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Message: <blockquote data-quote="takyris" data-source="post: 3080699" data-attributes="member: 5171">Yes. He could have cut it down to one page. That is indeed what I'm saying. If you'd prefer that I say it without a big mocking post, I can say it without a big mocking post.He's said on the forums that he wanted to skip ahead the five years, but that he couldn't because it was too hard to explain what happened in those five years quickly and easily. So instead, he opted to write an additional novel. Or, in fact, two.My response to this, as nobody in particular, is, "No."I see nothing in this book that couldn't have been easily worked in as a brief explanation at the beginning of his next book or left on the cutting room floor. Nothing.Don't get me wrong -- the man writes well. I enjoyed individual lines, I enjoyed some of the plots, and any one of the three identical power-grab plots would have worked well for me. This book, as a side anthology of short stories or novellettes, would have been nice. But it's a few pertinent points stretched out to 700 and disguised with enjoyable writing.The effect being humor. If my post fell flat for you because the book wowed you on a profound level and didn't seem like filler at all, then you win, because you got a truly enjoyable reading experience, while I got a frustrating structural stall in a series I'd been enjoying, as well as some material for a mocking post.That said, "Interesting", I will give you, because it's subjective. Some of what I read was interesting. Some of what I read bored me to skimming.Important is a) impossible to tell given that the series isn't over, but b) incredibly unlikely. Again, I see nothing in this book that couldn't have been a) cut or b) worked easily into the beginning of the next book. Given how willing he was to hit us with the warhammer of exposition in the prologue (three kids expositing in a bar with a minor tie to the end of the book so that it's not quite as obvious that the entire thing is a massive "for those of you who didn't reread the first three books" infodump), I see no reason that he couldn't do the same thing at the beginning of his next book.And again, againagainagain, two salient points:1) Unnecessary does not mean unenjoyable. There's a difference between a book with tone problems and a book with structure problems. This one had structure problems as part of the series, which irked me. The writing itself was fine, and as additional world-filling stuff written on the side, I'd have loved it. (Like a companion anthology released after the fact, or stuff posted online to build suspense for the next book like those Battlestar Galactica webisodes or the Clone Wars cartoon.)2) The fact that this bugged me does not mean I'm going to stop reading and go sulk in the corner. I'll read the next one, and sigh and rant again if it's an infodump, but the real test will be the next NON-infodump book he writes.</blockquote>

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