Posted by Magnus Smith on December 02, 2014 at 08:16:02 user Magnus.
In Reply to: Re: Things We Don't Like! posted by Peter Ceresole on December 02, 2014 at 01:38:30:
The spark wasn't there? Heresy!
Personally, I didn't find Great Northern? disappointing in any way (other than it was the last book!). All the objections mentioned so far seem to viewed through the eyes of an adult...but as a child's book, I think it delivered all that children wanted.
Surely his later works would be less open to criticism than his earlier 'duds'? Writing isn't a physical thing, so there's no need to decline with age. Rather, as wisdom and experience increase, writers may continue well into old age.
OK, I know bad illness and stress can ruin the apparent cognitive ability of someone at any age. But books written before Old Peter's Russian Tales and Racundra's First Cruise are better targets for our criticism, than the last of the S&A series, I feel.
Do you think lots of authors get accused of "losing the spark" and "regurgitating" once they are past their 10th book in a best-selling series?