Kippur's Paolini report

[kippurbird]

Better update.

I went to the Once upon a time panel with authors Lynn Flewelling, Christopher Paolini, Patrick Rothfuss, Brandon Sanderson, Megan Whalen Turner and Brent Weeks.

The first question put to the panel was, "Can an everyman character be in epic fantasy or does it require epic characters?"

The general consensus was that you can. And in fact it helped the readers relate to the characters and stories. There were two dissenters on this, one was Paolini, the other I didn't get the name of. They said that they liked the larger than life characters because they can do all sorts of neat things. Because they are awesome and super-powered. And that is awesome.

And then she went on to say that they called that sort of character a Mary Sue and she didn't see anything wrong with that.

The question was passed to Paolini where upon he declared, "If that's your definition of a Mary Sue, then I guess that makes Eragon one!" Hah Hah. The other panelists looked a bit uncomfortable at that sort of thing. The whole Super-Powered awesome characters are AWESOME bit.

Some (I don't remember who) said that nobles and kings are hard to relate because they're rich and noble and who here is a king?

This I don't believe. I think if you're a good enough writer you can write an interesting rich and noble character. They have the same problems as everyone else does, if not more because they can have the issues of ruling people.

Then they started talking about chosen ones and the idea of Destiny. Paolini did admit that Eragon was a chosen one. But he also said that he was trying to play with the idea of destiny and prophecy by having someone learn that they were going to do something and then killing themselves so that they wouldn't. I don't remember that. But whatever.

TI think it was Brandon Weeks who said that following the Hero's Journey so strictly to the letter, like Lucas did in Star Wars Prequels wasn't a good idea because you ended up shoehorning things into there that didn't always make sense. Things like heroes should have a virgin birth so... Ankain was made from midiclorens. Paolini had a confused look on his face when this was said.

He is aware of fan fiction and slash fic. He also admits to faking in his languages. His final piece of advice on languages was that "apostrophes are fun!"

Right then.

When he saw that my Eragon book was all full of notes and sticky tags he wanted to know why this was. I admitted to be doing some critical work on his books. He was interested and flattered. I was coy, not actually saying I thought they were bad.

Later, today, I actually had a conversation with him where upon I asked about the lack of Galby and he said he was trying to do an, "Orson Wells" (I think) where you hear about the bad guy a lot but don't see him until the very end. He promises that we will actually see Galby in book four. As for the picture of Galby in the guide to Alagesia, he said that someone else was supposed to draw it, but they couldn't do it, so they were going to use a picture of the Ra'zac. He said no, to let him do it, and he stayed up all night drawing it.

I'll take that as a fairly reasonable answer. Though I do worry that even as a bad sketch he looks like a typical Evil Dude.

He said that no, he didn't think Eragon was a Mary Sue. And we started talking about what Mary Sues were before he had to go off to do an interview. He did ask for my card though. Which I gave to him.

We'll see if anything happens. XD

Comments

[anarchicq.livejournal.com]

Paolini did admit that Eragon was a chosen one. But he also said that he was trying to play with the idea of destiny and prophecy by having someone learn that they were going to do something and then killing themselves so that they wouldn't. I don't remember that. But whatever.
Wat? When has Eragon ever, ever, EVER contemplated killing himself? The hell?

You've been touched by the devil. You must wash.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

I meant another character killed himself. I may not have gotten that across all right, still con-exhausted.

[anarchicq.livejournal.com]

Huh...OK then!

[ravenswept.livejournal.com]

It's probably a new character just introduced in the fourth book.

[stripeblue.livejournal.com]

He sounds really nice! And incredibly innocent. Nawww~ Hope you had fun anyhow! ^^

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

He is really really nice! And cute. And yeah, rather naive when it comes to his own work. Probably because he's never had anything bad said about it.

[anarchicq.livejournal.com]

Kippur/Paolini CRACK!OTP?

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

:P

[stripeblue.livejournal.com]

WANT. XDD
He sounds like the type of person I'd hang out with. We could totally nerd out. :D

He is really passionate about his books, and it shows. And it's because of that enthusiasm that I really enjoy reading them. Silly things aside, books where you can tell that the writer is having fun are usually pretty entertaining to read. ^^

Maybe he'll read your sporkings and change some of the silly things, or explain some stuff. 8D Or, again, there's that Kippur/Paolini OTP... ;D

[ravenswept.livejournal.com]

Sadly, this confirms a lot of what I hear, that Paolini is an amazingly nice guy and interesting enough to hang around with, but is still incredibly naive and very much apart from his fans and the general conveiance of his books in general.

I can kinda understand why more epic characters are found more interesting by some people. It's not entirely that normies are boring, but that the bigger the character, the more grand an adventure they (supposedly) can have. Which Paolini totally hoses himself with, when in Eldest the most interesting parts are Roran, a normie, doing these epic things and being much more interesting than Eragon ever was or is.

I do hope your card included your sporkings address, having him read through those would be, itself, epic.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

It did indeed have the sporkings address on it. He was interested in reading them.

We'll see if anything happens.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

It did not.

[dergerm.livejournal.com]

I do hope your card included your sporkings address, having him read through those would be, itself, epic.

Having just talked to her about this, I can assure you that it did ^_^ lol

[dergerm.livejournal.com]

Oooooh, Pao-Pao. If, and when, he reads your sporkings I can only wonder what his reaction will be. Probably not a very good one, considering he thinks himself something of a golden child in the literary world.

