Ah, it's great to have you back at long last! How'd the book turn out?
And yes, I think the mudball scene would have worked better as a break from Orik's non-delegable duties. Either that or something he does on the eve of battle to compose his nerves. I think that could have worked well to open up for a character-building moment.
As it stands now, he just looks like this horribly inept ruler (I'm thinking a more benign version of Caligula here) who doesn't take his office seriously. Then again, he's a Named Character, so he can get away with it in Alagaesia, I suppose...
I was thinking the exact same thing, that the mudball segment would've worked a lot better if it'd contributed toward character building as something Orik was doing before going to battle. As it is, it feels like Paolini tacked it on to accomplish two things; one, to pad the word count, and two, to show off a little something he thought up to flesh out the world. While world building isn't bad at all, he just managed to do it in about the weakest, most dull, ineffectual way possible.
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And yes, I think the mudball scene would have worked better as a break from Orik's non-delegable duties. Either that or something he does on the eve of battle to compose his nerves. I think that could have worked well to open up for a character-building moment.
As it stands now, he just looks like this horribly inept ruler (I'm thinking a more benign version of Caligula here) who doesn't take his office seriously. Then again, he's a Named Character, so he can get away with it in Alagaesia, I suppose...
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(Though apparently I should have waited until after finals to continue this).
But, you've pretty much got it right.
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