Which RotE character is your favourite? (spoilers all RotE books)

[redchild]

Thanks for the insightful post! It's been too long since I've read the series and incidentally I had read the Tawny man before Liveships; so I never caught onto this connection.

I can relate to what Amber says about how one person's actions can influence someone else's so profoundly. A decision of action or inaction at critical moments can change people's lives. However, it always seems that in hindsight you would wonder what could have happened had something else taken place. While I do not agree with Paragon's comment that human lives are too short to make an impact on the world (was he not paying attention when Wintrow freed SWR, and allowed the sea serpents to find their way back to the cocooning grounds to one day become dragons? I think that's pretty damned important,) I do agree that our lives go by too quickly to spend too much time wondering what could have happened. Because human lives are so brief, they must be full of action in order to achieve goals. Of course, you could debate that not spending enough time on reflection would only beget a cycle of self-destruction.

Also the idea of how people feel as if they must fulfill a role that was meant for them, or were born into, is also a perpetual dilemma in real life. Amber's perspective was much more introspective and personal compared to Paragon's long-term, more detached view of the world. A person may feel compelled or even be forced to take on a role other than was ordained or chosen (by themselves or by others.) Whether they can find happiness and contentment because, or in spite of it, is the big question. In Paragon's view, however, whether an individual is happy or not does not enter into the discussion of whether it makes a difference in the big picture. Two very different views, but both valid.