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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FraserRonald" data-source="post: 1135513" data-attributes="member: 7892">I don't think anyone minds people dropping in and adding to the discussion. Glad to have you!Was that the "Iron Tower" series? I think it must have been because it was a fairly close copy of LotR. I found it far too derivative. I don't mind retelling a story--as I've mentioned before--but I hope for at least something new, a fresh voice, a new take on a character, something. I didn't feel that I got that from "Iron Tower" and that was when I was back in high school and nowhere near as critical a reader as I am now. And there's nothing wrong with using that device. It's an old, tried and true method. In fact, I've read one Daniel Defoe novel (A Journal of the Plague Year) and have recently picked up another (Memoirs of a Cavalier) in which Defoe did the same thing. Of course, Defoe's manuscripts were supposedly only written earlier rather than on a completely different planet/reality/dimension. I'm not saying it's a bad conceit to use, and many fantasy authors have done the same. I would say, though, that Mr. McKiernan fails at this. In order to accept such a conceit (as part of the willing suspension of disbelief, not as accepting there is a real Mithgar et al), this 'other, original author' needs to have a voice--a specific, recognizable voice. Mr. McKiernan, in my opinion, fails in his lack of consistency. There is no narrative voice, rather a mish-mash of styles and usage. But that's just my opinion.However, it is not in the dialogue--or perhaps I should more correctly say not only in the dialogue--that this inconsistency occurs. I would say that if the dwarves or the elves or the humans are supposed to use a particular style, that style should remain consistent with those characters/races/cultures/what-have-you. If it is not, it is--again, in my opinion--an excuse for lazy writing. This is what I found with Dragondoom. Characters' usages and syntax would unaccountably change, often in short scenes. Further, the narrative was riddled with this. Also, if Mr. McKiernan is working with the concept that he is translating from an earlier, ancient source, the voice of that source should be reflected in the narrative. I did not find that. In fact, I found the narrative quite muddled, as I mentioned above. However, to each his own. Mr. McKiernan has his audience and that's a good thing. It's good because he is able to entertain as a story-teller, which is obviously his intent, and those who enjoy his work are entertained, which is the point of literature.Thanks for offering your take on the book, Shadowdancer. I hope my statements don't seem too caustic. They are not intended to be.</blockquote>

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