roseembolism | Lawrence Watt Evens' Laws of Fantasy

So I recently threw Webber's The Apocalypse Troll" at the wall, then went to the library, and picked out Lawrence Watt Evans' "Night of Madness". This got me to thinking about why I like LWE's writing, and not David Webbers. LWE while a competent writer, is not one of the greats: his prose is businesslike, and he has a tendency to tell more than show what people are feeling. Still, I can sit and while away a lunch hour, reading LWE's stuff.

And then I stumbled across LWE's Laws of Fantasy, and that explains a lot about why I like his stuff.

The reasoning behind the laws is more interesting than the laws themselves, which are pretty common-sensical. However, looking at the second and third laws pretty much defines why Webber's books are crap: Webber does commit the crime of writing characters that are wholly good or evil, and who have motivations that are so cliched, that they are inhuman.

This also explains a lot about LWE's characters. They tend to be practical, survival-oriented characters who don't really get involved in epic events, at least not directly. These aren't the characters that go questing after the One Ring: they're the types who try to figure out how to survive and prosper when they are wizards that only know one spell. And that orientation toward creating well-rounded, self-interested characters that I find refreshing in fantasy.