I apologize for the large type font - carry over from another project.
I will concede the point on criticizing an artist - I poorly worded that response. I did not mean to come across as criticizing anothers view of the world. I will always readily admit and accept that anyone can believe whatever they want and are fully entitled to express that belief. I simply meant to express my belief that I personally prefer to see power coming from within - as I said, poor choice of words - and I will be more careful in future. Graham Watson From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Raymond E. Feist Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2011 9:16 PM To: feistfans-l Subject: Re: Possible answer On Dec 21, 2011, at 6:50 PM, Graham Watson wrote: I am with you on the Harry Potter issue. He certainly did seem to be in over his head and always came out on top by pure luck, or by someone else bigger and stronger stepping in, not my idea of a hero. And the wand trick did not do much for me either. Power should always come from within and if you are going to use a wand, then it should be merely an extension of your own power. I think JK came up with a really cool concept, but her writing made it a bit bland for me. But on your description of Magician and Silverthorn I am not there with you. I loved both of them, and I thought they were excellent books with enough in them to keep me going and going. Magician was an awesome introduction to Midkemia. And Silverthorn, I just loved the hopelessness felt by the characters. That for me was what made it the best. The characters felt overwhelmed, over matched and hopeless, and yet they continued to strive and win through. But Darkness was definitely the ultimate end to that adventure. I know I will be really sad when Pugs story comes to an end. Just to make it last a bit longer I have went back and am rereading Magician. Am about half way through. But I wanted to read them all again so that everything was fresh when I finally picked up crown imperiled. Graham Watson I have no idea why you're emails are coming in such monster large type fonts. Anyway, you may fairly criticize any writer on how well/poorly he/she did the job. That's what taste is about as well as your tolerance of/enjoyment of/disapproval of various styles, tropes, genre's, etc. IMHO, you are not entitled to criticize an artists because they view the world differently than you. That's what art is about, sharing a perspective with others. Saying that a work is flawed because a magician uses a wand is like saying Elvis Presley was a lousy singer because he didn't sing opera. If you don't care for a certain trope, that's fine. Boy with a wand is hardly original with J.K. Rowling. It wasn't original with Walt Disney when he did Sorcerer's Apprentice, either. But it's a fair choice. Best, R.E.F. ---- www.crydee.com Never attribute to malice what can satisfactorily be explained away by stupidity.
