Re: Pangolin Problems

From: Dan Drazen <drazen_at_andrews.edu>
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 1995 09:49:19 -0500 (EST)

Mike:

Decidedly mixed feelings about Pangolin Problems:

>From a narrative point of view, the story's first-rate! You were able
to keep a fairly complex plotline together while it shifted through 4 or
5 changes. But Gabriel's character (one of the chief contributions to
the aforementioned complexity) was, for me, a bit troubling.

Admittedly I had to scurry to the dictionary to find out what a pangolin
was. Still, as I read the story, I couldn't help but think of Gabe as
being essentially the same character as Lord Chaos on an episode of
Disney's Aladdin (in that incarnation: a cat with an Egyptian collar and
voice by Matt Frewer). Chaos lived to disrupt routine and order and
predictability. I got very much the same feel from Gabe.

Not that I'm saying that the character is derivative. What gets me,
though, is the character's...amorality. Whereas the Mobians are
fighting to restore what Robotnik had taken from them (their world and
their families, a point I'll be making in Bloodlines, Ch. 12), and
Robotnik is motivated by conquest, Gabe's "Life is a game" attitude is
radically different. To Robotnik it must sound like folly, while to the
Mobians it must ring pretty hollow. He'd BETTER have the power to back
it up, otherwise he'd get squashed like a grape.

One small nit:

(Note: if you haven't read the story, this involves a major spoiler)


























OK,

At the very end where he leaves Tails the message: "BTW, you have a
virus," the message was a little ambiguous. Is he referring to Tails
himself, or to the computer with which he read the message (in this
case, Nicole)? Still, I get the feeling that that kind of ambiguity is
just what Gabe treasures. So maybe an answer to the question is
meaningless.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled rodent.
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Received on Thu Mar 16 1995 - 09:42:34 PST