| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| mike |
Posted - 13 August 2007 : 8:04:29 PM
I think we'll be doing Alex a favour by listing any slip-ups or howlers, as long as they're not spoilers and given in good spirit.
I'll get the ball rolling:-
1. Sergeant Bolton is described as a NCO. As a sergeant he would never be called that - he is a SNCO or "Sneck".
2. Chapter 43 is entitled 'between Manchester and Birmingham' - yet they're on the M1.
Manchester and Birmingham are joined by the M6!
Si post fata venit gloria, non propero. |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| CTL666 |
Posted - 10 October 2009 : 7:09:26 PM
I wouldn't say it's a mistake as such, but some people may well have taken Alex's advice on food as being serious.  PILCHARDS as a sole food source, or any single food as the only source, will get very boring, very quickly. The perceived wisdom regarding food stocks is simply this: Store what you eat and eat what you store. Keep extra tins of the foods that you and your family both like and are used to. Regularly eat from that store and replace what you eat - thus rotating the stored food for newer versions. Changing to a new source of food during an emergency can be a bad idea for numerous reasons. Eating the same foods as normal helps keep a feeling of consistency, normalcy almost. This is particularly important for the psychological well being of children who often dislike new situations, or foods, anyway.
D. |
| Graeme Canty |
Posted - 27 July 2009 : 2:09:07 PM
It was a specially designed SA80 for left handed people..... :) just like you get left handed musical instruments and sport equipment......hehehe
“I believe in a long, prolonged, derangement of the senses in order to obtain the unknown.”
Jim Morrison
http://www.myspace.com/graemecanty
http://blog.myspace.com/graemecanty
http://www.youtube.com/gcanty500 |
| Parmenion |
Posted - 27 July 2009 : 10:45:26 AM
he might have been left handed, but there are many left handed people in the army all are taught to fire right handed though!!
Centurion Parmenion
LASCIATE OGNE SPERANZA, VOI CH'INTRATE
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| scarrow |
Posted - 27 July 2009 : 09:24:02 AM
Left handed!? I put a left-handed guy in? Are you sure he just wasn't left-handed for something else? I can't believe I'd be that much of a dumb-ass! AAArghhhhh!!!
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| Nick Warren |
Posted - 25 July 2009 : 12:57:42 AM
They actually flew on a GoJet plane from Turkey to Heathrow(a fictional airline, so they COULD have flown 727s, though not many operators do these days) but agree, EasyJet only flies 737s and not to Heathrow, but this was a major emergency situation.
'I've got the worst hangover ever/I'm crawling to the bathroom again/It hurts so bad that I'm never gonna drink again/I'll probably never drink again/I may not ever drink again/At least not 'til next weekend . . .' |
| Deva |
Posted - 14 July 2009 : 12:47:26 AM
I can't believe I started this topic 2 years ago and it's still 'live'!
I know many disagree with pointing out little faux pas (it's often considered nitpicking) but readers genuinely do pick up on them and they do grate. For example, in the first LL, Alex mentioned how they flew on an 'Easyjet 727'. Instantly I thought 'Easyjet don't fly 727s.'
And in October Skies Alex mentioned Germany in 1856, when Germany didn't actually exist until 1870 (till then there was Prussia, Schleswig, Bavaria etc, regional states but no 'Germany'). There was also a left-handed guy firing a SA80 in LL - if you're left-handed and fire a SA80, the spent shell will go directly into your eye and kill you instantly!(as any soldier knows).
Nitpicking? Yes. Important? Yes, as well.
