Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb and Foundation by Asimov.
What are you reading?
- Thread starter Snowlilly
- Start date
Just finished Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer. I'd liken it to a character study on the effects of what a rejuvenation would bring someone. Very light sci-fi, sort of like a drama with sci-fi trappings, and a sweet story.
I've been reading from various short story collections, mainly Clarke Ashton Smith, and am now about to begin Kolchak: Necronomicon.
Sorry for the double post.
Just wanted to ask what it was about the series that was rubbing you wrong?
Man, Kolchak: Necronomicon is rife with misspellings, bad punctuation, tortured grammar, and Internetisms ("It wasn't the worse thing that happened."). Doesn't anybody edit anything anymore?
Last night I finished Queen of the Air: A True Story of Love and Tragedy at the Circus by Dean N Jenson, an biography of circus performer Lillian Leitzel, narrated by Emma Bering.
I am now listening to Where the Shadows Lie by Michael Ridpath, narrated by Sean Barrett. Murder mystery set in Iceland. A novel in which the murder is somehow connect with JRR Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings.
I am now listening to Where the Shadows Lie by Michael Ridpath, narrated by Sean Barrett. Murder mystery set in Iceland. A novel in which the murder is somehow connect with JRR Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings.
Overall, I was disappointed with Kolchak: Necronomicon. All three stories were reprints, but all read like first drafts. Not only were there amateur errors like I mentioned about, but the prose was rambling and the guy has no conception of paragraphs, even when writing dialogue. Each story has an editor listed, but what that editor actually did I have no idea. You'd think they'd at least correct all these mistakes in a second printing, but they didn't even bother to change the page numbering for each individual story.
that's a phenomenon that spreads faster than the flu. The noble custom of proof-reading appears to have been completely abolished. The crafts of punctuation and layout seem to be buried in oblivion. That literature is actually an artform is hard to believe, in view of most recently published books.
Melpomene, Thalia, Calliope, Euterpe and Erato have been pensioned off.
My family teases me for always having a pen and a roll of white-out at hand when reading, but in my opinion correcting these mistakes is an act of self-defense. I am a quite fast reader and every time I encounter an error it's like running into a wall. It takes me 2 or 3 minutes to get back to my usual speed and more often than not I'm thwarted by the next typo or layout-fault before that. It's utterly annoying!
Sometimes I want to strangle the author and scream at him/her that there is a bloody difference between you're and your, there and their and that you might find it difficult to park an aeroplane in a hanger since a normal-sized one would only fit into a hangar!
(LOL sorry about that rant but this is a topic I could go on and on about for hours)
Melpomene, Thalia, Calliope, Euterpe and Erato have been pensioned off.
My family teases me for always having a pen and a roll of white-out at hand when reading, but in my opinion correcting these mistakes is an act of self-defense. I am a quite fast reader and every time I encounter an error it's like running into a wall. It takes me 2 or 3 minutes to get back to my usual speed and more often than not I'm thwarted by the next typo or layout-fault before that. It's utterly annoying!
Sometimes I want to strangle the author and scream at him/her that there is a bloody difference between you're and your, there and their and that you might find it difficult to park an aeroplane in a hanger since a normal-sized one would only fit into a hangar!
(LOL sorry about that rant but this is a topic I could go on and on about for hours)
RJ's and Rhubarb's rants about editing are the best things I've read this week. 
I am so with you guys!
I am so with you guys!
*bows* We aim to please, TZ 
Indeed. Maybe I'll apply to Moonstone Publishing as an editor. I proofread stories in my spare time for free, so I might as well get paid for it. 
In other news, I was in the mood for some Hard SF, so I've begun reading Building Harlequin's Moon.
Maybe I'll apply to Moonstone Publishing as an editor. I proofread stories in my spare time for free, so I might as well get paid for it. In other news, I was in the mood for some Hard SF, so I've begun reading Building Harlequin's Moon.
Magician by Raymond E. Feist. It's an ok book so far. The characters are a bit bland, but I am hoping they will get more exciting as the story progresses. The only other thing I don't love would be the names of the characters.. they remind me of bad orc names made by boys who want to sound badass in RPG's. Still, I would recommend the book. There is some mystery, fancy magick, funny dialog etc. I like the way the author describes stuff. I'm only at the start and it seems very promising. The main character is a little awkward in a very funny way. It seems the author is good at mixing serious events and funny events. At least I have laughed a few times already, the clumsy moments made me warm up to the main character somewhat.
I just started on a very old Agatha Christie: The Secret Adversary.
Not bad so far =) She manages to paint a very good picture of the economical depression after WW1 and it's quite interesting to see her switch styles: this is the first Tommy & Tuppence novel and while in their late adventures they are older and speak much like Poirot or Miss Marple, in this one they are in their early 20s and use the typical "youth slang" of that time. It's a quantum leap from that language to Marple-ish. Reminds me a lot of Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster compared to Jeeves. The author does very well, though, and hasn't slipped up so far (but I am only at chapter 5 yet).
Oh, and so far I found only one typo! I'm reading the Gutenberg-version.
Not bad so far =) She manages to paint a very good picture of the economical depression after WW1 and it's quite interesting to see her switch styles: this is the first Tommy & Tuppence novel and while in their late adventures they are older and speak much like Poirot or Miss Marple, in this one they are in their early 20s and use the typical "youth slang" of that time. It's a quantum leap from that language to Marple-ish. Reminds me a lot of Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster compared to Jeeves. The author does very well, though, and hasn't slipped up so far (but I am only at chapter 5 yet).
Oh, and so far I found only one typo! I'm reading the Gutenberg-version.
