Language

If you can gather 100 random members of the military, put them under fire, and have not one of them swear (including the f-bomb) then I'll clean up the language. Until then, realism of characters and behavior is what matters to me.

Words by themselves have no power. It is the context in which they are used, as well as their intent that give them such. Words themselves cannot offend anyone. The offense takes place in the mind of the reader, not in the words on the page. They are not placed there with the intent to offend or shock anyone, therefore they should not be taken as such.

I firmly believe that I have, in fact used far fewer curse words than the characters would use in reality. However, to clean them out completely would result in unrealistic characters. This is my belief, and I must remain true to it.

If you feel compelled to warn others of the foul language, I do not take offense to such warnings.

Thank you for reading,

Ryk

Ryk, keep the language. I never noticed it so you are not over doing it.

I don't see any real issue for young adult/teen readers, though not sure it's really intended for pre-teens anyway.

That being said, I find the premise behind this topic fairly amusing/ironic. The reason for that is that while you are so inclined to tell them about it now, there is plenty of time to wait until they are an adult, then tell them out it, and there would still be books in the series coming out even after giving them time to catch up. Actually, you still could do that with someone that won't be even born for another year or two.

In conclusion, now is the time to be molding the children into fans of the series, even if it'll be a while before they actually read it. 🙂

I don't know why anyone would recommend these books to young people (say 13-) not because of bad language but because of all the Murder/Killing/Planet Glassing in it.

If you know someone 13+ who has never heard swear words the you sir/madam are lying to yourself... that or you really need to let your kids out of the basement/attic.

Really its a case by case basis for if you should introduce young people to the series. Most Kids will only keep reading if they enjoy it anyway so no harm in suggesting it.

Ryk you are doing good keep it up.

My kids are now grown... But when they were growing up OMG!!! they knew more swear words by the time they were 13 than I did/do now.
The area where we lived was a rough area...(no longer living in that area).. OH and for the ones who think I taught them NOPE not me. They learned it from the schools they were going to. bus rides home ECT.....
Ryk you keep writing the way you feel you should. I agree with you.
Happy Holidays
Eagle

I have really enjoyed this series! I started reading when about episode 10 came out. I zoomed through all the books and am anxiously waiting for the new ones.

I do have one suggestion, I am not sure how many other readers are like me but I cringe every time I see a swear word especially the f word. I know that there are many people in today’s society that are okay with such language but I for one have a hard time recommending this series to friends and children/teens because of the language.

In the more recent books it seems to have been toned down but I don’t know if its possible or not to get a clean copy?

Thanks,

Jared

LOL... Jared, whatever you do, don't join the Marine Corps. Swearing is like a sport in the Corps.

As for Ryk's response to you, he's understating it a bit. Take 10 random service men/women, active duty, any branch, and monitor their speech for 10 minutes or less. I can almost guarantee that 5 of them will swear in the first 2 minutes. If they were under fire, all of them would curse multiple times within 30 seconds or less.

If anything, the military characters in Ryk's Episodes do not swear enough to make it realistic. Granted, Ryk's probably not going to want every other word of any Marine character's dialogue to be a 'swear word', but that is how we Marines truly roll.

There's also something to be said about the use of cursing in the books. By and large it is used as an enhancement of the emotional state of the crew members. It's never exceptionally used in a demeaning or sexually charged nature. It would be more off putting if the Captain said something like "Gosh darn it all, the frickin' Jung just committed genocide on the whole goll darn planet. What a bunch of ayyholes." It would distract the reader by seeming so silly for a military man to say things like that. Not to mention, when someone says "Gosh darnit" all I think about are the words "God damnit". If someone says "God damnit" I pay no attention to the literal words, but the meaning they imply.

ryk- i love your books. i too have devoured them and always looked forward to the next one. however, after reading the last episode, i really got tired of the f word.

i have spent 5 years in the marines, (enlisted rifleman), 19 in the navy (officer, 9 years of sea duty), 14 years as a street cop and 13 years as an armed chaplain in a sheriffs dept. i have seen the elephant and have the nightmares to prove it.

i have served with navy seals and eod, army sf, air force pj's in support roles and have never hear the f word used as much as in your last book. except of course, as an enlisted marine. they turned the f word in to an art form, as noun, verb (past, present and future), pronoun, adverb, adjective, and what ever else they can think of.

one of the reasons i enjoyed your books is because i did not have to read the f word so often. i know it is used, used it my self on occasion back in the day, but that does not mean i have to like reading it as often as you have been using it. i hear it enough on the streets from the dirt bags as a cop and as a chaplain.

i never heard officers in any branch use the f word as often as you have your officers use it.

so please tone it down on the f word use. i would hate to have to quit reading your excellent stories just because i get tired of the f word.

i do not want to into any discussion justifying it, just sayin' you know. my 2 cents worth (maybe less with inflation).

respectfully
george tarleton, lcdr, usn (retired)

George,

While I appreciate your concerns, I am not going to censor foul language from my work for one simple reason. The way it is used is in line with the character's personalities and the situations in which they are being used.
But the main reason I refuse to remove such words is that THEY ARE JUST WORDS. They only have the power that YOU give them. They are not placed on the page to insult you. They are not placed on the page to enrage you. They are not placed on the page to cause controversy. They are placed there because it is what that character would say in that situation. Period.
Censorship is a very, very, very slippery slope. Even suggesting that someone should change the way they write, talk, or think to fit your individual ideals is the beginning of the end of freedom. I, for one, refuse to succumb to such efforts. However, if you choose not to continue reading my work, I shall not be offended, as I grant you the same freedoms as I expect you to grant me.

Thanks,

Ryk

I think it is a combination of both the character and the situation they are in. I was an enlisted Marine, so I have seen heavy use, and I have worked with other services that seemed lighter in their application. I haven't been in the kinds of situations that Jessica, Vlad, and Nathan have been in, though. Heck, I have never been more than half a single planet's distance from resupply. 🙂

So I read it and its fine. I do extend out the amount of time before I'll let my kids read them, though. It is a personal choice.

I think that in the situation facing everyone in TFS justifies a few expletives. I would like to add that while the F-word is probably by far the most used in the modern day, there are other curse words.

People from different places also use different local slag. Irish people say "for feck sake." I favor the word "Crap". (Irish people use fuck too by the way)

Chances are that Religion still exists so a few "Oh My God"'s could work.

But write what feels right Ryk.

For fuck's sake people this is fiction. If you don't like how Ryk writes, don't read it. This is America. I'm a veteran and reading George's post (he's also a veteran) suggest that someone not feel free to exercise their freedom of speech that he and I fought to protect is just flat-out embarrassing. Keep up the great work, Ryk!