# Book Errors That Pull You Out of the Story **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2017, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686 "2017-05-02T01:04:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/61 "2017-05-03T10:40:12Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I think it was an Elmore Leonard book. Two “streetwise” characters were in a cafe, and were giving a waitress a lot of grief. I thought: that seems dumb- they must like eating saliva. A defining characteristic of Elmore Leonard novels is that the characters aren’t nearly as smart as they think they are. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/62 "2017-05-03T12:15:08Z")
My most recent read is Hugo nominee _A Closed and Common Orbit_ by Becky Chambers. The first gigantic mistake I noticed was in describing the function of a robot that recharged it’s batteries by capturing energy from it’s movements throughout the day. Yes, she wrote that a machine can use it’s batteries to move joints, and use the movement of those joints to recharge the battery. (No, you can’t be charitable and say that there was some other means of recharging the batteries and recovered energy just supplemented it–this was the only charging method mentioned.) This made me pay more attention to other problems in the book. Much of the book takes place on a planet that is tidally locked to it’s sun with a moon tidally locked to the planet. This is a situation that would be, let’s just say “difficult” to achieve. To achieve it and have a human-comfortable environment? Yeah, about as likely as the perpetual motion machine robot. Also, the main characters lived on the perpetually dark side of the tidally-locked planet, and it was only mildly chilly–say, “wearing a sweater when you went outside” cold, not “wearing snowshoes as you walk across the frozen oxygen” cold. Another issue was a small shuttlecraft (on the surface of a planet) with an outer surface covered with solar panels, and those solar panels were providing enough electricity to power lighting, computers, water filtration, kitchen appliances, and everything else on the shuttle. There really should be a term for “fiction based in the future” that isn’t “science fiction” when the author so clearly doesn’t know or understand even the most basic of science. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/63 "2017-05-03T15:20:01Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > Okay, let me try … I think you’re right, that’s a pretty big error. Assuming Google is correct that liquid O[sub]2[/sub] has a density of 1.141 grams per cm[sup]3[/sup], I get 50 liters of O[sub]2[/sub] converting to about 64 liters of water… > ETA: Please let me know if I messed that calculation up. Looks correct to me! I think the author should have invested that effort elsewhere, like in potato drama. Also, not sure if ivylass was cross-referencing _The Martian_ on the profanity complaint, but somehow I felt like this was another place the author was trying a little too hard with the gritty realism. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/64 "2017-05-03T16:01:33Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Also, not sure if ivylass was cross-referencing _The Martian_ on the profanity complaint, but somehow I felt like this was another place the author was trying a little too hard with the gritty realism. Nah, just another thought that popped into my head. I think if I were stranded on Mars my language might get a bit colorful too. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/65 "2017-05-03T16:03:38Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > There really should be a term for “fiction based in the future” that isn’t “science fiction” when the author so clearly doesn’t know or understand even the most basic of science. Speculative fiction? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/66 "2017-05-03T16:42:45Z")
Was that book nominated for the Hugo by the Sick Puppies, or did actual science fiction fans let howlers like that pass? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/67 "2017-05-03T16:47:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Was that book nominated for the Hugo by the Sick Puppies, or did actual science fiction fans let howlers like that pass? They let the exact same error go by in Dune (and a rather similar one go by in “Red Mars”)… ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/68 "2017-05-03T16:54:09Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Was that book nominated for the Hugo by the Sick Puppies, or did actual science fiction fans let howlers like that pass? No, it is a legit pick. Current voting trends are towards SF that is a good deal softer than my personal preference. (ETA now I’m not sure if you meant _A Closed and Common Orbit_ or _The Martian_. _The Martian_ definitely had puppy love, but legit votes, too. _ACaCO_ is pretty much the antithesis of everything the puppies love.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/69 "2017-05-03T17:05:41Z")
I meant _A Closed and Common Orbit_. _The Martian_ definitely deserved its nomination, and while the referenced calculation is wrong, it’s at least the right order of magnitude, plausible for someone doing a back-of-the-envelope calculation, as Watney probably was. And I don’t remember either perpetual-motion machines nor sun-moon-planet mutual tidal locks in _Dune_. The tidal lock, yeah, OK, I can accept that an author might know literally nothing about celestial mechanics, but anyone who doesn’t know that perpetual motion is impossible has no business graduating from high school, much less writing science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/70 "2017-05-03T17:06:23Z")
