Book Review Site

[Bookstore Guy]

Don't worry, Slamel, I re-hired that therapist that got you through the depression from reading the other Goodkind novels.

[sortitus]

Why would someone rehire a retired therapist?

[WriterDan]

Well.  Its done.  The Law of Nines review is posted.  Enjoy.  Now I feel the need to go shower and scrub with ajax and bleach after subjecting myself to Goodkind once more.

Honestly, I have no idea how you did it.

Read the review.  Awesome.  That's all I can say.  Pure awesome.

[Silk]

You know what I love? I love when authors email you telling you they appreciate a good review, and how they love the style of the reviews - it makes me feel all warm and squishy inside. And I love it even more when they quote you as one of their principle US reviews. James Barclay is awesome in this very fashion. After blogging and Twittering about us, he offered to do an interview with us. Do you see why we love British fantasy? They books are great, and the authors may be some of the nicest people on the planet.

That's awesome. Congrats!

...And I have to go read this Goodkind review now. I'm supposed to be writing, but hey, this is important. =D

[mtbikemom]

Well.  Its done.  The Law of Nines review is posted.  Enjoy.  Now I feel the need to go shower and scrub with ajax and bleach after subjecting myself to Goodkind once more.

. . . so we don't have to!  Fun bashfest. 

[Silk]

It was fun! I tried to post as much on the site, but for some reason it won't let me. :/ I can get as far as the part where it demands word verification, but it won't let me scroll down past the word verification to find a submit button. Just hitting enter doesn't work either. :/ (Happened in both Firefox and Internet Exploder, if you're wondering...)

Anyway. Still enjoying the site

[Frog]

I really like the concept of your review site. It is nice to get an idea for style and content before you spend money on a book. But I guess my only question is who your intended audience was in creating the site. I don't see it as being all that wide at this point, simply because a lot of your humor and criticisms seem less about the book's content and area of appeal, but more about your own preferences and reactions to the book. There is nothing wrong with that as everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I am sure your friends and those of similar tastes enjoy having your list of recommendations, but I just don't know how useful it would be to someone like me who taste in books are a bit different. I appreciate you sharing the site though and wish you the best of luck.   

[mtbikemom]

I ditto Frog RE the review site.  As you expand the content and include more classics, and stuff Ireally like, I think the general appeal will grow exponentially. 

For instance, it would have been nice to have read a more modern take on Asimov before reading Foundation, book 1, recently.  I found it dry and, while probably innovative and mind-expanding in its day, the characters never had a chance to take hold and grow in its historical framework.  There is a reason that historical textbooks are dull, with few exceptions.  I, Robot, is probably a much better read, but why bother when there are hundreds of novels written since then that are so much better?  It was interesting to note the origins of certain world-building elements that have been carried forward to almost all subsequent sci-fi, namely Battlestar Gallactica and even Star Wars.  Asimov must be credited with imagining so much from which so much else was derived. 

[Bookstore Guy]

Oh yes, the more books sent to us, the more we will read. We haven't even really touched SF yet, and I haven't even really gone into my mystery/thriller mode yet...or historical fiction/fantasy for that matter. Or humor. Though if things go our way, we will have some very cool SF lined up. We will have a SF 101, etc soon enough. As the site grows, so will our variety to a degree.

Also in the way of news, Wizards of the Coast seems to like us. We may get to do some author interviews with them that have us really geeked out. More info as it is confirmed.

[Patriotic Kaz]

Pist on anyone who insults Asimov!!! The Foundation series is arguably the best Science Fiction series ever written. Thats the equivelent of saying Dune sucks, which anyone can tell you is horribly inaccurate (though Brian's books leave much to be desired, but know one cares about him anyways).

[Bookstore Guy]

I know a lot of people who don't like Dune. I get it. To me it is an acquired taste (like Jordan in a sense). I cant even stomach the thought of reading another Brian Herbert Dune novel. I'm sorry, but there are just some lengths I'm not willing to go to for the readers...reading the 6 prequels was bad enough. Those are some of the worst novels I have ever read. Ever.

[ryos]

Well.  Its done.  The Law of Nines review is posted.  Enjoy.  Now I feel the need to go shower and scrub with ajax and bleach after subjecting myself to Goodkind once more.

Goodkind is the Little Caesar's Pizza of fantasy. Seriously, that's some nasty stuff. I buy it 'cause it's cheap (the pizza, not the books), but only when I'm in a self-hating mood.

*ahem*. BUT! I find that a lot of people actually like the stuff, and when I joke about how gross it is to people, half the time they defend it. I think Goodkind continues to get published because his books sell, whether we like them or not.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

I like Little Caesar's quite a bit. Much more than the Pizza Hut we had this evening.

[mtbikemom]

Don't "pist" on the mom, Kaz.  It's not polite.  Please forgive moi for denigrating one of sacred cows of SF.  I also had a difficult time with Asimov's Godless world (I also hate the song "Imagine" because it really describes a mythical hell) and the characterization dryness put me out for the count.  I liked Dune when I was a teen, but not enough for a reread.  Ever. 

Were you kidding, BSG, about literally sending you books?  Or did you just mean suggestions?  Thanks for getting to Carol B. eventually! 

We have a drive-thru Papa Murphy's Pizza in my town.  But you gotta bake it yourself.  Extra cheap, pretty darn good, but requires a lot of work. . . . Who does this remind me of?  RJ?  Not cheap enough.  Terry Pratchett?  Not enough work involved.  Terry Pratchett is more like cotton candy--fluffy and fun, but don't eat too much, right?

[Bookstore Guy]

Actually Brandon and I were discussing Goodkind, and his books were released during really really slow times during the calender year. There was no competition for his novels which is why they were "NYT Bestsellers." The actual amount of copies sold wasn't very high for a "Bestseller." In short, his bestseller title was fabricated.

As for books being sent to us, so far 2 publishers are sending us advance reader copies (ARCs) of their novels. Also a few random authors are sending us their stuff. We have emails out to a few other publishers to get ARCs from them as well. It is awesome.

And Caesar's pizza isn't that bad. I agree it is better than Greasy Hut.