Soooo. My last post, one may recall, was about why I’m not writing. This one will be about wanting to. It’s for a snarky reason, I admit.
I’m reading a sci-fi book. I’m not going to name it; I don’t want to be unkind specifically. I’ll just be a little candid. A neutron star comes close enough to upset our solar system. We have a base on the moon as well as a space station and we can’t do long distance space travel yet. The Earth won‘t be able to escape.
With so many pen names out there it’s always hard to tell but I feel certain the author is a male. All the women are described as buxom and most are wearing tight spacesuits and clothing. Early on, the amount of cleavage a woman does or does not display is described each time one walks into a scene, as well as what everyone think about it. It isn’t risqué, so far there’s been nothing more than a few kisses but the character descriptions are a definite tell. I’m not saying that most men think that way or any such thing, don’t send me any nastygrams, but women simply don’t describe themselves like that. I’ve never seen a book by a female author where the bosoms of every single woman are included in her character description. I found it amusing, even if it did pull me out of the story for a second when I noticed it.
Aside from the typos I unfortunately see in many free E-publications, I’ve noticed the book has more clichés than a cow has spots. I’ve heard so many times don’t use clichés; find another way to say it. Wow is that true! Remember now, if you find yourself between a rock and a hard place, find some original words because clichés are about as helpful as a screen door on a submarine. When all is said and done, they only serve to pull the reader out of the story, and I’m not pulling your leg. Too many clichés are kind of like air-brakes on a turtle. Stop reading, roll eyes. Stop reading, roll eyes. See the problem?
Next. In between perfectly normal bits of dialogue these characters keep saying things like, “I don‘t know what I shall do now,” and, “it was very observant of you to notice that fact.” Who talks like that? Okay, who in THIS century talks like that? Worse this writer is lazy too. When the station commander is going to tell his best friend the ace pilot that a neutron sun is going to destroy life on Earth as we know it he does so by summoning him to a meeting – where he promptly hands the guy a folder. He refuses to answer a single question and then leaves the room for a half hour to let the guy read it. It explains everything, so the writer doesn’t have to describe that whole scene. He keeps mentioning that characters are concerned with the lives of people on Earth but not a single character is anguished about it. Not one of them is thinking of his mother’s face or will she ever see her son again. No one breaks down or seems to give it more than a passing thought.
I’m going to continue reading because I want to see if they escape and how it’s all handled but the more I read the more it makes me want to sit down and work on my own stories. Interesting effect it’s having on me. Mark my words, I’m not just paying lip service, and that‘s no joke!
