New Columbia Novel - J. B. Hogan

[Robert_Moriyama]

So you tease the poor fellow by starting a topic for his novel -- then tell him he has to wait a few weeks for actual comments. Sounds like a Cheney-approved "enhanced criticism" technique!



(I can bring politics into ANY discussion. Of course, religion, the economy, torture, and climate are the OBVIOUS topics, but I'm sure there are more!)

RM

[Lester Curtis]

The term you want is "Glossary." I recall at least one science-fiction author who included one -- Frank Herbert . . . I remember having to refer to it periodically while reading Dune.

Personally, I prefer to explain mysterious terms in the context of the story by way of dialog, so that the reader doesn't have to interrupt the flow of the story to find out what's being referenced. It's more work to write that way, though; the writer has to contrive conversation just for this purpose. I have found this a fun challenge at times, actually, and there's a bonus in word-count if you're struggling to complete a thousand-page trilogy. And of course, we all know better than to turn glossary terms into info-dumps.

[Lester Curtis]

So speaking of Dune, I preferred the Dune Encyclopedia, which among other things included recipes for Fremen Bread.

I can see it now . . . an advertisement for some yet-to-be-written sci-fi epic:

" . . . order the stunning and critically acclaimed Starstung Trilogy today at your favorite bookstore! (Authorized Starstung Dictionary sold separately.)"

MUWAHAHAHA-HA-HA!

Really, I don't like the trend. Time was, that works of fiction almost never needed glossaries or dictionaries, because the book or story itself gave you everything you needed, within its context. Some of them needed a map, thoughtfully provided inside the cover at no additional charge. I think it's unkind and thoughtless -- and maybe even a symptom of laziness -- for a writer to force the reader to look up references in order to know who's who and what's going on.

Remember, "Easy reading is hard writing."

[Robert_Moriyama]

J. R. R. Tolkien provided hundreds of pages of appendices for the Lord of the Rings. (This was probably an improvement on, say, Melville's Moby Dick, which had whole chapters on whaling -- a practice carried on by John Norman in the later Gor novels (viz. Wagon People of Gor, etc.).)

Those of us old enough to remember the early days of personal computer software will recall the "Que" books that many used to figure out how to use Lotus 1-2-3 and other popular software -- because the manuals provided by the software publishers were unreadable.

Now we have Guides and Compendiums for every popular TV series or movie series, and "... for Dummies" and "Complete Idiot's Guides" for everything else.

In dodging the infodump bullet, we walked right into a pit full o' merchandising "sold separately" (insight not included).