Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read the print version of this book long ago (in fact, I owned it, but it has mysteriously disappeared), but thought the full-cast audio version sounded fun. And it was–a lot of fun! Of course, Adams is a perennial favourite of mine, and can pretty much do no wrong, so your mileage may vary. I like these books only slightly less than the Hitchhiker’s Guide series, and Adams is at his witty best in them.
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What can I say? I have to give this book five stars because I can’t really think of any way it could have been improved. Even though it strayed far into creepier vampire environs than I usually venture into, I enjoyed it and was riveted and engaged in the story from beginning to end. The audiobook was excellently narrated. Highly recommended if you like vampire fiction with an edge to its fangs. ;)
Promise by Nicholas Olivo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A very good followup to Imperium, the first book in this series–I’m torn between 3 and 4 stars but settled on 4 for a couple of reasons. Olivo’s writing is fast-paced, lively, and extremely enjoyable to read, and I just love these characters. With a lot of look-alike stories on the market today, these are definitely unique and memorable. What I didn’t like about this book won’t stop me from reading another one.
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD: My only quibbles with this book are plot-related. I was very annoyed with Vincent at the way he got into trouble in this book–he signed the contract in far too cavalier a manner when all his instincts should have been screaming at him to run away. I think as a character he’s smarter than this, and I hated to see him do something dumb for the sake of advancing the plot. I also felt that he should have questioned the Keepers’ definition of “fine”–because locking someone away in stasis really doesn’t make them “fine” in any sense of the word. I felt that they broke the contract right there, but it *never came up.* Even if they had argued about the definition–but it seemed like such an obvious thing to not even address.
However, these issues nothwithstanding, I did enjoy the book and read it quickly. A great series and I hope there’ll be more!
Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Yes, I read it in a day. Getting over the stomach flu is a great time to read! Anyway, I really enjoyed this episode in Harry Dresden’s adventures. The pace is swift, the characters engaging, and the plot complex. Lots of very cool supernatural stuff going on. Harry’s a bit of a downer sometimes, but he does get his mojo back (I don’t think that qualifies as a spoiler). :)
Torrent by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As a fan of Buroker’s Emperor’s Edge series, I was interested to see what she would do with a more modern-day setting, and I was not disappointed. Torrent is a fun romp with interesting characters and an intriguing setting. It stands alone, but leaves lots of scope for more books in the series. I’d definitely be interested in reading more!
I’ve read some books I didn’t particularly like. I’ve read some books that I thought had many technical and craft-related flaws. I’ve written reviews on some of those books.
I’ve never felt the need or desire to destroy an author or their book in one of those reviews. I don’t think it’s necessary, professional, or entertaining.
I’m not writing this post because I’ve received any sort of review like this for my own work (or if I have, I’ve been lucky enough not to see it!). But I’ve read some others lately that alternately make me cringe, and make me angry. Have you seen reviews like this? Where the reviewer seems to take a sick delight in completely eviscerating the work–and by association, of course, the author? They can be cleverly written, sure. But their vitriol against the book is actually repulsive. I’m not going to do any of them the service of linking to them. Sadly, they’re not all that difficult to find.
Yes, there are probably more flawed books available now than there ever were before (although don’t think they don’t/didn’t exist inside traditional publishing since its inception). But I don’t know what can prompt a “reviewer” to write such a screed. Even if you think a book is the worst piece of drivel ever written, that opinion doesn’t give you the right to decimate another human being. You can discuss the flaws you found in the book; you can discuss why it didn’t appeal to you; you can even make suggestions for what would have improved it for you. Those thoughts might be helpful to an author in writing another book, and they might be helpful to other readers in deciding whether to read a book.
But if you’re not writing a review with those goals in mind, why *are* you writing it? If it’s to make yourself look clever and rapier-witted at the cost of destroying someone else–you’re just another online bully. And your credibility with me is a big fat zero.
Photo credit: By Patrick Correia from Northampton, MA, United States (Book burning Uploaded by mangostar) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
War and Space: Recent Combat by Sean Wallace
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Like most anthologies, this one was a mixed bag for me. Some stories were very enjoyable and intriguing, some were tedious, a few were practically incomprehensible. There are some stories that I would call “military” SF, but certainly not all, as you might think from the title. On the whole, if you like hard SF at all, you’ll likely find it worth your while.
Cress by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I continue to love this series…of course I was blissfully ignorant that this was not the last book, although I began to suspect as much about halfway through. Now I have to wait again! But wait I will, because they’re just so good. Great characters, nicely complex plotting, and lots of fun.
The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
If you love YA and you love historical with a slightly steampunk flair, I think you will love this book. The author brings some very unusual and extremely cool elements into both the characters and the plot of this book, which make it intriguing and compelling. I stayed up extremely late last night reading because I just had to know what happened, and usually sleep compels me long before that eventuality. Can’t wait for the next in the series!
The Fog of Dockside City: The Obliteration Machine by Pat Flewwelling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
(Really a 3.5)
I came to this book in an interesting way. I read a blog post by the author, where she talked about how this book (self-published) had not been well-reviewed (hardly reviewed at all, in fact). She discussed the dilemma of whether to rewrite and re-issue a new version, or continue on with the series and let the first book stand. It was very interesting to me, as an editor and an author gearing up to self-publish the first book in a series myself. My curiosity was piqued enough to check out the book.
My feelings about the book are complicated. On one hand, I really enjoyed it. It has intriguing characters, and a unique setting that really resonated with me. I’ve always loved noir and superhero fiction and one of my favorite books of all time is “Invisible Scarlett O’Neill”–this made me think of that one. It has a complex plot that kept me picking up the book and reading on to see what happened next. That’s the most important thing you want your book to do. I shelve a lot of books that don’t hold my interest, but I read straight through to the end of this one.
On the other hand, the close attention of a good, experienced editor could have smoothed out the rough spots and really made this book shine. The writing is solid, really great in places. But many times I wanted to get out my editorial pen and mark it up. :) There were places where characters’ motivations needed to be clearer, where things were confusing, rough patches in the writing, and where there were substantive issues that could have been easily fixed with some editorial input.
This is not to say that every traditionally-published book that has been professionally edited doesn’t have some or all of these problems. Far from it. And–maybe this book was edited, and there were still things that were missed. I really don’t know. But it always makes me sad when I read a book with so much potential, that falls short of the mark for this one missing element–good editing. Or at least feedback from thoughtful, objective readers who can point out these types of problems (as long as the author will act on their advice). I think the importance of having this kind of input is the single most important thing that gets overlooked by indie authors. And it makes readers put books down and never try that author again.
So. I have to give this book 3 stars (which is really 3.5 in my mind)–and keep in mind that I assign ratings based on Goodreads’ definitions. I did really like the story and have already bought the next book, in the hope that the issues in this one will have been better addressed in the next.
