Where are the beta readers in professional publishing?
Yes, hehe, I'm still alive. Why I haven't posted anything for so long is a good question which I'm not sure I know the answer to, but anyway, here's something literary inclined people may find interesting. :)
I'm not sure how many of you heard of Suzumiya Haruhi and her friends in the SOS Brigade. Like Slayers, this anime/manga/whatnot franchise is also based on a light novel series, written by Nagaru Tanigawa. It has a rather unique premise and you would be hard pressed to fit it into a specific genre. Every story has a different feel to it, ranging from slice-of-life to science fiction. Quite serious questions about perception and reality are also raised from time to time, but the story nonetheless remains generally lighthearted. Having greatly enjoyed the anime series, I was looking forward to buying the novels from Amazon and experiencing the stories in their original form.
I was greatly surprised. Tanigawa's talents and genius ideas are beyond question, but the novels vary greatly in enjoyment value, ranging from fantastic to decidedly mediocre. Not that there were really huge problems with some of the stories. The issue was always something rather simple, such as creating a huge buildup with very little payoff, plots literally cut short without warning, etc. Usually pacing was the culprit one way or the other. In general, the anime made very few alterations to the original material, which only served to showcase how easily some of these problems can be solved.
Of course, since I saw the anime first, I could not rule out that I was simply biased towards the adaptation - until I read the last three novels currently available, which were never animated. The three books actually contain a single story, and make no sense when read separately. The author, however, apparently had difficulties writing the second and third parts, which were only published 4 years after the first one. These aforementioned difficulties show clearly in the story: regardless of the awesome plot ideas, the pacing is abysmal at places, characters spend dozens of pages contemplating their navels while the second book passes by with next to nothing happening. A good third of the entire story could be cut and readers would not notice a thing. It felt like I was reading the rough first draft of the final work which is yet to be finished.
Having realized the above, I could finally put into words this strange feeling I had when coming across these oddities throughout all the Suzumiya Haruhi books: if these problems truly are as real and as apparent as I think they are, how come no one mentioned them to Tanigawa before publication? Or even if most of these are just my personal nitpicks, what about the last three books? The difference between novels 1-8 and novels 9-11 is so painfully obvious... Could it be that the editors simply don't want to go through the trouble, considering how popular the franchise is regardless? Somehow, these books seem to tell me that Nagaru Tanigawa had been left all alone by his publisher, without substantial feedback. Is this okay? Surely it's not the editors' job to decide what'll be in the book, but just like how beta readers can spot plot holes or areas in need of improvement, I would think that some kind of scrutiny should be a natural part of the publishing process which would only benefit the final result. ...Or am I wrong...?
I'm not sure how many of you heard of Suzumiya Haruhi and her friends in the SOS Brigade. Like Slayers, this anime/manga/whatnot franchise is also based on a light novel series, written by Nagaru Tanigawa. It has a rather unique premise and you would be hard pressed to fit it into a specific genre. Every story has a different feel to it, ranging from slice-of-life to science fiction. Quite serious questions about perception and reality are also raised from time to time, but the story nonetheless remains generally lighthearted. Having greatly enjoyed the anime series, I was looking forward to buying the novels from Amazon and experiencing the stories in their original form.
I was greatly surprised. Tanigawa's talents and genius ideas are beyond question, but the novels vary greatly in enjoyment value, ranging from fantastic to decidedly mediocre. Not that there were really huge problems with some of the stories. The issue was always something rather simple, such as creating a huge buildup with very little payoff, plots literally cut short without warning, etc. Usually pacing was the culprit one way or the other. In general, the anime made very few alterations to the original material, which only served to showcase how easily some of these problems can be solved.
Of course, since I saw the anime first, I could not rule out that I was simply biased towards the adaptation - until I read the last three novels currently available, which were never animated. The three books actually contain a single story, and make no sense when read separately. The author, however, apparently had difficulties writing the second and third parts, which were only published 4 years after the first one. These aforementioned difficulties show clearly in the story: regardless of the awesome plot ideas, the pacing is abysmal at places, characters spend dozens of pages contemplating their navels while the second book passes by with next to nothing happening. A good third of the entire story could be cut and readers would not notice a thing. It felt like I was reading the rough first draft of the final work which is yet to be finished.
Having realized the above, I could finally put into words this strange feeling I had when coming across these oddities throughout all the Suzumiya Haruhi books: if these problems truly are as real and as apparent as I think they are, how come no one mentioned them to Tanigawa before publication? Or even if most of these are just my personal nitpicks, what about the last three books? The difference between novels 1-8 and novels 9-11 is so painfully obvious... Could it be that the editors simply don't want to go through the trouble, considering how popular the franchise is regardless? Somehow, these books seem to tell me that Nagaru Tanigawa had been left all alone by his publisher, without substantial feedback. Is this okay? Surely it's not the editors' job to decide what'll be in the book, but just like how beta readers can spot plot holes or areas in need of improvement, I would think that some kind of scrutiny should be a natural part of the publishing process which would only benefit the final result. ...Or am I wrong...?