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Has Anyone Else Read Sureblood?
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Jacqueline J
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Jul 25, 2010 05:35PM
Has anyone else read Sureblood by Susan Grant? I'd like to discuss it a little with other sci fi romance readers. You can see my review as a jumping off point.
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Not yet, Jacqueline, but it's in my Leaning Tower of TBR. :) I'll check out your review.
Laurie, would you let me know what you think of my review? I got totally slammed on Amazon for the same review. I didn't care for the book. I gave it 3 stars. I stated the reasons why as politely as I could. Mine is the only review out there. I think I'm the only person who has actually read it. :-) I kind of think that if a person reads my review and decides to get the book anyway because what bothers me may not bother them, then it was helpful. I may not post anymore reviews over there. One fella wrote a 10 paragraph rant about why my review was wrong then said he hadn't read the book yet. What's up with that?
Ech, Jacqueline - I just read your review and I wouldn't worry too much about the "slamming". Some folks just need to be right.It is a well written, well considered review and it is, most importantly your opinion. Yours. There will be a hundred dissenting ones out there, never fear. But to simply gush over every book your read is somewhat vapid. And to justify what might be less than stellar writing without reading the book is a bit silly. You gave your honest take on how you felt when you read the story. Don't ever stop doing that.
Readers need it and, heck, yes, we authors need it, too.
Well I really didn't want to hurt the author's feelings but I try to give honest reviews. I was just kind of taken aback by the negative votes and the rant.I would still like to discuss the book with anyone who reads it. Pros and cons etc.
Wow! I read the posts and, wow. I'm sorry that happened. I think all readers have the RIGHT to like a book or not. And that shouldn't have to be said! I have what I called "chemistry" with the way some authors write and I don't have it with others. It happens or it doesn't. I'm stunned someone would flame you over a book he hasn't read!!!! It's a crazy world. I read your reviews of the books on the blog and found them thoughtful and careful (as was this one). You clearly thought about it and stated your reasons, didn't just go in with a short, I didn't like this so there. As an author, I wince when someone doesn't like my books, but I totally defend their right to feel that way! And I actually don't expect everyone to like them. (wry grin)
Hang in there and don't let them stop you. :-D
Three stars isn't so bad - I can't see the "hate" going on for three stars.I do think that sometimes people tend to gang up on anyone who isn't willing to pronounce something as DA BOMB (best thing evah!) and toss five-star reviews around like candy.
It was an honest review. I'd rather have one of those instead of a faux feel-good thing.
Hmm, he did seem a bit focused on the whole piracy thing, but he seemed to be using present day piracy (on the seas) as a comparison and to relate his experiences. You were explaining what didn't work for you in a SFR novel. I thought your review was honest and straightforward, Jacqueline, and I'm saying that as a fan of Susan Grant's. Not every book is going to resonate with every reader.
Jacqueline, I just read your review, and I don't see any cause for fuss at all. Yours was a very reasoned, mild review. You weren't even harsh. You just objected that the book was "wallpaper" scifi to borrow a term from historical romance and the author didn't prove her claims. She just told you so and so were meant to be together. She didn't demonstrate it. As far as I can tell, those are pretty reasonable complaints that anyone might raise. I'm glad they keep GR positive with only "yes" votes.I have to say, I really agree with your sentiment that SFR is so rare, and so we're really thankful when we come across one.
Be Careful - Some SpoilersI just finished Sureblood today. It wasn't my favourite Susan Grant book and I'm a big fan of hers. I loved the fighting scenes and the rivalry between the two pirate clans. Dake was a great hero. Sexy and steadfast. Val was a very spunky heroine.
There were a few areas where the story didn't gel for me. The heroine's gullibility in believing every bad tale spun by the bad guys annoyed me. The plot devices used to keep the H/h apart seemed a bit obvious. The fact that Val had a son to Dake seemed like a story line that had been done so many times before. I was curious at first about the water loving hostage and wanted to see where that tied in with the 2 main characters but it seemed peculiarly unrelated. And I would have liked to have seen a bit more "hard science" in the story but that's just my preference.
I'd give the book 3.5 stars but I rarely give 5 stars so that's a pretty good score in my weird system! Thanks to Susan Grant for continuing to write great adventures in one of my favourite genres.
Mandy wrote: "Be Careful - Some SpoilersI just finished Sureblood today. It wasn't my favourite Susan Grant book and I'm a big fan of hers. I loved the fighting scenes and the rivalry between the two pir..."
That's what bothered me the most too. Someone would say "it's the hero's fault! He gave the victim that drinking cup!" And they'd all say "yeah he done it!" and I thought wait a minute doesn't anyone in this crowd think "hey we're trying for an historic peace here. Maybe someone is trying to sabotage it. Let's do a little detecting." And it seemed like every time something happened they and the heroine would believe that latest thing they heard.
The lack of hard sci fi bothered me a lot plus some other things. I think if it had only been one thing I wouldn't have disliked it quite so much.
I really liked the plot. By that I mean, the things that happened followed logically and were interesting. I think maybe she just tried to get too much in too little pages.
I think this time the author was writing with a quite serious tone, whereas in the past I have found her books (especially the older ones) to be more lighthearted and humorous.
I have decided I don't like Susan Grant's books. I have read every one as it came out hoping it would be good but am always disappointed. There are so few sci-fi romance writers that I kept giving her a chance to enthrall me but most of them ended up in the DNF pile.
I haven't read it yet. I usually like Grant's stuff, though I do enjoy some of her earlier stuff like Contact and The Star King a little more than the latest stuff. It felt a little more substantial, maybe?
Hmr28, is there something in specific that turns you off from her work?
I usually like Susan Grant's books but I couldn't get into Sureblood at all. I finally gave up on it and started another book.
Her characters are not well fleshed out. Often they lack motivation, and fail to grow or learn during the course of the book. The writing seems boring and flat to me. Her world building is usually good but that alone can't carry a book.
I wasn't entirely impressed with this book either. I felt it had, like others have said, aspects that didn't gel together particularly well. I also didn't feel anything much for the leads - they didn't seem to grow or change at all. The world building felt minimal at best so in my review I suggested that it might be a better read for people who were unsure about reading SFR and would prefer a minimal sci-fi setting. In the end it received three stars from me - readable, but nothing special.
