For me, it's always boiled down to: the author is entitled to write whatever they want, and I as a reader am entitled to like or dislike it (and say so).
Which is to say that if—to make up an example—an author wrote two volumes of a trilogy as lighthearted medievaloid fantasy and the third as gritty modern technothriller, I'd defend their right to do so... but I might very well say, "I hated the direction the third book went, and I don't recommend it."
I don't think that readers ought to take it personally when an author does something they don't like (unless the author actually comes out and says, "I did this to piss off my readers," in which case it is a bit more personal), but on the flip side, I don't think the author is entitled to positive response, either.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2010-10-13 04:39 am (UTC)Which is to say that if—to make up an example—an author wrote two volumes of a trilogy as lighthearted medievaloid fantasy and the third as gritty modern technothriller, I'd defend their right to do so... but I might very well say, "I hated the direction the third book went, and I don't recommend it."
I don't think that readers ought to take it personally when an author does something they don't like (unless the author actually comes out and says, "I did this to piss off my readers," in which case it is a bit more personal), but on the flip side, I don't think the author is entitled to positive response, either.