How do you keep reading the book...

[sirhugs]

...after you realize that you are mentally substituting crisper adjectives and more colourful nouns into the text as you read it, stop and say to yourself "I could write better than this person."

It's just a cheap nothing clone of a Bernard Cornwell swords and shields theme, which Cornwell does so well. Alas, there are only so any Cornwell novels available, so we seek out imitators.

 

[XerXesXu]

...after you realize that you are mentally substituting crisper adjectives and more colourful nouns into the text as you read it, stop and say to yourself "I could write better than this person."

It's just a cheap nothing clone of a Bernard Cornwell swords and shields theme, which Cornwell does so well. Alas, there are only so any Cornwell novels available, so we seek out imitators.

I do sentence by sentence and paragraph by paragraph rewrites. Unless I have a very good reason to continue, I'm out half-way down the first page.

I can't say that specific word choice bothers me particularly.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

Short answer: I don't.

Long answer:

I still remember picking a book years ago, and finding there was an entire chapter early on that consisted of the Evil Bad Guy sitting alone in a room. He spends something like 20 printed pages just thinking about his Incredibly Subtle Evil Plans, so the reader knows the situation.

It was some of the clumsiest writing I've seen in an actual published book. Not just the almost bizarrely-labored exposition, but the fact that all surprises for the hero were eliminated, by the author, on page 50 or so.

I put it down and never picked it up again.

 

[sirhugs]

Short answer: I don't.

Long answer:

I still remember picking a book years ago, and finding there was an entire chapter early on that consisted of the Evil Bad Guy sitting alone in a room. He spends something like 20 printed pages just thinking about his Incredibly Subtle Evil Plans, so the reader knows the situation.

It was some of the clumsiest writing I've seen in an actual published book. Not just the almost bizarrely-labored exposition, but the fact that all surprises for the hero were eliminated, by the author, on page 50 or so.

I put it down and never picked it up again.

The shared experience makes me feel a bit better, but leaves the real question: what else is there to read (I'm reading free items available through my public library online, so selection limited). This was the first novel in a long series, so i thought I had found a goldmine. Fool's gold.

 

[CalBishForNow]

The shared experience makes me feel a bit better, but leaves the real question: what else is there to read (I'm reading free items available through my public library online, so selection limited). This was the first novel in a long series, so i thought I had found a goldmine. Fool's gold.

Does your local library do interlibrary loan? Do you have other library cards? Is there any particular reason why not?

My significant other has at least six library cards. Some places don't care about residency to apply for a card, or she uses her mother's/cousin's/aunt's address. That gives her a ton of options across the various e-book services.

Doesn't help you get a new book today, but with a little research, your selection could be a lot less limited in a week or so.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

If you enjoyed Sharpe, I'm guessing you've read all of Hornblower already? Patrick O'Brian is nearly as good.

 

[Voboy]

If you enjoyed Sharpe, I'm guessing you've read all of Hornblower already? Patrick O'Brian is nearly as good.

This.

O'Brien is on a higher level, I think, in terms of immersion and avoidance of anachronism. Cornwell's good, but formulaic and very "modern" by comparison.

 

[sirhugs]

Does your local library do interlibrary loan? Do you have other library cards? Is there any particular reason why not?

My significant other has at least six library cards. Some places don't care about residency to apply for a card, or she uses her mother's/cousin's/aunt's address. That gives her a ton of options across the various e-book services.

Doesn't help you get a new book today, but with a little research, your selection could be a lot less limited in a week or so.

Because of my insomnia, I need books that I can read in bed on an e-reader, or so I tell myself. Tht limits my choices. Or maybe I'm just not tht tech literate.

 

[usable001]

If you enjoyed Sharpe, I'm guessing you've read all of Hornblower already? Patrick O'Brian is nearly as good.

Because of my insomnia, I need books that I can read in bed on an e-reader, or so I tell myself. That limits my choices.

Resources exist...

Also by Forester... https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69585

https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL24805A/Patrick_O'Brian?sort=rating

https://www.overdrive.com/series/horatio-hornblower

 

[sirhugs]

If you enjoyed Sharpe, I'm guessing you've read all of Hornblower already? Patrick O'Brian is nearly as good.

This.

O'Brien is on a higher level, I think, in terms of immersion and avoidance of anachronism. Cornwell's good, but formulaic and very "modern" by comparison.

