Here’s a little blurb from a review I received on Goodreads that I just had to share with you all:
“A sci-fi novel with a strong female protagonist is always a pleasant change in the male-dominated SF world. Assuming that by the blurb, everyone is aware of the basic plot, I will skip it. Overall, it is a good read, and a pretty good attempt by the author considering it is his first book. There are some serious flaws in this work, but it does also have immense redeeming qualities as well. It is quite obviously a flaw of mismanagement of the novel rather than an intellectual flaw. An artistic issue, not an ideological one. And it is better it is not the other way round.”
Please read the rest here and come on back when you’re done: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/636877718
I absolutely loved Litbug’s review, just as much as I loved Indiefantastic’s review (don’t forget to check out her book “Blood Bank”, coming soon). Obviously, I love the reviews for different reasons, but the common trait shared when I love a review is simply this… they hit the proverbial nail on the head. Indiefantastic (Zoë Markham) got what I was going for with the superhero theme, likening it to The Avengers (which is a huge compliment) and understood what I was trying to convey. And she has a lot of reviews under her belt, so this wasn’t necessarily an easy victory for me either!
Litbug on the other hand, understood that the flaws in my book were from lack of experience and polish, rather than me not understanding what I was doing. But what Litbug does in the review is push it one step further and explain -why- things didn’t work and why they did. Litbug goes into great detail as to the more philosophical aspects of science fiction writing and explains where my book loses its message. This is where I feel the review really shines, because it helps me to learn and grow as an author. Litbug understood that I was trying to make imperfect characters, but went a step further and told me why it just narrowly missed the mark. I had to show more of their redeeming qualities and show why they were still good people despite their flaws.
Litbug was also one of the only reviewers to point out the alien bacteria and why it requires the suit in the first place. Ironically, I had cut out the details because I thought it would be too boring, but now I realize that it was a mistake to do so.
I also really loved that Litbug listed techniques used by other authors. Whether intentional or not, Litbug’s examples helped me get a sense of how to write similes and descriptions the right way.
Excerpt from the review: “Similes, Metaphors – they hang over the work like a mist – every once in a while, they hamper your sight, but many a times, it is a sheer delight to be walking through it. Some of the similes and metaphors were absolutely beautiful, but a few were misplaced.
A very good technique could have been to use them to depict the changing mood/aura of the work. Delightful similes in lighter moments, followed by dark similes in sinister moments. Consider William Gibson‘s opening line of Neuromancer – The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel – it sets the tone for the whole work.”
Overall, this was an excellent review to read and one that you should read as well if you’re planning on picking up a copy of my book!
