Gollum and Eagles: Deux ex machina?

[Essex]

Originally Posted by alatar

Is the appearance of the eagles in the examples above so out of the ordinary that the average reader can see the HoG?... By definition, a miracle should have such a low probability of occurance that you can only shug your shoulders and say, "I have no explanation as the event is contrary to every other thing that I observe." In books, when done poorly, the author will simply pull something out of nowhere just to finish off a plot, and the reader is dumbfounded as the fix is completely unnatural in an artificial way. You get the feeling that the author has either written him/herself into a corner, is lazy and tired of the story, and so cuts through the Gordian plot with a suddenly-found chainsaw that drops from the air, then burns the loose ends with a flamethrower.

Excellent point. This reminds me of something slightly different to HoG or DEM and that is Coincedence. There's an author (and policitcal animal / jailbird / charity fundraiser) called Jeffrey Archer here in England. I disagree with about 99.99 % of what he says, but once, long ago in the mists of time, he stated that Coincedences may happen in real life, but they NEVER work in Fiction, and are an easy 'get out' for the author.