| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Tremaine |
Posted - 24 Jul 2010 : 12:01:48
This is maybe going to sound odd but I've just started reading Mistshore and I'm enjoying the story but I do have a slight irritation with a four letter word appearing in this novel especially at the start when nearly all the characters are saying it including the Hero and seems to appear on every other page, now I can just about handle it if comes from an old wizard or Dwarves but when it said by anyone else it just jars me out the story right away, yes the word LASS bugs me no end. I prefer girl over lass any day of the week (no dirty thoughts please)
Question for others here, Do any words or phrases throw you off a story? i read a fantasy novel once where a character was "fiddling with her bangs in her room" before meeting someone (I thought what the hell are bangs it sounded a bit rude to me??? later learnt it was an American term for hair I think) that throw me totally out of the story |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Dennis |
Posted - 10 Jan 2012 : 14:49:40
Transliteration of the less intelligent beings often irritates me. Like an orc/gnoll trying to speak Common/English. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 10 Jan 2012 : 13:50:57
quote:
Originally posted by Yoss
quote:
Originally posted by entreri3478
quote:
Originally posted by Entromancer
Entreri has been referenced in Salvatore's own works as being a "smallish man." Does he physically appear in the Double Diamond Triangle Saga?
Yes he is a character in that series and makes his appearance 3 books into the series i think.
This author made him seem like he was 5 ft tall
Isn't he also missing his arm in those? Apparently they hacked off five inches of height too? As the shortest person in my family, I've been known to get a little ticked off when called shorter than 5 ft 8 . But I'm not a badass fantasy assassin.
I don't want to give away anything specific, but something does happen to his arm in the series; but he still manages just fine  |
| Yoss |
Posted - 09 Jan 2012 : 23:59:51
quote:
Originally posted by entreri3478
quote:
Originally posted by Entromancer
Entreri has been referenced in Salvatore's own works as being a "smallish man." Does he physically appear in the Double Diamond Triangle Saga?
Yes he is a character in that series and makes his appearance 3 books into the series i think.
This author made him seem like he was 5 ft tall
Isn't he also missing his arm in those? Apparently they hacked off five inches of height too? As the shortest person in my family, I've been known to get a little ticked off when called shorter than 5 ft 8 . But I'm not a badass fantasy assassin. |
| Dennis |
Posted - 09 Jan 2012 : 14:19:17
Well, at least D&D elves and drow are not as short as their HP counterparts. Might have been better though if they were. |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 09 Jan 2012 : 14:06:50
quote:
Originally posted by Entromancer
Entreri has been referenced in Salvatore's own works as being a "smallish man." Does he physically appear in the Double Diamond Triangle Saga?
Yes he is a character in that series and makes his appearance 3 books into the series i think.
This author made him seem like he was 5 ft tall |
| Yoss |
Posted - 09 Jan 2012 : 09:38:14
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
I'm one of the guys who uses heartbeats. I use it in fantasy because I'm generally writing from the point of view of a character who has probably never seen a clock and would therefore be unlikely to think in terms of minutes and seconds.
But, Yoss, sorry if it bugs you. I do know what that's like. Whenever a writer tells me that someone "fired" a bow, I have the urge to rip the book in two.
Haha, "fired a bow".
I totally understand the use of heartbeats. It makes sense, like bowshots make sense in terms of measuring distances where miles or some such description wouldn't in the context of characters who don't measure distance like that. I just suddenly get this mental picture of someone's heart beating very loudly in their ears, counting out the passing moments that are elapsing, and it throws me off. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 07 Jan 2012 : 16:19:01
I suppose allowances can be made because, in the end, the "Common" spoken in D&D settings is just plain English. Or we can presume it's not but it's been translated into English for our convenience; incongruous language could be explained as (deliberate or inadvertent) choices made by the translator.
The handwavium fails when one considers the possibility of supposedly error-free magical translation methods. But that would be overanalyzing the entertainment to a silly degree. |
| Richard Lee Byers |
Posted - 07 Jan 2012 : 15:00:50
Ayrik: I know what you mean. It's unfortunately easy for a writer to use expressions that evoke our modern world, either because he doesn't realize the origin or he's just not thinking about it. One I've seen in fantasy is "point of no return," which, of course, derives from real-world aviation.
You're also right that these characters would use references and turns of phrase that would be difficult for people from our world to grasp. The writer's problem is that dialogue that reflected very much of this probably wouldn't be any fun to read and might not even gets its fundamental points across.
