AA: Negative Review. Fair Warning.

[Phil]

Doesn't anyone else find one page reviews a worthwhile concept?

Personally I'm very fond of page 8. I found the description of the guard-filled kitchen very well done, and I liked the way the boy's hunger was offset against the introduction of Burrich, and the further exposition of the boy's parentage (spoiler for page 9 there).

[Katie]

Agrajag wrote: "I breezed through the free preview on Google Play. No issues with the writing. As soon as I finish devouring Caliban's War I'll be buying this little puppy.

I highly recommend reading free preview..."

Free preview is a great idea since I can relate to lemming a book quickly due to the grammar/very first impression of the writing style...of course I am all about the...what's the term?..."dead tree" versions. I like to hold the book, feel the paper, turn pages, smell it.

Sooooo my response to anyone complaining they paid for a book then didn't like it is this: LIBRARIES! They still exist, people, and they should be supported for how accessible they make reading. There's no loss if you get a library book then end up not liking it. Whining about paying or paying too much or anything like that is just uncalled for when there are easy solutions. My tiny little library chain even has e-books available to "check out" for free as well.

Critique the writing style, sure, but don't act like anyone held a gun to your head to make you pay good money for something you don't enjoy.

(If anyone else made this point, sorry, I only read about the first 50 posts before the bickering got a little much)

[Scott]

I've been part of S&L for four months now. Since this same hackneyed thread, with the same points, comes up each month, here's a great labor-saving idea: each month, copy the whole thread. Simply remove any reference to the previous month's title, and replace with the current month's book title! Viola! Same lem thread, same incisive commentary, with almost no work! You're welcome :D

[Dazerla]

Scott wrote: "I've been part of S&L for four months now. Since this same hackneyed thread, with the same points, comes up each month, here's a great labor-saving idea: each month, copy the whole thread. Simpl..."

Lol.

[Daniel]

The title of the thread is misleading, Leading one to think that the thread starter had read and finished the book and was providing some insight into why he thought the book was bad. Then he proceeded to say he hadn't read past the first page!

I too was turned off by the opening pages but out of sheer will and having bought the book I continued to read and by the end of the book I was glad I had purchased it.

[Will]

I finished the book and could have lemmed it without issue. I felt the beginning was the best part, but as the story went, it felt to me as a bunch of short stories tied together without a good over-arching story. Yes, V said it was more his life and less a quest, but the characters that are his nemesis felt dumb and contrived. You could easily guess what would happen next. Their dialogue, although coming from Fitz's view, made them stupid. Just not my style of Fantasy I enjoy. Sorry V.

[Ena]

Daniel wrote: "The title of the thread is misleading, Leading one to think that the thread starter had read and finished the book and was providing some insight into why he thought the book was bad. Then he proceeded to say he hadn't read past the first page!

I too was turned off by the opening pages but out of sheer will and having bought the book I continued to read and by the end of the book I was glad I had purchased it."

This is one of those comments I strongly wish GR had +1 buttons for posts.

[Katie]

Bettina wrote: "Firstly let me say that in the title it states that this is a negative review, well i wouldn't call reading a page and lemming a book a "review" at all. Just because you're uninterested in reading ..."

I'm with Bettina - my biggest gripe with this is that I opened the thread expecting something more useful than what I could find out after spending 5 minutes with the book. This is just a lem, not a review.

[Agrajag]

I'm enjoying Assassin's Apprentice so much I think I'm going to have to cancel my earlier pledge to Lem the last word of the book. I know everyone here was looking forward to the thread I was going to create to crow about it but you're just going to have to wait for me to Lem the last word of some future book. :)

[Kathryn]

I had a tough time getting through the first few pages because of what Darren said, and then it hooked me.

[Katie]

Rick wrote: lemming a book one page in is..."

I agree, attention seeking all the way.
Lets face it, if you gave up on The Princess Bride after the first couple minutes, you'd think it was about disgruntled Fred Savage with a cold. If you gave up on Wizard of Oz in the first few minutes, you'd think it was about an upset neighbor with a dog-problem. Game of Throne? Bad example, my point is, people who quickly give up are to be pitied their ignorance, they know not what they miss out on ;)

[Valerie]

Well put!

[C. Scott]

Personally, I like negative reviews. They give an insight that often good ones do not. However, like all reviews, I expect them to be well-written and thought out.

Reading the first page, and then deciding you don't like it, is not enough for a review for me. I would expect a reviewer to read the whole thing. Reading half is ok, but the entire book is far more useful. One page is not enough to provide a fair review of any book.

Overall that is not a review of the book. It is a review of the first page.

[Anne]

This thread caught my eye so even though I was sitting this month out to read other books I downloaded the Kindle sample. I have to agree with Darren - the first few pages were quite enough to go ugh. In my case I didn't lose any money.

I suspect a lot of people think and write in passive voice most of the time and so they accept its familiarity. Maybe they even prefer the psychological distancing of the passive voice. Using active voice is usually harder to do but it is typically far more interesting...the difference between being lectured vs being there.

In any voice the beginning of this particular book is redundant and dull...except for the gnarly knuckles sentence which was good for a laugh. I would have lemmed it too.

P.S. The first few pages of The Wizard of Oz aren't dull.