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First Contact
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First Contact, by James Jackson
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I stopped reading at the end of the sample.
I know this is awfully harsh but this book was just ridiculous. This was my review:I managed to make it through 14% of this book before abandoning it. I found myself skimming on the second page as the worst description of a space battle I have ever seen just kept going and going. The writing was laughable when it wasn't atrocious. The author has absolutely no idea of grammar rules and doesn't know the difference between grizzly and grisly.
I always buy books without reading the sample first but that was certainly a mistake in this case. I am appalled that I gave this author $3.99 and I am taking my Kindle out to dinner to apologize for having infected it with this "book".
I knew we were in trouble when the directors of observatories in different countries referred to each other by 'Director' and their first name - it was just wrong. The asteroid being slightly deflected by a nuclear warhead to then hit squarely on Central Park read like an idea for a cool visual in a movie.
... just a few thoughts ...
... just a few thoughts ...
I don't think Donna is being harsh at all.
Quoted from my review: "My overall impression: this is what I imagine reading a knockoff novelization of Roland Emmerich film would be like."
I didn't give the sample a one star rating because I didn't finish the book. But that's the direction it was heading. No depth or feeling for characterization; no sense of realism or rationality to the plot; no sense of place; no sense of science; just lots of ridiculousness. And the present tense too, to add insult to injury.
Quoted from my review: "My overall impression: this is what I imagine reading a knockoff novelization of Roland Emmerich film would be like."
I didn't give the sample a one star rating because I didn't finish the book. But that's the direction it was heading. No depth or feeling for characterization; no sense of realism or rationality to the plot; no sense of place; no sense of science; just lots of ridiculousness. And the present tense too, to add insult to injury.
Greg wrote: "I didn't give the sample a one star rating because I didn't finish the book."I normally wouldn't rate a book I didn't finish, but in this case it needs some one star ratings to be reflected in the average rating.
Donna wrote: "I normally wouldn't rate a book I didn't finish, but in this case it needs some one star ratings to be reflected in the average rating."
I'm tempted to do the same the more I think about it.
I'm tempted to do the same the more I think about it.
Greg wrote: "I stopped reading at the end of the sample."Ditto.
Any book that starts off with an author's introduction telling me how important/great the book is starts off with one strike against it already. Then when the actual story and writing do not come close to living up to the author's hype, it's strike two. When it's written in present tense: strike three, you're out!
I'm going to call shenanigans on this book and it's reviews.
I said this privately in a mail and I'll say it more publicly here .... Looking at the people who voted it 4 or 5 stars, some have only ever done anything with this book on goodreads & amazon and then they were all over this book - voting it up on lists, joining our group to vote on it, etc ...
I would love to know what some of these people who loved the book so much found in it that I'm missing.
I said this privately in a mail and I'll say it more publicly here .... Looking at the people who voted it 4 or 5 stars, some have only ever done anything with this book on goodreads & amazon and then they were all over this book - voting it up on lists, joining our group to vote on it, etc ...
I would love to know what some of these people who loved the book so much found in it that I'm missing.
I'd really like to read comments from some of the five star review folk too. It got nominated twice out of the blue by two members in the voting stage, supposedly a coincidence.
Heh...the author is certainly not shy about plugging his own book: http://www.goodreads.com/list/user_vo...
So there are people on amazon and on goodreads who were so moved by your book to create IDs to write reviews and promote it for you are real? And these are people who don't know you and countless you book on their own?
I may be a moderator but I'm also a reader and I gave my honest opinion; I do not think the book is well written by any means and I believe those reviews are from friends and family and are not real.
I do not need to read an entire book to know it's not good nor do I neednto read the entire book to write a review here or on amazon.
I may be a moderator but I'm also a reader and I gave my honest opinion; I do not think the book is well written by any means and I believe those reviews are from friends and family and are not real.
I do not need to read an entire book to know it's not good nor do I neednto read the entire book to write a review here or on amazon.
Yes. That's a good quote and I agree with it.
