Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
BTW: Arthur C. Clarke also used the "surprise race card," in a way, in Imperial Earth: His main character was African (or European, but so dark-skinned from time in space as to resemble an African), something which was not revealed (or depicted as anything other than an ironic fact) until about 1/2 of the way through the novel.
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I've seen a couple of series where the surprise race card wasn't played until the second book! It always makes me suspect a belated bid for political correctness, especially if it seems to be dragged in by the ears for no particular reason. Two examples are MacAvoy's
Twisting the Rope and Diana Wynne Jones'
The Merlin Conspiracy.
I also get really annoyed when the author can't keep a character's physical description straight. Niven and Barnes pulled a howler like that in one of the Dream Park books - he describes his hero gazing at his red-haired reflection "as if at a stranger", as well he might, considering that he had black hair a chapter or two previously!
Oh, and another pet peeve of mine is the (usually new) author who insists on describing the character's (usually the love interest's) clothes in elaborate and unnecessary detail.