Book bitching

I now have 3,000+ words on my little space opera, which still needs a name.

Hooray.

In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out what, precisely, is bothering me about the books I read. Mild spoilers ahead.

The latest novel I picked up, Xombies: Apocalypse Blues (by Walter Greatshell) is what prompted the discussion. The cover art looks cool (though it has nothing to do with the book; the heroine is a flat-chested 17yo, the girl on the cover looks like Shiri Appleby, boobs and all - also, WTF is the Queen Mary doing there? So far they're in a submarine off the East Coast. I guess it's possible the Mary shows up later, but so far it's just WTF). The book's not bad. The writing is just...off. It sounds like an adult male trying to sound like a 17yo female and failing. There's just little things here and there. I used to be 17. I am female, despite my tomboy tendencies. We don't talk or think like that.

The narration itself is jarring. Greatshell does get it right now and then, but then he pulls back and just...screws with my head again, I guess. Oh, and there's an entire page where the dialogue is in ALL CAPS because THEY ARE TALKING THROUGH BULLHORNS. I'm sorry. When did this become acceptable in publication? I DO NOT NEED A PAGE OF ALL CAPS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Oh. Yeah. It's another zombie book. Whatever. Some of them are fun. Most of them are ass, but some are fun.

Earth Abides is a classic - minus the zombies. I generally enjoyed reading it, except for the hero, Ish.

How can I explain Ish? Ish struck me as cold. I couldn't feel anything for him as a character. I'm not sure if this was intentional (he is described as a scholar, never great with people) or if it's just a failure of characterization. The only person he really, consistently shows warmth to is his wife, Em, whom he thinks of as "mother of nations." He loves what she represents, rather than her. He shows little to no interest in his children, save Joey, who he sees as smart and possibly the savior of mankind.

(Mankind, or what's left of it, needs a savior because Ish & co reproduced too damn fast and all their children don't want to learn to read or write or do 'rithmatic. I guess my point is, Ish is more interested in mankind progressing than life itself.)

There is no real point to this entry. If I were a responsible blogger I'd point out what I do differently, but I haven't had my morning coffee yet...so that's not going to happen. :)