David Burrows's Blog, page 15
September 9, 2015
A book review - Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine.
Lady of Hay by Barbara ErskineMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
OK, I was spoilt with River of Destiny. Lady of Hay, I found, was way too long. The premise was good but somehow it failed to deliver in the same way as River of Destiny. In the latter, there was more of a ghost theme and that worked well. The regression in Lady of Hay to past lives was a good idea but the sheer length of the novel caused a problem for me. I found I only read a few pages a night and it has taken quite some while to read it all the way through. The period (early 12 C) was good and the depiction was very believable. The author does a great job researching the background information. King John and Matilda are very well portrayed as are many of the other characters. Some aspects are a little less believable although some of these aspects combine to form a neat twist at the end. I enjoyed it but not as much as River of Destiny.
View all my reviews
Best Ever Fantasy PC Game?
Diablo I fitted all the qualities for a good role playing game. I loved this game and recently replayed it again, although it really struggled with Windows 10! It's a great shame that Diablo II was no where near as good and the reviews for Diablo III look really poor.
So what made the original game so good? For me it was the weapon and spells you found along the way and the leveling up. It was also really great that the monsters leveled up in a similar fashion, the deeper in the (dare I say?) dungeon you went. I usually play more than one round of the game as the items get better the second time around. Even then you might not find all the best items and spells and my recent sojourn left nearly half my spells missing. That is my one complaint...why make it so difficult to find "good" stuff? That also seems to be a complaint on Diablo III.
The other thing I liked was that the levels were clearly bounded. The edge of the dungeon made it very clear. In Diablo II I often got lost in too large an area and lost site of the plot, as it were.
I tried the on-line version but that was very hard. You couldn't save the game in the same way and you lost all your items when killed. I also ran across a couple of other people online and they brutally killed me and took all my "stuff". Gits.
Back to Diablo, I liked the Rogue as she was the quickest to escape danger. Don't ask why but she was called Edwina the Bold. I played on Guild Wars which was quite like Diablo but a large online game. As per usual I had a character called Edwina the Bold which sort of worked against me. Some lads tried chatting me up, assuming I was as female as my character. That put an end to that game very quickly as it felt sleazy giving the wrong impression, From now on I'm Baldric the Brave!
For fantasy fans this was a great game. Sorcerers, magic weapons and armour and a host of horrible creatures to battle.
Great game.
So what made the original game so good? For me it was the weapon and spells you found along the way and the leveling up. It was also really great that the monsters leveled up in a similar fashion, the deeper in the (dare I say?) dungeon you went. I usually play more than one round of the game as the items get better the second time around. Even then you might not find all the best items and spells and my recent sojourn left nearly half my spells missing. That is my one complaint...why make it so difficult to find "good" stuff? That also seems to be a complaint on Diablo III.
The other thing I liked was that the levels were clearly bounded. The edge of the dungeon made it very clear. In Diablo II I often got lost in too large an area and lost site of the plot, as it were.
I tried the on-line version but that was very hard. You couldn't save the game in the same way and you lost all your items when killed. I also ran across a couple of other people online and they brutally killed me and took all my "stuff". Gits.
Back to Diablo, I liked the Rogue as she was the quickest to escape danger. Don't ask why but she was called Edwina the Bold. I played on Guild Wars which was quite like Diablo but a large online game. As per usual I had a character called Edwina the Bold which sort of worked against me. Some lads tried chatting me up, assuming I was as female as my character. That put an end to that game very quickly as it felt sleazy giving the wrong impression, From now on I'm Baldric the Brave!
For fantasy fans this was a great game. Sorcerers, magic weapons and armour and a host of horrible creatures to battle.
Great game.
September 2, 2015
Edgar Rice Burroughs - Highly Imaginative Fantasy Books
What an imagination he had. 140 years old today, I believe.
His books were amazing in their day and surprisingly easy to read today. I loved the Mars series and his imagination knew no bounds. There was usually a theme, guy meets girl, girl gets abducted and guy spends novel trying to rescue her. However, there was some seriously good imagination in all his books. Tree creatures with blood sucking hands, giant white apes, creatures morphed form separate head and a body creatures.
Tarzan was a great creation and spawned many, many films. Yet the book is far better than any film and so far the film industry has failed to recreate the magic of the books.
Of the recent John Carter film...one reviewer said that he'd seen it all before and there was nothing new. Edgar R Burroughs wrote this book in the early 1900s, well before modern fantasy authors were even born. ERB must have had a hand in the birth of the fantasy genre. To say his work had nothing new is a travesty and lacks understanding of these epic books.
Great books...and so many to chose from.
August 31, 2015
Amazon top 500 Reviewers and the Author Review Dichotomy
Most my author tips have some advice attached, but on this topic I am struggling and look to the wider community for an answer, so if you can help resolve this conundrum please feel free to post.
The advice to authors is to get a Top 500 Reviewer on, say, Amazon to review your book. However, many top reviewers seem to resent being contacted for reviews. Easy-amazon-tricks-for-getting-more-reviews-from-the-top-50-reviewers/ is an example of how to solicit reviews and yet one of the reviewers replies to state how much he hates being contacted. Surely a reviewer not wanting top be contacted should not post a contact address?
How then should an author seek a review. Does the author politely stay quiet in the hope that a top reviewer reads their work or is there an acceptable way of contacting reviewers?
