On Wed, 22 Feb 2006, Maximilian Wilson wrote: > Eddings isn't a very skilled writer. Fun, but not skilled. Overusing > adverbs, italics, and emoticons :) is one hallmark of the unskilled > writer. Just ask Strunk & White. Rilke's poetry has a fair amount (i.e., > 0) of added emphasis - when he wants to lean on a word he writes it t h u s l y. No doubt this is a question of the prevailing stylistic standards as well as one of skill. As to the original question - I haven't noticed any tics of SKZB, in style or plot or characterization. It's one of his signal strengths in my view, and I'd guess in part an explicit goal.