Kevin J Anderson Is a Bad Writer.

ReaperFett, authors do not have to be in agreement with unpublished material, anymore than they have to be in agreement with fanfiction.


The quote said we cant blame him for not using an unpublished item. We can. Nothing more of an opinion from me

 

"It wasn't an ad hominem attack, and I'm not attacking your character."

Ad hominem attacks aren't just attacks against character, but also on circumstances, and actions. Insulting someone's prose is an attack on one's circumstances and actions.

So I bid you adieu once again. I am off to classes, and probably won't be back until this weekend. I really don't have time for one-sided comments.

 

Bye

I will have to consult a Latin teacher on the precise definition of "ad hominem". All I can say is, it wasn't personally intended, and pleasantries simply waste time in a debate. I wouldn't be offended if my own style was attacked.

 

Darkside_Spirit...
"I wouldn't be offended if my own style was attacked"

But, that's not the point. Ad hominem attacks merely exist to cloud/derail the substance of a debate, and don't have anything at all to do with the issues at hand.

Quite simply, it is a waste of time to make, and an even larger waste of time to respond to those who make them. It is essentially a sign of defeat in a debate by those who make them - showing that you can't rebut the issue on the merits of that issue, but instead have to move to the completely unrelated strategy of attacking the poster.

 

Ahem, I hope this helps you understand:

Description of Ad Hominem"nizkor.org"
"Translated from Latin to English, "Ad Hominem" means "against the man" or "against the person."

An Ad Hominem is a general category of fallacies in which a claim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant fact about the author of or the person presenting the claim or argument. Typically, this fallacy involves two steps. First, an attack against the character of person making the claim, her circumstances, or her actions is made (or the character, circumstances, or actions of the person reporting the claim). Second, this attack is taken to be evidence against the claim or argument the person in question is making (or presenting). This type of "argument" has the following form:


Person A makes claim X.
Person B makes an attack on person A.
Therefore A's claim is false.
The reason why an Ad Hominem (of any kind) is a fallacy is that the character, circumstances, or actions of a person do not (in most cases) have a bearing on the truth or falsity of the claim being made (or the quality of the argument being made).

Example of Ad Hominem

Bill: "I believe that abortion is morally wrong."
Dave: "Of course you would say that, you're a priest."
Bill: "What about the arguments I gave to support my position?"
Dave: "Those don't count. Like I said, you're a priest, so you have to say that abortion is wrong. Further, you are just a lackey to the Pope, so I can't believe what you say."

 

Okay, okay, okay!!

I was not intending to attack you as a person, but merely saying that I couldn't understand the line and therefore couldn't be expected to make a rebuttal to it. I am sorry that you took it as a personal insult! All that I can give is my sincere apology, and you have it. I never intended to make a personal attack upon your character.

 

Darkside_Spirit,

Yours is really the only (and reasonable) response for such an attack and should be commended.

Sad that others aren't as reasonable after making such attacks and just leave them hanging.

 

Thankyou, Genghis.

I have little patience for pleasantries, maybe too little patience as has happened here, but I don't like offending people, and I don't mind apologising if I have insulted someone unduly.

Valiento, I am sorry once again. I did not intend to make an assault on your character.

 

I have little patience for pleasantries


I know you. Black armour, cape, breathing problems?

 

Reaperfett...
"I know you. Black armour, cape, breathing problems?"

? I give up. Alice Cooper?

 

lol!

 

I figured Id chime in again, but I'll keep it short, I promise. Anyway, I share the same feelings for MAS that Mastadge, Narundi Jedi, and Genghis do. I really liked Corran's character at first, but as the XWing series went on he became too perfect at everything, even cheating death. Him being a Jedi just puts it over the top. Part of me was kind of wishing that he would have died in DT like alot of us were speculating that he would.

