Re: A Very Boring Plot
- From: Tina_Hall@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Tina Hall)
- Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2008 22:04:00 +0100
David Friedman <ddfr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Gerry Quinn <gerryq@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In _Salamander_ a major secondary character, the royal official
in charge of dealing with magery (also the King's brother and
heir), thinks it is of overriding importance for the welfare of
the kingdom that he obtain information that the (male and female)
protagonists have about a very dangerous spell that one of them
has invented and now wants to suppress. He tricks them into his
power, then threatens to obtain the information by magical force
from the female protagonist, a procedure likely to do her serious
injury, unless one of them will tell it to him (truth tellers
available to make sure they aren't lying).
He's wrong, but he is still on net a good guy.
Well, that's your opinion, and perhaps intention. Readers may have a
different opinion.
(To me he's a bad guy, nothing good about him. I'd root for Iolen,
if anything. And Mary's rant - I know you don't think she's ranting,
but she comes across as a fanatic ranter - to A...something,
Anders?, just confirms it. Plus her attitude of trying to get the
best suit irrelevant of what kind of person that turns out to be
isn't putting her on the list of people to take their word for
anything. Very superficial person who'd marry a psychopath if he had
status.)
One of the "themes" that I didn't plan on but that appeared in the
story was the issue of in what sense ends justify means.
As has happened before, what you say here and what's in the story
doesn't necessarily agree. There's nothing that justifies what he
does, at least you're not communicating anything in the story (and
no good explaining your _intention_ to me, what counts is what's in
the story).
And again, all that has me wonder is nothing to do with your story,
it's whether I might commit the same. Like for example the tribes
that at first may come across as X turn out to be Y like everyone
else, and the explanations for it. Mainly the Magic tribe that come
across as pompous, aloof, and the Autumn tribe that don't just come
across as but are liars and deceivers. And they're all good guys and
right to be the way they are. (The latter is what I'm wondering
about it being communicated properly.)
But I think my main worry is explaining why the Fire tribe didn't
warn anyone, whether that does convince anyone as having a reason
(not reason behind it, but _a_ real reason). That bugs me because
decent characters should warn others, or have a real good reason why
they didn't.
To produce what? Whacko psychopaths somewhere alone and lost in
space? For what reason? What's the point? It's just being cruel
to the hapless children for no reason at all.
To save them?
In World of Warcraft, there is one repeatable quest that involves
grabbing twelve wolvar pups. It's being done on behalf of the
adjacent (walrus like) population, for good reasons--they are
afraid the Wolvar are going to get wiped out, and want to raise
some of the pups to preserve the species. It makes me (and my
character) a little uneasy, but because the walrus people come
across as good people, their motives are believable.
Two wrongs don't make a right.
--
Tina
WISuspension: Seasons & Elements trilogy | Magic Earth series
Excerpts at: <http://home.htp-tel.de/fkoerper/ath/athintro.htm>
Posted to Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.sf.composition.
.
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