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Typo Hunt: Empire Games

So it's that time in the book production cycle again, and in the next couple of weeks "Empire Games" is going to be finalized for paperback release this autumn. Which means it's my last chance to hunt down and fix any typos/errata in the hardback/initial ebook release.

Got any typos in "Empire Games" (not any other books, thanks!) that you've been saving up? If so, please tell me what it is in a comment below. If it's a hardback, please identify the page and line number it occurs on. If you're using an ebook, cut-and-paste about a line of text that includes the error (so I can search for it). Thanks!

20 Comments

1:

Didn't find an error in the book, but in the blog post: "pleasetell..." -> "please tell..."; scnr

2:

Smart-arse!

(I know of three definite typos in the book, and where there is one there will be more lurking.)

3:

I mentioned these before, but repeat in case you didn't get them.

UK trade paperback version.

P 325, principal cast list:

River Douglas, Rita's sister.

Whereas PP 126-7 & other places, River is "he" and "brother"

P 326, principal cast list:

Elana Hjorth, Huw Hjorth's wife Huw Hjorth, Explorer General Brilliana Hjorth (Huw's wife)

I.e. Huw has two wives in this list. I think Elana is actually Hulius' wife.

4:

Dunno if its a typo or my misunderstanding, but the character profiles states that Miriam grew up in Boston. I believe this should be Cambridge. And yeah, there is a difference.

5:

No typos, but I take a shot every time I read "bad coffee"

6:

Great... did you want typos in the e-book version? I have a memory of two or three.

mark
7:

Not a typo as such, but similarly trivial of correction - a minor wobble in the nuclear physics. Mentioned it before at http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2017/01/empire-games-in-the-uk.html#comment-2018732 but I think it makes sense to link the post here.

8:

Do notices done on Kindle devices eventually percolate to you?

9:

Not a typo, but you misused the word "refusnik". The original meaning was "Russian Jews who were refused an exit visa to emigrate from the Soviet Union". You used it, I believe, to describe people who refused to do something on their own volition.

10:

Polysemy is a feature of natural language lexicons. Isn't this just a broader sense from semantic expansion?

11:

Actually, I stand corrected. Apparently, it did have a second meaning. You live, you learn.

12:

Do notices done on Kindle devices eventually percolate to you?

No.

Please do not report errors through the Kindle app.

Firstly, they don't get to the authors. (Or even the publishing folks, in some cases.)

Secondly, Amazon use some whacked algorithm to boot books off sale if too many errors are reported.

So reporting via Kindle won't fix errata, but it may get the book yanked off sale (and fuck my income stream)!

13:

"“You’ll get used to it,” Smith said. He was breathing fast, as if he’d had run to catch up with her, but he sounded pleased."

47% through the book - page 163 on Kindle.

Loving it so far and will report any more I spot!

14:

Not sure about this, but usually TL;DR is spelled with a semicolon. In the Kindle Edition Glossary, it's TL:DR

15:

(Not a typo, but since you mentioned that this section was a rushed last-minute job I'll mention it anyway.)

Miriam's front matter character profile wavers a bit erratically between past and present tense.

16:

Not exactly typos, but British usage by USian characters:

39.3%: "But the Air Force aren't totally stupid — ", a USian would say "isn't".

42%: "that can bounce you — and anything electrostatically earthed with you — ", a USian would say "grounded" (which the same character says at 45.7%).

Maybe these are subtle results of whatever change(s) caused President Rumsfeld.

17:

In "Switches", when Rita meets Dr. Scranton: "Dr. Scranton is the deputy assistant to the Secretary of State for Homeland Security." That version of her title is also used in the Principal Cast List.

The US doesn't use the UK title format of Secretary of State for [Department]; the Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of DHS. I don't know whether "deputy assistant to the Secretary of Homeland Security" is a valid title, but it's not obviously incorrect either. Even if it isn't quite a real title it's certainly close enough to hand-wave as a difference between our timeline and theirs.

I suspect the bit a few paragraphs later about "The Secretary of State was briefed on Saturday" intends to refer to the Secretary of Homeland Security, since nothing in that briefing would be particularly relevant to the Department of State.

18:

Minor vexillogical question re: the flag of the New American Commonwealth. At Kindle location 5263: There were flags, flags everywhere: an unfamiliar field of gold stars superimposed on a white circle on a red background.

This sounds like a reversed Japanese flag (red switched for white and vice-versa) with added starry goodness. Have you made a mock-up of this anywhere on the web that we could see?

19:

One more possible typo: in "Shell Game", Col. Smith says "Too many chefs spoil the broth, and right now we've got sixteen chiefs trying to run the kitchen." Chefs seems more likely than chiefs there.

And following up on my previous comment, there's one last appearance of the extraneous "of state" title format, also in "Shell Game", "You're a deputy undersecretary of state!".

20:

NOW CLOSED.

Everything above should be fixed in the paperback/reduced price ebook. Thanks, everyone!

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This page contains a single entry by Charlie Stross published on April 25, 2017 11:12 AM.

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