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Google+ and reviews, including a quasi-review of a blurb
I now have a Google+ at Rivka T and at my pro name; feel free to add me there or not.
Blurbs gone wrong--Thanks for these nightmares, LibraryThing:
Domina: Society's Ilk by Edmund Alexander Sims (Dope KPC)
Steven Brust, Tiassa: I’m in it for Vlad, and I’m not a big fan of the Three Musketeers style narration he does with humans/elves. So I was super disappointed when, a third of the way through, this book shifted from Vlad POV to Empire narration as it went through the story of a silver tiassa, a plot to kill Vlad, and related matters. On the upside, we got to check in with Cawti. It’s rare in fantasy to see estranged spouses who are trying, partially successfully, to move on, so that was interesting.
Brandon Sanderson, The Hero of Ages: Sanderson is still trying interesting things in this third book of his trilogy (there’s a sequel coming out later this year, but it apparently jumps hundreds of years ahead in time, so I think it’s fair to call this a trilogy). Some of the revelations in the third book make sense of earlier events, though they also tremble on the edge of being as silly as midichloridians. We learn a lot more of the underlying rules of the magic universe, and they’re kind of intriguingly horrible but also not necessarily all that sensible; I probably would have been better off with “that’s just how it works, now go use the rules.” And the thing I really hated—that the male lead, who was a lover not a fighter until the end of the second book, suddenly became much more powerful than the female lead, something that was emphasized numerous times—moderated by the end, in part because Sanderson kept in mind that her skill and creativity could be more useful than his raw power and in part because he continued to love and trust her and let her take the lead when she thought it was right to do so. Anyway, I see both why some people really enjoy the books and why others are disappointed; I’ll read the one I have on tap and then decide whether I’ll buy the fourth Mistborn book used.
Alan Dean Foster, Star Trek: The reboot novelization. Foster was perfectly suited to do this job—he knows the franchise intimately; he cares about the plot stuff that doesn’t work on the page the way it works on the screen and alters the story as best he can to make more sense; he gives extra nods to the awesomeness of Sulu and Chekov, though Uhura doesn’t get more here than she did on screen and Gaila practically disappears. There’s not too much reason for this book to exist, but given that it does, Foster is a serviceable choice; someone who cared about women might have asked Diane Duane to do it instead.
Blurbs gone wrong--Thanks for these nightmares, LibraryThing:
Domina: Society's Ilk by Edmund Alexander Sims (Dope KPC)
Description: Domina: Society's Ilk is the story of a woman who refuses to be defined by those who can barely define themselves and rejects the dogged conventions of how she is supposed to be - levied by...yet based upon those who claim to be like her. It is the story of a superheroine who is capable of carrying an entire imprint as its franchise offering - so respected so as to garner the support of characters from an entirely different imprint for the purposes of ensuring her proper send-off into the universe. It is a story of last resorts, of sorts - in a pool of prose where the defiant metaphor which takes its plot seriously cannot be drowned. To Domina, none of this is anything new. She has always shouldered the ever increasing responsibilities of being a protector, the always welcome obligation of being a friend, and the treacherously important burden of being an entrepreneur. So why do her detractors continue to believe that they can win?Front Cover: Squandered opportunities net the opportune time for a new superheroine to spawn an opportunistic imprintI ... struggle to imagine what's in the director's cut.
Back Cover: Influence is a weapon which can be wielded either by force or by example. A bent will and a molded will each produce the same result, however the satisfaction to the wielder differs from the perspective of an individual's intent. Slaves simply go through the motions whereas thralls consciously surrender their souls.
The eBook is available in three different formats: Director's Cut (PDF), IDPF (EPUB), and Mobipocket (MOBI). Thank you for your time and consideration. Enjoy!
Steven Brust, Tiassa: I’m in it for Vlad, and I’m not a big fan of the Three Musketeers style narration he does with humans/elves. So I was super disappointed when, a third of the way through, this book shifted from Vlad POV to Empire narration as it went through the story of a silver tiassa, a plot to kill Vlad, and related matters. On the upside, we got to check in with Cawti. It’s rare in fantasy to see estranged spouses who are trying, partially successfully, to move on, so that was interesting.
Brandon Sanderson, The Hero of Ages: Sanderson is still trying interesting things in this third book of his trilogy (there’s a sequel coming out later this year, but it apparently jumps hundreds of years ahead in time, so I think it’s fair to call this a trilogy). Some of the revelations in the third book make sense of earlier events, though they also tremble on the edge of being as silly as midichloridians. We learn a lot more of the underlying rules of the magic universe, and they’re kind of intriguingly horrible but also not necessarily all that sensible; I probably would have been better off with “that’s just how it works, now go use the rules.” And the thing I really hated—that the male lead, who was a lover not a fighter until the end of the second book, suddenly became much more powerful than the female lead, something that was emphasized numerous times—moderated by the end, in part because Sanderson kept in mind that her skill and creativity could be more useful than his raw power and in part because he continued to love and trust her and let her take the lead when she thought it was right to do so. Anyway, I see both why some people really enjoy the books and why others are disappointed; I’ll read the one I have on tap and then decide whether I’ll buy the fourth Mistborn book used.
Alan Dean Foster, Star Trek: The reboot novelization. Foster was perfectly suited to do this job—he knows the franchise intimately; he cares about the plot stuff that doesn’t work on the page the way it works on the screen and alters the story as best he can to make more sense; he gives extra nods to the awesomeness of Sulu and Chekov, though Uhura doesn’t get more here than she did on screen and Gaila practically disappears. There’s not too much reason for this book to exist, but given that it does, Foster is a serviceable choice; someone who cared about women might have asked Diane Duane to do it instead.
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Edited because the logorrhea clearly affected me too.
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Unrelated - I went and read some John Birmingham interviews and found one from before his alternate history novels were published where he describes the first one as "the dumbest sci-fi novel of all time". He seems to avoid going there in the later interviews, though xD
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See, I had a grand old time with the first sf book, because I loved the concept and the execution, despite some stilted language, also really worked for me. It's the After America books, the second one primarily, that I feel worse off for having read.
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Actually there totally WAS a movie or something involving a language virus, wasn't there? Also a short story by China Mieville, I believe, but as far as I know they are unrelated.