contradictions in fiction
Having spent my Barnes & Noble gift card with some great online discounts, I received my copy of the 4th Edition Manual of the Planes and Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead today. Already I've found a contradiction between pages seven and nine from Open Grave:
If "revived" in the proper fashion, the animus can rouse the body in the absence of a soul. (This phenomenon is what makes it possible for creatures that were never alive, such as constructs, to become undead.) (Chapter 1: Undead Lore, Origins, Soulless Undead, Page 7)
All undead were once living beings, in that they had a soul. Soulless constructs do not and cannot become undead. (Chapter 1: Undead Lore, Physiology, Page 9)
Er, hello? Is it possible for things that were never alive to become undead or not? They're two pages from each other, people! Shame on you, Julia Martin (Lead Editor), for not spotting an obvious error. OK, so not everyone edits for content so much as the technical things, and I haven't run into any glaring grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors yet. So kudos on that, as the other books are so chock full of basic errors it seems like no one bothered editing them at all. (I'm picky, of course, but years of anxiety-ridden editing will do that.)
If "revived" in the proper fashion, the animus can rouse the body in the absence of a soul. (This phenomenon is what makes it possible for creatures that were never alive, such as constructs, to become undead.) (Chapter 1: Undead Lore, Origins, Soulless Undead, Page 7)
All undead were once living beings, in that they had a soul. Soulless constructs do not and cannot become undead. (Chapter 1: Undead Lore, Physiology, Page 9)
Er, hello? Is it possible for things that were never alive to become undead or not? They're two pages from each other, people! Shame on you, Julia Martin (Lead Editor), for not spotting an obvious error. OK, so not everyone edits for content so much as the technical things, and I haven't run into any glaring grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors yet. So kudos on that, as the other books are so chock full of basic errors it seems like no one bothered editing them at all. (I'm picky, of course, but years of anxiety-ridden editing will do that.)