Convention

[callunav]

I'm trying to figure out why I'm vaguely reluctant to consider Mary E. Pearson's Remnant trilogy to be a successful/effective epic.

It includes - or appears to include, or includes elements of - some conventions in YA fantasy that I've gotten rather worn out on. There's the Girl Who Isn't Really Girly But Enjoys Seeing Herself In A Special New Dress, and the Girl Who Is Just Ordinary Really Truly Who Then Discovers Power And Destiny, and, most especially repellent to me, True Love Emerges From Oh-So-Flattering Love Triangle.

Except, the protagonist ditches the Special Dress without compunction, tossing it into muddy brambles along the roadside to create a false trail for the people who are following her at the start of chapter 2 (and they are very, very short chapters). And she actually isn't just ordinary, even from the start, but more importantly, that trope usually falls out with all sorts of people mysteriously telling her about her special destiny and demanding that she grow into it when she feels terribly inadequate. In this case, everyone else is just as convinced as she is that she's ordinary, and no one is prepared to believe that her destiny or power exists even once she starts growing into it.

And the love triangle is and isn't. I really passionately hate the "Do I love A? Or B? I think I love A! A is so nice and funny! B isn't nice and funny at all, he's brooding and bitter. But...there's something alluring about brooding and bitter! Oh, woe! I have to decide but I cannot decide!!!" thing. I hate it with the burning passion of a really bad UTI. It can spoil a whole story for me.

But in this case, the two guys are jealous of each other, but after the first chapter when all three meet, there's never actually any question about which of them the protagonist is actually romantically inclined toward. She still likes the other, she just doesn't want to sleep with him. So, it's not actually very triangle-y at all, although possibly the two men think it is.

It's not brilliantly written, but it's not painful, and the story and characterization are interesting and unusual. Protagonist is never whiny, which is deeply refreshing in this specific sub-genre. She's not just snappish, she's actively hot-headed, always has been, and always will be, in ways that get her into real trouble. Also, there's a very nice middle-path that the story walks in which she's not helpless but not the most amazingly powerful person around, either. She can fight, and successfully defends herself more often than not, but the people around her who have spent their lives learning to be fighters are better than she is. She's a leader, but there are other capable leaders in the story.

And the plot is original. I wish that weren't remarkable, but I'm afraid it is. It incorporates original folklore and different versions of the same story, which are all important. It's sweeping and involves a lot of movement but isn't a fantasy travellog.

In conclusion, I would like my brain to offer up a conclusive and persuasive reason for not considering the books to succeed in being epic, or else give in and believe that they are.

Hmph.