Off The TBR Dragons of Autumn Twilight Read Along discussion

In a comment on Twitter this week Calvin noted how when Goldmoon shows up in the story she is primarily described by her beauty. At least initial references and descriptions are about how beautiful she is. I pointed out that there was not talk of heaving bosoms or other over sexualized commentary in her description. I also noted there seemed to be an effort made to depict her as THE leader for her tribe and to show Riverwind's constant (if at times begrudging) deference toward her.

With all that in mind what are your thoughts about the way Goldmoon is described so far? What about female characters in general to this point?

We will probably carry this topic through each week.

It’s worth pointing out that up to this point, Goldmoon is basically the only female character. But the point about her being described as beautiful is interesting. I think all of the descriptions are just quite literal and simple, almost as if the author was your DM in a game.

I’m not going to say anything now, but Goldmoon as leader of her tribe is a little mixed up for me. There’s more in next weeks chapters which seems a little odd to me with her and Riverwinds backstory and them being plainspeople.

I have to agree with Dave. Especially at the beginning here the descriptions of all the characters are pretty simplistic and stereotypical. Honestly, because of it being based off of DnD it kind of thrives on stereotypes, archetypes, and all of tropes galore. But I don't think the female descriptions stand out from any of the men's, but it is interesting to note that there are far less female characters. And yes, would love to have a discussion about the Plainsmen next week. :)

I want to point out real quick that my comment about her being the leader of her tribe is coming from her self-description where she talks about her father being sick and her basically leading them. And the way Riverwind defers to her as the Chieftan's Daughter.

Next week we definitely can pick up on things with their backstory.

I don't think it occurred to me as a kid that she was really the only female in the group at this point but now it really does stand out. I guess the exception being Tika (not part of the group) and Tanis' thoughts of Kit and his "elf maid". I'm really curious to explore this further as the reading goes on.

I definitely agree that the descriptions at this point are very simple. You've got Goldmoon's beauty and Caramon's muscles. I do appreciate that Goldmoon is also intelligent and compassionate. Both of those things are "shown" instead of described. She's moved by compassion when she meets the clerics by the road. And she's smart enough not to just give the staff to the first person who claims it.
It's definitely the D&D archetypes, though: warrrior, mage, cleric, ranger.

I definitely agree about the descriptions being simple and falling into D&D archetypes. Tanis is absolutely the ranger, Caramon the warrior, Raistlin the mage. BUT, I still want to push back a little bit because to me it felt like those characters are all defined by their class--warrior, mage, cleric, ranger, rogue, knight, etc. Goldmoon, however, isn't defined by a class. She's just "beautiful." It isn't poorly done, per se, but I think her introduction could have been handled much better.

The dearth of female characters is also an issue to me. I think it'll be important to see her depictions over the rest of the book.

Good point, Calvin!

Good observation Calvin. I wonder two things...if the others are described or defined by their D&D character class, is Goldmoon's character class at this point "Chieftan's Daughter?" OR...is it that at this point in the narrative her character class hasn't been revealed yet? I once had a friend who made us all start out as a 0 level character in D&D and argued we had to work our way up from farmboy/girl or whatever to becoming level 1 in some class...that all the abilities you have as level 1 don't just appear out of thin air. It was frustrating, we played along. Maybe Goldmoon is a 0 level character at this point.

That's a good thought, Jason. Though--I suppose it brings up the ancillary question: why is Goldmoon, the only female in the party, the only 0 level character?

I'm genuinely not trying to find problems here. I actually think that, especially as we read further, Goldmoon receives ample backstory and development and Weis and Hickman avoid a number of potential pitfalls with the character. Even so, I think the portrayal could have been improved even more.