forbidder wrote:What is this writing in Xanthos? You mean GEX?
And how can anyone not like Subjugation? It's great! But I guess some people just don't like a good sci-fi story with good tech and amazing characters. Which is what I'm all about. But then I loved the firestaff too. So I must like magic too.
A large part of the problem is that the main character is too perfect. The Firestaff series was different in that way; Tarrin had flaws, though they weren't as developed as they could have been at times. Subjugation, well, the main character is uber-telepathic, a genius, can kick the asses of five army girls at the same time while being attacked mentally, is the pillar of his own created community, is effectively rich, and is god's gift to hot alien women. He doesn't have a single flaw. That just doesn't work. -_-;
Related to that, the role of women in the story is kind of pathetic. Sure, sure, things have been "reversed" from the norm, not a bad idea, I guess...but they're not reversed at all; women in the series are agressive nymphomaniacs. A human man in the real world would be classified as a stalker with the way the main love interest acts, and her whole society encouraging the way she demeans herself (and she is--she's clearly embarassing her race, sex, and military company in the story, it's not some interpretation on my part based on my own preconceptions) just doesn't make sense. The story quite literally feels like a typical SI here, with god-mode set to TURBO.
Another part of what really ticks me off about the main character is his constant rants about "freedom." Well, aside from maybe two or three brief mentions of how the invaders are treating people poorly, which his girlfriend made clear is NOT how things were supposed to be going, there has been no repression indicated. It's like, "Wow, I'm an American! That means the world is my playpen!" is his motto, and as soon as some other race comes along and, for the most part, enforces the idea of people gaining the lot in life that they are best suited for (rather than it being a question of wealth, relatives, etc), which is a HUGELY popular idea in real life, he pitches a fit. Not because he doesn't think they're right about what he should be doing, but simply because the choice is taken away. This is fine and works well as a character flaw on his part, as a way to bring in an internal conflict; a society that works on ability VS. a society that allows illusions of self-worth, and the main character's having to choose between overall betterment or individual happiness, but that conflict is never brought in, and neither is any other internal conflict; the only conflict present is humans VS the aliens.
Why is internal conflict important? Well, imagine if Tarrin didn't start out trying to retain his human nature even though he no longer is one...and imagine if Tarrin never went feral and was always okay with other people...and imagine if Tarrin after establishing his identity with the changes he had gone through (which happens in book five) did not have to suffer ANOTHER change (turning into a god) and have to deal with the question of whether he is good for the people in his life. What would the series be like without those conflicts? Well, I'll say this; the second half of book three (after Tarrin deals with his feral nature) and the entire book four are definitely the worst of the Firestaff series, IMO. The conflict there is completely external, and because of that the physical conflicts that the story thrives on don't have a real internal, emotional drive behind them. They become boring.
Subjugation is boring, for the exact same reason.
Aside from the annoying characterization, there's a rather large plot hole; the aliens pitch a fit when they find out there are telepathic humans. Why? Well, the reason stated is that telepathy is the major means of humanity's subjugation, and so telepathic humans would remove that means. However, the main character's ability to hide his thoughts has the SAME RESULT! It simply does not make sense for the one to be pursued and the other dismissed as a mere oddity; sure, telepathy in a human raises the question of humans in general developing the ability, but shielding in a human raises the same threat and question!
So, no, I like good sci-fi with good tech and amazing characters. Subjugation just doesn't fit that, IMO, is all. ^_^;
For Anne Mccaffrey: I tried reading her books and couldn't get into them. I can't stand her; I read the Pern books (all of them) when I was twelve or so (half my life ago now *sob*) and even then found her to be a boring author. Now my tastes are more discriminating and I can't force myself to read her at all.