I'll second the motion that having to stop in the middle of a chapter is very annoying. I hardly think that preferring shorter chapters indicates a lack of intelligence or even attention span.
Final Frontier
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Are you serious? What possible relevance does it make if one pauses one's reading at a chapter break or within a chapter? Just stop and pick up; location shouldn't matter.
As for the short chapters and attention span, there's a reason why children's literature (think: Goosebumps) and crude commercial pap (think: DaVinci Code) are written with such short chapters; not only to they create the illusion of faster pacing then is often the case, artificially create 'suspense' through the use of repeated bogus climaxes, but also because it creates a style that matches a distracted audience incapable of attending to the work for more than a few minutes at a time. Mature readers can and should be expected to be able to read blocks of text without needing breaks in the narrative wedged in for its own sake.
And if you don't want to stop between chapter... what do you guys do when you read Dolores Claiborne?
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
As for the short chapters and attention span, there's a reason why children's literature (think: Goosebumps) and crude commercial pap (think: DaVinci Code) are written with such short chapters; not only to they create the illusion of faster pacing then is often the case, artificially create 'suspense' through the use of repeated bogus climaxes, but also because it creates a style that matches a distracted audience incapable of attending to the work for more than a few minutes at a time. Mature readers can and should be expected to be able to read blocks of text without needing breaks in the narrative wedged in for its own sake.
And if you don't want to stop between chapter... what do you guys do when you read Dolores Claiborne?
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
is with no chapter breaks or something?
^ Zippo. The entire thing is one uninterrupted monologue, from beginning to end.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Trent, you're not the only one who prefers longer chapters. In fact I tried reading the Star Wars book Rouge Planet, and it drove me crazy because it had chapters that averaged only 2-3 pages. I don't remember if that was why I quite reading it, but I do remember that it annoyed the hell out of me. My main issue with stuff like that is the fact that you can't make any real progress in the story, because anytime something starts to happen it stops. Personally I prefer books that have stick to the same place and characters for at least 10 or so pages, because at least then you have a fair amount of time and space to move things forward before the jump.
^^Rouge Planet? Is that a world with too much blush on its cheeks?
Methinks you mean Rogue Planet.
Methinks you mean Rogue Planet.
Yeah, thanks. I can never remember which of those two spellings goes to which word.
The one that rhymes with Vogue is spelled like Vogue.
In that case, the vowel sound you make should be the last letter in front of the "g."
My ideal chapter length is around 10-15 pages. If they are much longer, then it is harder to read a whole chapter when I just have a brief interval in which I can read. If they are too short, then momentum may be adversely affected. Trent, it makes a difference whether a break is a chapter break or within the chapter. I figure that the authors place the chapter breaks at the ideal places to put the book down for a few minutes, but they just put in the scene breaks when the scene changes. I'll use the scene breaks or a paragraph's end if I absolutely have to put a book down, but I feel like I'm not getting the experience the author intended.
What's that, you say? The topic is actually Final Frontier? I enjoyed the book as an exploration of how the early days of the NCC-1701 might have happened. It's one of Carey's best Trek entries, and it has a very positive, Roddenberry-esque vibe to it.
My ideal chapter length is around 10-15 pages. If they are much longer, then it is harder to read a whole chapter when I just have a brief interval in which I can read. If they are too short, then momentum may be adversely affected. Trent, it makes a difference whether a break is a chapter break or within the chapter. I figure that the authors place the chapter breaks at the ideal places to put the book down for a few minutes, but they just put in the scene breaks when the scene changes. I'll use the scene breaks or a paragraph's end if I absolutely have to put a book down, but I feel like I'm not getting the experience the author intended.
What's that, you say? The topic is actually Final Frontier? I enjoyed the book as an exploration of how the early days of the NCC-1701 might have happened. It's one of Carey's best Trek entries, and it has a very positive, Roddenberry-esque vibe to it.
Personally, I'd rather see more Captain April era stories than all the fixation on post-TNG/DS9/Voy Borgfesting... But that's probably not being allowed since that's where the upcoming movie is going to be poking around in.
So Trent, does this mean you don't care for James Patterson?
Personally, I like his style of writing. Quick paced, easy reading and can be done within a few hours.
Personally, I like his style of writing. Quick paced, easy reading and can be done within a few hours.
Kirk vs. the Dinosaurs was a good book (in my opinion, anyway), as well. Same Author, which might be a reason why.
Back to the original subject:
It's one of those "your milage may vary" books, especially now that a number of Trek-tech-related points are outdated. (and the novel uses the dating system from the 1980 Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology, which can confuse those used to post-TNG-developed chronologies if you don't know about it).
If you can pick it up (especially if you can pick it up cheap) give it a try.
It's one of those "your milage may vary" books, especially now that a number of Trek-tech-related points are outdated. (and the novel uses the dating system from the 1980 Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology, which can confuse those used to post-TNG-developed chronologies if you don't know about it).
If you can pick it up (especially if you can pick it up cheap) give it a try.
I enjoyed reading Final Frontier, especially since it presents a different take on the earliest days of Star Fleet and the Federation. My favorite bit in the novel comes when George Kirk suggests a name for the Starship and Robert April responds, "Sounds a bit financial."
^ I prefer "I didn't touch a thing, George. I swear I didn't touch a thing." :P
I don't think I've really read it since I sat and watched through Enterprise, but I think it holds up pretty well, dating system aside.
The weapons have a bit different terminology, but that could just be something that was being experimented with at the time. The rest fits with what's heard from the early TOS episodes and pilots, and I've never really bought into the whole "Phase Pistol/Cannon" excuses for Enterprise anyway.
I don't think I've really read it since I sat and watched through Enterprise, but I think it holds up pretty well, dating system aside.
It has another goofy "Someone saw the Romulans before Balance of Terror" coverup, but the Trip book did that, too.
The weapons have a bit different terminology, but that could just be something that was being experimented with at the time. The rest fits with what's heard from the early TOS episodes and pilots, and I've never really bought into the whole "Phase Pistol/Cannon" excuses for Enterprise anyway.
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