The overuse of the word "literally" is so distracting. I noticed it in Adrian Tchaikovsky's "The Final Architecture" series and I'm noticing it in Children of Strife. I'm only 55 pages in and I've seen it used around four times already. I don't remember Children of Time, Ruin, or Memory having this issue, but maybe I just didn't notice it then. Those were my first Tchaikovsky books.
Brandon Sanderson has this issue too, especially in newer books. It's been a few years since I read the Cosmere but I remember seeing it in the later Stormlight and Mistborn books, as well as the Secret Projects. I just don't get why authors feel the need to use the word so much. It's a fine enough word, but just like anything, overusing it is bad.
I'm sure there are other authors aside from these two that do it too, but I've only noticed it with them so far. This is something that's been bugging me for a while now. I'm reading Children of Strife at 1 AM and I came across the word "literally" again and I had to complain about it super quickly.
What words drive you insane?
by stablest_genius