Just as an aside, how do you know that you know 8 of the 48 people who voted for your book in that last poll? Those 8 would be more than enough to have changed the outcome of the vote. I don't doubt that numerous members voted on your book with good intentions - I may be one of those people.
However, there are some members who joined goodreads and have only voted on your book here and on 'Best of' lists. There are authors who use methods very similar to what I've seen around your book to drum up interest in their book (I read a lot of indie authors, so I wade through a lot of this sort of activity). It's not beyond the realm of the possible that in your instance this is purely coincidental.
I could be wrong in my belief. It wouldn't be the first time. As of yet, there are no other opinions on the book other than those already shared (and, granted, this is day 3 of our month long read). I'd be happy to see other opinions here. Our membership has disagreed on books here in the past and will do so again in the future.
Just as an aside, how do you know that you know 8 of the 48 people who voted for your book in that last poll? Those 8 would be more than enough to have changed the outcome of the vote. I don't doubt that numerous members voted on your book with good intentions - I may be one of those people.
However, there are some members who joined goodreads and have only voted on your book here and on 'Best of' lists. There are authors who use methods very similar to what I've seen around your book to drum up interest in their book (I read a lot of indie authors, so I wade through a lot of this sort of activity). It's not beyond the realm of the possible that in your instance this is purely coincidental.
I could be wrong in my belief. It wouldn't be the first time. As of yet, there are no other opinions on the book other than those already shared (and, granted, this is day 3 of our month long read). I'd be happy to see other opinions here. Our membership has disagreed on books here in the past and will do so again in the future.
I just deleted a comment from this conversation and removed that member from this group. This is the first time in the years this group has existed that I've had to do that.
I will not put up with personal attacks aimed at me or any other member of this group.
We can disagree but we will do so as adults.
I will not put up with personal attacks aimed at me or any other member of this group.
We can disagree but we will do so as adults.
I completely stand behind my review and that I did not finish the book. On my Amazon review I listed specific examples that I found within just a few pages:"Yeah, No worries." Says Joe as he rolls his chair over to one of many consoles that operate the newly completed radio telescope array.
"Ughh, Andrew." His demeanor changing a little.
"Ok, Hey, can you pull that up on the new 3D modeling computer?"
"Hey great." Hollers Joe.
The author also talks about "the grizzly mess", "grizzly pieces", and "grizzly graves".
It's hardly a surprise that I refuse to finish a book so poorly written.
As for the 5 star reviews of the book--here on Goodreads it was given 14 5 star ratings. Of those 14:
1 person's profile is hidden
1 person is a friend of friend of the author
12 people are friends of the author
Of that 12, 2 people have only read and rated one book
So no, I don't feel bad at all about giving an honest review of this book, nor about saying that the author had no ideas of the rules of grammar. I don't mind at all that my review is going "global", as I feel that people should see a variety of honest reviews about the book.
James,
This is not an attack on YOU, but on the book. You may be a good man, a good husband, a good father, a good friend, and have other good traits as well. I've read on your website that you've helped rescuing horses; I think this a very good trait and praiseworthy.
What you did not do is write a good book. At least four long time readers of science fiction, with a diverse range of tastes, have come down very definitively against it. True, I have only read the sample, but that, in my option, was an ammeter's attempt, and I did not want to read further.
Initially, I refrained from giving the sample 1 star because I hadn't finished the book, but the more I thought about it, the more I decided there was no other possible rating I could have given the book based on what I'd read.
Even though she is not normally a science fiction reader, I asked my wife to read the sample as an impartial judge. She made it a few pages before saying it was very badly written with a poor grasp of grammar and word choice. She was once (many, many years ago) a high school English teacher and said she would have given a student a bad grade if it had been submitted as a creating writing assignment.
If you're serious about becoming an author, I think you need to hone your craft. Writing isn't easy. Just because you fill out three hundred pages with words doesn't mean you've written something well. Promoting a novel as bad as First Contact will only do you disservice in the long run.
Did you ever submit a draft of this work to beta readers in something like a writer's group? People who are not friends, family, or co-workers. For new or unpublished authors, I believe this is essential. You need impartial options.
