There are times when I am absolutely bummed out by author...

There are times when I am absolutely bummed out by authors having too many "main" characters and switching point of view. They hop from one character's head to another. It has always seemed to be a quick fix way to tell a story. Rather than working out the literary strategies to relate a story from just one or two protagonists, the head hopping allows information to come forth without much stylistic creativity. Yet there are times…

When reading David Brin's Kiln People and Garcia-Roza's
Southwesterly Wind I was struck by how appropriate it was to move in thought from character to character. I'll admit it took me a while to see the stylistic value in Garcia-Roza's book, but by the end, I knew it had to be written that way.

Both of those books were written by authors whom I consider skilled wordsmiths. I'm certain they thought out the complexities and made a conscious decision to employ this style.

In contrast, I think too many contemporary writers give viewpoints from many characters because they don't want to take the time to properly develop their story. They might consider this an "omniscient" viewpoint—where they can tell all, see all. But the omniscient style is much more distinctive, with the "narrator" having a distinctive voice and attitude. I like that style, and see very little of it.