Another Niven one: at the end of the Dream Park novel “California Voodoo Game” the same day is identified as Saturday and Tuesday about a paragraph apart. Seriously, that’s just careless. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/71 "2017-05-03T17:30:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > …I can accept that an author might know literally nothing about celestial mechanics, but anyone who doesn’t know that perpetual motion is impossible has no business graduating from high school, much less writing science fiction. I just looked back at the book to make sure that I was remembering correctly and wasn’t being unfair to the author. The robot is perusing it’s user’s manual: [QUOTE=A Closed and Common Orbit] Your body has been given a three-day ‘booster charge’, which will give you the energy needed to start moving (and, of course, to support your core consciousness). By then, your onboard generator will have harvested enough kinetic energy to keep you going. You’ll be able to power yourself by that point. Unless you spend several days completely motionless in bed, you’ll always have enough power. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/72 "2017-05-03T18:21:37Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > a robot that recharged it’s batteries by capturing energy from it’s movements … a machine can use it’s batteries … a planet that is tidally locked to it’s sun > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > The robot is perusing it’s user’s manual: It’s its. Sorry, I know this is trivial but it’s like a nail scraping on a chalkboard to me. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/73 "2017-05-03T18:37:19Z")
In Michael Crichton’s hilarious yellow-peril novel _Rising Sun_, much is made of the super-high-resolution security cameras that are black and white in order to get that resolution. Then at the end, they’re watching security footage in which colors like the red of a woman’s skirt are detailed as important clues. If you’re paying the slightest attention to the story, it jumps out at you. There’s a for-fans-by-fans sf novel I’ve been told is one of the funniest books ever written. As my copy (and all I’ve ever found) are typeset in Friz Quadrata, I find it unreadable, as the font’s stylish hooks scrape my eyes. And, of course, Dan Brown parking the space station in a geosynchronous polar orbit at shuttle-access altitude. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/74 "2017-05-03T18:41:36Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > Nitpick: the capital / chief city of the country now named Belize, has in fact been called Belize Town / Belize City / just Belize, since the 17th century: so with the guys talking in terms of cities, the name would not have been anachronistic in the 1940s. The “speaking Spanish” bit is for sure a howler, though. Thanks, ignorance fought! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/75 "2017-05-03T18:53:19Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > There’s a for-fans-by-fans sf novel I’ve been told is one of the funniest books ever written. As my copy (and all I’ve ever found) are typeset in Friz Quadrata, I find it unreadable, as the font’s stylish hooks scrape my eyes. > . Link? Cite? Title? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/76 "2017-05-03T19:29:14Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The problem with that is the novel is set in 1857. Nobody would have thought of Dracula as a vampire in 1857. Nobody other than a medieval historian would have even recognized the name Dracula. Prince Vlad Dracula was an obscure fifteenth century Wallachian warlord until Bram Stoker appropriated his name for his 1897 novel. > > In 1857, a vampire would have compared himself to Sir Francis Varney or Lord Ruthven. Unless Vlad Teppes had really been a vampire. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/77 "2017-05-03T19:50:27Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Link? Cite? Title? Sorry, didn’t think anyone would care. \ It was… it was… _Bimbos of the Death Sun_! \ Sharyn McCrumb. The edition with [this cover](http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1304015839l/1187197.jpg) is the only one I’ve ever been able to find. There are apparently other editions out there that might not even be set in Friz Quad. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/78 "2017-05-03T20:15:33Z")
In the following exchange, how old is Curt? * * * Curt shuffled in and climbed into the chair. His head was cowlicked to the point of punk. He looked sweaty, as if he had not had a very good night. He slumped in the chair as blankly as an old wino on a city curb. Greg cleared his throat. “Long day’s night?” Curt rolled a bleary eye and fumbled in his kimono pockets for a tissue. “Turkey hangover,” Greg said. Curt nodded solemnly. “Yeah,” said Greg. “Much as I hate to bring up the subject, how about breakfast?” Curt groaned. “My feeling exactly.” Greg stared at his coffee cup. Curt is 4 years old, and Greg is his dad. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/79 "2017-05-03T20:23:54Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > There’s a for-fans-by-fans sf novel I’ve been told is one of the funniest books ever written. As my copy (and all I’ve ever found) are typeset in Friz Quadrata, I find it unreadable, as the font’s stylish hooks scrape my eyes. Not a font but I remember reading a book in which the printer had made the inexplicable decision to use brown ink instead of black. It had no connection with the topic of the book, which was a non-fiction history of WWII. It wasn’t unreadable but it was constantly distracting because it made you notice the printing. Sorry to all you printers out there but things like ink color and fonts and page size are supposed to be “invisible”. They’re a failure if the reader notices them. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-errors-that-pull-you-out-of-the-story/785686/80 "2017-05-03T20:48:52Z")
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