I can't be positive there were shenanigans in the reviews or nomination process, but the circumstantial evidence is there, which is why I'd like to hear back from this people. What makes people mad is when they think the system might have been gamed.
I'd also like to see comments from readers who liked this novel.
This is not an attack on YOU, but on the book. You may be a good man, a good husband, a good father, a good friend, and have other good traits as well. I've read on your website that you've helped rescuing horses; I think this a very good trait and praiseworthy.
What you did not do is write a good book. At least four long time readers of science fiction, with a diverse range of tastes, have come down very definitively against it. True, I have only read the sample, but that, in my option, was an ammeter's attempt, and I did not want to read further.
Initially, I refrained from giving the sample 1 star because I hadn't finished the book, but the more I thought about it, the more I decided there was no other possible rating I could have given the book based on what I'd read.
Even though she is not normally a science fiction reader, I asked my wife to read the sample as an impartial judge. She made it a few pages before saying it was very badly written with a poor grasp of grammar and word choice. She was once (many, many years ago) a high school English teacher and said she would have given a student a bad grade if it had been submitted as a creating writing assignment.
If you're serious about becoming an author, I think you need to hone your craft. Writing isn't easy. Just because you fill out three hundred pages with words doesn't mean you've written something well. Promoting a novel as bad as First Contact will only do you disservice in the long run.
Did you ever submit a draft of this work to beta readers in something like a writer's group? People who are not friends, family, or co-workers. For new or unpublished authors, I believe this is essential. You need impartial options.
I can't be positive there were shenanigans in the reviews or nomination process, but the circumstantial evidence is there, which is why I'd like to hear back from this people. What makes people mad is when they think the system might have been gamed.
I'd also like to see comments from readers who liked this novel.
Donna wrote: "The author also talks about "the grizzly mess", "grizzly pieces", and "grizzly graves"."
Well, if there were a scene where a family of grizzly bears step on a landmine, there would be a grizzly mess, grizzly pieces, and grizzly graves after the Park Rangers cleaned up the grisly grizzly remains.
Well, if there were a scene where a family of grizzly bears step on a landmine, there would be a grizzly mess, grizzly pieces, and grizzly graves after the Park Rangers cleaned up the grisly grizzly remains.
Wow, all pretty harsh! :0(
Denique, It's great that you're here. I see that you're a friend of the author and you rated it 5-stars. I am interested in your opinion. As I've said, I like the idea of the book so I'm curious what those who did like it have to say ...
Rule #1 for authors in the internet age: Do not respond to bad reviews (at least not to do anything other than say, "Thank you"). I've never seen anything good for the author come out of it -- unless you subscribe to the "any publicity is good publicity" theory. http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-...
Charles wrote: "Rule #1 for authors in the internet age: Do not respond to bad reviews (at least not to do anything other than say, "Thank you"). I've never seen anything good for the author come out of it -- unle..."I would add to this that it's OK to clearly state what the person's review represented. Someone once gave me a one-star for a book that has mostly had threes and fours, so I sent a note saying "sorry you hated the book, if you can think of anything you'd like me address, let me know."
She increased the rating to two-stars, likely after considering whether she really hated it -- her review made it clear it just wasn't to her taste, not that she had problems with structure or style. So it wasn't really a "one-star" review; she didn't hate it.
But yeah, I'd agree arguing about the contents of reviews is pointless.
All publicity is good publicity? Now I'll have to look at the book to see what the fuss is about. :-/
Interesting banter going on about this book. I am one of the 'friends' that gave the book agreat review, I did so because I enjoyed reading it, now I can tell you that I did find some
grammatical errors and even had some issues with that pace and flow of some of the events.
That being said I reviewed it as a casual reader who enjoyed the experience. I can tell you
that the first time I read Robert Jordan's first book in the Wheel of Time series I stopped
at the end of the first chapter and didn't like it. I didn't go and give the book a negative review.
