So I need to know, am I a freak, or just a bit too anal?
I’m reading Eragon, which is a Young Adult fantasy. (Please don’t tell anyone I’m not a Young Adult) and I came across something that just stuck in my craw.
On one page is this sentence:
At dawn the sun’s rays streamed through the window, warming Eragon’s face.
Fair enough. It’s a warm day. The characters awake and break their fasts and then its time to go work in the fields and we read:
The sun was cold and pale. providing little comfort.
WTF? So now it seems like a winter sun. What kind of day has the sun getting cooler as the day goes on?
And why in the world does this bother me? I read it yesterday and this morning its still bugging me. Maybe its the editor in me or something. But does that kind of thing bug other readers, too?
Mind you, I’m certainly not condeming the entire book because of this one faux pas. In fact I’m enjoying it so far. This post is more about introspection than critiquing the book. Why can’t I let stuff like this go!!!?? 🙂
I haven’t read the book yet, but almost certainly will now that it is out in paperback. The author was 15 or 16 years old when he wrote it, as far as I know. He’s about 19 or 20 now? The sequel is coming out in August and eagerly awaited by a lot of fans.
As for your observation about details, it seems to be somewhat subjective as to what details like that will grab my attention. I can let them go if the story is otherwise engaging, but if they start to stick out, that’s a sure sign that the story did need firmer editting. I’d have to believe that a book written by a teenager would need a lot of editting, but from what I understand, publishers tend to skimp in that department these days.
Of course, when it is still bugging you a day later, definitely you need to let it go! I wish I had a suggestion for you, but I can obsess over small things myself. Music is helpful for getting past these things. Or toying with my own plotting problems in my brain.
I try not to ponder why I do that, since that just seems to aggravate the problem.
Nice looking blog.