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| Welsh Dragon |
Posted - 31 March 2009 : 9:06:56 PM
Glad you liked it. |
| scarrow |
Posted - 31 March 2009 : 08:55:49 AM
Cheers WD. As they say, 'every little helps'. A very nice review, thanks. |
| Welsh Dragon |
Posted - 30 March 2009 : 7:17:23 PM
Just added my review to Amazon. (It's actually one I wrote for a different online bookseller when they sent me a preview copy, but that was ages ago, so guess they can't complain.) |
| Alex Scarrow |
Posted - 27 March 2009 : 3:38:11 PM
There you go...that was it, I remember now ;-P |
| Justin Time |
Posted - 27 March 2009 : 1:21:31 PM
Nae worries, it didnae spoil the book for me. In fact I've ordered October Skies, couldn't get it from your bookshop though.
OK, maybe the Manager had padlocked the fire exits, deciding that Health and Safety regs had been suspended for the duration? ;-)
--
An unexpected item in the bagging area of life |
| Alex Scarrow |
Posted - 27 March 2009 : 10:13:13 AM
Ah well...I'd imagined the bad guys held back a bit and let the truck roll on. Maybe that didn't come across.
As for the service station, yes...fire exits. That occurred to me after the hardback hit the shelves. Sigh. |
| Justin Time |
Posted - 26 March 2009 : 5:29:50 PM
Aye, that's the one!
An unexpected item in the bagging area of life |
| Alex Scarrow |
Posted - 26 March 2009 : 4:57:22 PM
Hi Justin....explosion secen...do you mean the 'pink compound' in Iraq?
nb: thanks for taking the trouble to find me, btw. glad you enjoyed it. |
| Justin Time |
Posted - 26 March 2009 : 4:26:02 PM
Got this the other day in Tesco, read it in one sitting yesterday, just my kind of book! Couple of points bothered me though which I'll try to write so they're not spoilers.
1> The Explosion scene... I think the "bad guys" would have come off worse than the "good guys" by my reading.
2> The Service station, it would have fire exits, well signposted too.
Still enjoyed the story though
Thanks
An unexpected item in the bagging area of life |
| WarrenH |
Posted - 13 December 2008 : 6:21:05 PM
Ok - so there were a few slip-ups! So what....
When I read a story, I read it for the enjoyment, for the excitement! Not to check wether the author got it "right".......
I read a number of books, and there have been a number of "mistakes" "misconception" etc... so what... IT IS A STORY!
Enjoy reading them, or ..............................
LOL
 |
| Wishing Well |
Posted - 13 December 2008 : 02:38:29 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Parmenion
i think Baku is disputed territory, currently under Kazakhstan right now, but in dispute with azerbaijan
Hi Parmenion,
Baku is definitely Azerbaijan, no dispute. Azerbaijan is in the Caucasus, on the west of the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan is over the other side, on the east of the Caspian Sea, and that's where the Tengiz oil field is.
The main territorial dispute involving Azerbaijan (that I know of) is with Armenia over the territory of Nargono Karabakh. But that's another story and little to do with oil.
Alex, thanks for the welcome. I've been out of the UK for ten years now and not a week goes by without hearing about some gang or teen violence in the UK . It's sad, and it doesn't make me want to hurry back. That said, I'm back to Blighty tomorrow to visit family, and it's never as bad as the news makes out! :)
Cheers and seasons greetings to all. |
| Parmenion |
Posted - 12 December 2008 : 9:31:12 PM
quote:
....word-of-mouth is what I've got instead of a recognisable name
you tell em BOB
Centurion Parmenion
LASCIATE OGNE SPERANZA, VOI CH'INTRATE
|
| scarrow |
Posted - 12 December 2008 : 9:21:19 PM
Hi Wishing well, glad you enjoyed it. Yup, LL is pretty grim, and I'd like to think I overdid it with the descriptions of feral youth. But listening to the news this morning of a London possee who abducted a 14 yr old girl and gang-raped her, all because she 'dissed' one of the gang...sadly, I suspect I got it about right.
Which is more than can be said for the easyjet cock-up. Oh well.
