SkynJay Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I though this thread was once done, but i've searched several ways and cant find it, so i'm starting it again. List those nagging little questions that drove you nuts, even in books you loved.LoTR- If putting on that ring causes so much trouble, why didn't they cast an iron bar around it, or bake it into a brick, so it couldn't be slipped on the finger so easy.Red Seas Under Red Skies- In the spire, there is a gambling game that only ends when someone passes out from the random drink giver. Good idea, but why have any in round betting? All that matters is the money up front, then play hands and drink, right?Harry Potter(don't shoot me, i actually enjoy it)- Obviously the whole thing doesnt really hold up if you think to hard about it(many plot holes), but the one that gets me the most is Quiddich. You got a great flying basketball game with heat seaking ballistics, and you then have one person who chases around a stupid gold ball? Shit, just make it a timed game, im sure its a real hoot.Ok, ill add more later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattL86 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 The wall always bothered me in ASOIAF. It's too tall, ridiculously so. Martin really has no idea how tall a 700 foot wall would be or whatever the hell it is. There's no reason for a wall to ever be more than a hundred feet, it just makes it harder on the defenders to defend from that high. You can't even shoot a bow and hit anything from up that high. I was flying last week and I waited till my screen on the plane said we were up 700 feet to get a feel for how high it was (this should be a wakeup call to me that I'm a severe nerd). Cars are like ants from up that high, it's laughable to think of a wall that big. And people actually climb the damb thing. It's just so wierd because Martin always tends to realism over fantasy, except for this crazy wall. They even have stairs on it, just in case you know, you want to climb 75 stories of stairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WrathOfTinyKittens Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I agree about the wall... I remember thinking it was funny that the Wildlings were not only shooting arrows at the defenders, but succeeded in killing several...I'm picturing shooting an arrow from the ground to the top of this building (which is 710 feet to the roof) and having any hope of getting it near the top. Hell that's long range for hitting anything with firearms. The second picture really drives home how unrealistic it would be to have combat between the defenders and the attackers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 People who use decimated wrong. Drives me batty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Bass Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 R.A. Salvatore: His occasional use of weird, poetic-sounding stuff in his books, particularly the Demonwars Saga. You'll be reading, and suddenly he'll throw something in like "Never had Jillseponie seem such force brought to battle!"A Song of Ice and Fire: The 600-foot ladder that's the only way up to the Eyrie other than a basket ride. Tons of Books: Use of the word "yer" instead of "your". It honestly irritates me every time I read it.The over-use of sword-wielding heroes at the expense of other common ground weapons. Where are all the spear-wielders? I wonder if it's because lugging around a big spear makes them less likely to get into bar confrontations, and bar confrontations seem to be ubiquitous in gritty fantasy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kungtotte Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Language evolves. Decimate used to mean "to eliminate a tenth", now it also means to eliminate great numbers of.kill one in every ten, as of mutineers in Roman armies eliminate: kill in large numbers; "the plague wiped out an entire population"Please don't be that guy :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felice Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 LoTR- If putting on that ring causes so much trouble, why didn't they cast an iron bar around it, or bake it into a brick, so it couldn't be slipped on the finger so easy.Good ideas, but I expect the ring simply wouldn't allow it. A brick would soon be broken in some "accident", and it would probably just melt the iron outright. Tolkien didn't go in for showy displays of magic like that much, but the ring has to be capable of rather more than turning its wearer invisible and corrupting those around it - Sauron is quite corrupt enough already, and turning invisible wouldn't do a great deal to aid his world conquest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLU-RAY Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I agree about the wall... I remember thinking it was funny that the Wildlings were not only shooting arrows at the defenders, but succeeded in killing several...I'm picturing shooting an arrow from the ground to the top of this building (which is 710 feet to the roof) and having any hope of getting it near the top. Hell that's long range for hitting anything with firearms. The second picture really drives home how unrealistic it would be to have combat between the defenders and the attackers.I am a huge nerd.x = int(dx/dt); x(peak) = int(dx/dt) from t = 0 to t = t(peak)dx/dt = v; v = v(0) + a*t = dx/dt; dx = [v(0) + a*t]dt x(peak) = int{[v(0) + a*t]dt} from t = 0 to t = t(peak)PEAK: v = 0; v(0) = -a*t(peak); t(peak) = -v(0)/ax(peak) = v(0)*t + (0.5)a*t^2 + C from t = 0 to t = -v(0)/ax(peak) = v(0)*[-v(0)/a] + (0.5)*a*{[v(0)]^2}/(a^2)x(peak) = -{[v(0)]^2}/a + (0.5)*{[v(0)]^2}/a = -(0.5)*{[v(0)]^2}/ax(peak) = 700 ft = -(0.5)*{[v(0)]^2}/(-32.174 ft/s^2)[v(0)]^2 = 45043.6 (ft/s)^2; v(0) = 212.235 ft/s = 144.706 mphSo, to reach the top of the wall (with zero velocity), the arrow would have to come off with an initial velocity of 212 ft/s; wiki claims that a medieval warbow would shoot an arrow at ~208 ft/s. So it could reach, but you can't penetrate anything at 0 velocity (certainly not armor/leather).ETA: Obviously, this assumes that Westerosi gravity = Earth's gravity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueMetis Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 ETA: Obviously, this assumes that Westerosi gravity = Earth's gravity.Westeros is slightly larger than earth so perhaps a bit stronger gravity, that and the bows the Wilding's had are unlikely to be that good.Still good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Certain authors (e.g. David Gemmell) who describe spiders as insects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Harry Potter(don't shoot me, i actually enjoy it)- Obviously the whole thing doesnt really hold up if you think to hard about it(many plot holes), but the one that gets me the most is Quiddich. You got a great flying basketball game with heat seaking ballistics, and you then have one person who chases around a stupid gold ball? Shit, just make it a timed game, im sure its a real hoot.Also, the point-scoring system of Quidditch is just silly. The basketball aspect is utterly pointless given that catching the Snitch nets you fifteen times what you get from scoring a standard goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueMetis Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Also, the point-scoring system of Quidditch is just silly. The basketball aspect is utterly pointless given that catching the Snitch nets you fifteen times what you get from scoring a standard goal.Well in a game that can last days you can rack up a lot of points with the basketball... Yes I just defended harry potter. :leaving:ETA the smiley moves to fast. <_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Language evolves. Decimate used to mean "to eliminate a tenth", now it also means to eliminate great numbers of.Please don't be that guy :(I am, unfortunately, that guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horatz Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Cars are like ants from up that high, it's laughable to think of a wall that big. And people actually climb the damb thing. It's just so wierd because Martin always tends to realism over fantasy, except for this crazy wall. They even have stairs on it, just in case you know, you want to climb 75 stories of stairs.It gets even crazier when you consider that -while being reinforced with layers upon layesr of spells- the wall was build entirely by mundane means, including the cutting of the ice-blocks.I didn't like how a lot of Jedi -who have perfect awareness of their surroundings by their connection to The Force- consider running around in enclosed spaces with a melee weapon (instead of flying or wielding a blaster) a good use of their talents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Random made up words that have no subtext or explanation behind them, Karen Miller is the master of this. Fratch? Skritchin> Spratlings? Futting? And then later on people start dropping the fucks and shits and it MAKES NO SENSE.Accents are another thing that can really get under my skin if done wrong. I'm too tired to think of a specific example. There was some scifi book I read once where one of the characters was from the middle ages and talked like a Shakespeare play. Drove me to insanity...as you can see from the fact I;m reading Karen Miller more some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kungtotte Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 It gets even crazier when you consider that -while being reinforced with layers upon layesr of spells- the wall was build entirely by mundane means, including the cutting of the ice-blocks.Building big things isn't magical or fantastic, it just takes time. Especially for something as straight-forward as a wall. With the spells to keep it solid (it's rather too narrow to hold together if you remove spells from the equation), it's not such an amazing feat when you think about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuroishi Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I didn't like how a lot of Jedi -who have perfect awareness of their surroundings by their connection to The Force- consider running around in enclosed spaces with a melee weapon (instead of flying or wielding a blaster) a good use of their talents.What bothers me most about lightsaber duels is that they're using them as if they were made of metal and that they parry with them : you're supposed to be able to switch a lightsaber on and off very quickly right? Then if your opponent tries to parry your strike, just switch your own lightsaber off just before hitting your opponent's and switch it on again when you're past it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turgon Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 The wall always bothered me in ASOIAF. It's too tall, ridiculously so. Martin really has no idea how tall a 700 foot wall would be or whatever the hell it is.Not only The Wall is such a thing, but The Eyrie and The Twins, too. Nobody with at least some senses left would build such things.And nearly all descriptions in which there is involved something technical make me frown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kungtotte Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 What's wrong with The Twins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turgon Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 You have to build two small castles instead of one big, and you have to let everybody into your walls who just wants to pass the bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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