Read all the Sharpe books, but more into the early England/medieval stuff. Fits my academic interest in early British history.
Hornblower was fantastic, but Arthur Kent is a poor imitator.
Keep trying Patrick O'Brian - my Dad loved his stuff- but it feels dated and/ifind myself bogged down.

 

[usable001]

Or maybe I'm just not tht tech literate.

For classic books, free resources are not that hard to find. Just tell your favorite search engine exactly what you are looking for, such as "Aubrey Maturin free ebook."

You are less specific, you will get a whole pile of people selling various other editions of the book.

 

[usable001]

What are your thoughts on Michael Crichton?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton_bibliography

 

[SimonDoom]

What are your thoughts on Michael Crichton?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton_bibliography

Not a great prose stylist, and his characters can be a bit flat, but he has a great imagination and is good at world building. Reminds me of Neal Stephenson in these respects, but Stephenson has a better sense of humor and is more adept at fleshing out his characters.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

Many libraries will deliver and pick up paper books, but that isn't what you want. I second the Open Library recommendation above.

The New York Public Library will issue any resident of the state a free card with access to all electronic resources.

 

[sirhugs]

What are your thoughts on Michael Crichton?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton_bibliography

never been a fan

 

[sirhugs]

Many libraries will deliver and pick up paper books, but that isn't what you want. I second the Open Library recommendation above.

The New York Public Library will issue any resident of the state a free card with access to all electronic resources.

In ontario there is a province wide consortium. But it doesn't work well for e-books.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Read all the Sharpe books, but more into the early England/medieval stuff. Fits my academic interest in early British history.
Hornblower was fantastic, but Arthur Kent is a poor imitator.
Keep trying Patrick O'Brian - my Dad loved his stuff- but it feels dated and/ifind myself bogged down.

Julian Rathbone? Kings of Albion is the Wars of the Roses through the eyes of merchants from Vijayenagara (now Myanmar). Or The Last English King, covering 1066. He wrote several other historicals, too.

If you need e-books, Project Gutenberg has an ever-increasing range. All of John Buchan, if you want derring-do and adventure, though obviously that's more recent.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Read all the Sharpe books, but more into the early England/medieval stuff. Fits my academic interest in early British history.
Hornblower was fantastic, but Arthur Kent is a poor imitator.
Keep trying Patrick O'Brian - my Dad loved his stuff- but it feels dated and/ifind myself bogged down.

In a case of "the same but different" David Webber's Honor Harrington series is often referred to as Hornblower in Space.

 

[StillStunned]

...after you realize that you are mentally substituting crisper adjectives and more colourful nouns into the text as you read it, stop and say to yourself "I could write better than this person."

Also: listening to an audiobook and mentally correcting the narrator's emphasis and pauses. And realising you missed the past three minutes because of it.

 

[sirhugs]

I returned the book, as was the advice received.
Turns out they have a whole selection of Forester books, so i selected a Hornblower tale ythat did not look familiar. will try that this evening. I also learned that he wrote The African Queen. Might check that out.
thanks.

 

[Voboy]

I returned the book, as was the advice received.
Turns out they have a whole selection of Forester books, so i selected a Hornblower tale ythat did not look familiar. will try that this evening. I also learned that he wrote The African Queen. Might check that out.
thanks.

African Queen is good. The Captain from Connecticut is basically an American Hornblower.

But his best sea story is, in my opinion, The Good Shepherd. COMPLETELY gripping. A well-researched and well-told story of stress, worry, and danger, continuously ratcheted up.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

African Queen is good. The Captain from Connecticut is basically an American Hornblower.

But his best sea story is, in my opinion, The Good Shepherd. COMPLETELY gripping. A well-researched and well-told story of stress, worry, and danger, continuously ratcheted up.

For fear of playing the "the book was better game", "Greyhound" which was based on "The Good Shepherd" is very well done.

 

[Voboy]

For fear of playing the "the book was better game", "Greyhound" which was based on "The Good Shepherd" is very well done.

I liked it too. I'm usually a "book is almost always better than the movie" kind of person, and in that case? The book tells you why they made the movie the way they did. The claustrophobic atmosphere, the overall dampness and dimness, the absolute obsession with the compass, the protractor, and above all the clock... It's all there in the book.

Which is only better because it lasts longer.

 

[anthrodisiac]

If you haven't explored Sir Terry Pratchett yet... Well, you must. You simply must.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

If you haven't explored Sir Terry Pratchett yet... Well, you must. You simply must.

Yes, enthusiastically, yes!