# Things your favorite authors do that annoy you **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [June 27, 2025, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201 "2025-06-27T17:23:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![De\_La\_Rue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@De\_La\_Rue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/De_La_Rue)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/81 "2025-08-19T18:03:48Z")
This is pretty belated, but since this thread has been bumped I’d like to point out, from the first post: > [@commasense](#): > > it’s not the anachronisms, like the fact that Stout gives Wolfe’s house several different street numbers, some of which couldn’t be between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, or that lawyer Nathaniel Parker is called Henry the first few times he appears, or that police Lt. George Rowcliff is identified as J.M. Rowcliff in one book, and sometimes spelled Rowcliffe These are inconsistencies, not anachronisms (which would be something out of place temporally, like Archie writing his stories with a quill pen.). ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2025, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/82 "2025-08-19T18:38:11Z")
. .😳. . ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/83 "2025-08-19T18:54:23Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe novels are among my favorite books. I’ve read all 47 of them multiple times, and every few years I’ll run through the whole series again, just to be able to spend some time in the brownstone on West 35th Street with Archie, Fritz, and Wolfe. Same here, great characters, decent mysteries, and a light touch of humor. > [@commasense](#): > > **Killing people by running them over with a car.** IIRC, in several of those, the victim was knocked out first- then run over- sometimes to make it look like an accident. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > I don’t recall reading about the window in Wolfe’s office Nor do i. The window is in the Front Room. > [@commasense](#): > > But he _never_ talks about picking locks. Ever. He does on a couple of occasions, the ones i remember were easy locks like on a suitcase. And he implies it several times. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The books are otherwise lots of fun, if you like screwball comedy. I enjoy those books, Asey is a great character, along with Cousin Sid, etc Yes, she used that trick a lot. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > But Stout calls for the famous waterfall portrait with a > peephole to be behind Wolfe, ergo, Nope, it is clearly to the side so one can see Wolfe’s desk, etc. All of RAH’s heroines “dimpled” to smile. Also, Heinlein will STOP the action and plot to have a character go off on some political diatribe, often wrong. The worst is The Moon is a harsh Mistress” which I found myself struggling to re-read recently due to this. I enjoy Lee Child’s Jack reacher tales- but Jacks knowledge of guns is pretty pathetic. Example- a .38 special is considered way less powerful than a 9mm, but actually they are about the same- in fact bullet diameters are very close. And Cruise is a terrible Reacher- altho the films arent bad. For many modern Popular Writer, their books are barely edited. Maybe once lightly to correct typos etc, but never to cut out lengthy sidetracks. Later Wheel of Time books showed this. > [@susan](#): > > I’m not taking up the shelf space for someone who can work on other books but can’t finish his series. **Rothfuss!** The third Kingkiller book basically isnt coming out, despite the fact the Publisher has already paid him. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2025, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/84 "2025-08-26T01:48:46Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > enjoy those books, Asey is a great character, along with Cousin Sid, etc Cousin Syl. That’s my favourite mystery series. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Maybe once lightly to correct typos etc, Often with a spellchecker. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2025, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/85 "2025-08-26T02:31:30Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Cousin Syl. > > That’s my favourite mystery series. It is my second, after Nero Wolfe. But full of characters and a touch of humor. ---
**Author:** ![Eclipse\_Chaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Eclipse\_Chaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eclipse_Chaser)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2025, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/86 "2025-08-29T09:10:27Z")
I love all of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books and won’t hear a word said against them. However… on about my tenth re-read I start to realise that he over uses the word “carefully”. Once I noticed that, I stumble over it every time. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2025, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/87 "2025-08-29T12:56:43Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Robert Heinlein is an impressive writer, but it wasn’t until I started listening to him on audio that I realized that his characters all have the same verbal tics – phrases they use over and over, and which only started to annoy me when I heard them. Hey, no hoo-hoo. He just wants you to understand TANSTAAFL. In nearly every book. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2025, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/88 "2025-08-29T13:53:08Z")
