How do you feel about continuity errors in series?

Use this forum for book and reading discussion that doesn't fall into another category. Talk about books, genres, reading issues, general literature, and any other topic of particular interest to readers. If you want to start a thread about a specific book or a specific series, please do that in the section below this one.
Post Reply
a9436
Posts: 248
Joined: 07 Jul 2018, 13:18
Currently Reading: The Redbreast
Bookshelf Size: 88
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-a9436.html
Latest Review: First Family by Alice Langholt

How do you feel about continuity errors in series?

Post by a9436 »

Continuity errors really bug me - just ask those who have sat through sitcoms with me!

Books do not seem to be as guilty of these as television shows, but I am always disappointed to find them.

Here is an example: I am a fan of a set of crime novels in which the protagonist has nine children, but the birth order in the earlier books is different to that in the later books. Whilst there is a clear order in which to read the books, reflected in the personal stories of the core characters, each also has a stand-alone story, so that newcomers to the series can jump in without getting lost, and those readers would be able to enjoy the books without noticing the continuity error.

Now as I say, it bugs me, but what do you think? Am I just being petty and letting small things spoil my enjoyment of great books? I could perhaps understand, (but not like), a deliberate retcon for the sake of the plot, but in this case the change serves no purpose. Am I being unfair to the author and/or editor my focusing on a minor mistake?
User avatar
DATo
Previous Member of the Month
Posts: 5772
Joined: 31 Dec 2011, 07:54
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by DATo »

Short answer: I find it totally unacceptable.

Long answer: I write as an amateur, but I take great pains to insure that ALL of the logic in my stories is valid. I also do my best to insure that the spelling and grammar are correct, and though sometimes I fall short I at least make a conscientious effort to do it right. If my stories contain factual data of historic, technical, or geographic significance I research it to make sure that it is factually correct. In one of my stories of which I am particularly fond I made a rather serious factual error, and though no one would ever notice it, it haunts my dreams.

When someone is being PAID for their work there is absolutely no excuse for continuity errors or any other types of errors. The reader has purchased damaged material and has thus been insulted by a writer who doesn't even have enough respect for his or her audience to proof their writing.
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
― Steven Wright
User avatar
AliceofX
Posts: 351
Joined: 27 Feb 2017, 06:01
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 361
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-aliceofx.html
Latest Review: The Demon of Decay by Alex C. Gates
Reading Device: B00ICPVSYC

Post by AliceofX »

I still to this day remember how in the early episodes of Boy Meets World it was mentioned that Sean had a sister. A sister that is never heard from again through the entire series. So yes, I am incredibly petty about these things. But I think that with books it's a more series error. With a TV show, you could at least say that they have so many people making them that stories are bound to be changed or mixed, different people have different ideas, and so on. With a book, it's (usually) one guy making up the world. How hard is it to keep your own story straight?
User avatar
EllieAfter
Posts: 34
Joined: 26 Jul 2018, 08:41
Currently Reading: The Atomic City Girls
Bookshelf Size: 1140
Reading Device: B00BWYQ9YE

Post by EllieAfter »

AliceofX wrote: 31 Jul 2018, 06:35 I still to this day remember how in the early episodes of Boy Meets World it was mentioned that Sean had a sister. A sister that is never heard from again through the entire series. So yes, I am incredibly petty about these things. But I think that with books it's a more series error. With a TV show, you could at least say that they have so many people making them that stories are bound to be changed or mixed, different people have different ideas, and so on. With a book, it's (usually) one guy making up the world. How hard is it to keep your own story straight?
I actually remember that gross error from Boy Meets World! Boy, that bugged me. It's funny, because I kind of think the opposite regarding TV shows and books. TV shows tend to have tons of writers and you would think that at least ONE of them would remember a scenario/character that had happened/appeared a few seasons before and mention it.

With one lone person writing a book, they probably have lots of different thoughts and ideas written down somewhere or stored in their brain and these ideas can get mixed up, changed, deleted and that can get confusing. So I tend to be more sympathetic to a single author who is trying to write a book than a group of TV writers. But that's just me.

I also realize that in this day and age, some authors self-publish without the benefit of an editor but for those writers that do use an editor......isn't it the editor's job to catch any glaring continuity mistakes? I would hope that they would.
User avatar
rave_2
Posts: 683
Joined: 24 Feb 2018, 16:04
Currently Reading: A Word so Fitly Spoken
Bookshelf Size: 148
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-rave-2.html
Latest Review: Julu by Jan Anderegg

Post by rave_2 »

As a writer, I think that errors can be slightly annoying. I try not to let any errors go whenever I'm writing, but sometimes do slip, and I make sure to get them. I even look at my stories after they are out there.

There was this book series I liked when I was younger, and it had so many errors, it was crazy. What was shocking was that there were about three people working on the books, whether it was writing them, or editing. At that point, I found it ridiculous. With so many eyes, no mistake should be left.
Just reading... :techie-studyingbrown: :techie-studyinggray:
Latest Review: Julu by Jan Anderegg
User avatar
FictionLover
Posts: 602
Joined: 16 May 2018, 20:50
Favorite Book: If life stinks get your head outta your buts
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 149
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-fictionlover.html
Latest Review: Winning the War on Cancer by Sylvie Beljanski
Reading Device: B00HCNHDN0

Post by FictionLover »

Yes, they can be annoying. But I think if the book is well written and well edited I am more forgiving. If I am reading one of those who you know just didn't want to take the time to proofread or get an editor, it is usually NOT the only thing I will be complaining about.

