Something to Pick Over

[Vassili]

While I liked the Prologue, and in general think Brandon is doing a good job under tough circumstances, there is one thing that keeps bothering me. Robert Jordan developed his characters by showing us their actions. In the case of Talmanes, we saw through Mat's eyes that when he finds something funny he laughs inside, maybe wears a small smile, but keeps an outwardly neutral expression. Thats good writing. But Brandon has an annoying habit of writing characters that list their own traits in their PoV. It just seems forced. In the Prologue Talmanes basically explains what we already knew about him: his subtle sense of humor. People don't talk about themselves that way inside their head. Brandon could have made the same point had he written, "Talmanes smiled to himself, though no one else would have seen it. Cairhienen were a reserved lot; the Game of Houses was in their blood..."

[Sid]

Yep, that sort of thing has certainly been picked over around here. I agree with the thing that's bothering you as do others, and think he handles some things very clumsily, unfortunately. There is a thread dedicated to thoughts on his writing in this forum, called "Thisguy's Topic on Brandon's Work" for other people's thoughts.

[clu7ch]

there are differences, but i like to respect his interpretation.