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rowynThis is another of the Liaden Universe books. Chronologically, it takes place before Agent of Change (which was published before it) and after Local Custom and Scout's Progress. Genre-wise, it's a blend of sf-action/adventure and romance.
This was a fun book for me in several respects:
* It's a rare instance of bisexuality being treated as a complete non-issue. There's a same-sex relationship between two women, both of whom are also noted as being attracted to men. The relationship gets exactly the same sort of comments a heterosexual couple would get.
* Similarly, there's no presumption of monogamy. One protagonist has a friends-with-benefits relationship with one character, while a more traditional romantic relationship haltingly develops with a second. There's some mention of jealousy but there's no "this is crazy, you can't do that" reaction from anyone.
* The PoV is flexible. Modern novels are generally either 1st person, or 3rd person limited. "3rd person limited" means there are a few different viewpoint characters, and each scene will be clearly told from one and only one of those viewpoint characters. Conflict of Honors tends towards the latter, but the narrative sometimes shows the thoughts of multiple different characters within a single scene, instead of sticking to one-and-only-one viewpoint character at a time. Writing books will tell you this is Bad and confusing to the readers. Writing books are frankly full of crap. I am not an idiot. It is no more confusing to have see character A's thoughts in one paragraph and character B's in the second than it is to have two different characters talking in the same scene. Go full omniscient, Lee & Miller! Rock on.
* The antagonists are hopelessly outclassed by the protagonists for the majority of the book. I found this kind of relaxing. Every now and then there'd be serious tension and concern from actions of one of the antagonists, but mostly I could enjoy watching the protagonists do stuff without worrying that Certain Doom was about to befall them. This is another one of those things that writing advice will tell you not to do, but whatever.
* The protagonists inadvertently run into trouble with the law on a few occasions. Generally, the law sorts this out in a reasonable fashion without undue prejudice. This was weirdly refreshing; it seems like the law in fiction (police procedurals aside) is usually either a deus ex machina that requires no explanation, or a force for evil.
There were some elements I didn't like:
* The male protagonist, Shan yos'Galen, is ridiculously too good at everything. This was true of the male protagonist in Agent of Change as well, but here it's taken to whole new levels of "absurd prodigy". Shan is a captain of his own ship, a Master Trader, a pilot, a lord, Heir Apparent the most powerful clan on his homeworld, a strong empath, and probably some other stuff I forgot. It's excessive. Also, he works too hard. So does every other character in this book. The literary world needs more lazy protagonists who work 9-5 and chill in the evenings. (I keep thinking of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
terrycloth's Era here ♥.)
* Okay, the antagonists are really a little too hopelessly outclassed. As said earlier, I found it refreshing that the protagonists had no cloud of Certain Doom hovering over them at all times. But I think the antagonist could've been given more of a chance to pose a real threat.
* The characters tend to the two-dimensional. Most everyone is either friendly and well-liked or villainous and wicked. I was fond of the good guys, but they could've used some humanizing faults, and not just flaws-that-are-really-virtues, like taking too much responsibility or feeling guilty about things that weren't your fault.
The last is the novel's greatest weakness. I enjoyed the book but spent too much time dissecting its weaknesses. I'll give it a 7 overall. It is worth noting, however, that this did not deter me from snapping up Lee & Miller's Mouse and Dragon as soon as I learned of its existence last night. More about that book when I finish it!
This was a fun book for me in several respects:
* It's a rare instance of bisexuality being treated as a complete non-issue. There's a same-sex relationship between two women, both of whom are also noted as being attracted to men. The relationship gets exactly the same sort of comments a heterosexual couple would get.
* Similarly, there's no presumption of monogamy. One protagonist has a friends-with-benefits relationship with one character, while a more traditional romantic relationship haltingly develops with a second. There's some mention of jealousy but there's no "this is crazy, you can't do that" reaction from anyone.
