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Re: RI May 2018

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On 6/7/2018 11:52 AM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> In article <ff39bd89-3ee4-4777-89b2-f1a0bcc49471@googlegroups.com>,
> Ahasuerus  <ahasuerus@email.com> wrote:
>> On Monday, June 4, 2018 at 12:22:54 AM UTC-4, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>>> Species C1764: Book 1 of the Eridani Series
>>> by C.G. William
>>> https://amzn.to/2sugrsM
>>>
>>> Thanks to Kade Green in RASFW for pointing out this series!
>>
>> [plot reduced to subatomic particles]
>>
>>> This one has it all.  A revised-Campbellian setting (humans are messed
>>> up SOBs, but still great), pitched battles, destruction on a planetary
>>> scale, decent characters, sympathetic aliens who are still evil, final
>>> stands, last ditch retreats, boarding actions and crushing loss.
>>
>> Now that I have finished it, I can agree re: the book "having it all",
>> except for the "decent characters" part. If the book were expanded to
>> regular length, the grammar were fixed and the characters were beefed
>> up, it might do well within the indie space opera niche.
> 
> Ah well.  I did say "decent" not "great".  They are stock types: the
> bickering couple, the cheeky kid, the sociopathic genius,
> the long suffering world-wise soldiers etc, but I thought fairly well
> executed.
> 
>>
>>> And yet.  This book seems to be completely unedited.  There is no
>>> doubt in my mind that the author works on a professional level..
>>> writing, but the steps *after* getting a great story down on paper
>>> (or e-ink) have not been done.  There is hardly a page without bad
>>> homonyms, confusion between plurals and possessives, one character
>>> named when another is meant,  plainly missing sentences and awkward
>>> sentences which could be easily fixed:
>>>
>>> 'The Martian hooked a hand around the hatch as he flew past it, and
>>> using his own momentum swung it shut with his own momentum.'
>>>
>>> I'm no copy editor, but I think that with a few hours and a red pencil
>>> I could easily make this something Baen would (or should) be proud to
>>> publish. Unfortunately, neither I nor anyone else has done this.
>>> Know that going in, and you will have a crackerjack story.  Be
>>> blindsided by it, and you may lose hope.
>>
>> [snip-snip]
>>
>> I went in with my expectations adjusted based on your review yet I was
>> still shocked by how bad it was. It read like a raw transcript of an R.
>> Lionel Fanthorpe dictation run through a voice recognition program. It
> 
> Let me pause to admire that..
> 
>> took me forever to finish this very short book because I had to re-parse/
>> re-punctuate (and, more often than not, restructure) every sentence. If
>> not for your review and the book's length, I would have dropped it after
>> the first two pages.
> 
> What can I say?  My filters seem to be set differently than yours.
> I certainly enjoyed the book more than say, something like
> 
> 	_Starcruiser Polaris: Blood of Patriots_
> 	by Richard Tongue
> 	http://amzn.to/2qnehNw
> 
> which is also an indie space opera, and comptently edited.  And dull.
> 
> So, was the gain/pain ratio too high to continue, or no?

Any book on Big River that is only available in Kindle is naturally 
suspicious to me.  If the author cannot be bothered to make a POD 
version then what does that say about their book ?

Lynn

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RI May 2018 ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-06-04 04:22 +0000
  Re: RI May 2018 Ahasuerus <ahasuerus@email.com> - 2018-06-04 11:02 -0700
    Re: RI May 2018 ted@hotrod.bn02868.foressc.wayport.net (Ted Nolan) - 2018-06-04 23:21 +0000
    Re: RI May 2018 "Default User" <defaultuserbr@yahoo.com> - 2018-08-18 20:08 +0000
      Re: RI May 2018 ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-08-19 02:20 +0000
  Re: RI May 2018 Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2018-06-04 14:39 -0700
  Re: RI May 2018 D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2018-06-05 12:50 +0000
    Re: RI May 2018 ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-06-05 17:39 +0000
  Re: RI May 2018 Ahasuerus <ahasuerus@email.com> - 2018-06-07 09:21 -0700
    Re: RI May 2018 ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-06-07 16:52 +0000
      Re: RI May 2018 Ahasuerus <ahasuerus@email.com> - 2018-06-07 14:20 -0700
        Re: RI May 2018 ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-06-07 21:25 +0000
          Re: RI May 2018 Ahasuerus <ahasuerus@email.com> - 2018-06-07 14:56 -0700
      Re: RI May 2018 Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> - 2018-06-07 16:46 -0500
        Re: RI May 2018 scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2018-06-08 13:58 +0000
          Re: RI May 2018 ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-06-08 17:01 +0000
            Re: RI May 2018 Ahasuerus <ahasuerus@email.com> - 2018-06-08 10:30 -0700
              Re: RI May 2018 ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-06-08 17:34 +0000
  Re: RI May 2018 tsbrueni@gmail.com - 2018-08-19 07:52 -0700
    Re: RI May 2018 ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) - 2018-08-19 16:32 +0000

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