As often happens when I am in the library listlessly looking for something to read, and not being particularly moved by anything, I checked out the latest Terry Pratchett. In this case it was Thud!, a Watch book, and it was about what I expected it to be. The Watch books are a lot less scattered, on the whole, than the other ones, and although I find his social commentary mostly high-handed and mean-spirited, this book was mostly character stuff, which worked OK. The great thing (for me) about Terry Pratchett books is that at worst I am going to be mildly annoyed, leavened by a few funny jokes. At best, of course, I will be mildly amused, leavened by a few annoying bits. Dependable. For better or whatnot.
What is also sadly dependable is that there will be half-a-dozen or more typos, not complicated editing problems but just the sort of hijjus typos that are left in if the publisher rushes the book out without having any particular respect for readers, or books for that matter. No, that’s too harsh. Without having any particular recognition that typos ruin my reading experience. I mean, perhaps most readers don’t care that much, and after all I was able to make out the sense of the sentence, but to me it always feels like a gesture of contempt on the part of the publisher, and makes me feel frustrated and angry. I know, having proofread a few things in my time, that it is actually quite difficult to make the final copy completely clean. Further, my sense that when I was a kid, there weren’t so many typos is based on, um, dim memories of my glorious youth. For all I know, actual data would show that modern techniques actually have decreased the incidence of typos in books, and that they stand out so much to me because there are fewer, rather than more of them.
Also, YHB is aware that there are way too many typos in this Tohu Bohu. I do read over the notes before I post ’em, but then proofreading is hard. The remaining typos aren’t meant as a gesture of contempt for the reader, or of a lack of interest in the Tohu Bohu, but as a standing symbol of YHB’s incompetence and lack of editorship.
chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek,
-Vardibidian.
On this topic (but not really), have you taken a look yet at Thud!, the game? I’ve read over the rules and played a couple of games on the little web applet, and it looks like good fun. Expensive to buy a set from the UK dealer, but easy enough to make a set with cardboard, paint, and eight pawns (trolls) and 40 go stones (dwarves).