ErikB
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2016
- Messages
- 371
Here's an interesting thought. During the course of reading books sometimes an otherwise talented author will throw out information that you as the reader know to be false.
Often it is in the form of an area of professional or personal expertise. It will slip past some readers perhaps, but anyone actually familiar with the subject matter will be left shaking their head.
In my case as a biologist I often hear ridiculous statements or scenarios made about animals.
I personally know them to be total BS. But the average reader may skim over the info and accept it as fact.
Just as a mathematician will find the error in a false math theorum and a gun expert can explain why your post apocalyptic hero will never make the shot at that range and with that caliber of weapon, I am sure that all of us catch things from time to time that make us go... "What the...?"
I'll give you two examples from my own reading and ask you what sort of stuff do you notice as BS that perhaps detracts from an otherwise good read?
In a fictional modern spy novel a character finds himself trapped in a room full of mambas, rattlesnakes, taipans, and a pair if very large king cobras protecting a clutch of eggs go after the protagonist.
Now anyone who knows snakes knows that the only species to ever show even the slightest degree of parental care for the eggs are some species of pythons.
But more importantly, king cobras are snake eaters (ophidiophageous) and consume both venomous and non venomous species. They are resistant to a variety of toxins.
If you had large king cobras in an enclosure you would have no mambas, rattlesnakes, etc. Just two very full cobras.
Another example. An author states in a post apocalyptic story that;
"Reptiles and sharks are the only true omnivores in the animal kingdom."
Actually the author probably meant to say carnivores since omnivores eat plant and animal matter. Sharks are all predators/carnivores. Though whale and basking sharks do injest some phytoplankton (microscopic aquatic plants) when they forage.
Some reptiles are omnivores especially turtles and some kinds of lizards. But all snakes and crocodilians are carnivores.
Now I know it is not that important in the grand scheme of things to most readers but it always throws a little monkey wrench into my reading knowing what I know...
How about you? Is there an area of special knowledge that you find yourself shaking your head at when reading a book or story?
Often it is in the form of an area of professional or personal expertise. It will slip past some readers perhaps, but anyone actually familiar with the subject matter will be left shaking their head.
In my case as a biologist I often hear ridiculous statements or scenarios made about animals.
I personally know them to be total BS. But the average reader may skim over the info and accept it as fact.
Just as a mathematician will find the error in a false math theorum and a gun expert can explain why your post apocalyptic hero will never make the shot at that range and with that caliber of weapon, I am sure that all of us catch things from time to time that make us go... "What the...?"
I'll give you two examples from my own reading and ask you what sort of stuff do you notice as BS that perhaps detracts from an otherwise good read?
In a fictional modern spy novel a character finds himself trapped in a room full of mambas, rattlesnakes, taipans, and a pair if very large king cobras protecting a clutch of eggs go after the protagonist.
Now anyone who knows snakes knows that the only species to ever show even the slightest degree of parental care for the eggs are some species of pythons.
But more importantly, king cobras are snake eaters (ophidiophageous) and consume both venomous and non venomous species. They are resistant to a variety of toxins.
If you had large king cobras in an enclosure you would have no mambas, rattlesnakes, etc. Just two very full cobras.
Another example. An author states in a post apocalyptic story that;
"Reptiles and sharks are the only true omnivores in the animal kingdom."
Actually the author probably meant to say carnivores since omnivores eat plant and animal matter. Sharks are all predators/carnivores. Though whale and basking sharks do injest some phytoplankton (microscopic aquatic plants) when they forage.
Some reptiles are omnivores especially turtles and some kinds of lizards. But all snakes and crocodilians are carnivores.
Now I know it is not that important in the grand scheme of things to most readers but it always throws a little monkey wrench into my reading knowing what I know...
How about you? Is there an area of special knowledge that you find yourself shaking your head at when reading a book or story?
