Author Topic: review: Zoe's Tale  (Read 6969 times)

Nessa

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review: Zoe's Tale
« on: April 19, 2010, 08:39:31 PM »
"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter--'tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning."  -  Mark Twain

Check out my book reviews at http://elitistbookreviews.blogspot.com/

Silk

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Re: review: Zoe's Tale
« Reply #1 on: April 20, 2010, 12:08:57 AM »
Thanks for posting it, Nessa! :)

Bookstore Guy

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Re: review: Zoe's Tale
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2010, 03:32:04 PM »
I thought this book was interesting, but not as good as The Last Colony which is the same story told from the PoV of Zoe's parents (who are awesome).  Of course I've never been a big fan of telling the exact same story from a different PoV.
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Silk

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Re: review: Zoe's Tale
« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2010, 01:38:46 AM »
Hmm. I'll be curious to read the The Last Colony, then. Whenever I get around to it anyway. ::)

guessingo

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Re: review: Zoe's Tale
« Reply #4 on: April 27, 2010, 01:43:11 AM »
just picked up old mans war from the library.

readerMom

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Re: review: Zoe's Tale
« Reply #5 on: April 28, 2010, 10:26:17 PM »
When I started Zoe's Tale I didn't realize it was (sort of) a continuation of Old Man's War. I haven't gotten to The Last Colony yet, but I'm glad to hear that it might be better. I enjoyed ZT, but I would like the different perspective now that I just finished The Ghost Brigades. And I think any book that might encourage more young women to read SF is a good thing.

guessingo

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Re: review: Zoe's Tale
« Reply #6 on: April 30, 2010, 12:26:27 PM »
I read on Scalzi blog that he never writes more than one draft. I am now skeptical that I will like his work. I tend to look books that I authors spend more time. It doesn't have to be years, but edits and re-writes tend to lead to higher quality. I will give it a try.

I don't have alot of reading time yet and I am only halfway through Under the Dome by Stephen King. I want to finish that first.

Bookstore Guy

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Re: review: Zoe's Tale
« Reply #7 on: April 30, 2010, 04:02:39 PM »
1 draft doesn't mean anything when it comes to quality.  Since every writer is different, his 1 draft could be as well rounded as a person who made 9 million drafts.  To judge a book without reading it, and based solely on the number of drafts it took to write it is a tad silly.
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Nessa

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Re: review: Zoe's Tale
« Reply #8 on: April 30, 2010, 04:08:01 PM »
1 draft doesn't mean anything when it comes to quality.  Since every writer is different, his 1 draft could be as well rounded as a person who made 9 million drafts.  To judge a book without reading it, and based solely on the number of drafts it took to write it is a tad silly.

I agree, Steve. Dean Wesley Smith writes a series a of 'how to' for writers on his blog, and he pretty much shoots down the 'one draft is crap' theory.
"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter--'tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning."  -  Mark Twain

Check out my book reviews at http://elitistbookreviews.blogspot.com/

Silk

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Re: review: Zoe's Tale
« Reply #9 on: May 01, 2010, 08:08:44 AM »
I agree. Also, "one draft" isn't necessarily equivelant to "less time spent" on a novel; some people are slow writers who take time to perfect things the first time around. Or they're outliners and they hammer out their problems before they actually start writing. Etcetera.

Edit: Hum. Thanks for the link, Nessa--interesting post. I don't agree with everything he says there, but I think he's right in the main/
« Last Edit: May 01, 2010, 08:21:07 AM by Silk »

Nessa

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Re: review: Zoe's Tale
« Reply #10 on: May 01, 2010, 01:15:16 PM »
Silk, I don't always agree with him, either. His whole 'Sacred Cows of Publishing' series is quite opinionated and practically throws everything out the window. But more often than not, he makes me think, and as a result my writing has improved. I used to think there was something wrong with me because I'm the kind of writer who has to go back and add material in susequent drafts instead of taking stuff out, so it was rather comforting that I'm not abnormal to know that there are professional writers with that same style. There is hope ;)
"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter--'tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning."  -  Mark Twain

Check out my book reviews at http://elitistbookreviews.blogspot.com/

Silk

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Re: review: Zoe's Tale
« Reply #11 on: May 01, 2010, 09:29:42 PM »
Yeah. He makes some good points, but he seems bent on making said points as contentiously as possible (to be consistent with his marketing angle, I guess), and I think that skews a lot of the points that he has to make. His stuff is good for making people think, though, definitely. (Or at least, some people. His comments seem to be filled mostly with yes-men, which makes me cringe a bit.)