Comments on: The Point of Know Return http://trapdoorbooks.com/?p=1021 the publishing home of the geek fiction community Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:17:03 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Greg Byrne http://trapdoorbooks.com/?p=1021&cpage=1#comment-373 Greg Byrne Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:55:06 +0000 http://trapdoorbooks.com/?p=1021#comment-373 You're a patient man to give a book an hour. For me, it's got five pages, maybe a bit more and really depends on three things. (i) The quality of the opening hook, (ii) whether or not the hook delivers or was just a gimmick or (iii) the quality of the prose. Again, (iii) has to deliver. Beautiful prose that describes nothing is far worse than plain prose with a great plot. As humans, with the need for tension and change hardwired into our DNA, and with the novel promising both, the novel has to deliver on that promise soon or the desire for change and tension is gone. Literary novels, with beautiful prose that deliver small town angst and ordinary people facing problems, defy this principle, and one of my favourite novels of all time is precisely this. But it's the exception. You’re a patient man to give a book an hour. For me, it’s got five pages, maybe a bit more and really depends on three things. (i) The quality of the opening hook, (ii) whether or not the hook delivers or was just a gimmick or (iii) the quality of the prose. Again, (iii) has to deliver. Beautiful prose that describes nothing is far worse than plain prose with a great plot.

As humans, with the need for tension and change hardwired into our DNA, and with the novel promising both, the novel has to deliver on that promise soon or the desire for change and tension is gone. Literary novels, with beautiful prose that deliver small town angst and ordinary people facing problems, defy this principle, and one of my favourite novels of all time is precisely this. But it’s the exception.

]]> By: Todd Newton http://trapdoorbooks.com/?p=1021&cpage=1#comment-371 Todd Newton Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:24:47 +0000 http://trapdoorbooks.com/?p=1021#comment-371 For me, it depends on the book and the genre. With a lot of Fantasy novels, I will try to get to the halfway point of the book before giving up, as with Sharon Shinn's "Mystic and Rider." By then, I should have a feel for the development of the characters, the direction of the plot, and whether I care about either one. Some Fantasy novels, like Karen Miller's "The Innocent Mage," I barely got past the map and into the first chapter before losing interest. With China Mieville's "The City & The City," more of a detective noir, I got three chapters in before abandoning it -- not because I didn't like it, but because it read like a book written solely for the enjoyment of the prose, and that's not why I read (or write). Prose is all well and good, but I'm in it for the plot & characters. For me, it depends on the book and the genre. With a lot of Fantasy novels, I will try to get to the halfway point of the book before giving up, as with Sharon Shinn’s “Mystic and Rider.” By then, I should have a feel for the development of the characters, the direction of the plot, and whether I care about either one. Some Fantasy novels, like Karen Miller’s “The Innocent Mage,” I barely got past the map and into the first chapter before losing interest. With China Mieville’s “The City & The City,” more of a detective noir, I got three chapters in before abandoning it — not because I didn’t like it, but because it read like a book written solely for the enjoyment of the prose, and that’s not why I read (or write). Prose is all well and good, but I’m in it for the plot & characters.

]]> By: Jeff Reid http://trapdoorbooks.com/?p=1021&cpage=1#comment-370 Jeff Reid Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:49:40 +0000 http://trapdoorbooks.com/?p=1021#comment-370 If I already like the author, the threshold is lower: a good back cover or engaging synopsis is enough. For unknowns, it's the back cover plus 2-3 pages; I'll know by then if it's something I want to buy. That's just me, of course. Jeff Reid If I already like the author, the threshold is lower: a good back cover or engaging synopsis is enough. For unknowns, it’s the back cover plus 2-3 pages; I’ll know by then if it’s something I want to buy.

That’s just me, of course.

Jeff Reid

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