Frustration with mediocrity

[shadesong]

Just finished "Wetbones" by John Shirley.
Just started "Fireworks" by James L. Moore.

Fireworks is published by Meisha Merlin. They publish some really good stuff, but they do not appear to employ any editors or proofreaders. This makes for a frustrating reading experience. Add to this the fact that, frankly, the book is not that interesting... *sigh*

Wetbones, though proofread, was also thoroughly mediocre. It was grotesque (this is a good thing - it's a horror novel), but not that imaginative, and the male protagonists are pretty much interchangable.

Maybe I'm just spoiled by the Palahniuk and Lindskold books I read on Monday. I don't know. But I'm annoyed by the fact that these books do nothing for me, and that pretty much anything that comes out of Meisha Merlin is guaranteed to be riddled with at least 5 fuckups per page...

Comments

you have just struck one of my nerves

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

I can't STAND people who won't take pride in their work. There's no excuse for typos, spelling mistakes, etc. in a published book. I don't care how small-press the company is. You can get a word processing program to do spell-checking for you, for chrissake.

You looking for more stuff (good stuff, I mean) to read? I've been playing "suggestion dude" for several of my friends recently.

cheers,
Phil

Re: you have just struck one of my nerves

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

This is a chronic problem with Meisha Merlin, Chronic. It drives me nuts. I mean, I'm accustomed to finding two or three typos in a book. But with Meisha Merlin? It's two to three typos *per page*.

I have lots of stuff on my to-read pile, but I'd love suggestions! What do you like?

Re: you have just struck one of my nerves

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

Actually, the better question would be "what do YOU like?", so I can tailor my recommendations better. :)

I read mostly fantasy (Dave Duncan, David Eddings, Terry Brooks, etc.) but also a healthy smattering of science fiction (Tad Williams, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, etc.), plus crime noir (Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ross Macdonald), and a few writers who don't fit into any "genre" per se (John D. MacDonald, Terry Pratchett, and so forth).

List a couple series or authors that you've enjoyed and I'll come up with a few ideas.

cheers,
Phil

Re: you have just struck one of my nerves

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Whee! I love Charles de Lint, Neil Gaiman, Philip K. Dick, Heinlin, Asimov, everything. Pretty much everything. :) Stuff from high fantasy to hard sf.

Re: you have just struck one of my nerves

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

In that case, I recommend three series at this time:

Dave Duncan's "The King's Blades". Fantasy trilogy (with more to come) featuring an elite group of swordsmen who are bound to their King in an elaborate ceremony involving a sword run through their heart. Plot twists like you wouldn't believe. Begins with "The Gilded Chain".

David and Leigh Eddings' "The Belgariad" series. Five books, beginning with "Pawn of Prophecy". The Eddingses have helped to define the high fantasy field with their well-realized worlds and humane characters. Plus great dialogue.

Stephen Donaldson's "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant". Another fantasy trilogy with a much darker edge. The protagonist is about as far from your typical hero as you can get. A leper who cannot allow himself to feel the magical world he's been drawn into, he is known as the Unbeliever. Excellently written stuff but very dark. Begins with "Lord Foul's Bane".

cheers,
Phil

Re: you have just struck one of my nerves

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Oooh. We have some differences of opinion. I found Eddings to be okay, but Donaldson... my nicer remarks on Donaldson are that I think he needs psychological help for his obvious hatred of women, and that the Thomas Covenant books are, hands down, the worst books I've ever read. You don't want to hear my not-nice remarks.

Re: you have just struck one of my nerves

[technomom]

Yeah, I just couldn't handle them. The guy rapes the first person who is nice to him. It goes downhill from there. ICK!

But the short story collection Daughter of Regals wasn't bad. Donaldson is a very skilled writer, I just can't stand the whole antihero thing.

Re: you have just struck one of my nerves

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

It just seems to me that his antiheroes feel the need to rape every female character in his books. And then these chicks fall in love with their rapists. I seriously worry that he's done something he's trying to rationalize.


g

Re: you have just struck one of my nerves

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

Believe it or not, Donaldson is actually a very nice guy. Extremely soft-spoken and witty; always has a funny remark. He was at Dragon*Con a few years ago and I met him then and there is nothing of his characters in him. He had the entire panel in stitches from start to finish.

Some people are just good at creating antihero characters (and he's admitted it freely, you aren't supposed to like Covenant, even a little bit). I believe Donaldson is one of those.

cheers,
Phil

Re: you have just struck one of my nerves

[yendi]

I always thought of John D MacDonald as a latter-day noir writer, with just a slightly more humanistic touch in his Travis Magee books. I have to admit, I couldn't get into his sci-fi -- I liked the plots, but he had too much of an old-pulp style of writing dialog that just never worked for me.

Re: you have just struck one of my nerves

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

The Travis McGee series of books is among my most prized possessions. I envy anyone who has not yet read these and still has that delightsome task ahead of them. I can think of no other single series which has brought me so much happiness.

As for MacDonald's other stuff, I'd love to be able to say -- but most of it is out of print and impossible to find. Bleah.

cheers,
Phil

Re: you have just struck one of my nerves

[yendi]

As a kid, I had an omnibus containing Planet of the Dreamers, The Girl, The Gold Watch, and Everything, and one other novel. Fun stuff.

I agree on Travis Magee. Just a near-perfect series (made me want to go live on a houseboat).

[technomom]

The Liaden series have been better proofread, but I read something else MM published and was appalled at the lack of copyediting. I just want them to get the Diane Duane "Door Into" series OUT ALREADY! Heck, I'll proofread it for them! Really!

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

I haven't read any Liaden yet. The proofreading quality, or lack thereof, varies... the first Keith Hartman book was *much* better proofread than the second, which actually switched fonts and font sizes several times. Unintentionally.

[technomom]

They're wonderful. Truly. Some of the very few that I re-read every year or two. (I usually hate re-reading books.)

[yendi]

Is it as bad as the second Keith Hartman book, with gratuitous fucking font changes mid-page? That was the all-time low for M-M, as I recall.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

No font changes yet - but I'm only about 70 pages in.

[chrisv.livejournal.com]

What Palahniuk book did you read? I've read Fight Club (and I love that movie and especially the packed DVD) and Survivor (which I thought was awesome).

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Choke. 'Twas great. Haven't read Survivor or Fight Club yet, but of course I've seen and loved the movie...