A note about tropes
Oct. 22nd, 2010 09:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
velvetpageSome time ago, during a book club for which I'd read "Airborn" (which I highly recommend - an excellent YA SF read) I complained that I was getting a bit tired of the Hermione trope - the brainy female sidekick whose main role is to be the walking encyclopedia, while also being somewhat naive about certain things, who is often destined to fall in love with either the hero or his sidekick but spends a lot of time needling them before that. At the time, I could come up with only two such characters - the one in Airborn and Hermione herself.
I've found a third. I'm reading Rick Riordan's "The Lightning Thief" and there's another very similar type of character in it. I haven't figured out yet exactly how far they'll carry the trope, but she's definitely a Hermione type. She's the daughter of the goddess Athena, for heaven's sake.
I'm enjoying the book. Having figured out the Greek Gods trope, and having taught Greek Mythology to ten-year-olds (read: superficially) for six years, I'm finding it's not too hard to guess who the monsters are before it's made explicit in the book, but it's interesting nevertheless. It plays like a Champions game with some D&D magic items that are just a little too high a level for the characters - "Why does the guy with one hit die get to carry the best toys?" would be an easy complaint to level at it. But it's readable and fun and the fight scenes are well-paced. I'll probably keep reading through the series.
I've found a third. I'm reading Rick Riordan's "The Lightning Thief" and there's another very similar type of character in it. I haven't figured out yet exactly how far they'll carry the trope, but she's definitely a Hermione type. She's the daughter of the goddess Athena, for heaven's sake.
I'm enjoying the book. Having figured out the Greek Gods trope, and having taught Greek Mythology to ten-year-olds (read: superficially) for six years, I'm finding it's not too hard to guess who the monsters are before it's made explicit in the book, but it's interesting nevertheless. It plays like a Champions game with some D&D magic items that are just a little too high a level for the characters - "Why does the guy with one hit die get to carry the best toys?" would be an easy complaint to level at it. But it's readable and fun and the fight scenes are well-paced. I'll probably keep reading through the series.
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(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-23 01:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-23 01:59 am (UTC)Interestingly, even though I preferred Annabeth, my daughter definitely likes Hermione more. But what do 7 year olds know? *grin*
Rick Riordan's started up another series. We have the first book, but haven't started in on it yet. It's thicker than his Olympions books, which makes me worry he might have hit the "editor? I don't need an editor!" stage.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-23 02:06 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-23 02:34 am (UTC)