# OK, so how is N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth series? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 21, 2018, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-how-is-n-k-jemisins-broken-earth-series/819951 "2018-08-21T03:53:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-how-is-n-k-jemisins-broken-earth-series/819951/101 "2018-09-06T22:30:16Z")
I was going to write a long post about the differences between slush piles and published, award-winning novels. But really, why bother? It’s irrelevant to anybody who understands the real world and meaningless to those who deny reality. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-how-is-n-k-jemisins-broken-earth-series/819951/102 "2018-09-07T00:43:08Z")
Changing the antecedent doesn’t move the goalposts? :dubious: An author’s work can’t (or couldn’t for most of modern history) become awardwinning without first getting past gatekeepers. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-how-is-n-k-jemisins-broken-earth-series/819951/103 "2018-09-07T02:25:12Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I Googled “tom swift excerpt” just now, to give an example (I haven’t read those books since I was a little kid, and they were dusty old relics even then) and honestly what I found (from “Tom Swift and His Motor-Cycle”, LOL) is actually better written than the Willis. There is a bit more scene-setting description (in the Willis scene there is literally none except, again, that the “tech” is pretty and young looking) and distinctly more vivid action: > > [http://www.uniteddigitalbooks.com/Books/Tom%20Swift%20and%20His%20Motor-Cycle-1.pdf](http://www.uniteddigitalbooks.com/Books/Tom%20Swift%20and%20His%20Motor-Cycle-1.pdf) Were you aware that the original Tom Swift books were written by Howard Garis, most famous for Uncle Wiggly? I’ve read maybe 10 of them recently, and while their age shows (and their racism, but not as bad as original Nancy Drew) they are more readable - and more scientific - than the '50s and '60s vintage Tom Swift Jr. books. Better than Willis? I’ve read all three Hugo Winners, and I’m not a super big fan but not because of writing style. “To Say Nothing of the Dog” might be the most fun, but I think you have to have a soft spot for novels from the time in which it is set. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-how-is-n-k-jemisins-broken-earth-series/819951/104 "2018-09-07T02:29:44Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Changing the antecedent doesn’t move the goalposts? :dubious: No, no it doesn’t. Nor does it move the goalposts instead of admitting error to, y’know, say, “Yes, I was wrong about exactly which author you were trying to condemn through this dumb argument; my apologies.” Admitting an error and correcting it is, and this is important, _exactly the opposite of moving the goalposts instead of admitting error_. Now, a tip: if you want to go for some sort of ourobourean irony, you should, instead of admitting your mistake here, pretend that you were actually making an entirely different accusation and urge me to defend myself against that. That would be cool. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-how-is-n-k-jemisins-broken-earth-series/819951/105 "2018-09-07T03:50:54Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Were you aware that the original Tom Swift books were written by Howard Garis, most famous for Uncle Wiggly? I’ve read maybe 10 of them recently, and while their age shows (and their racism, but not as bad as original Nancy Drew) they are more readable - and more scientific - than the '50s and '60s vintage Tom Swift Jr. books. Interesting. So does that include the one I quoted from (“Motor-Cycle”)? > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > No, no it doesn’t. Nor does it move the goalposts instead of admitting error to, y’know, say, “Yes, I was wrong about exactly which author you were trying to condemn through this dumb argument; my apologies.” > > Admitting an error and correcting it is, and this is important, _exactly the opposite of moving the goalposts instead of admitting error_. Hmm. :dubious: > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Yes, I was wrong about exactly which author you were trying to condemn through this dumb argument; my apologies. Change the antecedent for “SHE” in my quote, though, and my mockery of your really dumb argument remains intact. Woulld you deny that the above quote is identical in meaning to a slightly reworded version as follows: > [@](#): > > Yes, I was wrong about exactly which author you were trying to condemn through this dumb argument; my apologies. But if we change the antecedent for “SHE” in my quote, my mockery of your really dumb argument remains intact. ? If you don’t deny it, then please watch this very short video clip: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIvYWUVB1Ig) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-how-is-n-k-jemisins-broken-earth-series/819951/106 "2018-09-07T06:20:55Z")
Oh great, **LHOD** , now you’ve got _homework_. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-how-is-n-k-jemisins-broken-earth-series/819951/107 "2018-09-07T08:34:23Z")
It’s literally less than five seconds long. I bought _The Fifth Season_; reading it now. So far she hasn’t repeated any of that ultra-informal Twitter-y nonsense, which makes the prose much better. And the story is interesting even if it’s more in the fantasy realm (in fact, I find it more absorbing than any fantasy I’ve encountered outside of the Game of Thrones HBO series). But this makes it even more unfathomable that no editor prevailed upon her to ditch that silliness in the crucial opening passages of the novel. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-how-is-n-k-jemisins-broken-earth-series/819951/108 "2018-09-07T11:31:55Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Hmm. :dubious: > > Woulld you deny that the above quote is identical in meaning to a slightly reworded version as follows: > > If you don’t deny it, then please watch this very short video clip: > > [https://youtu.be/jIvYWUVB1Ig](https://youtu.be/jIvYWUVB1Ig) It is clear that you believe you’re making a point–and it’s just as clear that you don’t understand what “moving the goalposts” means, or what “admitting error” means. Props for actually looking something up, though. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-how-is-n-k-jemisins-broken-earth-series/819951/109 "2018-09-07T15:27:43Z")
I guess you don’t know what “horseshit” is. ---
**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:** [September 8, 2018, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-how-is-n-k-jemisins-broken-earth-series/819951/110 "2018-09-08T12:22:38Z")
[Moderating] I just got a report for one particular post in this thread, but skimming over the last page for context, I found that the whole thread appeared to be a pissing contest. Looking back through the middle of the previous page, I find that it was mostly a pissing contest even then. I think it’s safe to say that anything worthwhile to say here has already been said. If I had seen the thread earlier, it might have been salvageable: Please, if folks see a thread starting to crash, report it sooner rather than later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-how-is-n-k-jemisins-broken-earth-series/819951.md?page=5)