oh, bloody hell

I'm two pages into the new Raymond Feist novel, Rides a Dread Legion, and I'm already getting pissed off at the author.

I've got three problems right now.

1. Semi-colon. If you can't use it well, don't use the damn thing.

Had his protective wards not been firmly established, he would have instantly died; the demon was powerful enough to send sufficient force through the barrier to slam the magic-user hard against the cave wall behind him. - pg 1.

Is there any reason that shouldn't be two sentences? Seriously? This leads into Problem 2.


2. Feist didn't always over-explain crap in simple terms suggesting that the reader was, in fact, a simple minded child, right? I've just got the feeling that the man just isn't trying as hard as he used to. Maybe I'm wrong and he is trying as hard as he used to...but he's failing.


3. The minotaur is an Earth-based legend that has no basis in the Midkemian mythos. So, while a minotaur does evoke an image in the mind of a reader, it also yanks said reader right out of the story and causes said reader to question what the hell the author is doing. Or, maybe it's just me.


Oh, and I think that whomever wrote the jacket copy is a moron. Queen Miranda of the Elves? When the hell did that happen? Does Feist have to approve the jacket copy first? Does someone who has read the damn series have to approve the jacket copy first? If not, can they?

Damn.