The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

It was bad when Amazon/publishers started putting part of blurb into book title. But what madness is it to use that exactly as a filename?

I can save a filename with a ":" in it on Linux, but rsync backup will fall over.

Note to self: don't just shorten file names but make sure no stupid characters. They should get lessons from Kovid Goyal.

They should get lessons from those of us who edit eBooks to do the formatting/code correctly.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What book is this in case I can get it from the library?

Shadowmarch by Tad Williams. I read it on paper long ago, and as I planned to read the rest of the series, I bought all of them as ebooks, but haven't gotten around to them before now.

Anyway, I fixed the TOC. Fortunately it's easy to do in Calibre.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Anyway, I fixed the TOC. Fortunately it's easy to do in Calibre.

But why would you want to? I never read or used the TOC in paper books, and I don't do so now. I read my books from beginning to end, and my ereader keeps my place in it. TOCs are an irrelevance to me.

What am I missing?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

But why would you want to? I never read or used the TOC in paper books, and I don't do so now. I read my books from beginning to end, and my ereader keeps my place in it. TOCs are an irrelevance to me.

What am I missing?

I often go back to look up something I read before, when I want to refresh my memory. Granted, my memory is rather poor. Sometimes I use the search for this, but sometimes the TOC, or the chapter jump (which also doesn't work without a TOC).

[mbovenka]

Ah, yes, the chapter jump can be useful sometimes. Not enough for me to fix a TOC if there isn't one or if it's broken, though.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

I never read or used the TOC in paper books, and I don't do so now.

I like to have the chapter title in the footer.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I often go back to look up something I read before, when I want to refresh my memory. Granted, my memory is rather poor. Sometimes I use the search for this, but sometimes the TOC, or the chapter jump (which also doesn't work without a TOC).

And sometimes chapter titles will have a date in them in a multi-timeline story. I find that useful.

[ownedbycats]

I would really like to punch publishers (or authors, in the case of self-publication) who miscategorize their books.

[maddz]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I would really like to punch publishers (or authors, in the case of self-publication) who miscategorize their books.

I suspect it's a marketing thing. If there's a remote smidgen of a genre, tag it with that genre just so it comes up in searches. Never mind it's historical fiction, if there's a mention of science or witchcraft, add to science fiction and fantasy.

It's one of the reasons I rarely go for more modern books.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I would really like to punch publishers (or authors, in the case of self-publication) who miscategorize their books.

It seems like every Science Fiction book is also categorized as Fantasy.
Apache

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by Apache

It seems like every Science Fiction book is also categorized as Fantasy.
Apache

Sometimes the other way around too.

Also, I dislike how often science fiction, fantasy, and horror all tend to end up grouped together. yes, they're all speculative fiction, but if I want to read one type I don't want to have my results cluttered up with the others.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Sometimes the other way around too.

Also, I dislike how often science fiction, fantasy, and horror all tend to end up grouped together. yes, they're all speculative fiction, but if I want to read one type I don't want to have my results cluttered up with the others.

I think this stems from Brick & Mortar Retail. They were almost always grouped together as they used to be a smaller fiction offering than other kinds.

The practice just never changed.

But...

Space travel and Magic are still a common theme

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Sometimes the other way around too.

Also, I dislike how often science fiction, fantasy, and horror all tend to end up grouped together. yes, they're all speculative fiction, but if I want to read one type I don't want to have my results cluttered up with the others.

Yes, and sometimes horror and fantasy together, and you can have horror with no more fantasy than any detective, romance or western.

Also loads of Fantasy fans have no interest in Horror.

But there is a spectrum of SF & F. Some SF has only a few or one fantasy elements (real hard SF with no fantasy at all is rare). There is Dune, which is very like Fantasy. Earlier Pern books only SF by virtue of the Prologue. Then there is Cordwainer Smith's Instrumentality series, practically the original SF + Psychic powers.
Space Opera going back to the origin with 1928 EE "Doc" Smith (Skylark uses Iron as fuel and he certainly knew it was the most impossible fuel! An "in" joke?) and 1930s movie shorts Flash Gordon as much Fantasy as SF. See also Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, Capek's RUR and Lucien's true history.
It's easier to find Fantasy with no SF or Horror elements than SF without Fantasy, though loads of SF has no actual magic or psychic powers. But much fantasy in SF is "magic by another name" (see TV Tropes). Is the original Alien Movie SF or Horror? It's really horror in an SF setting. Dark Star is comedy with a largely SF setting.

The Morgaine Cycle by C. J. Cherryh are very like Portal Fantasy, but like Pern have an SF element.

Eddings sticks in an SF element in one of his novels (maybe one of the Elenium), but otherwise they very traditional fantasy.

Fantasy might have no magic. In SF magic is usually called psychic powers, or there is impossible nanotech, or impossible AI. Of course each author having star travel has three options:
1) A Generation ship. "Hard SF"
2) A ship with hibernation (actual cryogenic is fantasy, but hibernation/coma is real).
3) Handwavium FTL, either by really going faster and ignoring relativity, or a sciency version of fantasy portals (worm hole is fantasy variation that would destroy any real structure), or skipping to an alternate kind of space for a short cut.
1 & 2 are not popular as you can't have the space equivalent of 16th to 19th C Earth travel and exploration, at least not easily with the same characters for a series.
Have as few unlikely handwavium as possible in the SF if you want it very SF and not like Pern, Dune, Starwars, or Star Trek (one of the worst for inherently fantasy elements, not even consistently done), see Simak's Waystation for a possible inspiration of the Transporter (in it it's practically the single fantasy element and a maguffin to make the story possible.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Sometimes the other way around too.

Also, I dislike how often science fiction, fantasy, and horror all tend to end up grouped together. yes, they're all speculative fiction, but if I want to read one type I don't want to have my results cluttered up with the others.

Even worse is a tacky romance that the author has used SF or fantasy elements so it can be stuck under SFF/Fantasy when really, it's a really tacky romance.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Even worse is a tacky romance that the author has used SF or fantasy elements so it can be stuck under SFF/Fantasy when really, it's a really tacky romance.

And I like my romances done like a golden age cosy detective story and a HEA. Not tacky. The setting doesn't matter as long as it is properly done.

See "Riders of the Purple Sage" by Zane Grey for a Western with other genres in it. I think on Gutenberg.