From: Lawhorn_W <Lawhorn_W at bls.gov>
To: "'WSFA members'" <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Skiffy Book Club Top 50
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2003 10:42:05 -0500
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

		Sam Lubell said:
		Absolutely nothing happened until the very last page.  The
hero of the series didn't even appear until after page 500.

It isn't that nothing happened; it is that the book was a series of catching
up and showing the ramifications of the ending of the last book.  Of course
the catching up makes the title fit, Crossroads of the Twilight.  I also
believe that Mr. Jordan has said that the series should be viewed as one
long book and each book as a chapter.  It was frustrating not to see Rand
(the hero) until it was almost over. Of course I think the ending was more
frustrating.

I attended the Border's book signing and asked him if he realized that cruel
and unusual punishment were against the law... to which he replied, "Not in
SC."

The extras have been cut down in recent books, he finally gave up trying to
keep books independently readable.  That saved thousands of pages.  Of
course reading the complete biographical information about each given
characters during each new book gets really old as you read any series.

Bill Lawhorn

PS  I'm not sure that each Harry Potter book is self contained, of course I
read them in order.