Viewpoint on Point of View

There are times when I am absolutely bummed out by authors switching point of view and hopping from one character's head to another. It has always seemed to be an easy way out in telling a story--especially if it's complicated. Rather than working out the literary strategies to relate a story from just one or two protagonists, the head hopping allows information to come forth easily and without much stylistic creativity. Yet there are times… When reading Brin's Kiln People and Garcia-Roza's Southwesterly Wind I was struck by how appropriate it was to move in thought from character to character. I'll admit it took me a while to see the stylistic value in Garcia-Roza's book, but by the end, I knew it had to be written that way. Both of those books were written by what I consider skilled craftsmen. I'm sure they thought out the complexities and made a conscious decision to employ this style. But I'm still convinced that too many published writers flip flop point of view because they don't want to take the time to really develop their story. Or maybe they just don't have the talent.