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I'm reading the Forgotten Realms Novels- #202 The Howling Delve by Jaleigh Johnson (Dungeons 2)
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<blockquote data-quote="Alzrius" data-source="post: 7957946" data-attributes="member: 8461"><p>I hate to use the term "Mary Sue," simply because its use so often descends into fan-wankery, as everyone begins arguing about what the <em>actual</em> definition of the term is and whether or not particular characters <em>technically</em> meet it or not. Having said all that, Storm comes across as a Mary Sue here. It's not that she's more powerful than everyone else, but rather than she exists as a sort of moral center that everyone else is defined by. How do you know if a character is a bad guy? They dislike/feel threatened by her. How do you know if someone is a good guy? They're awed by her and want to help her. The book's idea of a sudden twist (as I recall) is having a bad guy who can pretend to be good in this way.</p><p></p><p>Storm herself comes across as unlikable, at least to me, for how condescending she is. Now, it's entirely possible to have a protagonist who looks down their nose at other people; you simply need to construct this as a heroic flaw that they're working against. But Storm's exasperation with everyone around her is presented as something we're supposed to be sympathetic to, rather than being a foible. I seem to recall one of the exchanges in the book as being such (paraphrasing from memory):</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Now, it's entirely possible that the scene in question was more slanted against the questioner than I recall, but this illustrates the point. Storm spends most of the novel feeling exasperated by the idiots she's surrounded with, and the book goes out of its way to suggest that she's right to do so. Worse, it extends this presumption to suggest that it's no great loss when most of these people die; Storm, as the book's moral center, has already served to showcase that none of them are worth saving.</p><p></p><p>Even her reaction to the villain (who got a cool tidbit dropped about their background, in what was perhaps the only redeeming feature of the book) seems to be more irritation than anything. Again, I'm viewing this through the lens of quite a few years and a haze of dislike, but even when Storm's losing, her disposition is more akin to someone being handed an unpleasant job rather than the fate of the world, or at least a few people's lives, being on the line. Storm really seems like an office worker who's been called in over the weekend and has to deal with some irritating colleagues she'd rather never see again.</p><p></p><p>Also, why in the heck is Sylune alive in this? We know it takes place after the Time of Troubles, so Sylune should be a ghost, but I seem to recall she's here in the literal flesh. What the heck?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alzrius, post: 7957946, member: 8461"] I hate to use the term "Mary Sue," simply because its use so often descends into fan-wankery, as everyone begins arguing about what the [I]actual[/I] definition of the term is and whether or not particular characters [I]technically[/I] meet it or not. Having said all that, Storm comes across as a Mary Sue here. It's not that she's more powerful than everyone else, but rather than she exists as a sort of moral center that everyone else is defined by. How do you know if a character is a bad guy? They dislike/feel threatened by her. How do you know if someone is a good guy? They're awed by her and want to help her. The book's idea of a sudden twist (as I recall) is having a bad guy who can pretend to be good in this way. Storm herself comes across as unlikable, at least to me, for how condescending she is. Now, it's entirely possible to have a protagonist who looks down their nose at other people; you simply need to construct this as a heroic flaw that they're working against. But Storm's exasperation with everyone around her is presented as something we're supposed to be sympathetic to, rather than being a foible. I seem to recall one of the exchanges in the book as being such (paraphrasing from memory): Now, it's entirely possible that the scene in question was more slanted against the questioner than I recall, but this illustrates the point. Storm spends most of the novel feeling exasperated by the idiots she's surrounded with, and the book goes out of its way to suggest that she's right to do so. Worse, it extends this presumption to suggest that it's no great loss when most of these people die; Storm, as the book's moral center, has already served to showcase that none of them are worth saving. Even her reaction to the villain (who got a cool tidbit dropped about their background, in what was perhaps the only redeeming feature of the book) seems to be more irritation than anything. Again, I'm viewing this through the lens of quite a few years and a haze of dislike, but even when Storm's losing, her disposition is more akin to someone being handed an unpleasant job rather than the fate of the world, or at least a few people's lives, being on the line. Storm really seems like an office worker who's been called in over the weekend and has to deal with some irritating colleagues she'd rather never see again. Also, why in the heck is Sylune alive in this? We know it takes place after the Time of Troubles, so Sylune should be a ghost, but I seem to recall she's here in the literal flesh. What the heck? [/QUOTE]
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I'm reading the Forgotten Realms Novels- #202 The Howling Delve by Jaleigh Johnson (Dungeons 2)
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