Really?
Geez, does every male U.S. science fiction writer of a certain age devolve into a frothing libertarian who intersperses their fiction with anti-tax rants? I mean, I get it, no one likes the IRS. But dude, you already made your IRS character short, ugly, weak, petty, and vindictive. Was giving him a stupid name of Dickensian proportions on top of all that really necessary? I'm already side-eyeing your huge chunks of "As you know, Bob," exposition (I mean, yes, this was new territory when you first wrote about it back in 1950-whatever; you were doing urban fantasy before the genre existed, and it's one reason I loved your stuff. But it's post-2000 now, and we don't need parallel histories explained to us) and the deep suspicion that the characters are sliding into idiot-plot, everyone-who-disagrees-with-the-heroes-is-evil territory. Plus the blatant plug for your friend's book - charming loyalty or kinda tacky, I can't decide. I remember you as being a way better writer than this. Have you gotten worse, or did I just have really crappy taste as a teenager? Or is it just that I'm coming off two Diana Wynne Jones novels with somewhat more subtle characterization, and I should have eaten some olives between books or something?
Rants Talk to me
Rants Talk to me