[quote=""fljustice""]Thanks for the comments, everyone! Susan, I love McCullough's glossaries. You can learn so much from them. I know she wanted to avoid footnotes, so as not to interrupt the flow, but when I read the first couple of books, I was constantly flipping to the back to see what some word or phrase meant.[/quote]
I really wish authors would use footnotes instead of endnotes. It breaks the flow up much more to flip back to the appendix than to glance down. I am reading War and Peace right now, and I have to keep one bookmark in the appendix while I read.
McCullough's glossaries are awesome though.
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"Antony and Cleopatra" by Colleen McCollough
Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results.
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Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
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Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
Posted by the Czar
No, no, no! While footnotes are useful in nonfiction books they're a real killer in a novel, where you want the story to flow. You have the option of whether to check out a glossary or not (and usually the meaning of an unfamiliar word or phrase will be reasonably clear within its context anyway), but footnotes demand your immediate attention and just serve as a distraction when it comes to fiction.I really wish authors would use footnotes instead of endnotes.
Last edited by annis on Sun October 14th, 2012, 2:59 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Helen_Davis
BUMP
Thanks for the review! I tried to read her work for inspiration for my alternate history novel about Cleo(still querying, wish me luck!) but didn't make it past the first 10 pages. I can relate to her admiration for Caesar-- I kind of fell in love with him as I wrote my WIP too and didn't want to kill him off in my second draft! But I came to appreciate Antony as well as I wrote. I have not read The October Horse, I'm ashamed to say-- I prefer Margaret George's novel about her, as well as When We Were Gods(I am blanking on the author's name.) I would also recommend a YA book about Cleopatra, the Royal Diaries series. It is rich in detail and a fascinating portrait of her as a girl.
I wish there were novels on the earlier Ptolemaic queens. There is one about Arsinoe II-- a novella really-- by Stephanie Dray. I liked it very much and wanted more.
Thanks for the review! I tried to read her work for inspiration for my alternate history novel about Cleo(still querying, wish me luck!) but didn't make it past the first 10 pages. I can relate to her admiration for Caesar-- I kind of fell in love with him as I wrote my WIP too and didn't want to kill him off in my second draft! But I came to appreciate Antony as well as I wrote. I have not read The October Horse, I'm ashamed to say-- I prefer Margaret George's novel about her, as well as When We Were Gods(I am blanking on the author's name.) I would also recommend a YA book about Cleopatra, the Royal Diaries series. It is rich in detail and a fascinating portrait of her as a girl.
I wish there were novels on the earlier Ptolemaic queens. There is one about Arsinoe II-- a novella really-- by Stephanie Dray. I liked it very much and wanted more.