappointed by _Issola_, as there are parts of it that > read as though the author had been, despite his best efforts, reduced to > simple exposition. Thus Vlad's uncharacteristic (and acknowledged as > such) demand for background from Sethra, and her uncharacteristic > response; compare that with his conversation with Aliera in _Jhereg_, > much earlier in the author's development, which seems to arise much more > naturally from the interaction of the two characters. That conversation seemed fine to me - demanded by the exigency of the situation. My problems with _I_ (which I nevertheless enjoyed) concerned the Universal Plot Generator of the Inscrutable Jenoine, who act like Yendis who can't remember their own plots; the description of the apocalyptic battle and all the associated head-shaking (Aliera, the dragon, the Necromancer); and the sudden elevation in Vlad's power, which I'm afraid will make the future plot less interesting. > > I would be pleased to be rebutted if someone can show > me why that scene works perfectly, of course. (And I > might add that this particular objection has not > changed SKZB's status as the current sole occupant of > my buy-in-hardcover list.) > > -- Greg > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more > http://taxes.yahoo.com/ >