On Thu, 20 Feb 2003 13:26:09 -0800 (PST), you wrote: > > >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. Knowing Steve, it may be a while before we see any "future plot" from Vlad's viewpoint. He's got a huge amount of material he could mine in Vlad's past, as he has in the past. Plus, I can easily see Vlad spending quite some time just trying to figure out how to use a Great Weapon properly, and Lady Teldra preventing his doing anything "improper". -- lazarus "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American Public." -- Theodore Roosevelt