The “of” was handled so badly, from the mismatched o to the word being the largest on the cover. There’s an o in scorn that could have been used for the keyplate (which should have been reshaped to fit the font, imo).
Scorn is a (not well known?) collective noun for camels, but a better collective noun beginning with s (assuming alliteration was the goal) must surely exist. Words are a writer’s primary tools…
Most “special” words used for packs/collections/tribes/families of animals, are poorly known. It’s a specialized thing. Everybody knows “Murder of Crows” now, solely because of the novel/movie.
A Flamboyance of Flamingos, for example. A crash of Rhinos (!). A thunder of Hippos. A cauldron of bats! A convocation of Eagles. (A charm of Finches!)
I don’t expect even the best writers to know all those terms. To be fair. I’m more obsessive about homonyms and the like.
the sequel is apparently called Thorn of Secrets so now I’m sure my first guess was wrong, and I have no idea what the author is trying to do. Always a good sign /s
The “of” was handled so badly, from the mismatched o to the word being the largest on the cover. There’s an o in scorn that could have been used for the keyplate (which should have been reshaped to fit the font, imo).
Scorn is a (not well known?) collective noun for camels, but a better collective noun beginning with s (assuming alliteration was the goal) must surely exist. Words are a writer’s primary tools…
Most “special” words used for packs/collections/tribes/families of animals, are poorly known. It’s a specialized thing. Everybody knows “Murder of Crows” now, solely because of the novel/movie.
A Flamboyance of Flamingos, for example. A crash of Rhinos (!). A thunder of Hippos. A cauldron of bats! A convocation of Eagles. (A charm of Finches!)
I don’t expect even the best writers to know all those terms. To be fair. I’m more obsessive about homonyms and the like.
the sequel is apparently called Thorn of Secrets so now I’m sure my first guess was wrong, and I have no idea what the author is trying to do. Always a good sign /s
Well, the gist of the story–that’s a thorny question.
It’ll take a lot more than a bullet to the brain, lungs, heart, back and balls to kill Michael Scarn of Secrets.
Or his biographer, B Truly.
But what if I like orange juice and don’t care what secrets it might be hiding?