Oh thanks. I'm not sure drabs is a word but I'm taking creative license - refusing to google it - and using it instead of drops because it sounds cooler. :-)
This obliviousness on the part of a character is such a fine line. Sometimes an author has to inflict it on them, but what really has to be taken into account is the differing viewpoints of the reader from the character, especially in Fantasy novels. Things are so much more exciting when your reader is making discoveries right along with the character. When your reader and your main character end up on completely different planes of understanding you're in trouble and I think Rose Daughter suffers on this count. The atmosphere of the entire book is so suffused in magic it's really hard to read its main character as almost ignoring it completely. She makes an effort to explain it by saying the Father refused to have anything to do with magic after his wife's death - he blames some seer for not having warned her - but it just doesn't end up cutting it.
I think what you're aiming for - as an author - is to make things tickle on the edge of your reader's consciousness and then when you finally make the reveal to your character everything clicks into place for the reader - oh, that's what I was feeling, yes, that feels exactly right now. McKinley was more than a little heavy handed in this story. And you're right, the ending is definitely off. From Beauty's climb up the ladder things go ponderous and a bit tedious.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2012-03-28 12:52 am (UTC)This obliviousness on the part of a character is such a fine line. Sometimes an author has to inflict it on them, but what really has to be taken into account is the differing viewpoints of the reader from the character, especially in Fantasy novels. Things are so much more exciting when your reader is making discoveries right along with the character. When your reader and your main character end up on completely different planes of understanding you're in trouble and I think Rose Daughter suffers on this count. The atmosphere of the entire book is so suffused in magic it's really hard to read its main character as almost ignoring it completely. She makes an effort to explain it by saying the Father refused to have anything to do with magic after his wife's death - he blames some seer for not having warned her - but it just doesn't end up cutting it.
I think what you're aiming for - as an author - is to make things tickle on the edge of your reader's consciousness and then when you finally make the reveal to your character everything clicks into place for the reader - oh, that's what I was feeling, yes, that feels exactly right now. McKinley was more than a little heavy handed in this story. And you're right, the ending is definitely off. From Beauty's climb up the ladder things go ponderous and a bit tedious.