As many of you know, I am NOT a Jag Fel fan by any stretch of the imagination. I have to agree with NJ when she says she hated him because he is being portrayed as uber. Jag is considered the perfect character, amazing at eveyrthing he does and getting better. All they have to do is make him Force sensitive and he'll be Corran, twenty years younger. I guess this is how MAS puts his stamp on his characters, by making them virtual simalacrums of one another.

Okay, end rant.

 

The person of whom you speak (Vader that is, for those who can't work it out themselves ) would never apologise to anyone, nor would he bother insulting them in the first place.

 

huzzah

 

Genghis, you are a feeble excuse for a human being. Adieu!

BTW, I hope that didn't come across as being Ad Hominem or anything.

 

I accept your apology darkside, and forgive you.

But it's true this college year going to be really time consuming for me, . So If I don't show up to post much you'll know where I'm at.

 

Barns...

 

Thankyou Valiento. barnsthefatjedi's post did elicit a laugh or two from me though

Now, where were we... Genghis, would you be kind enough to post some material of your own as to Why Zahn Sucks (TM)? Who knows, you might even convince me...

 

Darkside_Spirit...
Sure thing. Read over the following thread, Why Has Zahn Fallen Out of Favour!? in its entirety and you'll find much of the answers you seek.

 

Okay, I will take a look. (Though I do have a bad feeling about this...)

 

Genghis, I took a look at that thread (and read the whole thing. It is quite long now, isn't it?).

It seems like the big conflict was based on a definition of "fallen out of favor". Some people defined it as any decrease in readership (percentagewise), others rated it on popularity (still most popular) and there were a few other definitions thrwn in just for good measure.

That thread is a good example of what happens when you have two groups using the same word, but having different definitions.

Another example: how do you "use" a character? By having the character appear in the novel? By referring to the character? Towards the end of the thread, that is another definition that was never agreed upon.

I'll admit, for example, that Zahn did not care for the direction that the EU took after TTT, but at the same time, I don't agree that Mara's comments were an attempt to "revise" what happened. Just like I don't believe that MAS was trying to downplay Luke in I, Jedi when Corran lectured him. They were both cases of presenting something from a character's point of view. (I also, personally agree with Mara's view and only partially with Corran's.)

It was an interesting thread, but not everything said in there was true or accurate (on both sides).

Kimball Kinnison

 

Funny. A while back I posted a half-serious topic that likened the Bantam EU authors to the Sith.

They were forever feuding against each other and forming alliances:

TZ v KJA
KJA and Tom Veitch v MAS and TZ
KJA and Sansweet having the last word over TZ, MAS striking back with DT.

It isn't 100% true, but there did seem to be an excessively competitiveness between TZ, KJA and MAS for title of 'Ruler of SW EU'.

Actually, one benefit of NJO was to end that by putting the editors in charge.

Jedi Ben

 

This is my first post on this thread but I will say right off that I don't think that KJA writes Star Wars novels as good as MAS or TZ. There are a couple of reasons why I think this..
1) KJA does not have the humour of MAS or the ability to leave ppl in suspense like TZ which is what makes me pick up their books over and over again
2) KJA created Kyp Durron and let him live!!!!!!! through the end of COTF
3) The JAT was done so much better in I, Jedi
4) The Dargul thingy form JAT was really annoying
5) Darksaber was unfortunately wedged between the two Hambly books. COTJ was really bad and that sort of affected my mood...
6) Death Star again!!!!!! it is a bit overused, whereas TZ was more original with the Hand Of Thrawn, KJA came up with the Sun Crusher
7) The YJK books were done okay

However, this does not mean that KJA is a bad writer, he just isn't as good as some of the others.

 

I noticed that AC Crispen dedicated "Hutt Gambit" to KJA,and considers him a good friend and great fellow writer.

 

My friend's friend is not necessarily my friend. Just because I love the Han Solo Trilogy and highly respect A. C. Crispin, doesn't mean that that respect is transferred across to anyone she thinks highly of.