tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post6585782648492304056..comments2024-03-16T18:38:15.627-07:00Comments on Flogging Babel: Make Your Darlings SufferMichael Swanwickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-11083403449365580962014-04-19T07:49:26.541-07:002014-04-19T07:49:26.541-07:00The fact that there was going to BE a wedding near...The fact that there was going to BE a wedding nearly overloaded my suspension of disbelief. At the very least, when it turned red, my suspension didn't collapse.<br /><br />Martin prunes his plot branches without remorse. I hope it makes for better fruit in the end.Joe Stillmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05405419220585358300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-70304641883410458942014-04-16T16:20:38.045-07:002014-04-16T16:20:38.045-07:00When I was agonizing over this very point regardin...When I was agonizing over this very point regarding a child in "Melodies of the Heart," I asked Stan Schmidt what he thought. His answer was, "Of course, the child must die..."TheOFloinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14756711106266484327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-50063233262103758782014-04-16T12:18:53.930-07:002014-04-16T12:18:53.930-07:00I remember a certain fantasy series that obsessed ...I remember a certain fantasy series that obsessed me as an adolescent... it was a sequel series to another very popular series. The main characters were basically all carried over from the first series, basically had survived all kinds of dangerous unscathed, and even more ridiculously, were all the best of friends. Of course the reader had been groomed to be emotionally attached to all of them.<br /><br />So at the end of book 1 (series 2), a prophecy is made that definitely one of this large company of friends will die in the course of a great quest they are about to set out on.<br /><br />So of course the hopeless fan-person is hooked and has to know who bites it. Turns out, its a character new to the second series who moreover has no back story, no dialog (due to being a mute), and no development. Just a bald, silent nobody who hovers about for four books so the author can pull a ridiculous cop-out for his ridiculous gimmick.<br /><br />Its hard not to be a self-loathing nerd sometimes, knowing how engrossed I once was with this garbage. But at least I grew out of it (the garbage, not fantasy)within a few years.<br /><br />Granted the author in question died well-off I'm sure. But I think anyone with scruples should follow your advice.<br /><br />David Stonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09983230505509685792noreply@blogger.com