Which book are you referring to?

Wow, thats a ballsy editor, attempting to tell Stephen King how to write his book 😅.

Bit honestly, thats the kind if editors I wish we had more of.

Mam, I think I read that years ago after a recommendation from a friend who loves Reilly. Sad to say, I don’t remember anything about it. Had to be 20 years ago, thougn. The only thing I seem to be remembering is that all the characters had goofy nicknames or call signs, and it got a little tiresome thinking if them by those names the whole book.

Im not from a military family, though, so that practice seemed a bit forced to me while it may be part of life if you are in the military.

Well that doesn’t bode well for my wife’s and my streaming future - we just started the streaming series of “Wheel of Time” and enjoyed the first season, and just started season two. I wonder if it will somehow inject some of that craziness into the tv series??

Tis is very true! I read Josiah Bancroft’s " Senlin Ascends" and in the first 150 pages I was hating it. The style (sort of 19th century literary), the story, the setting, and soooo many unlikable characters…I almost gave up and remember telling a friend how much I hated it.

But I almost never give up in a book, and so finished all 480 pages. By the end, I had mostly captured the mood and feel Bancroft was going for, and had to complement him on his world building and artful prose. I wouldn’t say I LIKED the book, more respected it.

Then the second one came out. It got glowing reviews, and after a while I gave in and bought it. This time, there was no orientation period, and the book immediately became exciting and rich in character and story.

Long story short, I’ve read all the series now, and its one of my favorite modern novel series! To your point, I think that though I didn’t much “like” the first book, I recognized that something big was going on here, and it deserved more of my time and attention. Im so glad I chose to press on.

People who do tis are no longer my friends…

I read that! Not a good book, IMO, if I’m remembering correctly.

Do it! I’d read it!

Book 7, anyway…

I’ve read a bunch of Preston/Child books. Some were pretty good, others not as much, if I’m remembering correctly. But definitely action packed. Was “Relic” a Preston/Child book?

Good point, and probably at the heart of my somewhat tongue in cheek post. Its fascinating to contemplate that people can have such diverse tastes, preferences and likes. A real world example of this is absolutely LOVING a book and recommending it to a friend, and they come back with “I hated it”.

What?!? How…Why…?

Good point! “Farce” by definition is pushing narrative or other components of the medium to the extreme. Very close to my original quest for that author who writes something to poke at their critics.

That not one I know.

Well said. My rather superficial observation was just the feeling I get when, after enjoying a fantastic, packed with content book, I read a one star review that says it was horrible, or boring, or confusing, etc. I always think, C’mon, man! If you didnt like that, what DO you like?!?

Lol. As an aside…its interesting how many people people seem to misunderstand or miss the intent of my original post. There was no desire to demean or cast aspersions on anyone, just having some fun with different reading habits and preferences.

Thanks! Sounds fun.

“There’s nothing new under the sun”

Ha, ive noticed that as well! Sort of gave up on Grisham over a decade ago.

Wow, good contribution! A different genre, but sort of the same point. Thanks!

As someone who has done a lot of counseling, there is a somewhat common situation in which people’s actions can basically create a monster. Is actually a fairly common thing in superhero literature and lore - the reluctant evil enemy that was created by the collective had and abuse of society.

Im not familiar with the details of the Rowling/trans person kefuffle, but it sounds as if that syndrome could be a factor. She came out with an opinion that wasn’t popular with a certain segment, and many not that demographic went on the attack. Given Rowling’s influence and wealth, rather than disappear for a while as some mentioned, she leaned into it and responded in kind. Together, their respective actions and words simply continued to escalate until we have what we have today.

It’'s probbly not common knowledge here in Reddit (Reddit being what it is) but as someone who does counseling professionally (or did) ive observed there is a rising sentiment among some mental health professionals that feel we are going about understanding and reacting to the trans person movement in wrong and unhealthy ways. These are opinions based on medical and sociological data and not founded in political movement, religion or their own compassion or passion, just professional opinions. However, if expressed here, im sure there are those who would excoriated them. Mayne Rowling was following some if those dissenting opinions when she formed and expressed her own.

Possible…but has it been done??