Book meets wall
Mar. 31st, 2005 07:37 pmNot literally; I don't mistreat books, and in any case it was two in the morning when I read this:
That's from Elizabeth Haydon's latest, Elegy for a Lost Star.
It doesn't make sense. Yes, there are stars that can be seen from the northern hemisphere but not the southern, and vice versa, but that's because of where they are in relation to the ecliptic. It has nothing to do with longitude; the only way that bit would make sense would be if it was a geostationary satellite, and I'm reasonably sure that this is not that sort of world. It's very much a fantasy world, cobbled together from mismatched bits of mythology, but fairly explicitly spherical. I might allow it a certain amount of slack in matters of physics, but I draw the line at geometry that just doesn't work.
I very rarely give up on a book once I'm well into it, but this may be one of those times. In fact, I may just trade in the whole series and never look at the author's work again. It was a long way from being a favourite anyway, and this nonsense was the last straw. It's filling a much-needed gap on my shelf, but not, probably, for much longer.
The aubade to Seren had always been particularly poignant when sung in this new land, as she could never see it; it sparkled in darkness half a world away when the sun was high above her, and slept in the light of day when she was out beneath the stars of this new land.
That's from Elizabeth Haydon's latest, Elegy for a Lost Star.
It doesn't make sense. Yes, there are stars that can be seen from the northern hemisphere but not the southern, and vice versa, but that's because of where they are in relation to the ecliptic. It has nothing to do with longitude; the only way that bit would make sense would be if it was a geostationary satellite, and I'm reasonably sure that this is not that sort of world. It's very much a fantasy world, cobbled together from mismatched bits of mythology, but fairly explicitly spherical. I might allow it a certain amount of slack in matters of physics, but I draw the line at geometry that just doesn't work.
I very rarely give up on a book once I'm well into it, but this may be one of those times. In fact, I may just trade in the whole series and never look at the author's work again. It was a long way from being a favourite anyway, and this nonsense was the last straw. It's filling a much-needed gap on my shelf, but not, probably, for much longer.
