A question for the crowd

[stillsostrange]

I named a character once in The Bone Palace, an offhand reference that didn't warrant an entry in the dramatis personae but is still in print. Now I find myself needing to write more about that character and a) not liking his name much anymore, and b) finding it a bit too similar to someone else who shows up quite often. How many of you would be wildly irritated if I changed someone's name between books? (I doubt most people even remember that he was ever mentioned, but somewhere out there is the reader who will.)

Comments

[hareguizer.livejournal.com]

I'm with readingthedark's last idea, if it fits the story. Let the character have their new name, and if the more Sherlockian of your readers spots that this is the same character as went before, insert a nod that confirms their suspicions. Let them feel the glow of having discovered the correspondence themselves, and by keeping it a subtle nod, it spares the less attentive readers from feeling dumb.