Aside from “The… woman… frowned.”, I didn’t understand a single word in that sentence/paragraph.
If that was meant to be an example of technobabble, then we have very different definitions of the term. There were exactly two words in that sentence/paragraph that I would think might be construed as technobabble: “Cutter” is a naval term presumably repurposed here for a spaceship, and “armorplast” is technobabble but pretty darn comprehensible technobabble (unless, of course, it’s not meant to be some sort of armor-hard plastic).
I’ll admit to you all now that I am a total sucker for pure, unapologetic revenge flicks. Some of my absolute favourite trash in the world. You wouldn’t catch me reading that kind of subject matter though. Let’s add that to my list.
To generalise a bit, I think the experienced SF reader is used to being thrown into a setting with minimal cueing and working out from context what’s going on. (A recent example for me: Hellflower, largely told in future slang which is never explained, but one can get it with a bit of work) They may indeed enjoy it and favour books for which that’s one of the things the reader has to do. To someone used to that, GabrielH’s sample paragraph is “yes, and?” – it’s scene-setting. We’re in space, there’s a space navy, and what we’ve got here is the stock scene where the captain sees their new ship (so far so Star Trek, but they’re not completely happy about it).
But someone who’s less familiar with the conventions can quite reasonably feel lost.
I think that mysteries are fascinating as a style of technical writing: the author’s expected to blend a human story with a logic puzzle, and the reader’s expected both to solve that puzzle and to appreciate the human elements. (Good authors make these interdependent.) In a lot of SF, the puzzle is to be found in the setting.
I loved, loved, loved, the Darwyn Cookes take on the Parker books that payback is based on.
I don’t know if the stylised, almost batman:TAS style made the fact the character is detestable so much more palatable.
Their also might be something to how long you have to spend in the company of a character. A novel being the longest duration, then a film and the shortest amount of time would be a comic.
It might explain the popularity of Batman who lets be honest no one would want at their dinner party.
EDIT: I actually like Batman, just trying to be glib.
Batman from certain TAS episodes as well. And Kilmer and Clooney versions were pretty chatty. I swear, Kilmer’s Bruce Wayne and Batman personalities were somehow switched as far as how one would expect them to act.
To someone used to that, GabrielH’s sample paragraph is “yes, and?” – it’s scene-setting. We’re in space, there’s a space navy, and what we’ve got here is the stock scene where the captain sees their new ship (so far so Star Trek , but they’re not completely happy about it).
And, to be clear, I’m not saying there aren’t other problems with that quote. From what little I’ve read of Weber, that was neither his most original nor his best writing.
My ex refused to watch anything that could be summarised as “Sad Army Man Is Sad”.
But John Wick was an exception, because no-one’s there for the plot. It’s gleeful in how everyone is a bad guy, the violence is ridiculous, and the viewers don’t care because that’s simply not what the movie is about.
I’m the same with books. If it’s pulp NONSENSE but the reader (and author) are clearly having maximum fun on every page, I’m okay with it. (I’d include a lot of the Hard Case Crime books there, and definitely Parker/Point Blank/Payback or any of the “Quarry” series).
Owing to a misunderstanding, I started reading Jasper Fforde with The Well of Lost Plots, which required figuring out two novels worth of setting and backstory from context. That was great fun, but rather diminished the first two books when I got to them.
It wasn’t the most technobabbly line, just the line I liked least. Largely because it’s the very first sentence, and is as dry and generic as possible. My previous example (which I made up, but have seen too many like it) was more for technobabble.
Basically, my complaint with the quote was, if you’re going to use a setting that generic, why even describe it at all? I know it’s dark in space, for crying out loud!
Internal inconsistencies in a story drive me crazy. They won’t necessarily stop me from finishing a novel, but they are pretty likely to stop me from ever picking up another one by the same author.
Ha. My reaction to reading it was that it would be a very passable entrant to the Bulwer Lytton “worst opening sentence” contest… I’d managed to gloss over the fact that it actually was the opening sentence, so that’s even better : )
In case you haven’t seen it before (or recently), this should provide no end of entertainment:
Edit: Bah, they’ve made the site worse than it used to be, and the glorious page of historical grand prize winners is now only to be found via the wayback machine.
Folks say that if you listen real close at the height of the full moon, when the wind is blown’ off Nantucket Sound from nor’ east and the dogs are howlin’ for no earthly reason, you can hear the awful screams of the crew of the “Ellie May,” a sturdy whaler captained by John McTavish; for it was on just such a night when the rum was flowin’ and, Davey Jones be damned, big John brought his men on deck for the first of several screaming contests. — David McKenzie, Federal Way, WA
I managed to do exactly the same thing (glad to not be alone!)
I very rarely give up on reading a book entirely once I’ve started. I can think of only three occasions. None of the books had protagonists that interested me, and it was an easy decision to stop as soon as something else to read came along. On each of these occasions I was without access to a range of reading options, being working away from home and/or at sea, and picking up a book from the available reading material.
I can be quite ridged in reading a book cover to cover. Partly I suspect it is a little ‘sunk cost fallacy’, and those ditched books previously mentioned as distinct in that they didn’t cost me anything. I also know the type of books I like, so I’m pretty good at selecting what I will enjoy. I typically read for escapism, so I don’t necessarily challenge myself with high-brow literature, and will actively avoid any misery lit. Otherwise I read for research and interest, and I am very careful in looking hard at any non-fiction to make sure I can stand the writing style and that the book is well regarded in terms of content (see again about sunk costs - I am really not an impulse purchaser of anything!).
I wouldn’t call myself a prolific reader, but I guess I manage 3-5 books a month? It’s mainly because reading is one of my default activities to relax, particularly to avoid digital overload, and again because I unashamedly read some pretty trashy stuff for plain escapism.
I remember the days I used to read a few books a week. Now it’s more like a few a year, partly because good physical books are hard to get hold of, but also just because I don’t have the free time I used to.