What are you reading in 2025?

[TiQuinn]

Authorial tics--and King does have some--stand out more in audiobooks. When I worked recording them, it was not unusual for us to make fun of books (or series) for things that repeated often. There was one series where the author was going for a character being the strong silent (or at least terse) type, but he'd get into conversations, and he'd be an active (if silent) participant--so there was a lot of Character nodded and Character said nothing in those books. I know what the author was going, but man it flew off the page when read aloud.

I think in his short stories they’re more forgivable since the characters don’t need to be fully fleshed out any more than needed to get the point across in a small narrative. Where it drives me crazy are some of his novels, particularly when he’s bringing in some of pseudo-language a la The Dark Tower combined with sometimes non-genuine characters (at least to me). I remember listening to that and Lisey’s Story which was full of made up terms like “Bools” and “Booya Moons” where puzzling out what the nonsensical term is ultimately key to the story. The effect was more silly given the seriousness of the story and I couldn’t really finish that one.

But it’s King. When they’re hits, they’re big hits. But you have to also suffer the misses.

 

[prabe]

I think in his short stories they’re more forgivable since the characters don’t need to be fully fleshed out any more than needed to get the point across in a small narrative. Where it drives me crazy are some of his novels, particularly when he’s bringing in some of pseudo-language a la The Dark Tower combined with sometimes non-genuine characters (at least to me). I remember listening to that and Lisey’s Story which was full of made up terms like “Bools” and “Booya Moons” where puzzling out what the nonsensical term is ultimately key to the story. The effect was more silly given the seriousness of the story and I couldn’t really finish that one.

But it’s King. When they’re hits, they’re big hits. But you have to also suffer the misses.

The Dark Tower does have some real issues, I think being written piecemeal did it no favors--though I think watching the authorial voice evolve is a real pleasure. I do not think I've ever had any problem following any author's use of made-up words in fiction on the page; sometimes those words were a problem when I worked recording audiobooks, of course, because we couldn't find a source for them--and keeping track of consistency for a 1200-page novel can be difficult.

 

[TiQuinn]

The Dark Tower does have some real issues, I think being written piecemeal did it no favors--though I think watching the authorial voice evolve is a real pleasure. I do not think I've ever had any problem following any author's use of made-up words in fiction on the page; sometimes those words were a problem when I worked recording audiobooks, of course, because we couldn't find a source for them--and keeping track of consistency for a 1200-page novel can be difficult.

It’s not really a problem following them per se, but sometimes the particular choice of made-up word for me has an effect that may be opposite that of which the author possibly intends: sounding silly rather than scary, for instance.

 

[prabe]

It’s not really a problem following them per se, but sometimes the particular choice of made-up word for me has an effect that may be opposite that of which the author possibly intends: sounding silly rather than scary, for instance.

Not disagreeing, but again, that's a thing that might be at least less of a thing on the page.

 

[Autumnal]

John Scalzi has blogged about how writing for audio has affected his writing in general. As usual with him, it’s friendly and casual-seeming over some impressive analysis of craft.

John Scalzi: Writing For Audio Made Me A Better Writer, Period

Cut dialogue tags and consider the narrator — tips from the Hugo Award-winning author of Audible Studios' "The Dispatcher."

www.audible.com

 

[Pale Violet Light]

The Dark Tower does have some real issues, I think being written piecemeal did it no favors..

I really didn't like the Dark Tower and the tonal shifts were one of the reasons why. The Gunslinger is wonderfully atmospheric and then it’s a slow slide into incoherence. I think he changed his coke supplier between novels and it really shows.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I finished reading Shelley's Frankenstein. This time around, I have a suspicion both Frankenstein and the Creature are unreliable narrators. And as much as people will say Victor Frankenstein is the real monster, I dunno after this re-read. The Creature does a whole lot of murdering innocents. Better to say that they are both monsters in different ways.

Now I'm reading Chuck Tingle's Lucky Day.

John Scalzi has blogged about how writing for audio has affected his writing in general. As usual with him, it’s friendly and casual-seeming over some impressive analysis of craft.

John Scalzi: Writing For Audio Made Me A Better Writer, Period

Cut dialogue tags and consider the narrator — tips from the Hugo Award-winning author of Audible Studios' "The Dispatcher."

www.audible.com

I'm reminded of how Robert E. Howard read (some reports) his stories aloud as he typed them. There is a flow to his writing as a result.

 

[Alzrius]

And as much as people will say Victor Frankenstein is the real monster, I dunno after this re-read. The Creature does a whole lot of murdering innocents.

 

[prabe]

I'm reminded of how Robert E. Howard read (some reports) his stories aloud as he typed them. There is a flow to his writing as a result.

Whether they literally read their stories aloud as they type, there are authors I'm pretty sure hear their language in their heads. When you record audiobooks, you can tell.

Though in honesty, it's been long enough that I don't know if I can tell, reading silently, at least most of the time--some folks who routinely turn phrases brilliantly, I'll probably presume they hear their prose.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I finished reading Shelley's Frankenstein. This time around, I have a suspicion both Frankenstein and the Creature are unreliable narrators. And as much as people will say Victor Frankenstein is the real monster, I dunno after this re-read. The Creature does a whole lot of murdering innocents. Better to say that they are both monsters in different ways.

Shelley was from an era that thought that people had to be taught moral codes, so the monster heading out into the world without decades of going to church and schooling was a moral empty vessel.

This, of course, flies in the face of what any parent knows -- that even preverbal children have a sense of fairness and of right and wrong -- but those were the times they lived in.