Mike’s Reviews > Haze > Status Update
Mike
is 12% done
This prose is very, very bad. There are lots of odd word choices, sentences start and stop in weird places (lots of run-ons, lots of fragments), and most of the scenes flow very poorly. This is very obviously published independently, which is very unfortunate.
That said, I like Barnard's sense of humor, so it's possible that this isn't hopeless. If the story is good enough, I might not hate this novel.
— Jul 27, 2016 06:40PM
That said, I like Barnard's sense of humor, so it's possible that this isn't hopeless. If the story is good enough, I might not hate this novel.
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Mike’s Previous Updates
Mike
is 93% done
I'll be honest: I have no idea what Barnard was attempting to accomplish. The last quarter of the book is very different in tone from the first three quarters, meaning that the book really lacks cohesion. And I have no idea why we're seeing flashbacks, why this book is set in the future, or really why any decision was made. Barnard seems to have something to communicate, but I can't grasp at it.
— Aug 07, 2016 04:22PM
Mike
is 87% done
I'll say this at least: I was not expecting the book to go in this direction. The novel still feels very shapeless and formless to me, and I'm still not entirely sure what Barnard was going for. But there are at least some good ideas here.
— Aug 06, 2016 08:25PM
Mike
is 75% done
And now we're in a mental hospital. Great. Look, I don't want to be pessimistic, but mental hospitals are one of those things that authors get wrong nine out of ten times it's attempted. And to be honest, based on how this book has gone so far, I'm not given much reason to think it will be an exception.
— Aug 05, 2016 07:36PM
Mike
is 62% done
Finally, after more than halfway through the story, we get what appears to be the inciting incident. This pacing is very slow, to the point where I'm honestly not sure what Barnard was going for. Also, it's just now occurring to me that Haze is a huge manic pixie dream girl.
— Aug 04, 2016 08:35PM
Mike
is 50% done
This writing is so unedited. Oftentimes, Barnard writes a completely different word from what he meant - 'queue' in place of 'cue', 'feudal' in place of 'futile', 'Rowling' in place of 'rolling', ect. Also, I'm still not sure what the plot of this book is supposed to be - there's no underlying tension or goal that the characters have.
— Aug 02, 2016 09:55PM
Mike
is 37% done
The worldbuilding is next to nonexistent so far. There's some subtle stuff, but for the most part, other than the existence of digital diving and the smog in the air, this world is almost identical to today's society. It feels like a big missed opportunity.
Also, there's not much of a plot so far. I'm not sure what the conflict is supposed to be, and I feel like I should know by now.
— Jul 31, 2016 08:36PM
Also, there's not much of a plot so far. I'm not sure what the conflict is supposed to be, and I feel like I should know by now.
Mike
is 24% done
I'll say this at least: Haze and Jack are both pretty well-rendered characters. Admittedly, it's hard to appreciate, because the writing is so bad that it's constantly distracting, and the structure isn't doing them any favors either. But I don't think this novel is entirely redeemable, even if it's very badly broken. There might yet be a good novel inside this flawed package.
— Jul 29, 2016 07:46PM