:idea:
"I love reading another reader’s list of favorites. Even when I find I do not share their tastes or predilections, I am provoked to compare, contrast, and contradict. It is a most healthy exercise, and one altogether fruitful." T.S. Eliot
User avatar
Hannah_Vibbert
Posts: 16
Joined: 20 Feb 2018, 13:08
Currently Reading: Five Knocks
Bookshelf Size: 26

Post by Hannah_Vibbert »

This drive me nuts!!

I can't think of an example I've come across in books, but there are a few major errors in a movie series that my kids love. Every time we are watching the movies I find myself cringing about it, and voicing my outrage over the inconsistencies to anyone who will listen. Over children's movies....

Now, I can appreciate the effort that goes into writing and editing books and I understand that we, as humans, all make mistakes and over look things....but it still drives me nuts :lol:
User avatar
khall1395
Posts: 10
Joined: 01 Aug 2018, 16:54
Currently Reading: Jane Eyre
Bookshelf Size: 14

Post by khall1395 »

Personally, they bother me - especially when it's a major change. When in books, it makes me question how much the author reviewed their book. It also makes me wonder if they had a good editor or not. As a freelance writer and editor, it is something I always warn others of.
User avatar
jjmainor
Posts: 237
Joined: 06 Aug 2018, 23:58
Currently Reading: The House Where Evil Dwells...Thirteen Tells
Bookshelf Size: 171
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-jjmainor.html
Latest Review: Beyond Cloud Nine (Beyond Saga Book 1) by Greg Spry

Post by jjmainor »

I write, and one rule I use whenever continuity becomes inconvenient is just because a character says something, doesn't make it true. In real life, people tell little lies all the time, we misremember facts and events, or sometimes we simply talk out of our rears. I'll also take a page from soap operas and finagle a work-around to an established rule that no longer works for me or the story.

I see a lot of times people will complain about continuity errors in TV shows that can be explained away if you really think about them...On one hand the writers should take the effort to offer that explanation themselves, but on another, it almost insults the intelligence of the audience if the writers have to remove that thought process for the audience.
User avatar
DATo
Previous Member of the Month
Posts: 5772
Joined: 31 Dec 2011, 07:54
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by DATo »

Hannah_Vibbert wrote: 01 Aug 2018, 00:12 This drive me nuts!!

I can't think of an example I've come across in books, but there are a few major errors in a movie series that my kids love. Every time we are watching the movies I find myself cringing about it, and voicing my outrage over the inconsistencies to anyone who will listen. Over children's movies....

Now, I can appreciate the effort that goes into writing and editing books and I understand that we, as humans, all make mistakes and over look things....but it still drives me nuts :lol:
Totally agree with you. What I especially hate in movies are plot holes. In some major movies I have found major plot holes which the general audiences tend to excuse ... but I don't.

In Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King Gandalf explains to Pippin that the Witch King Of Angmar cannot be killed by any man and that Pippin has met him before: he was the wraith who stabbed Frodo on Weathertop, but in The Fellowship Of The Ring (the first movie of the series) Frodo is saved by Aragorn who shows up and fights the wraiths driving them away ... QUESTION: If the Witch King could not be killed why did he run away?

**** SPOILER **** The Sixth Sense
In the movie The Sixth Sense there is no way in hell that Malcolm could NOT know that he was a ghost, but the writer, Shyamalan, conveniently contrives to just dismiss it by having Cole state that ghosts don't know they're dead. Baloney!!!! At one point Malcolm is sitting in Cole's house with his mother present when the scene opens. Then she conveniently gets up and leaves the room. This is to make the audience think that she is leaving Cole alone with Malcolm, but, supposedly, it is implied at the end, she never would have known that Malcolm was in the room. But doesn't Malcolm have any opinion of how he got into the house to begin with, or why this woman doesn't talk to him? Also, when he goes to meet his wife in the restaurant the chair is conveniently already pulled out for him to sit on so he doesn't have to interact with material things by having to pull it out for himself, but what happens when the chair isn't pulled out for him? You can't go a year (which is how long it has been since he died) and not be able to move anything in the real world and not know something is very, very wrong. This level of story construction is not only infantile it is an insult to the movie-going public, and yet people raved about the movie and how clever it was. Even Roger Ebert said that the logic worked .... personally, I think Ebert is full of crap (*bows*) rest his soul.
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
― Steven Wright
Taekwondoqueen
Posts: 87
Joined: 01 Jul 2018, 09:04
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 14
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-taekwondoqueen.html
Latest Review: World, Incorporated by Tom Gariffo

Post by Taekwondoqueen »

Don’t worry, I get it as well. In Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, it is stated that every wizard that went crooked was in Slytherin. However, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, it is said that Sirius Black was a Griffindor. I know he technically didn’t go crooked, but many people did not know that.
Post Reply

Return to “General Book & Reading Discussion”