I love Pterry, too, but the thing about him that I didn’t mention in my OP is that he almost never uses the [subjunctive mood](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjunctive_mood) (e.g., “If I were king,” instead of “If I was king.”) Now, it makes perfect sense that at least some of his unsophisticated characters wouldn’t know to use the subjunctive, but **none** of them do, and he rarely uses it in the narrative, when it would be appropriate. It’s one of those thing I notice in reading and watching films and TV, and in real life, too, and I was disappointed to observe its absence in Pterry’s writing. The other _really_ annoying thing he did was write stories about Rincewind. I HATE that character. (But I still read those books every once in a while.) ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/89 "2025-08-29T15:19:22Z")
Frank Herbert loves long pages of nothing but dialog. Often I’ll lose the trail of which line is being spoken or thought by which character in the dialog, and have to step back through lines to make sure I have the participants straight. Better breadcrumbing during the conversation would help. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2025, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/90 "2025-08-29T15:42:40Z")
Just a small thing. Roger Zelazny uses the word “chuckled” ALL THE TIME. When Corwin meets a crow in Book Five of the Amber series, he must have used that word a dozen or more times to describe the fooking thing. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2025, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/91 "2025-08-29T18:47:34Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > The other _really_ annoying thing he did was write stories about Rincewind. The thing is- most of the rest of the characters are winners in some way. RW is just so poor loser everyman schnook, who happens to be lucky. Itis a nice contrast. But yes, not my fave either. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2025, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/92 "2025-08-29T19:07:27Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > The other _really_ annoying thing he did was write stories about Rincewind. I HATE that character. (But I still read those books every once in a while.) Rincewind is personally responsible for me not reading the discworld books until this year, he’s everything I despise in a character. Fortunatelly my 4th or 5th attempt to break into discworld took the form of “Witches Abroad” a book completely free of any trace of Rincewind, I promptly read every other Rincewind-less book in the setting and even a couple were he appears as a secondary character. There is not enough money in the world to pay me to read an entire book with him as a main character though. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2025, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/93 "2025-08-30T01:55:48Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > I read a lot of Heinlein in college, and a lot of Asimov. Both of them tried, late in their careers, to have one “universe” where their stories took place. Asimov’s was was smoother, but still some of it was forced. I honestly feel Asimov was, finally, out of his depth when he tried to do that. The combined sequelization was a mess of continuity errors and just plain ridiculousness. ---
**Author:** ![Eclipse\_Chaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Eclipse\_Chaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eclipse_Chaser)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2025, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/94 "2025-08-30T07:55:29Z")
I despise Rincewind too. He makes me cringe. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2025, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/95 "2025-08-30T08:21:15Z")
I’ve been listening to Agatha Christie in my car since I became disgusted with public radio (previously the only news I trusted besides _The Skeptical Inquirer_). There’s not a particular writing technique she engages in that bugs me, but what does needle me is her go-to fake country, Herzoslovakia, which she made up by stealing the first half of a region of then Yugoslavia, and the second half of then Czechoslovakia. It’s a linguistic impossibility. “herzo” is Serbo-Croatian (a Slavic language), and more properly spelled “herce” for, basically, a duchy. It’s a family name, and when a large region had a family name, it meant that the family probably ruled the region and shared its name. “Slovakia” means something like “Land of glory,” and it means that in pretty much all Slavic languages. It’s weird to call a place both after its owners, and to call it “Land of Glory,” which is sort of a revolutionary name in E. Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2025, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/96 "2025-08-30T09:18:45Z")
(Edit, never mind) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2025, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/97 "2025-08-30T16:08:52Z")
Rincewind isn’t that bad. There, I said it! ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2025, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/98 "2025-08-30T17:07:33Z")
In the _Star Trek: I.K.S. Gorkon_ series by Keith R.A. DeCandido, he has the Klingons say the word “anyhow” an awful, awful lot. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2025, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/99 "2025-08-30T18:12:51Z")
Compared to whom? I guess he’s marginally better than Flashman, since he’s not a rapist. I definitely cannot stand Harry Flashman (there, I said it!) ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2025, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201/100 "2025-08-30T18:29:52Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > go-to fake country, Herzoslovakia, which she made up by stealing the first half of a region of then Yugoslavia, and the second half of then Czechoslovakia. From my reading youth in ‘Biggles goes to war’, I remember the plucky little Maltovia vs the bad bully Lovitzna, both ‘somewhere on the eastern fringe of Europe’… 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-your-favorite-authors-do-that-annoy-you/1020201.md?page=6)