I could not get through Banks’ “Feersum Endjinn” for this sole reason. English isn't my first language, though I’m fluent in it and read lots of hard sci-fi in

I could not get through Banks’ “Feersum Endjinn” for this sole reason. English isn't my first language, though I’m fluent in it and read lots of hard sci-fi in it. But half a book using English “spelling rules” applied haphazardly just to make a minor point about one character was well beyond my capacity. I quoted “spelling rules” on purpose because let’s be honest, English doesn’t really have any. You couldn’t translate that novel to Italian or Finnish, or any language with proper phonetical spelling.