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[Poll #1784008]
I was reading reviews on Amazon, and someone quoted this sentence from Gardens of the Moon, the first book in a ten book series by Steven Erickson. Now, I love fantasy, but ten books sounded a bit much... and the more reviews I read, the more it sounded like it would not be my thing. Main characters introduced in one book only to disappear for a few more before resurfacing? Plotlines introduced, abandoned, then picked up again volumes later? That sounds frustrating to me. Add in that it sounds like it has twenty or so 'lead' characters, and I think not.
But what really really killed it for me was this quote. I hate sentences like this. They may sound great, but when you take it apart, it makes no sense. I hate that people get applauded for it -- where has reading comprehension gone? These books are apparently chock full of sentences like this one, and that would drive me bonkers.
I was reading reviews on Amazon, and someone quoted this sentence from Gardens of the Moon, the first book in a ten book series by Steven Erickson. Now, I love fantasy, but ten books sounded a bit much... and the more reviews I read, the more it sounded like it would not be my thing. Main characters introduced in one book only to disappear for a few more before resurfacing? Plotlines introduced, abandoned, then picked up again volumes later? That sounds frustrating to me. Add in that it sounds like it has twenty or so 'lead' characters, and I think not.
But what really really killed it for me was this quote. I hate sentences like this. They may sound great, but when you take it apart, it makes no sense. I hate that people get applauded for it -- where has reading comprehension gone? These books are apparently chock full of sentences like this one, and that would drive me bonkers.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-04 04:54 am (UTC)From:(I would never let this by if I was a beta)
The correct version would be:
Crokus shared something of the tower's imagined sardonic reserve for the pretense so rife in Majesty Hall. This emotion of his uncle's that had seeped into
the lad(Beta note: EPITHETS MUST DIE) Crokus over the years.It's still as clunky as all hell. If this is third person limited, he's completely failed to convey it effectively, if it's third person impartial, WHY GOD WHY?!? (Third person impartial is notoriously hard to do well, and few people are Jane Austen or Tolkien.)
In summation: bad writing.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-04 06:11 pm (UTC)From:Mind you, I don't have a problem with epithets if they fit and make sense. That means there has to be a reason other than 'I felt like it'... and I can see no reason to use 'the lad' in that sentence.