[falconwhitaker.livejournal.com]

*sighs* I guess this is why most people don't publish works by teenagers. It gives nice guys the entirely wrong idea that they can do no wrong, and by the time somebody tries to stick a foot up their ass, it's like kicking a puppy >.>

[alas-a-llama.livejournal.com]

... He seems nice, at least? Just maybe not the brightest crayon in the box, so to speak, or to be more precise, a very good writer.

[hekateras.livejournal.com]

Oh, you've got to be kidding me. "Hahaha, then I guess Eragon is a Sue"? Really? >_< I feel so sorry for the poor kid. He really needs to get in touch with reality and the other side of the coin. The longer he delays, the more painful it'll be.

You're not nervous about the prospect of him reading your sporkings? I know I would be. I'd feel nervous about all the bits that were particularly pointily phrased and whatnot...

I've read the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. I loved it. While prophecy played a huge part in it, there wasn't a particular Chosen One as much as different players with different parts to play. And the blurred line between good and evil is something he did really well. A memorable part involves an evil-turned-good character being driven to evil again and becoming something of a Big Bad. It was an interesting take on how evil could *genuinely* seem justified, or at least made those decisions genuinely relateable. Few stories manage to do that without being a bit condescending about it and provoking a sort of "But *I* would never have fallen in that trap!" reaction from the reader.

And this sort of multi-sidedness is really missing in the Inheritance Cycle. People are either heroes or villains, either good or evil, either selfish or selfless, either right or in the wrong. No middle ground, no subjectivity, no "it's in the eye of the beholder" there. Even more annoyingly, it's always Eragon who turns out to be in the right.

[smurasaki.livejournal.com]

Wow. I wonder what his books would have been like if he'd actually had an editor. Or even some good friends who were willing to give him thoughtful advice, point out problems and inconsistencies, and tell him when something isn't such a good idea. Or when something suggests to the reader something vastly different from what he apparently intended.

[(Anonymous)]

Except for Paolini, I is jellus of you getting to see such a wonderfully talented panel.

"They said that they liked the larger than life characters because they can do all sorts of neat things."

... because that is what writing book is all about. Having a character who can do neat things.

"And then she went on to say that they called that sort of character a Mary Sue and she didn't see anything wrong with that."

Didn't see anything wrong with Mary Sues, or didn't see anything wrong with calling them Mary Sues?

"If that's your definition of a Mary Sue, then I guess that makes Eragon one!"

I can see why the people there looked so uncomfortable, especially since authors like Sanderson and Turner are adept at creating memorable characters who AREN'T.

"I think if you're a good enough writer you can write an interesting rich and noble character."

Good example: Tad Williams. His new series has royals as some of the primary characters, and they are very relatable -- they have insecurities, sorrow, family problems, friendships and dumb decisions. The fact that they are rich and influential simply never enters the equation.

Paolini sounds like a pleasant if oblivious person, and much more sociable and accepting than some authors of that type (such as Laurell K. Hamilton). And I guess we have an answer on why the sketch of Galby was so small and hasty -- it was a quick thing. He must have really wanted Galby's sketch in the book!

[foxypope.livejournal.com]

I wonder if Paolini even realizes that a Mary Sue is a bad thing; he probably just thinks it's like being a different breed of dog rather than a dog with a debilitating disease.

Also wonder how he'll react to the sporkings. Like I wonder if it'll be the same reaction most people have when they get their first critique ever, which in my case involved tears. Or maybe he's gotten this far by plugging his ears and saying "LALALA" so most likely we will never hear from him again about any of this, haha.

[autarkhos.livejournal.com]

My first bit of criticism was a friend telling me that I should stop writing at all. I do think Paolini needs something like this.

[foxypope.livejournal.com]

Oh, he definitely needs it. It'll just be so... odd, considering how long he's been writing and how old he is. I was about 13 or 14 when I got my first bit of criticism, and it had been after only about a year or so of writing. I think early criticism helped shaped who I grew to be as a writer, so I have to wonder where Paolini will go with all of this since he's probably so used to his formula of writing by now.

[chocolatemithra.livejournal.com]

We can probably assume that by 'do an Orson Welles' he's referring to Welles' appearance as Harry Lime late in "The Third Man." Welles' entrance was indeed very effective, though for reasons other than simply his earlier absence.

[autarkhos.livejournal.com]

Kippur and Paolini sitting in the tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

[corinnlon.livejournal.com]

It's awesome that you went to Comic Con!

Paolini seems like a really nice guy. I'm a bit offended that he fakes inventing a language the way he does, but he just seems sort of naïve and really excited about his project, which is sort of endearing. I wonder how he'll react if he does end up reading part of your sporkings. (That's how I found your LiveJournal, by the way—nice to meet you?)

[notadoor.livejournal.com]

I think dude's never taken a linguistics class, so he has no idea how weak his conlang is; it's the old Dunning-Krieger effect again.

(Honestly, though, most conlangs suck. It's just really really hard for one person, within one lifetime, to create something that normally grows organically through thousands of years.)

I feel pretty bad for him, though. No one deserves to get hit upside the head with *that* much reality in one go.

[emily-goddess.livejournal.com]

"If that's your definition of a Mary Sue, then I guess that makes Eragon one!"

...

I don't know whether to point and laugh or pat him on the head. Surely this isn't the first time anyone's suggested to him that Eragon is a bit of a Sue?