*headdesk* repeatedly

I can't whine about this stuff on my author blog because it's not kosher to rant about the stupid stuff I read where fellow authors can read it. But here? I'm just me, so y'all get to listen to me get all red in the face. Which doesn't make sense, but then, neither does the hero of the book I just started reading.

1. He's a geek. A seriously techy guy who listens to indy Steampunk bands in his free time.
2. He's a Quaker. This is where things start to go off the rails.
3. He drinks and swears and listens to techno-punk, the last of which isn't specifically prohibited by the Friends, but doesn't really go along with their thing of not being angry people. But the first two? No-nos for the Quakers.
4. He joined the military. Our ALL-VOLUNTEER forces. But he didn't want to shoot things, he just wanted to play with the gadgets like "Q" or something from the Bond movies.
5. Since this is a romance novel -- even though I haven't gotten very far into it -- I'm going to assume that at some point he'll be having sex with the heroine. Quaker + premarital sex = #religionfail. That's not to say that Christians don't have premarital sex, or that I don't personally write premarital sex in my romances. But since she's making a big deal out of his religious viewpoint, it just feels ooky.

All of this leads to me to a couple of questions: Why is he a Quaker? Why join such a fringe group?

You know, I have no problem with true conscientious objectors. I really don't. Everyone's got their reasons for believing what they do and far be it from me to tell folks they have to shoot at other people to be "real men" or "real Americans" or whatever.

This guy? Is a moron. What kind of idiot signs up for the military, but refuses to carry a weapon? It's not like there weren't a hundred thousand other things he could have done, but no. He's got to join up while we're at war. Frakking idiot. I mean, you HAVE to learn how to fire a weapon to get through the training program -- officer or enlisted. How does he get around that?

Even if he didn't join the Quakers until after he left the military, why? Why not just say, "I won't ever pick up a weapon again" which would be infinitely simpler?

But the thing that bothers me the most is the slippery veneer of spirituality that she had to paint on to somehow justify his unwillingness to shoot people. She couldn't have just made him a geek who doesn't know how to shoot. Most people in this country don't know how to shoot. But why, why, why twist him into this quasi-religious pacifist with completely illogical military experience?

You know why? BAD WRITING!!! I can't finish this book. The hero is stupid and I'm not required to spend my time reading about stupid people.

It makes me even madder that I've been waiting to read this book for ages because I've been dying for good Steampunk romance. hmph.

In case you're wondering, the book is Steamed by Katie MacAlister.