• chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world
    6·
    15 hours ago

    I admire Dinniman so much for being able to hold this clusterfuck together. Going back and rereading the first one to see all of the shit he’s been keeping track of… It’s a true feat.

    • veee@lemmy.caEnglish
      2·
      15 hours ago

      There’s definitely a room in his house that is just a complete web of red yarn.

  • Starya67@lemmy.world
    4·
    14 hours ago

    It’s so bad, he’ll describe a situation or how something looks and you still have no idea what’s going on or what it looks like. These books desperately need editors and proofreaders. Professional ones.

    • glimse@lemmy.world
      2·
      13 hours ago

      It’s not the best writing but it sure is a fun story. I haven’t caught any major plot holes and I’m tempted to say beautiful prose would actually make it worse lol

      But yeah, I do agree he really could have used an editor for the first few books especially. I never found it TOO bothersome but I did notice it. Like at some point while writing, he must have learned the word “mollified” because it starts appearing everywhere. The only time it made me pause was really silly and inconsequential -

      Tap for spoiler

      Someone, I think a sponsor, makes a pill that they say will ONLY on humans. Carl had already become a Primal at that point!

      Not sure I agree with your specific criticism, though. I have aphantasia (no “theater if the mind,” wah wuh) and aside from the train book, I never had any issues understanding the landscape or scene.

      It’s still enjoyable so I still recommend it. I don’t think you have to be a great writer to tell a great story!

      My biggest complaint about his writing is (spoilers…)

      Tap for spoiler

      In the last book or two, Carl knows a LOT that we don’t. I’m fine with not knowing what his plan is with the Doomsday Scenario because that’s just one thing but now there’s so much that happened “off screen” and we only find out about it when he reveals it to an antagonist.

      When that happens, I do believe Matt Dinniman actually planned for it…but it FEELS like deus ex machina. I want to use clues he laid out to predict what’s going to happen (even if I’m wrong), not get blindsided.

      Plot holes are what really kills a story for me and I haven’t caught any.

  • xylogx@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    14 hours ago

    Made me go lookup the next line. It really is a great book:

    And yet, despite all of this, what Juice Box had just said was the most astounding thing I’d heard since this floor started. I looked at her like she had slugs crawling from her nostrils. “Louis?” I asked. “Our Louis? You’re in love with Louis? You’re getting married? Are you serious?”

    The scowl she gave told me she was deadly serious.

    …

    “Louis?” Donut said. “Carl, the whole world has gone insane.”