[Dragaera] I reviewed Hawk. (Hawk Spoilers)

[Jon Lincicum via Dragaera]

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----- Original Message -----
> From: "Robert Wood via Dragaera" <dragaera at lists.dragaera.info>
> 
> I felt the Morrolan & Sethra scene was wedged in just to get them into
> the story. That part didn't really flow for me. Otherwise, I really
> enjoyed it.

That is one minor criticism I would have for this book, as well. Not just the Morrolan/Sethra scenes, but the brevity and frequency of the the appearance of so many characters who have been major players in previous stories. It almost felt like a comedy from the '60s with a cavalcade of cameos. Like, /It's a Vlad, Vlad, Vlad, Vlad World/.

All told, we get brief one-time encounters with:

The Warlock
Kiera
Aliera
Cawti
Sethra
Morrolan
Sara
Perisil
Khaavren (Okay, so he pops his head in a second time at the very end, but it's still a 'cameo' in my book.)

While it's nice to see some of these characters again, the encounters are far too brief and their interactions with Vlad far too limited to be very satisfying. I wanted to see them all sitting around in the Library at Castle Black bullshitting for a chapter or two about how their lives have been going during Vlad's extended absence; not just pop in and say "Hi! I'm still alive! See you later!"

To the left, the conversations between Kragar, Daymar, and Auntie were all quite illuminating.

In spite of this, these character appearances do all at least serve to move the story forward; and I suppose are designed to show the importance of Vlad's network of friends as a key to his success; even more so than his possession of a Great Weapon, his familiars, his fighting ability, or his preparation and ability to improvise in a tight spot. Each friend gives to or does something for Vlad that is key to the eventual success of his plan. 
 
If that was Steve's intent when jamming in so many big names as bit players in this one, then I suppose it was successful. I guess he's just a victim of the fact that he's created too many memorable characters to comfortably fit into a book with only 17 relatively brief chapters.

--Majikjon