I try to walk a middle way where I avoid jarring anachronism but also create something that's clear and pleasant to read. I think it's worthwhile to remember that these characters aren't actually supposed to be speaking English or any real-world language anyhow, so ultimately, you can't write something that's utterly authentic. |
| Dennis |
Posted - 07 Jan 2012 : 09:01:11
“Heartbeats” is often used in other fantasy settings as well. I don’t mind it, really. I’m fine with “breaths,” too. “Seconds” is okay as long as it’s been fairly established that (most of) the people in the setting use clocks. Which just isn’t the case in FR. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 07 Jan 2012 : 06:03:22
I know it's difficult to avoid, but I'm often disgruntled by common idioms and expressions (dare I say clichés?) appearing in the Realms when they are deeply rooted in our English-speaking cultures. As someone who learned and lived English after another native language (which shall remain forever undisclosed, mwoohahaha) I'm acutely conscious of quirks which don't translate meaningfully without a cultural context. I would've thought that Realms-natives would express all manner of statements, phrases, wordplay, and folklore (derived from their histories, religions, wars, farming, horses, magic, whatever) which would seem mildly nonsensical or difficult to parse for us. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 07 Jan 2012 : 04:42:04
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Faraer
I don't mind 'heartbeats', though the usual Realms term for such a short period is 'breaths'. 'Seconds' would jar me.
Breaths works better, to me, though heartbeat does work quite well in certain specific instances -- usually those when something is immediate or nearly so.
I'm inclined to prefer either or both, really. It's not like a medieval society wouldn't necessarily describe the beatings of a heart as such anyway.
I've also seen "lifebeats" used in alternate fiction, mostly DRAGONLANCE. I've adopted that for my Realms as well. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 07 Jan 2012 : 04:27:08
quote:
Originally posted by Faraer
I don't mind 'heartbeats', though the usual Realms term for such a short period is 'breaths'. 'Seconds' would jar me.
Breaths works better, to me, though heartbeat does work quite well in certain specific instances -- usually those when something is immediate or nearly so. |
| Faraer |
Posted - 07 Jan 2012 : 03:03:59
I don't mind 'heartbeats', though the usual Realms term for such a short period is 'breaths'. 'Seconds' would jar me. |
| Aulduron |
Posted - 07 Jan 2012 : 02:59:19
I only know what pinions, as related to wings, are because of that "over"usage. |
| Richard Lee Byers |
Posted - 07 Jan 2012 : 00:27:24
I'm one of the guys who uses heartbeats. I use it in fantasy because I'm generally writing from the point of view of a character who has probably never seen a clock and would therefore be unlikely to think in terms of minutes and seconds.
But, Yoss, sorry if it bugs you. I do know what that's like. Whenever a writer tells me that someone "fired" a bow, I have the urge to rip the book in two. |
| Entromancer |
Posted - 06 Jan 2012 : 22:51:37
Entreri has been referenced in Salvatore's own works as being a "smallish man." Does he physically appear in the Double Diamond Triangle Saga? |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 06 Jan 2012 : 21:59:07
One author from the Double Diamond Triangle Saga kept refering to Entreri as the "little assassin." Really bothered me because Entreri is an averaged sized man, not a giant and not too short. IMHO that author utterly failed to grasp that character anyways. |
| Yoss |
Posted - 06 Jan 2012 : 20:22:53
For some reason it drives me nuts when people use heartbeats to indicate a short time span. So and so paused for several heartbeats before answering, etc. no reason other than apparently I irrationally dislike the expression.
Every time I see the word ensorcelled I think of this thread, but it's a perfectly fine word. Just reminds me of this scroll. |
| Dennis |
Posted - 03 Jan 2012 : 14:29:07
I may be biased (given that Richard's one of my favorites), but I think he used pinions and wings alternately in almost the same number of times for each. |
| Spoon |
Posted - 03 Jan 2012 : 08:38:58
Sorry to bump an old thread, but I had to throw this in.
When I was reading the Rogue Dragons novels, I noticed that Richard Byers seemed to over use "pinions" when talking about the Avariel's wings. Considering that a Pinion is the birds flight feathers, he could have just used "wing" instead. The same goes for his over use of "esoteric" in the same books. Just something that irked me while I was reading them. |
| Clad In Shadows |
Posted - 08 Apr 2011 : 21:41:20
I remember reading Stardeep and Bruce Cordell used the word "apple-lanche" during a chase scene. Threw me off a little. |
| Dennis |
Posted - 12 Mar 2011 : 01:33:34
quote:
Originally posted by DBG
quote:
Originally posted by Tremaine
yes the word LASS bugs me no end. I prefer girl over lass any day of the week (no dirty thoughts please)
I am Scottish and I live in Yorkshire, "Lass" is a fairly common from where I come from. But I get your point. What really bothers me is if the writeup on the back of the book is bland, It just doesn't inspire me to read the book.
I'm fine with as long as it's used intermittently with girl or lady. Only when the novel is awash with it [as with the case of most of Ed's] that it becomes a problem for me. |
| The Red Walker |
Posted - 10 Mar 2011 : 01:18:43
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
With regard to "commode," Dictionary.com offers the following:
com·mode#8194; #8194;
[kuh-mohd] Show IPA
–noun
1.
a low cabinet or similar piece of furniture, often highly ornamental, containing drawers or shelves.
