my_daroga: Sirius from Diana Wynne Jones' Dogsbody. Based on my dog. (dog)
my_daroga ([personal profile] my_daroga) wrote2010-05-11 01:44 pm

In which I eschew actual review for petty irritation

I am about 3/4 done with Laurie R. King's latest, The God of the Hive, which is the ninth in her Mary Russell series and follows on directly from the last book. I don't have a review--for some reason, I never feel as inclined/capable about book reviews as film. I don't know why that is.

No, the reason I'm posting today is because I am annoyed, and it is about authors explaining their references. Specifically, after the plane crash, the forest hermit pulls them out and twinkles merrily. King makes some references to Arden, and Midsummer, "Robert Goodman" introduces himself, and then King proceeds to remind us every few pages that "Robert Goodman" might as well be "Robin Goodfellow"! *gasp* I think this has happened at least six times at this point.

Honestly, if I get the reference, then great. If I don't, no harm done. If I do, and then I have it constantly explained, I just feel like the author thinks I'm too stupid to get it, and frankly, if I didn't get it the first time am I going to the fifth? I would have been far easier with the allusion, further, if it had remained less explicit (and it wasn't very subtle to begin with).
laughingrat: The Harold Ramis and Bill Murray in "Ghostbusters" encounter a tall, narrow stack of books in the NYPL (Paranormal Activity)

[personal profile] laughingrat 2010-05-12 01:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh Jesus, that would be really irritating. And how the hell does she work this into a Holmes pastiche, really? I mean, that sort of thing is antithetical to the whole genre.
laughingrat: Appears to be Basil Rathbone as Holmes. (Sherlock Holmes)

[personal profile] laughingrat 2010-05-12 01:51 pm (UTC)(link)
*nods* Right on. I sort of want to be interested in them, and yet. *dithers* But they must not be too bad; you've made it through the whole series.
Edited 2010-05-12 13:51 (UTC)
laughingrat: Little old lady witches drinkin' tea and plotting. (Consciousness-Raising)

[personal profile] laughingrat 2010-05-12 02:01 pm (UTC)(link)
I hear that--it's nice to have something ongoing that you can anticipate new stories from. And yeah, I would've been hooked too--and maybe still would be. I oughta just read the damn thing and get it over with. :)
laughingrat: Little old lady witches drinkin' tea and plotting. (Consciousness-Raising)

[personal profile] laughingrat 2010-05-12 02:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Hot damn, that's awesome. Was it on fannishness? I love, love it when people inside fandom write academically about fannishness. It's nifty. :-D
laughingrat: A detail of leaping rats from an original movie poster for the first film of Nosferatu (Default)

[personal profile] laughingrat 2010-05-12 02:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Nice! That's very cool, I like that. And I agree.