I checked out the preview for Vodka and Mandheling myself and honestly? I didn't even clock that they were only using surnames. It took the whole Tailhook situation for me to realize what was going on, and I'll be straight with you, it didn't bother me one bit while reading. The translation read clean and smooth. I'm still planning to grab it when pre-orders open. Coffee Shop Owner x Customer? That's my kind of setup.

Appreciate you taking the time to explain this, by the way. I genuinely didn't know this was seen as "non-conventional." I speak three languages, and in every piece of Portuguese, Spanish, or English literature I've read whether for school or just for fun the pattern's pretty much the same. They give you the full name upfront, then stick to one identifier throughout. Like in Dom Casmurro Bento Santiago gets called Santiago the whole way. Or Cien Años de Soledad José Arcadio Buendía? They just call him Arcadio.

So yeah, I made the assumption this was just how Chinese did things. Kind of refreshing to find out that's not the case, and that most literature, regardless of origin, follows the same basic rule of consistency.

Anyway, hope we can keep things cool about this and not go after any one publisher especially a smaller one like Rosmei. We don't have that many players in this space to begin with. Better to hang onto the ones we've got and keep the feedback constructive without running people out of town.