Pages

Monday, November 7, 2011

Is the formula not working?

I just finished reading the third book of a trilogy and it really didn't work for me. It was standard epic fantasy with the reluctant messiah and the quest sort of thing. But the character that was the reluctant messiah was so full of self doubt - pages and pages of it - that I just wanted to give him a slap.

And the whole back end of the book was a long and boring journey that didn't do anything. But that's the formula, right? Reluctant messiah has to go on a quest with a few chosen travelers to find the magical whatsit to save the world. This story didn't have the mentor/gods/benevolent teacher in it. So the RM just had to figure it out as he went. That didn't bother me. The pages and pages of whining about how unprepared he was to take on such a burden of responsibility was really annoying. I actually skimmed some pages. I felt like the author needed some filler and just repeated what he'd already said.

Some of the peripheral characters were more interesting.

And I could see every twist a mile away. Am I too jaded? I don't mind seeing the twist coming if it develops into something good. But I guessed the betrayers and then doubted it because it was too easy. So that confused me. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and them to be cleared. Nope.

Oh well. There is an new Brandon Sanderson book out this month that I have been waiting for - The Alloy of Law. That's bound to be good.

In other news - I sold 2 copies of Catburglar to friends. Thanks Bob and Michael! And it is still pending the Premium Catalog.

No comments:

Post a Comment