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So I'm annoyed at the book I'm reading right now. It's well written, and well paced, and the characters aren't annoying. It's just...blah.
Normally I wouldn't whine about a mediocre book, but I figured out what's bugging me, and I think it's an important lesson.
First: There's no mystery. The big cool thing that happened in the beginning, which set everyone onto the paths they're taking, the HOOK, is solved. I know the how why what where and who of it. Maybe everyone's wrong, but there's no indication of that. Something bad happened, and no everyone's going to war over it. Which is fine, but why do I care?
That leads to point two:
The characters have nothing personal at stake. In Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, all the characters have something to worry about other than the big political stuff. Jon angsts about being a bastard and needing to find his uncle and wanting to be a scout and not getting to. Ned worries about his children and his honor.
This book... not so much. They have families, but the families are far and emotionally distant. War is a great thing to write about because it makes people pick sides (or create their own sides) and make hard choices. In this book, there are plenty of choices, but none of them are hard.
Normally I wouldn't whine about a mediocre book, but I figured out what's bugging me, and I think it's an important lesson.
First: There's no mystery. The big cool thing that happened in the beginning, which set everyone onto the paths they're taking, the HOOK, is solved. I know the how why what where and who of it. Maybe everyone's wrong, but there's no indication of that. Something bad happened, and no everyone's going to war over it. Which is fine, but why do I care?
That leads to point two:
The characters have nothing personal at stake. In Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, all the characters have something to worry about other than the big political stuff. Jon angsts about being a bastard and needing to find his uncle and wanting to be a scout and not getting to. Ned worries about his children and his honor.
This book... not so much. They have families, but the families are far and emotionally distant. War is a great thing to write about because it makes people pick sides (or create their own sides) and make hard choices. In this book, there are plenty of choices, but none of them are hard.
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