WladimirA, on 23 November 2011 - 01:37 AM, said:
Well I was "dragged" to the viewing by my room mate, while I have never wanted to read any of the books that this saga was based on (hell I didn't even know such a saga existed before it came out in movie format), personally to me the whole series has been -based on what the movies have tried to portray- very silly and not too realistic (not that it was supposed to be in the first place). I realize that after a number of years of dealing with various aspects of fiction pertaining to the subject of "vampires", that each author is going to have their own (or try to have at least) spin on the myth, but one should at least explain the quirks of their perception with some intelligence. Case in point, it seems from what the room mate tells me -which holds true for the movies, as well- the author doesn't explain why or what causes them to sparkle or why they don't sleep. Or explain why if they are physically dead, and thus no heart beat, why they would still have some aspects of normal human drives; like sex.
I am not saying that when it comes to writing a work of fiction, that one can't just have their own mythology in whatever way that makes sense to them, as they can; but if one is going to present their perspective to other people and expect them to even consider the reality that they have created as even remotely plausible, then they need to keep in mind that they are dealing at times with intelligent readers; who might actually wonder the hows and whys as to the way things might work in such a reality as that which is presented in said work of fiction. But that is just my two cents.
Well, on the author's behalf here. Its hard to find a way sometimes to explain details with-in the narrative and it not be cheesy.
Case in point: history: maybe your world has a long and rich history. Why would the characters talk about it? Some myth pertaining to the events at hand, history lesson for what's going on (an annoying prologue at the beginning like Star Wars does).
If you live in that world chances are you'd know most of this stuff so the topics really wouldn't come up in conversation dealing with the plot
(in all three "World of Rhuen" stories you'd never think in that world that America and Japan were allies in WWII; it never comes up)
but in my current book some history does get explained thanks to one character being an immortal who was there and educating her student on what really happened in the past vs the legends that have been passed down.
I try to avoid stuff like "thins were better 2000 years ago before the empire took over" shit like in so many B-movies. Especially when its being said by some teen, all I can think is...who talks like that? What person is standing around and in the middle of a rough gangwar takes a moment to reflect on how much better or worse the world was during the Roman Empire?
Now details like "why do they sparkle" that could have come up, in the first book when she was asking about him. Of course best answer would be "I don't know, I just do" (Just because you have blue eyes that doesn't mean you know what makes them blue) kind of deal, there is a chance you do know, but the simple fact its part of you doesn't mean you automatically know. Then add in the plot and would it be possible to shoe horn in some of these details with out detracting from the main focus of the story?
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