To read or not to read

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786940999/ref=cm_plog_item_link/102-8326649-9028115

Looks like Dragonlance just came out with a new trilogy. Dragonlance was my first fantasy novel love and it still holds a fun place in my mind. However as I've gotten older and started dating an English major I've become more critical of what I read. As a result my love of the authors of Dragonlance has decreased a bit since I first started reading them (do I thank Jamie for this or get mad at her?)

Firstly, they can't get away from examining the same issue over and over again in the books. If read another line about how rough it is to be a half breed ... And yes it will be there. The following will occur in the first 30 pages of the book. Laurna will say a comforting word to someone (probably Sturm) and Tanis will monolgue "Woe is me, I'm a half elf and she's a full elf so we'll never be together".

Also is the constant wall breaking. "Wall breaking" is my term for the following situation.

1. Author has a set of rules governing their world. Particularly rules about magic.
2. Character gets into a situation where the normal rules of magic prevent the flow of the story.
3. Author conviently ignores or rewrites the rules and moves on with the story.

I call it "wall breaking" because I imagine the author painting themself into a corner and instead of thinking of a good story to get around the paint instead just tear down a wall and continue painting. It's maddenning to read this as an Engineer.

Then again I'm out of good fantasy novels to read. Yes I realize there are lots of fantasy novels out there. But really in many ways they're all the same (magic, elves, dwarfs, etc ...). What I read for are the characters. The best characters often evolve in long running series because a lot of growth can happen after 10,000 pages. Short novels just don't have enough growth for me.

In the end I'll buy it. I'm ranting here to make myself feel like I actually considered dumping an author or principle. In truth though once I'm hooked on a series i'll read just about anything on the main story line (at least once).