YorkNecromancer
09-14-2013, 12:35 PM
I've just been reading the new Space Marine codex, and noted that Vulkan He'Stan's cloak came from the salamander Sho'Valla and I think that's kind of my limit for all these bloody apostrophes.
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/fiction_rule_of_thumb.png
Apostrophes are the herpes of fantasy writing. They are a bloody plague that seemingly infects everything. I am of the firm conviction that if a fantasy writer employs an apostrophe in the middle of a name as a shorthand for exoticism, they have just committed a cardinal sin, and are basically going to have to write something a million times better than need be, just to compensate for this horrible act of terrible, terrible writing.
I despise apostrophes in fantasy names, and only use them myself when I have to (i.e.: with the Tau, where it's mandatory for whatever reason), or when I'm taking the mickey out of the concept.
However, other people seem to love this stuff, eating it up like delicious ice-cream. To whit, the above poll.
Do you like fantasy names with pointless apostrophes, or do you hate them? Oh, and there's no "don't care/not bothered" option, because why comment on something you don't care about?
Related articles:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PunctuationShaker
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LawOfAlienNames
http://io9.com/why-are-there-so-many-apostrophes-in-scifi-and-fantasy-1195895085
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fantasy%20Apostrophe
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/fiction_rule_of_thumb.png
Apostrophes are the herpes of fantasy writing. They are a bloody plague that seemingly infects everything. I am of the firm conviction that if a fantasy writer employs an apostrophe in the middle of a name as a shorthand for exoticism, they have just committed a cardinal sin, and are basically going to have to write something a million times better than need be, just to compensate for this horrible act of terrible, terrible writing.
I despise apostrophes in fantasy names, and only use them myself when I have to (i.e.: with the Tau, where it's mandatory for whatever reason), or when I'm taking the mickey out of the concept.
However, other people seem to love this stuff, eating it up like delicious ice-cream. To whit, the above poll.
Do you like fantasy names with pointless apostrophes, or do you hate them? Oh, and there's no "don't care/not bothered" option, because why comment on something you don't care about?
Related articles:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PunctuationShaker
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LawOfAlienNames
http://io9.com/why-are-there-so-many-apostrophes-in-scifi-and-fantasy-1195895085
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fantasy%20Apostrophe