Is it just me, or are characters in recent Sci-Fi and Fantasy books getting stupider? This might just be my own issues speaking, but I've read or listened to a dozen or so new releases over the past year, and I've noticed two recurring themes that make me want to slap the offending characters upside the head.
Annoying Theme 1) The protagonist(s) refuses to use any sort of force (physical, legal, financial, etc.), even when it's warranted. Sometimes it's for no stated reason, sometimes it's out of some sort of misguided sense of moral superiority.
Annoying Theme 2) A character swears revenge on an antagonist for some heinous act and then proceeds to make elaborate plans to embarrass or inconvenience them. I mean, OK, not everyone is geared to throw a gauntlet into the bad guy's face and challenge him to a duel to the death, but I've seen multiple examples of something along the lines of 'Hello, my name is [character], You killed my father. Prepare to get a pie in the face.'
Annoying Theme 1) The protagonist(s) refuses to use any sort of force (physical, legal, financial, etc.), even when it's warranted. Sometimes it's for no stated reason, sometimes it's out of some sort of misguided sense of moral superiority.
Annoying Theme 2) A character swears revenge on an antagonist for some heinous act and then proceeds to make elaborate plans to embarrass or inconvenience them. I mean, OK, not everyone is geared to throw a gauntlet into the bad guy's face and challenge him to a duel to the death, but I've seen multiple examples of something along the lines of 'Hello, my name is [character], You killed my father. Prepare to get a pie in the face.'
Has anyone else noticed this kind of thing?