2.
a stand or cupboard containing a chamber pot or washbasin.
3.
toilet ( def. 1 ) .
4.
a portable toilet, especially one on a chairlike frame with wheels, as for an invalid.
5.
an elaborate headdress consisting chiefly of a high framework decorated with lace, ribbons, etc., worn perched on top of the hair by women in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Origin:
1680–90; < French < Latin commodus convenient, equivalent to com- com- + modus mode1
So I think my use of the word was kosher
I never meant the word was used incorrectly by you, just pointing out that it threw me off and made me think about it. And thanks to you I know why grandpa used that word, they had a very, very old cabinet upstairs complete with an equally old chamberpot!
Although def 5 would have been a more humorous place for her to have vomited!
|
| The Sage |
Posted - 10 Mar 2011 : 00:31:28
quote:
Originally posted by Tremaine
hmm i would have thought it be easy to cure skin diseases in a magical world just toss a few coins to a cleric/temple or wizard to heal/disguise you
I'd say that depends on the temple/clergy. For example, you'd probably find much purchase at a Sunite temple, or under the guidance of Ilmatari. But not so much, I suppose, could be accomplished by the diseased individual at either a temple of Loviatar or Talona. |
| Christopher_Rowe |
Posted - 09 Mar 2011 : 21:08:48
quote:
Originally posted by Tremaine
I can only remember two realm novels where a character was disabled.
There are a pair of characters (twins) in my novel who are mute.
I almost typed that I'm not sure if that means they're disabled--slippery term that.
On this scroll's original topic, it recently threw me out of a certain, ahem, new FR novel as I was reading it the third time somebody rolls something (a dagger, a wand, whatever) "over the back of their hands." <smacks palm against forehead at unwitting repetition> |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 09 Mar 2011 : 20:56:51
quote:
Originally posted by Tremaine
hmm i would have thought it be easy to cure skin diseases in a magical world just toss a few coins to a cleric/temple or wizard to heal/disguise you
Acne's not really a disease, though... And it can last for years, which would make a spellslinger rather rich if they could take care of it. |
| Tremaine |
Posted - 09 Mar 2011 : 19:58:53
hmm i would have thought it be easy to cure skin diseases in a magical world just toss a few coins to a cleric/temple or wizard to heal/disguise you
I can only remember two realm novels where a character was disabled. one was in maiden of pain and had a limb cut off I think anyway it was a long time ago since i read it but at the end of the book he had recovered it and the other was in Temple hill where the lead character had an arm replaced by a gnome which was cool, but I would have liked to read a Forgotten realm character more like The George RR Martin character Bran stark where he struggles at first to deal with with the loss but then comes to terms with it
|
| Richard Lee Byers |
Posted - 09 Mar 2011 : 19:56:18
With regard to "commode," Dictionary.com offers the following:
com·mode#8194; #8194;
[kuh-mohd] Show IPA
–noun
1.
a low cabinet or similar piece of furniture, often highly ornamental, containing drawers or shelves.
2.
a stand or cupboard containing a chamber pot or washbasin.
3.
toilet ( def. 1 ) .
4.
a portable toilet, especially one on a chairlike frame with wheels, as for an invalid.
5.
an elaborate headdress consisting chiefly of a high framework decorated with lace, ribbons, etc., worn perched on top of the hair by women in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Origin:
1680–90; < French < Latin commodus convenient, equivalent to com- com- + modus mode1
So I think my use of the word was kosher |
| The Red Walker |
Posted - 09 Mar 2011 : 17:33:59
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Lee Byers
I assume that where there are human beings, there are acne and elimination.
I would assume such as well, though I'd expect a different term for acne, at the least.
I wonder if there is a Realms-specific term for that? I'd imagine that teens with bad cases of acne might be called "trollface" or "orcskin", as opposed to the (possibly American-only) word "pizza-face"...
Not saying that I've seen "pizza-face" is a word I've seen in an FR novel, just tossing it out there. I'm not even sure I've seen mention of acne in a Realms novel.
I suppose we could use the Realms-equivalent [specifically, Tantras] for pizza -- according to Ed:- "'hot buns' covered with melted cheese (some taverns putting sliced olives or slices of sausage on the cheese so they'll stick, to make their buns distinctive and popular)-face." "Hot Buns-face" does sound kind of strange, though. 
Maybe...pox scarred ??
And the only reason commode threw me is because I have only ever heard that term used by my late grandfather(who was born in 1907) and to me would only a modern, fully plumbed fixture. |
| DBG |
Posted - 09 Mar 2011 : 09:01:12
quote:
Originally posted by Light
It really annoys me when writers use accents in their books. I mean catti-brie is/was constantly using words like suren, ye, thinkin' etc.
Surley that just gives the character "Character!" (imo)
I wouldn't expect a young woman brought up by dwarves to speak in the high court style of say Lady Alustrial! or even in the RL style of HRH. |
