Statistics

I was just looking at Storyteller's Amazon page, and I noticed they have added some interesting new stuff. One thing that caught my eye was an item called text stats. Apparently Storyteller is seventh grade reading level (Flesch-Kincaid index of 7.7). I think this is mostly due to my preference for short Anglo-Saxon words as opposed to longer Latin-derived compounds, but I can't prove it. Interestingly, the stats are roughly comparable to those on some of Rosemary Sutcliff's young adult novels such as The Lantern Bearers and The Shining Company, which have had a big influence on my writing style.

So I guess I got that right.

P. S. a few more comparisons:

A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters (first book in the Brother Cadfael series) has almost exactly the same complexity stats as Storyteller and a Flesch-Kincaid index of 8.3.

The King Must Die by Mary Renault is 5th grade reading level (Flesch-Kincaid index of 5.6); so is Mary Stewart's Merlin Triology (FKI 5.7). Lindsey Davis' The Silver Pigs (the first book in her Falco series) falls in between.

For the curious, most Amazon selections with the "Search Inside" feature also show statistics. Check out your favorites.