Havemercy, Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett

[cyphomandra]

I liked quite a bit about Havemercy (in particular, the role-play sensitivity training exercises for the Dragon Corps, which was very nicely done), but it also has its problems. Chiefly, plot (but also gender), and my issues with this tie in with an in-progress email I’ve been failing to send to alecaustin about writing fanfic vs writing original fic. It’s

Comments

[tacithydra]

I was mentally cross-casting characters (a skill honed largely by watching Pixar movies because Pixar do perfectly competent female characters but seem to have some sort of rigid quota system operating where two per movie is dangerously close to Amazonian anarchism - I cross-cast most of Ratatouille in a prolonged fit of annoyance, and it worked perfectly well)

I love you.

[alecaustin]

...falling so far in love with their characters that the characters distort the story and the author fails to realise they have not given the reader any actual reason to like their moody long-suffering protagonist (I have this second problem with Felix in Sarah Monette’s Melusine, Alec in Ellen Kushner’s Swordpoint)...

Yes.

I think writers who start with ideas can end up with default or cardboard characters, or a very mechanical research-heavy story (fond memories of reading Peter Hamilton space operas. Not.)

YES.

Also, ditto to Jenn on the cross-casting note, which was amazing.