Another interesting moment in this scene is Sarene’s idiocy act. There’s actually a good story behind this plotting device. I’ve always enjoyed this style of plot—where a character intentionally makes people underestimate them. You can see a similar plotting structure (pulled off quite a bit better) in my book THE WAY OF KINGS. (It should be published around 2008 or so. . . .) Anyway, some of my favorite plots of this type are found in HAMLET and DRAGON PRINCE (by Melanie Rawn.)
Sarene’s own act, however, plays a much smaller role in the book than I’d originally intended. I soon discovered that I’d either have to go with it full-force—having her put on a very believable show for everyone around her—or I’d have to severely weaken it in the plot. I chose the second. There just wasn’t a reason, in the political climate I created for the book, to have Sarene pretend to be less intelligent than she was. (The original concept—though this never made it to drafting—was to have her pretend to be less intelligent because of how many times she’d been burned in the past with people finding her overbearing and dominant.)
I decided I liked having her personality manifest the way it is. The only remnant of the original feigning comes in the form of this little trick she plays on Iadon to try and manipulate him. Even this, I think, is a stretch—and it has annoyed a couple of readers. Still, it doesn’t play a large part in the plot, and I think it does lead to some interesting moments in the story, so I left it in.
This Way of Kings was the original, instead of the rewrite Brandon released in 2010.
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