[Brandon]

Ok, picture, if you will, a battle scene, a chase scene, etc. Some kind of dangerous scenario where a character could be killed at any moment.... and then.....my pet peeve.... characters are having way too much dialogue, or casual dialogue, or humorous dialogue.

I mean, c'mon, if you're in a fight, or being chased, or in any kind of situation where your life is on the line, you need to pay complete attention to what you're doing, the last thing you're going to be thinking of is cracking a joke or having trivial conversation with your parters... if you're going to yell battle commands, fine, but damnit leave the rest out....

Example of this , in LOTR movie, that scene in the Moria mines with the orcs and the cave troll, I was like, wow this is such a cool scene...he set this up so ominously it really captures the emotion of being utterly doomed....and then a hobbit cracks some joke about hitting orcs with a pan? Man, that threw the whole scene for me I could not take it seriously afterward....I have come across this type of thing too many times in books and it gets under my skin...

If a fighter is really slick, ok, sometimes humorous comments or taunting comments can fly, but I despise when they have too much or casual dialogue....when, exactly, do they have time to be sitting there having a conversation? They are being attacked....you're trying to picture them in the midst of this furious battle and they are standing around have a tea chat?

And in general....I think most fight scenes are kinda lame :rolleyes: I get the feeling a lot of authors are not very athletic and/or most probably never been in a real fight. Anyone also get annoyed by these things or have thoughts about them?

[Mithfânion]

I can do nothing more than add my voice to the Chorus of Complaint.

If there's one thing, just one thing that I really hate, it's how certain battle scenes, whether in armies or single combat, are totally mutilated and distorted by ridiculous internal reflection of the character. That kind of absurd pondering is not what goes in ones mind when one is under siege.

Scenes like I just described must ring bells with everyone who's read a Fantasy book. How frustrating is this? It's not limited to battle scenes either, authors sometimes use the most difficult and extreme situations for some pondering, some lovely reflection. It's probably my main gripe with the genre.

I mean, c'mon, if you're in a fight, or being chased, or in any kind of situation where your life is on the line, you need to pay complete attention to what you're doing, the last thing you're going to be thinking of is cracking a joke or having trivial conversation with your parters...

That, if nothing else, is THE sign of a bad Fantasy book. And it's unforgivable unless the rest of the book is equally useless (because then it doesn't matter)

[Qin]

Nope, no problem here. Ivanova and Giribaldi do it all the time in Babylon 5 and I've come to look forward to it. Besides, what better way to relieve tension than with a joke?

"Ok, bad news first."

"The bad news is you're married, and you're going to have to
spend 80 cycles as a statue."

"What's the good news?"

"The good news is that Chiana and I are having fantastic sex!"

[Shef]

Luckly this stuff doesn't bother me at all.

[Bardos]

Well... I agree, mostly. When the writer overdoes it with silly comments, yep it is foolish. But have you vere been in a difficult situation, you shoud know that sometimes *some* people make jokes/comments in order to call *themselves* more than others. Of course, a long discussion is imposible in a fight, chase, etc.

Reflection is indeed imposible. Usually, you don't think then... I think. But, hell, I'm not bothered by it in a book. I think it's actually a good technique, for it slows down the fight, making it more suspensfull. Of course, the thoughts must be centred around the fight, not on something else. E.g., in DUNE, when Paul is having those single fights, there many thoughts there, but they don't spoil the fight.

Having said that, in general, I don't prefer fight scenes in books. I like more ploting, chatacter creation and thoughts. ;)

And, yep, not many authoprs have been in a fight. They are writers, not gladiators. :D

[estranghero]

Well, one recommended author is Matt Stover. His fights are pretty well-formulated and he also knows the proper sound of the, say a fist hitting a person's face and translating it on the page. Likewise, the speed and... how would you describe it, decorum?... of 2 people fighting.

If I remember correctly, Stover's even better than RA Salvatore IMO. Stover does martial arts while Salvatore only does SCA warfare, methinks.

But in answer to your question, Brandon, a little reflection before (or after) the action starts ain't so bad. Like Qin said, it actually adds character to the protagonists on how they act (or react) to a certain event.

Hehehe Qin saw that episode. "Farscape" RAWKS!!!

[Bond]

That Farscape episode was very interesting. Are any other of the episodes remotely as good?

[estranghero]

Yep, very suspenseful, intelligently-made science-fiction series.

Top of my head, what makes the show very good:

1. The use of puppetry as against the Star Trek head prosthetics that most science-fiction shows use (see 'Andromeda', done by Maja Roddenberry?). A bit more expensive but it shows the detail and quality put into the show.

2. The funny use by John Crichton (the main protagonist) of Earthly slang to remind himself of home amidst the aliens, i.e. 2 aliens were trying to interrogate Crichton and asking him to tell the truth and Crichton tells them (ala Jack Nicholson) "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!"

Hehehe unfortunately for the aliens (and fortunately for us watchers), they didn't get the meaning. It's kinda like a running joke between Crichton and the viewers.

A lot of others there but my suggestion would be to go watch it instead. :p

[kegasaurus]

Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the original number one.

[Rob B]

ANother complaint, somewhat related. When characters are devising a plan, about to whisper and be all covert then suddenly, the chapter ends and we aren't in on the secret. We find out when the "enemy" finds out.

Now, this can be a useful technique in writing, but overuse will only annoy me. Sara Douglass did this far too often in her books.

And yes FarScape is the most consistently entertaining show on TV, and about the best Science Fiction TV show, ever.