On Tue, 3 Jun 2003, Chris Turkel wrote: > > On Tuesday, June 3, 2003, at 11:54 AM, Casey Rousseau wrote: > > > Iain E. Davis wrote: >> 'Course, I've always liked _Yendi_, especially the openning monologue, >> so straight-ahead narrative can work, and even for Steve, but yes, more >> complex presentations can offer many more opportunities for avoiding >> old-hatness. > > Steve likes to bash Yendi but I enjoyed it. Its one of those sit back > and enjoy books, with little brainpower required (like a good > Horseclans book). Fwiw, I thought that _Yendi_ didn't need any bells and whistles - it can apparently be read mindlessly, but if one tries to make sense of the plot as one goes along one gets more mental stimulation than following the plot of _Taltos_ or _Dragon_. In fact, imho the multi-linear style of _T_ and _D_ adds little. After a few chapters of _D_ I began to get annoyed that Vlad was going to the trouble of giving us tiny chunks of the late-battle story for no obvious reason. I did like the interludes about the future events related to the story. But the seventeen "Ok, that's almost a page of the conclusion, how are we getting back to the main plot now?" just got on my nerves. One of the things I read SKZB for is his ability to pull you along (I think this is what Zelazny meant with "He moves fast") - one of Dumas's virtues - and the multiple threads got in the way for me - more author-imposed than plot-inspired.