Snowlands missing something...
Snowlands has received a slightly 'meh' review today, and for the sake of my own sanity I need to address it!
Personal taste is tricky to measure in a paragraph where it's only mentioned briefly, so I cannot really work out if parts of the book simply weren't the sort of thing Ms Bogart enjoys. I see that she is fiercely Christian (her website is here). I don't believe this is incompatible with my work, but it's a factor worth considering (sex before marriage, non-religious society etc.)
She says she doesn't like the characters much. I really didn't want Raia to be that likeable. She's cold-hearted and damaged, and doesn't really see the value of relationships until later on. The doctor is eccentric and unemotional about death, and Valyar is simply misunderstood. I sometimes worry that my characters are too likeable, or too good at things. So it was a pleasure for me to write about someone who was a bit of an anti-heroine.
Ms Bogart points out that I allude to Raia's secret skills a little too much. Perhaps this is something I need to check.
She says she finds the characters cardboardy. I hope they're not, but I would like to add the proviso that, in 41,000 words, it's tricky to really flesh a character out. Her final comment is that the powers are not properly explained. I did want it to appear slightly mysterious and odd, but if this doesn't work then it doesn't work.
Anyway, she's made some serious points, so I think it beholds me to re-read the book and see if I can improve anything.
Gah. It's really hard to know what the right response is!
***
Hmm. Well, I've read through the novella again... and I can't really see how to change it. Or perhaps I have my head firmly in my bottom? I'm embarrassed to say this, but I really felt that I dealt with Raia's characterisation very well.
Raia is a very cold, very tough woman, but she's plagued with guilt over her actions. She's a thousand miles from perfect, but she is a survivor. I cannot help but admire her in spite of her faults.
And of course the intimacy is low-emotion. Raia doesn't really understand much else. It's all business to her, and her relationship with Valyar doesn't have nearly as much time to develop as that with Daemar.
I don't think there's much more I can add to explain Valyar's powers without adding some sort of appendix. It's supposed to be a little mysterious. And as for the factoids, I think that may just be my writing style. To me, dropping in hints about the world as the characters think is a far more natural way of illustrating it.
Raia's singular physiology is only hinted at three-to-four times during the book. I don't think that's too much, personally. And it is explained that she comes from a culture of hedonists - personal pleasure is their ideal. They certainly wouldn't see that as a shallow pursuit.
That's my first response for now. I'll have a longer think about it, and check out some of the things that Ms Bogart has rated 5*. I really want to know what she thinks is good and what's not.
***
Well, I think I've cracked it, and I fear that I may not be able to write a book that this reviewer would like. That's fair enough, I suppose. It's a sad but hard truth that no writer can ever please everybody, as much as we'd like to.
What I have found through looking at her reviews is that (apart from the technical side, which thankfully has met with her approval) she seeks books with strong moral messages, definable evil and a clear stance on marriage. In my worlds, morals are decided by their host societies and the characters, and those morals may not ally with modern western culture. Evil never comes in a can with my characters, and there's never a 'dark lord'. Sometimes my characters do bad things, but frequently they exist in a sort of moral grey area. And marriage? I always look at different cultural practices and beliefs about marriage, and I've found that they vary so much that taking a particular view on marriage would never meet with all beliefs and satisfy everyone. I like to think that I explore a bit of what it is to be human, and frequently, humans don't think very far into the future when it comes to sex!
I suppose I'm a bit upset about this review because I worry that others will try to carry the criticism with them if they decide to buy the book. I always take criticism seriously, because I want to make sure I'm selling something worth reading. I cannot help but feel that this is her polarised opinion, and that I'd have to westernise Raia in order to make her acceptable, or rationalise Valyar's powers in some sort of spiritual context. Ho hum.
Personal taste is tricky to measure in a paragraph where it's only mentioned briefly, so I cannot really work out if parts of the book simply weren't the sort of thing Ms Bogart enjoys. I see that she is fiercely Christian (her website is here). I don't believe this is incompatible with my work, but it's a factor worth considering (sex before marriage, non-religious society etc.)
She says she doesn't like the characters much. I really didn't want Raia to be that likeable. She's cold-hearted and damaged, and doesn't really see the value of relationships until later on. The doctor is eccentric and unemotional about death, and Valyar is simply misunderstood. I sometimes worry that my characters are too likeable, or too good at things. So it was a pleasure for me to write about someone who was a bit of an anti-heroine.
Ms Bogart points out that I allude to Raia's secret skills a little too much. Perhaps this is something I need to check.
She says she finds the characters cardboardy. I hope they're not, but I would like to add the proviso that, in 41,000 words, it's tricky to really flesh a character out. Her final comment is that the powers are not properly explained. I did want it to appear slightly mysterious and odd, but if this doesn't work then it doesn't work.
Anyway, she's made some serious points, so I think it beholds me to re-read the book and see if I can improve anything.
Gah. It's really hard to know what the right response is!
***
Hmm. Well, I've read through the novella again... and I can't really see how to change it. Or perhaps I have my head firmly in my bottom? I'm embarrassed to say this, but I really felt that I dealt with Raia's characterisation very well.
Raia is a very cold, very tough woman, but she's plagued with guilt over her actions. She's a thousand miles from perfect, but she is a survivor. I cannot help but admire her in spite of her faults.
And of course the intimacy is low-emotion. Raia doesn't really understand much else. It's all business to her, and her relationship with Valyar doesn't have nearly as much time to develop as that with Daemar.
I don't think there's much more I can add to explain Valyar's powers without adding some sort of appendix. It's supposed to be a little mysterious. And as for the factoids, I think that may just be my writing style. To me, dropping in hints about the world as the characters think is a far more natural way of illustrating it.
Raia's singular physiology is only hinted at three-to-four times during the book. I don't think that's too much, personally. And it is explained that she comes from a culture of hedonists - personal pleasure is their ideal. They certainly wouldn't see that as a shallow pursuit.
That's my first response for now. I'll have a longer think about it, and check out some of the things that Ms Bogart has rated 5*. I really want to know what she thinks is good and what's not.
***
Well, I think I've cracked it, and I fear that I may not be able to write a book that this reviewer would like. That's fair enough, I suppose. It's a sad but hard truth that no writer can ever please everybody, as much as we'd like to.
What I have found through looking at her reviews is that (apart from the technical side, which thankfully has met with her approval) she seeks books with strong moral messages, definable evil and a clear stance on marriage. In my worlds, morals are decided by their host societies and the characters, and those morals may not ally with modern western culture. Evil never comes in a can with my characters, and there's never a 'dark lord'. Sometimes my characters do bad things, but frequently they exist in a sort of moral grey area. And marriage? I always look at different cultural practices and beliefs about marriage, and I've found that they vary so much that taking a particular view on marriage would never meet with all beliefs and satisfy everyone. I like to think that I explore a bit of what it is to be human, and frequently, humans don't think very far into the future when it comes to sex!
I suppose I'm a bit upset about this review because I worry that others will try to carry the criticism with them if they decide to buy the book. I always take criticism seriously, because I want to make sure I'm selling something worth reading. I cannot help but feel that this is her polarised opinion, and that I'd have to westernise Raia in order to make her acceptable, or rationalise Valyar's powers in some sort of spiritual context. Ho hum.
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