> > > The Lions of Al-Rassan might edge it out on any given day).
> >
> > What did you think of the ending?
> > I always felt there was a concious choice (on the part of the
characters) and a sacrifice in who won... (not wanting to spell out too
much since
some might want to go read it!)
>
> I cried. 

Well of *course* you cried! :)
I've shed a few tears over other books, but he's the only one who's
actually
made me *cry*

>And I'm not sure about conscious decision, but I'd grant a
> *subconscious* sacrifice.  I really liked that he didn't take the
feel-good easy way out (like he ever does!), that there's tragedy to
color the
beauty and the triumph.  There's a bittersweet quality to his work I
like very much
in part because I don't see it often enough in other fiction.

Exactly.
In most fantasy there's really nothing risked. There's no struggle,
there's
never any feeling that what happens is real, or matters. The good guys
*will* win, none of the major characters will die, and when the story is
done, it's done. No loose ends, no wondering about what happened after
the
story, no sense it will go on without you or ever existed before you.
When
his characters make choices -- there are consequences. Choice and
sacrifice
are always significant issues in his writing. And while there's always
some
sort of tragedy/sadness, it's always redeemed in some way by something
transcedent. Bittersweet covers it nicely.

I wonder if that's, in part, on of the attractions of the Harry Potter
series. People die. There are choices. There are consequences of wrong
choices. Characters are affected by what has happened as a result of
their choices and losses. I wonder if it's the feeling of risk that has
contributed to people of all ages being hooked - and to the Far Right
religions (not just the Christians) trying to prevent their kids from
reading the series.

> darkelf, who likes her novels like dark chocolate and espresso

:)

Laurie pondering Phoenix



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