Things you can’t STAND about Trek novels

[EnriqueH]

Probably my biggest pet peeve is I start reading a nice story, and halfway down the first or second page there is some character with a complicated name like “Halfway down the dimly lit Enterprise corridor, Cadet Z’harijakamanba D’Tanguurusutalay Vak’r’suuk-ya walked briskly to his quarter.”

Nothing makes me want to quit reading more.

 

[DonIago]

That's all it takes?

 

[KRAD]

Gee, nothing makes me want to quit reading a book more than seeing a whole bunch of boring mono- and duo-syllabic names.......

 

[Thrawn]

I find the initial post ... like maybe a little bit racist?

Like, I teach lots of students with long, polysyllabic names. Should I be annoyed every time I see them on a roster?

And if not, if it's ok for real people to have long difficult names, why not fictional characters too?

 

[EnriqueH]

I find the initial post ... like maybe a little bit racist?

Like, I teach lots of students with long, polysyllabic names. Should I be annoyed every time I see them on a roster?

And if not, if it's ok for real people to have long difficult names, why not fictional characters too?

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Racist???

I was trying to look at fictious names about these books with a sense of humor. Coming from a multi ethnic family, all of whom I would take a gunshot for, I can assure you that you’re ABSOLUTELY taking this the wrong way.

However, if you find it offensive, I have absolutely no problem deleting the thread and the topic.

edit: Wanted to add, it was not my intention to hurt your feelings. So apologies in advance.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

There is a difference between merely being long and complicated (I have two middle names, and people frequently misspell my second given name ["Harlyn," with a "Y," not "Harlan" as in Ellison, and certainly not "Harland" as in Col. Sanders] and my family name ["Lampert" with a "P," not "Lambert" as in Christopher, or as in the luminance unit]) and being impossible for human vocal apparatus to pronounce (all too common in science fiction, moreso outside ST and SW than in those franchises). And I, too, am frequently annoyed at the latter.

--
James Harlyn Hayden Lampert

 

[BillJ]

Probably my biggest pet peeve is I start reading a nice story, and halfway down the first or second page there is some character with a complicated name like “Halfway down the dimly lit Enterprise corridor, Cadet Z’harijakamanba D’Tanguurusutalay Vak’r’suuk-ya walked briskly to his quarter.”

Nothing makes me want to quit reading more.

It doesn't happen often, but there are times this has tripped me up as well.

 

[Greg Cox]

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Racist???

I was trying to look at fictious names about these books with a sense of humor. Coming from a multi ethnic family, all of whom I would take a gunshot for, I can assure you that you’re ABSOLUTELY taking this the wrong way.

However, if you find it offensive, I have absolutely no problem deleting the thread and the topic.

edit: Wanted to add, it was not my intention to hurt your feelings. So apologies in advance.

I assumed you were just talking about imaginary alien names: "Greetings, Captain Kirk. I am Vlxxyi M'll&7+."

I confess: at least once I've dreamed up an elaborate "alien" name that I could not spell the same way three times in a row.

 

[Indysolo]

When I first read Harry Potter I didn't know how to pronounce "Hermione."

 

[flandry84]

Kinda related to the op but the constant name checking of minor personnel.Maybe these are nods to fans or friends but it seems really tiresome.
“Full ahead” said Kirk.
“Aye sir.”said ensign Jack Jackson.
“Answering full ahead,sir” said Lt.Jane Doe.
“Confirmed full ahead” said Lt.Joe Schmoe.

 

[EnriqueH]

I assumed you were just talking about imaginary alien names: "Greetings, Captain Kirk. I am Vlxxyi M'll&7+."

I confess: at least once I've dreamed up an elaborate "alien" name that I could not spell the same way three times in a row.

lol

 

[EnriqueH]

Did any TOS have complicated alien names?

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Probably my biggest pet peeve is I start reading a nice story, and halfway down the first or second page there is some character with a complicated name like “Halfway down the dimly lit Enterprise corridor, Cadet Z’harijakamanba D’Tanguurusutalay Vak’r’suuk-ya walked briskly to his quarter.”

I agree. The long "exotic" alien names with a million apostrophes generally strike me as very self-indulgent on the writer's part and they just become irritating to read multiple times. It's fine to have a funky name for your alien character, but just keep it to a reasonable length, please.

I can find it irritating when the author gets a little too carried away with the fan service stuff or resolving minor continuity glitches in Trek lore. A little of that is fine, but don't derail your entire plot just to explain why Lt. Commander Laing didn't have the correct number of stripes on his sleeve in Act II of episode 34. And I generally like to realize that something is an in-joke after the fact instead of on my first read. Peter David slipped a Frasier in-joke into a scene in The Captain's Daughter when Sulu was talking to Captain Morgan Bateson, but thankfully he did it subtly enough that I didn't realize it on my initial read. That's certainly more the exception than the rule with David, though, who can really go overboard with the humor at times.

 

[Kilana2]

I fondly remember Arislelemakinstess, a Friagloim from Rising Son. Not the most difficult name the Litverse has to offer....

 

[DS9forever]

"Picard's mouth fell open". I get it, he's surprised!

 

[Indysolo]

Why does it have to be long names? 30 years later and I still don't know how to pronounce ";At" from "Doctor's Orders."

Neil

 

[Thrawn]

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Racist???

I was trying to look at fictious names about these books with a sense of humor. Coming from a multi ethnic family, all of whom I would take a gunshot for, I can assure you that you’re ABSOLUTELY taking this the wrong way.

However, if you find it offensive, I have absolutely no problem deleting the thread and the topic.

edit: Wanted to add, it was not my intention to hurt your feelings. So apologies in advance.

Fair enough; sorry to misinterpret. This is a problem of context, I think. As a teacher, I feel like I sense a subtle form of racist against immigrant students in teachers who refuse to even try to get their names right and it makes me really angry; I'm probably just overgeneralizing from another situation. No need to take the post down.

 

[Smiley]

Straight recaps with no new angle or wrinkle, excessive descriptions that do not add to the story, and infodumps all tend to bore me and make me think about reading something else.

There was something in the resolution to Seize the Fire that bugged me, but it's been long enough that I can't remember the specifics. Maybe it was something with Tuvok that went unexplained that really should have gotten some more mention.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Why does it have to be long names? 30 years later and I still don't know how to pronounce ";At" from "Doctor's Orders."

Very true.

ADF tends to generally avoid the unpronounceable; I once asked him about the string of capital letters on the end of AAnn names (from his Humanx Commonwealth milieu); he actually replied, saying that they're simply pronounced as a string of letters.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Fair enough; sorry to misinterpret. This is a problem of context, I think. As a teacher, I feel like I sense a subtle form of racist against immigrant students in teachers who refuse to even try to get their names right and it makes me really angry; I'm probably just overgeneralizing from another situation. No need to take the post down.

I have trouble remembering names regardless of their origin. If anything, unusual names stick with me better than commonplace ones.