Nobody ever pronounced a name they encountered in a book wrong. They just might have pronounced it differently to other people.

I remember an old USENET post about a speech therapist's analysis of fannish speech. One of the things she noticed is that it's common and not considered rude to interrupt with this kind of correction. groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.s...

Featherstonehaugh being Fanshaw is my favourite

thanks for saying it

I met Ann Leckie at a meet-and-greet with Martha Wells and asked her how to pronounce “Radch” and she asked (something to the effect of) “How do you pronounce ’Radch’? That’s the right way.”

Reader responsible vs writer responsible. 💕

When I first read The Hobbit, it did take me a long time to realize there wasn't an 'r' in "Grandalf."

Neil, as a man with a name unfamiliar to most Americans I know what you're trying to say but also: yes, they have.

So true. The world I step into when I'm lost in a story is mine...

You say that, but when I as a teen uttered the name “Goethe” (which I had never heard spoken) in front of a German... well, I definitely felt that I was getting it badly wrong.

The first time I read Colour of Magic I thought the first part of Rincewind sounded like Rhine. The was fine until later on (or a later book) his name was translated to someone as a "rinser of winds". Terry definitely had an intended pronunciation there, and I got it wrong!