* The PoV is flexible. Modern novels are generally either 1st person, or 3rd person limited. "3rd person limited" means there are a few different viewpoint characters, and each scene will be clearly told from one and only one of those viewpoint characters. Conflict of Honors tends towards the latter, but the narrative sometimes shows the thoughts of multiple different characters within a single scene, instead of sticking to one-and-only-one viewpoint character at a time. Writing books will tell you this is Bad and confusing to the readers. Writing books are frankly full of crap. I am not an idiot. It is no more confusing to have see character A's thoughts in one paragraph and character B's in the second than it is to have two different characters talking in the same scene. Go full omniscient, Lee & Miller! Rock on.
* The antagonists are hopelessly outclassed by the protagonists for the majority of the book. I found this kind of relaxing. Every now and then there'd be serious tension and concern from actions of one of the antagonists, but mostly I could enjoy watching the protagonists do stuff without worrying that Certain Doom was about to befall them. This is another one of those things that writing advice will tell you not to do, but whatever.
* The protagonists inadvertently run into trouble with the law on a few occasions. Generally, the law sorts this out in a reasonable fashion without undue prejudice. This was weirdly refreshing; it seems like the law in fiction (police procedurals aside) is usually either a deus ex machina that requires no explanation, or a force for evil.
There were some elements I didn't like:
* The male protagonist, Shan yos'Galen, is ridiculously too good at everything. This was true of the male protagonist in Agent of Change as well, but here it's taken to whole new levels of "absurd prodigy". Shan is a captain of his own ship, a Master Trader, a pilot, a lord, Heir Apparent the most powerful clan on his homeworld, a strong empath, and probably some other stuff I forgot. It's excessive. Also, he works too hard. So does every other character in this book. The literary world needs more lazy protagonists who work 9-5 and chill in the evenings. (I keep thinking of
terrycloth's Era here ♥.)* Okay, the antagonists are really a little too hopelessly outclassed. As said earlier, I found it refreshing that the protagonists had no cloud of Certain Doom hovering over them at all times. But I think the antagonist could've been given more of a chance to pose a real threat.
* The characters tend to the two-dimensional. Most everyone is either friendly and well-liked or villainous and wicked. I was fond of the good guys, but they could've used some humanizing faults, and not just flaws-that-are-really-virtues, like taking too much responsibility or feeling guilty about things that weren't your fault.
The last is the novel's greatest weakness. I enjoyed the book but spent too much time dissecting its weaknesses. I'll give it a 7 overall. It is worth noting, however, that this did not deter me from snapping up Lee & Miller's Mouse and Dragon as soon as I learned of its existence last night. More about that book when I finish it!
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no subject
Date: 2014-06-26 07:56 pm (UTC)I do tend to agree that the Lee & Miller books glorify their protagonists and especially pilots, as 'can do no wrong' types. Somewhat like paladins, if someone has the Pilot trait, they are suddenly super-wonderful. Still, I really enjoy the ambiance and culture in the books.
I enjoyed Balance of Trade more, focusing on trade as it does rather than on pilots and how wonderful they are.
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Date: 2014-06-26 08:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-26 08:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-30 01:56 am (UTC)I usually picture scenes I'm writing as if I were watching a movie. In movies (or tv, whatev) we often see multiple viewpoints in the same scene, as we watch reactions, for instance, on each character's face. So that's often what I'm trying to convey as well.
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Date: 2014-06-30 02:15 am (UTC)I was talking to a friend about a book he'd written with the same flexible PoV, and he explained that his book had started out as a graphic novel script. I'd never thought about it before, but as soon as he said it I understood: comics are one place where it's generally acceptable to show thought bubbles from several different characters in the same scene.
Anyway, I admit that in my own writing I'm careful to stick to one PoV-per-scene, with some kind of break (a new chapter, or an asterisk to separate the scenes) whenever I switch PoVs. This has led to me writing the same scene twice from different perspectives in at least two cases. Which is a worse solution than just showing all the PoVs in the same scene, IMO. But more widely accepted. 9_9 Some day I will be brave and write a full omniscient story where I just show thoughts from whomever whenever I feel like it. n_n