I think you're right. There's nothing inherently Bad about having a character obtain special powers, but how you handle it is what makes the difference.
One thing I really liked in Eragon was the limitations on his power. I thought it was clever how he collapsed the tunnels, and that it took him a long time to accomplish. Then he gets all that power and is capable of having all the same ideas as CP, he can suddenly see how to solve a puzzle ring instead of fiddling with it until he succeeds. And that's how we get chapters like this one in which Eragon can't handle his first effort not being enough.
she doesn't risk anything in the process. She's never in any actual danger, and she doesn't sacrifice anything.
And there's no sense of urgency. The Big Bads are gonna be there until the heroes are ready to take them on, and consequences aren't demonstrated where it counts. They don't really have goals, or their goals are a threat for the future instead of a reason the hero has to get on with things. Eragon never has to worry that people will lose faith in him and accept Galby, or have his magic sealed away (except maybe the first part of Eldest) or his connection to Saphira severed. Du Weldenvarden isn't burned down or used as a battery for some nefarious scheme.* CP is comfortable with brutality and scavenger hunts but none of the dire situations that make me ache for characters in better plotted stories.
*I assume--I went from being a fan to being a critic when I tried to read Brisingr. I was big into LotR and Dragonriders of Pern so I liked the first two books because they reminded me of those series that I had finished, even though I was giving it the side-eye for those same reasons. But then the whole "Half of the young men gave their frames a vigorous shake when they stepped forward with their right foot, producing a dolorous cacophony of notes" thing happened and my eyes glazed over. My experience with books 3 & 4 are entirely through SwankIvy and you guys.
I would have had them take the broken pieces with them and had a race against time scenario as they desperately tried to fix it before the war is lost.
Oh yeah, why'dn't they just do that? Seems like something SB should have been able to do.
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Date: 2022-03-14 05:00 am (UTC)One thing I really liked in Eragon was the limitations on his power. I thought it was clever how he collapsed the tunnels, and that it took him a long time to accomplish. Then he gets all that power and is capable of having all the same ideas as CP, he can suddenly see how to solve a puzzle ring instead of fiddling with it until he succeeds. And that's how we get chapters like this one in which Eragon can't handle his first effort not being enough.
she doesn't risk anything in the process. She's never in any actual danger, and she doesn't sacrifice anything.
And there's no sense of urgency. The Big Bads are gonna be there until the heroes are ready to take them on, and consequences aren't demonstrated where it counts. They don't really have goals, or their goals are a threat for the future instead of a reason the hero has to get on with things. Eragon never has to worry that people will lose faith in him and accept Galby, or have his magic sealed away (except maybe the first part of Eldest) or his connection to Saphira severed. Du Weldenvarden isn't burned down or used as a battery for some nefarious scheme.* CP is comfortable with brutality and scavenger hunts but none of the dire situations that make me ache for characters in better plotted stories.
*I assume--I went from being a fan to being a critic when I tried to read Brisingr. I was big into LotR and Dragonriders of Pern so I liked the first two books because they reminded me of those series that I had finished, even though I was giving it the side-eye for those same reasons. But then the whole "Half of the young men gave their frames a vigorous shake when they stepped forward with their right foot, producing a dolorous cacophony of notes" thing happened and my eyes glazed over. My experience with books 3 & 4 are entirely through SwankIvy and you guys.
I would have had them take the broken pieces with them and had a race against time scenario as they desperately tried to fix it before the war is lost.
Oh yeah, why'dn't they just do that? Seems like something SB should have been able to do.