Black Tide Rising: YA Zombie Apocalypse from John Ringo

[gbm]

Originally Posted by bgalbrecht

So you refer to him as a raghead, regardless of his ethnicity and religious beliefs?

No I called him a whole bunch of names and in his face. He was not wearing a rag on his head so did not think to call him a raghead, did call him a rock from then on.

Originally Posted by bgalbrecht

Yes, I can see that, if the soldiers are in Middle East theaters of war, less so after they return home. Hopefully members of the US armed forces are no longer referring to people from Japan, Korea, and southeast Asia by the derogatory terms used during those wars.

None of your or my concern if they do.

Please do not
bernie

[fjtorres]

Okay, I knew Ringo did his homework for this series but this is just...
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...ns-face-n23406

A naked, growling man was shot dead by cops after biting a teenager's face and attacking a retired police officer on Wednesday, officials told reporters.

Anesson Joseph, who was 6-foot-3, 250-pounds and described as having the build of a football linebacker, seriously injured the 66-year-old retired policeman before chasing a father and his 10-year-old child down a road near Delray Beach, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told Orlando’s WESH on Wednesday.

Joseph then chomped on the face of 18-year-old Tony Grein, who had stepped in to protect his sister, and only let go when Grein stabbed him with a box-cutting blade, according to the Sun Sentinel newspaper.

Time to go steal a sailboat.

[xg4bx]

I'm about 100 pages in and I'm just not feeling it so far. I think I just don't like Ringo's style because everything I've attempted to read of his just has a far too goofy feel for my taste and his dialogue feels phony and ''sitcom''. His characters feel like cartoons to me.

[bizzybody]

I'm over halfway through book 3 of the series. It's even more "Faith based" than the second book.

Originally Posted by Yapyap

It's how those things are used that makes a difference, and I'd think a modern author needs to be very careful in choosing how to use them or which characters they're used by. It might be realistic for a character - it might even be realistic for the "hero" - but it's still a slur, and if it's obvious the "hero" thinks nothing of it, and is to be seen as a generally good person, then there will be readers who will naturally feel uncomfortable with this and may prefer to avoid the author's future work.

There's an old word that perfectly fits "PC", "sanitized" stories that attempt to offend nobody. Milquetoast. See also bland, boring etc.

I don't recall the author, but he had a short and pithy comment about people who assume one or more of the characters in a book reflect the opinions, attitude, lifestyle etc of the author.

In John Ringo's case, he does put quite a bit of his political views* into *some* of his characters.The ones he paints in opposition aren't just strawmen. They have motivations for their behavior and often pretty detailed backstories.

*Read some of his Facebook posts. He's kicked off a mostly serious recruitment campaign to go help fight ISIS and other terrorists.