Day: March 26, 2014

I received some unexpected feedback/pushback from yesterday’s rant. The comment that came in (through private channels) was about how other major stories have empty plots. The writer pointed to the now-famous Game of Thrones books as an example of a story that doesn’t truly have a direction but is a collection of characters basically riding around on horses and stabbing each other. Touche’… sort of. Game of Thrones and the Presidential Agent series both represent Milieu writing in a sense, but the difference lies in character development and subplot.

The W.E.B. Griffin series contains a cast of characters whose person and history is revealed through a series of conversations bordering on exposition as well as several well-timed flashbacks that reveal the essence of who these people are. Ignoring for a moment the oft black and white characterizations (though I mean this in the good or evil sense moreso than the racial sense, there is a non-too-subtle air of racism present towards those of Afro-American ilk in these books that troubles me but is also expected from a writer who comes from that era), these characters are provided with depth and history solely to the point that it influences their situations at the start of the story. This is not the case with G.R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones.

TGOT is defined by character growth. Instead of history defining the character, the actions of the story define who the character’s are. In truth, most of the original family the story begins with is unrecognizable by book 7. You’ve seen all of this growth happen on the page. You’ve grown alongside the characters and your own idea of good and evil dissolves into a meaningful understanding of personal stake. That is what good writing is supposed to be about. We learn from what we read and we grow from what we learn. You can say the plot is hollow, but only in the sense that the story is not driven by what is at stake for one specific character (which, BTW, is the case for the W.E.B Griffin series, because it is all about C.G. Castillo), but instead is about the specific interests and goals of the many individuals that make up this social world. Plot is generated by the relationship between the individuals and those highly divergent goals. In other words, it is not about what is at stake for one, but how what is at stake influences all.

Milieu is defined as one’s social world. In fiction we use the term to define stories about ‘the world’ vs. ‘the people’. The beauty of such a form is that characters can die yet the story can continue. To that end, I can’t even define The Presidential Agent Series as Milieu. If Castillo dies then this is over. Therefore, that series is something else entirely. It is lazy fiction written by a writer (and his son) who should have long ago docked their political and racial stereotypes and sailed off into the sunset of a wealthy retirement.

This could easily be a case of not truly understanding an audience, but i dont think that is what this is. No, I think there is a real tragedy unfolding. I watch it with each turn of the page and each moment of the audiobook. W.E.B. Griffin is destroying writing. He’s killing it with poorly contrived characters and absolutely empty plots. He’s doing it while hitting the NYT Best sellers list with every single book.

W.E.B. Griffin is the pen name of William E Butterworth, a longtime military fiction writer and a man whose political views and views on the role and honor of the military are on full display with each passing novel. He writes what is akin to a military procedural, a book that focuses painstakingly on the minutiae of military operations. In the case of his newest series, he is focused on the details of special operations–specifically those of the U.S. Special Operations Group.

His series, dubbed the Presidential Agent Series, follows the adventures of one C.G. Castillo who we repeatedly are told is perhaps the coolest MF to ever walk (or fly over) the planet. He is at once a Texican millionaire, German royalty, Newspaper magnate, top tier special operator, superstar military pilot (trained on multiple fixed wing and rotor craft), Mind boggling strategist, part time jerk, deeply honorable and loyal man, womanizer, and (deservedly) egotistical S.O.B. I write sci fi and I couldn’t dream a dude like this up–let alone pull it off. W.E.B. does pull it off for at least 2 of the (so far) 8 books driving the series. Our dear Karlchen (as he is referred to when in that part of the world) is beloved by all and hand picked by multiple presidents to solve all the ills of the world.

It doesn’t fly.
It doesn’t fly because the stories meander. The stories spend so much time establish how bleeding cool Castillo is that there is little time for plot. Everything exists as a flashback or a story shared by those who love him or hate him. In the latest book there isn’t even a legitimate plot. It is hundreds of pages of reminding the reader what came before and a few pages of advancing the story. I’m nearly halfway through and here is what went down:

1. President goes looking for Charlie. Sends people to call him back to active duty.
2. Charlie’s friends want to protect him.
3. Charlie’s enemies want to kill him.
4. Charlie gets the president’s message, boards a plane, meets with a Mexican cop. Boards another plane, heads to Germany.

That is the entire freaking story.

I’m waiting to be impressed.