12-01-2009, 09:09 PM
Read through about post 8 or so of Shadow Play. Enjoyed it all so far, but I just finished an exam and got four hours of sleep, so I'm a little too wonky to make it through more.
To repeat what a few others have said, Kaden's greatest strength (as far as literature goes, anyway) is the fact that he's so damn human. When he coils back on the ship because of his fear of heights, when he's staring away from the buffet table and locked upon the Dragonball, when he's steadily growing more and more pissed when confronted with the 'terrorist' theory in the courthouse, he oozes realism. This produces a strange sort of atmosphere while reading about him, in which, while the reader cannot thoroughly predict what will happen next, there is a certain consistency maintained throughout the reading of the character such that, whatever does happen, slides perfectly into the character and feels authentic, even if quite different from what has been seen before. This is, of course, as much a 'good' developed out of the writing itself as it is from the 'history' of Kaden.
My only concern is that, while Kaden is interesting and written terribly well (you have, in particular, a good feeling for pace), he isn't terribly surprising as a character, and may run the risk of becoming stagnant. Perhaps it is because I have not read much of the writing on Kaden (having gotten only about a third of the way into Shadow Play, and reading the entirety of your first topic with the big guy (can't remember his name, it's been awhile)), but he is, in many ways, a 'stock' character. Suave, straight-man, collected, irritable when it makes sense to be irritable, and (unless there are ulterior motives for his tagging along with Belle and the gang) thoroughly altruistic. While Kaden himself may be unique, by virtue of his experiences and history (which, due to its specificity, surely no one has written before), these portions of his character are quite recognizable and easily categorized, without many exceptions. For the short-term, it works beautifully. For the long-term, it may turn out flat.
Again, that might merely be because I haven't read the entirety of your work. It's more an issue for the future, and not the present. One that can be easily remedied. 'tis good stuff, otherwise.
To repeat what a few others have said, Kaden's greatest strength (as far as literature goes, anyway) is the fact that he's so damn human. When he coils back on the ship because of his fear of heights, when he's staring away from the buffet table and locked upon the Dragonball, when he's steadily growing more and more pissed when confronted with the 'terrorist' theory in the courthouse, he oozes realism. This produces a strange sort of atmosphere while reading about him, in which, while the reader cannot thoroughly predict what will happen next, there is a certain consistency maintained throughout the reading of the character such that, whatever does happen, slides perfectly into the character and feels authentic, even if quite different from what has been seen before. This is, of course, as much a 'good' developed out of the writing itself as it is from the 'history' of Kaden.
My only concern is that, while Kaden is interesting and written terribly well (you have, in particular, a good feeling for pace), he isn't terribly surprising as a character, and may run the risk of becoming stagnant. Perhaps it is because I have not read much of the writing on Kaden (having gotten only about a third of the way into Shadow Play, and reading the entirety of your first topic with the big guy (can't remember his name, it's been awhile)), but he is, in many ways, a 'stock' character. Suave, straight-man, collected, irritable when it makes sense to be irritable, and (unless there are ulterior motives for his tagging along with Belle and the gang) thoroughly altruistic. While Kaden himself may be unique, by virtue of his experiences and history (which, due to its specificity, surely no one has written before), these portions of his character are quite recognizable and easily categorized, without many exceptions. For the short-term, it works beautifully. For the long-term, it may turn out flat.
Again, that might merely be because I haven't read the entirety of your work. It's more an issue for the future, and not the present. One that can be easily remedied. 'tis good stuff, otherwise.