Well, there is that. When someone brought up Mary-Sue characters in another thread, I immediately thought of Drzzt and R.A. Salvatore.
I think that it's funny that he killed Chewbacca, and defends it as "in order for the story to progress, he needed to die," and yet is unable to kill any characters in the Icewind Dale group.
I mean, hell. Bruenor was smashed flat by a dragon after falling thousands of feet. He survived. Why? According to RA Salvatore, because he was holding a sword that proctected him from the flame of the dragon's breath. As for the long fall and the sudden stop at the end? Uhhh... it really hurt but he survived.
Wulfgar sacrificed himself to destroy an abbysal creature, one that chewed through his flesh and was enjoying a tasty snack of his ribs when Wulfgar used his magic hammer to collapse the cavern and banish the fiend. Did he stay dead? No- that noble sacrifice was wasted, and he was mostly getting out of the way so that Drizzt could hook up with his girlfriend while he was tortured in the Abbys.
And, once he comes back, does Drizzt step out of the way for this happy reunion? No, of course not. Wulfgar was too traumatized (who wouldn't be?) so Drizzt kept doing his dark elf thing, and Wulfgar wandered off and found some barmaid to procreate with.
My friend loves fantasy writing (and I have to admit, I'm partial to it too- especially Robert Jordan. I know he's wordy and his plotlines outdo knots for twists and turns, and you really do need that glossary at the back after like three books... but I like them), and he's been trying to get me to read the new Drizzt books, so I picked them up.
I started them, and... I just can't get past how much I dislike the main character. I mean, Salvatore's writing style has drastically improved over the years (one of the running jokes I have with this particular friend is that Salvatore used the word 'skitter' something like two hundred times in one book- on one specific page, he used it something like five time), and his writing style is undeniably better. But every time he switches back to Drizzt's perspective, I'm just... irritated.
For instance, first thing in the book, Bruenor, the old dwarf who mysteriously survived the fall for thousands of feet, is taking them on a trip, and he's really excited about it... but he doesn't want to tell them where it is they're going. So what do they do? Obviously, the best choice is to kidnap one of thier close friends and threaten him with torture until he tells you. So that's what they do. I drek you not.
I got that far in the book, and couldn't read another page.
-kv
