Geoff Habiger

Wrath of the furious grammarian

"Lies in shadow no more
the red Light reveals
the masquerade

“Shouldn’t that be ‘lays in shadow no more’?” asked Loren… He turned to look at the body, in the shadow of the desk. “The killer got that wrong.”

No, the killer got it right. And why are you asking?

Either "(He) lies" or "(The) lies" works, depending on what the inscription intends. But no one is "laying" anything. "Lay" is a transitive verb and required an object.

But why this question at all? If we need to know that Loren is an undereducated booby, it should be handled elsewhere. The lack of corrective reaction to Loren's mistake by anyone in the room suggests that no one in the room knows grammar. If this question is a clue to something it falls way flat. If the authors agree with Loren, this whole scene is nuts. AARGH.

My publishing friends tell me that an ARC should be two editing steps from the final version. It needs still to be checked by the senior copy editor and then by the author before it is sent to the printer. The ARC I am working from is a grammatical nightmare. Nerve grating and unreadable.

I received a review copy of "Wrath of the Fury Blade" by Geoff Habiger and Coy Kissee (Shadow Dragon Press) through NetGalley.com.… (altro)