Do all reviewers feel this way, or is the offer of a free book sufficient recompense for their time? Bearing in mind that a book can take several years to write and the cost of editing and a cover can be substantial.
Should any reviewer wish to review my fantasy novels then feel free to contact me here or view my Facebook page. See my website for links http://davidburrows.org.uk/ -- meanwhile, any views on how best to approach this thorny topic would be welcomed.
The advice to authors is to get a Top 500 Reviewer on, say, Amazon to review your book. However, many top reviewers seem to resent being contacted for reviews. Easy-amazon-tricks-for-getting-more-reviews-from-the-top-50-reviewers/ is an example of how to solicit reviews and yet one of the reviewers replies to state how much he hates being contacted. Surely a reviewer not wanting top be contacted should not post a contact address?
How then should an author seek a review. Does the author politely stay quiet in the hope that a top reviewer reads their work or is there an acceptable way of contacting reviewers?
Do all reviewers feel this way, or is the offer of a free book sufficient recompense for their time? Bearing in mind that a book can take several years to write and the cost of editing and a cover can be substantial.
Should any reviewer wish to review my fantasy novels then feel free to contact me here or view my Facebook page. See my website for links http://davidburrows.org.uk/ -- meanwhile, any views on how best to approach this thorny topic would be welcomed.
Editing your Book
Found an interesting article on Editing you book prior to publishing
http://selfpubauthors.com/2015/08/30/so-you-want-to-publish-a-book-post-1-is-your-book-ready-to-be-published/
My comment was:
I am not sure it is easy to edit your own book. You (blog author) sound like you can and that is a rare skill. I found that I became over familiar with my book and so editing became quite difficult. I paid to have it edited and that is a major pitfall for self-published authors as it's (a) expensive and (b) hit and miss whether you will find someone that is good (at a reasonable cost). There's a huge number of people claiming to be editors and there is a wide range of editing types and most only offer a copy edit due to cost and for many books -- that's not enough. You need to find plot holes and inconsistencies as well as grammar faults.
http://selfpubauthors.com/2015/08/30/so-you-want-to-publish-a-book-post-1-is-your-book-ready-to-be-published/
My comment was:
I am not sure it is easy to edit your own book. You (blog author) sound like you can and that is a rare skill. I found that I became over familiar with my book and so editing became quite difficult. I paid to have it edited and that is a major pitfall for self-published authors as it's (a) expensive and (b) hit and miss whether you will find someone that is good (at a reasonable cost). There's a huge number of people claiming to be editors and there is a wide range of editing types and most only offer a copy edit due to cost and for many books -- that's not enough. You need to find plot holes and inconsistencies as well as grammar faults.
August 28, 2015
Stunning Reviews for Legacy of the Eldric -- a fantasy novel
Check out the video of the reviews. Visit my website for sample chapters and more reviews
Good Reading
David
August 27, 2015
Man from UNCLE film
Man from Uncle was quite good fun despite the reviews, It was nostalgic for the original series but different in its own way. Shame Mr Waverley only features later and UNCLE is only a code name. I hope there is another episode more akin to the books, with more gadgets that 007 (exploding shoe laces). Solo (Henry Cavill) was a bit wooden which was a shame.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1638355/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1638355/
August 23, 2015
#Bookreview A Murder on the Appian Way, a tale of Rome by Steven Saylor. Awesome
A Murder on the Appian Way by Steven SaylorMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow, love this author. It's not for everyone as not a lot happens but it's gentle pace is half the reason to love it. The tale makes you believe that you are in Rome (or further afield). Steven Saylor's depth of knowledge is incredible and the small detail really works, like the time Gordianus is leaving Rome and one of the aqueducts has a leak and water drips down his neck. Such a trivial thing but it tells you loads about Rome, the importance of the aqueducts, the slight imperfections on an otherwise stunning achievement. The story line is also very interesting picking on an less well known character and incident and bringing it to life. There is loads of politics and intrigue, all of which Gordianus is trying to leave behind and failing in the attempt. I have read most of his books and the more you read the better the tale, it spans one man's lifetime from young and enthusiastic person to old and cynical man. It plots the life of key Romans such as Cicero. It describes Pompey's summer residence and it's a sumptuous treat, both in writing and what the "rich" could afford. Amazing tales and well worth getting into.
View all my reviews
August 19, 2015
#Bookreview River of Destiny by Barbara Erskine
River of Destiny by Barbara ErskineMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a very entertaining read. It is set in three periods, Saxon, Victorian and the modern day. It is nicely written and easy to read. The tale is compelling and keeps you hooked. It's a ghost story with a twist that there a flashbacks to the different periods and it is quite creepy with ghostly ships on a river. It is not too creepy, however, and it is more a mystery tale solving crimes/murders. The different periods link well and are linked by various aspects including a old statue from the Old Gods. There are plenty of twists to keep you interested and it's a nice twist how infidelity is independent of period. I particularly liked the Saxon period and descriptions and felt that was very nicely detailed and researched.
It was good enough that I am reading Lady of Hay. However, I am finding that much heavier to read and over long. Whereas the formula of flashbacks and interconnected personalities over time works very well in River of Destiny I do think Lady of Hay is overlong.
View all my reviews
July 17, 2015
Do We Need Fantasy When We Have This
A snake eating spider!! I like the imagination in Fantasy but sometimes you don't have to look too far. This is horrible.
