Welcome again to the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge, a year-long challenge set by the good folk at Long and Short Reviews that anyone can participate in. Check out the site to see who else is playing along.

This week’s topic:

Character Names in Books I Can’t Pronounce

This is something I rarely come across. Most authors of the genres I enjoy know not to mentally snag their reader’s brains on overly weird names. I have seen it in a few fantasy and sci-fi novels though, and I’ve got to say it drove me more than a bit bonkers.

Why? Because one moment I’m merrily reading along and then whack! I’m hammered with a character name like Ela’ish’nytsh’it or some other such mess and my lovely reading time grinds to a choking, boggle eyed, WTF? halt.

When it’s done really badly, as in every second character of the species or whatever has a messy name, then I put the book down. Forever. I read for pleasure not for painful mental gymnastics, and that stuff hurts.

Rant over!

Have you come across names you can’t pronounce in books you’ve read? Does it bother you? I’d love to hear.

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