Do they have to be the best?

[Justinian]

I have to say, takyris, that I really liked Rhapsody when I read it a few years ago, soon after it came out. I eagerly awaited book two, possibly called Prophecy, I can't remember. Book two I didn't think was as good. Some of it was a rehash, and some wasn't as interesting. But I kept plugging along, because of the central mystery concept (you'll know what I mean, even though it's not a strict mystery). Book three came along last year, I think, and I'm thinking it was called Destiny. For some reason, it really didn't work for me. More rehash, more filler, and she threw in a big chunk of anticlimax. Book four? which is kind of like an epilogue, I think, called Elegy of the Lost Star or something similar, I just browsed through and left on the shelf.

To sum up, I think she had a really good novel that was padded into a trilogy. And that's too bad, because there are some excellent parts to it. The concept of warriors fighting demons, touched on in the first book, I think, is expanded later, and has some interesting scenes. But it's just too...unfocused. I couldn't handle the idea of wading through book four looking for the good parts.

So...if you liked the first one, keep going. But if you think it starts to go downhill, I'd advise you to bail out. It doesn't get better than the first book, in my opinion.

As far as the topic goes, I like to see people that are the BEST. But I like to see them as one of two things: either naturally gifted, or incessantly training. Either way, I like it explained. Not just everyone bowing down to them because, through some fluke, they're the best. Also, I don't want dual-spec superpeople. Like you mentioned, being the best fighter/rogue/ranger is a little strong. But I'm fine with the best fighter in the world. One of my favorite fantasy characters is Garet Jax[*], who is well over the top in terms of how good he is compared to everyone else at fighting. But, on the flip side, he trains constantly. Makes a point of it, in fact. Combined with the way he's presented, that makes it okay for me.

[*] The Wishsong of Shannara, by Terry Brooks.

 

[takyris]

Justinian,

Yeah, I probably am better off not continuing to read 'em. The things that worked for me were the kind of things that just get under my skin and make me start saying sarcastic things back to the author.

in Rhapsody, for example, in addition to the problems I mentioned, I kept feeling as though the characters were given way too much plot-convenient leeway in terms of Doing Stupid Stuff. The dialogue was sometimes very good, and sometimes just atrociously inappropriate -- I mean, I can understand if Hayden needed a way for (male sublead whose name I forget but who was obviously the kid from the prologue even though we were all supposed to be surprised about it at the end) to say something inappropriate, but does his line really have to be, "You're so beautiful, I bet you could make a lot of money as a prostitute!" People don't really say that. It's not in the character of the character we'd gotten. Achmed needed a good whack upside the head. He's obviously based on somebody's anime fantasy.

And then, the male sublead I mentioned earlier. It's said that he joins the group and hangs around with them for several weeks, but nobody ever sees what he looks like under his cloak? Has Elizabeth Hayden ever interacted with actual humans? Yes, suspense, good, mystery, good, but give me just a little credit here. You don't travel and fight with somebody for weeks upon end and never get to see their face. Reality does not function that way.

That was the stuff that bugged me. It ended up feeling like a really interesting novel idea that was based on a fun RPG experience Hayden had had in the distant past and decided to write a book from.