It was only later when I had a conversation about the book with a friend who had read the whole story
and they got me to try again that I found after I got past the beginning and gave the story
time to develop I loved it. I can agree that not everyone who reads this book will like it and
that's fine after all we are entitled to have our own opinions and individual tastes vary. I know
constructive criticism is great for becoming better at anything and maybe that is where the negative reviews should have stopped. Reviews are afterall just individual opinions and who can say that yours or mine are correct for anyone else.
I was suspicious of this nomination from the moment it happened, and I believe I even said so in the nomination thread. Too many people nobody had heard of nominating a book nobody had heard of to be legit. I've spent a LOT of time in online forums for a LOT of years (I'm not exaggerating when I say over 20) and I worked at Microsoft when they essentially invented online astroturfing. This is a textbook case.
This smelled artificial from day one, and I'd go so far as to recommend removing the book from the group's bookshelf. I know I've intentionally avoided the book, and I'm completely unsurprised that the most knowledgeable readers in the group have firmly decried it.
I read this about a month ago, after it had been nominated. I gave it 3 stars, as it does clearly need a good editor, who would clean up some of the spelling issues discussed (my bug bear was affect and effect), and perhaps some of the issues others have mentioned. But I did find it an enjoyable read nevertheless, the ending being the main plot problem for me ... but I guess most of you did not get that far :)And I had never heard of James Jackson before discovering this book!
I am now reading Wizard's Bane, have reached 26%, and am not sure I will go on. I am having a lot of trouble understanding how First Contact can be deemed worse than it (apart from the need for a good editing). Unbelievable space battles are certainly not my cup of tea, but if one were to reject scifi on that basis then where does that leave Star Wars and Star Trek? I saw an estimate of what it would cost to build the Death star recently - don't remember the details but suffice it to say it would be astronomical! Literally. Hard SciFi is supposed to be believable, more or less, but who says any other scifi has to be?
And since when is writing in the present tense grounds for trashing a book?
First Contact has a lot more pace and interesting literary approaches than does Wizard's Bane, and I certainly don't see a lot more depth of character in Wizard's.
Well, I didn't like Wizard's Bane either, and abandoned it about 25% of the way through. What can I say? I'm a picky reader who will not give any author a free pass just for having succeeded in the admittedly difficult job of getting a novel-length story down on (virtual) paper. It's all about story, character, theme, originality, technique, and artistry -- not just one or two of those.As far as present tense goes, for me, personally, it feels like a gimmick. It is contrary to what I am used to in 99.99% of the other novels I've read, and as such draws unnecessary attention to the author's technique while drawing me away from the story itself. That's not to say that other readers won't mind it, but I do; and as such I think any author should think twice before flying in the face of centuries of story-telling at the risk of alienating some portion of their potential audience.
Call me old-fashioned if you want. I am similarly against the use of sentence fragments, or whatever they are called. Like this. They seem to be proliferating lately in novels by many authors, and while very, very sparing use of them can be effective (low single digits in a given book), I find some authors these days using them virtually every other paragraph. (This last rant is not directed at First Contact, just at current authors in general.)
At least for me, I don't think a really good edit would have saved First Contact. Maybe some readers enjoy the narrow characterizations and faster pace--just like you'd see in a movie--but I prefer more nuance and details to events and characters building up to the action. There have been more than one book here that others have enjoyed along those lines that I didn't care for and that's too be expected.
But the editing and writing style of First Contact made it obvious the novel wasn't ready for release to the general public. A novel isn't just all storytelling, it is writing too, and author needs to do both. I didn't see this novel doing well as a story and it completely bombed out on the writing.
As for present tense, I agree with Charles, that it is often misused. It has its place, especially in stream of consciousness and other literary writing, but I think it rarely works well with genre fiction.
But the editing and writing style of First Contact made it obvious the novel wasn't ready for release to the general public. A novel isn't just all storytelling, it is writing too, and author needs to do both. I didn't see this novel doing well as a story and it completely bombed out on the writing.
As for present tense, I agree with Charles, that it is often misused. It has its place, especially in stream of consciousness and other literary writing, but I think it rarely works well with genre fiction.
I picked up a copy without looking at the book since it was a group read. I started it and pushed through 24% of it before I just couldn't read any more. But, before I share any opinions, what did you think of the book?