Anyway, welcome WW. And please do spread the word....word-of-mouth is what I've got instead of a recognisable name. |
| Parmenion |
Posted - 12 December 2008 : 8:37:59 PM
i think Baku is disputed territory, currently under Kazakhstan right now, but in dispute with azerbaijan
as to 727's thats seems to be right, they tent to use 737's and airbus
Centurion Parmenion
LASCIATE OGNE SPERANZA, VOI CH'INTRATE
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| Wishing Well |
Posted - 12 December 2008 : 5:54:54 PM
Hi.
I picked up LL in a bookshop in Indonesia and finished reading it last week. Overall I enjoyed it, the pace and writing kept me hooked - and as well as the Peak Oil scenario, the portrayal of modern youth and the 'reality tv' culture is equally worryingly close to reality! I will recommend it.
A couple of slip ups to report though:
Chapter 29, press conference, there is a reference to the 'refineries in Baku, Kazakhstan'. Wrong country! Baku is in Azerbaijan!
Chapter 79, arriving at Heathrow, there is a reference to an easyJet 727. Easyjet don't operate 727s and never have. EastJet operate new aircraft; 727s are old and barely flown in Europe any more.
Cheers. |
| Parmenion |
Posted - 21 October 2007 : 10:11:30 AM
.....ah yes been a while since i last heard that from DG ...bloody good story though...he always told those things in such a funny way
Centurion Parmenion
LASCIATE OGNE SPERANZA, VOI CH'INTRATE
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| drosdelnoch |
Posted - 19 October 2007 : 10:20:56 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Parmenion
my fav one of all time was a gemmell book, where john shannow, slapped another clip in his revolver!!
Centurion Parmenion
LASCIATE OGNE SPERANZA, VOI CH'INTRATE
Parm it wasnt Jon Shannow it was from an earlier DG tale that got numerous rejections and a letter that said that being a pepsi drivers mate was an admirable profession. The title was something like The Man from Laramy.
Legends Never Die, Druss Lives! |
| Alex Scarrow |
Posted - 20 August 2007 : 8:45:42 PM
btw thanks Graeme. Thanks, a lot. :-) |
| Nocoolname |
Posted - 20 August 2007 : 6:49:25 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Alex Scarrow
NoCool...might I ask you to put a review up on Amazon? It would help me immensely. thx
Yea, no worries. I'll try and compose something a little more meaningfull and post it as soon as poss.
Cheers
Nocool... |
| Graeme Canty |
Posted - 20 August 2007 : 12:35:46 PM
I read last light and yeah I was a bit curious about the M1 debate. But I dont care cos the book kicks ass anyway and those tiny little errors simply get buried amongst one of the best novels I have read in a long time.
I read it in 1 1/2 weeks. And for me that is very fast, so it must have been good.
'With all these new personalities floating around, it's a shame we can't find one for you'
The Doctor to Tuvok, Star Trek Voyager (Infinite Regress)
http://www.myspace.com/graemecanty
http://blog.myspace.com/graemecanty
http://www.youtube.com/gcanty500 |
| Alex Scarrow |
Posted - 20 August 2007 : 08:30:50 AM
NoCool...might I ask you to put a review up on Amazon? It would help me immensely. thx |
| Nocoolname |
Posted - 19 August 2007 : 10:44:28 PM
Have now read Last Light... must say it scared the sh*t out of me and gave me plety of nightmares. Not the conspiracy stuff, but rather the aftermath of the oil collapse. From some of the stuff I heard and read about regarding the aftermath of Hurricaine Katrina I can well believe the kind of things described. Who was it who said that society is only three meals away from anarchy (or something like that)?
Cheers
Nocool... |
| Bat King |
Posted - 19 August 2007 : 8:01:21 PM
I'll get to Last Light... but I'm rereading some books by a bloke called Simon something next.
Forget his name but they put his books near Alex's. |
| KilboFraggins |
Posted - 17 August 2007 : 1:55:59 PM
I saw Last Light in London this morning. Went and bought it. I shall report back when I'm done with reading it. (which might take a few weeks as I'm snowed under work-wise) |
