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frothy 's review for:
The Last Emperox
by John Scalzi
I got a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I’m not sure they’ll ever give me another one. Oh well.
I read this book a few days ago, and dashed off a first draft of this review, and came back a few days later, because I have been pondering how to write a “fair” review. How much were my expectations affecting my view of this book?
The “fairest” I can be, is to think through How I would view this if I had just received the 3 texts from netgalley, so That all I knew was it was a published trilogy, with no knowledge of the author or The publisher or The price; in other words, a completely cold read.
The upshot is as follows: it was a kind of okay Facile yarn. I’d assume it’s a freebie or a cheapie from an inexperienced author who self published them. There are some good ideas and the voice is beguiling. To be fair it was an improvement on the second book which was clearly a first draft which was released by mistake. This clearly talented author really really really needs to work with a good editor to think through his world building, his writing and his characters. He is a very fluent tale teller, but my goodness, everything else needed work. This has got to be one of the “toldest” books I have ever read - as to a 10 year old maybe? Reading it is to experience the author outlining the book and the story. Most disappointing is that the political/history/world building elements essential to such a story are absent...in a series about a collapsing interstellar empire.
So if you need something superficial and undemanding to listen to while in hospital, and you can get it for free, maybe give it a go.
As I am in fact well aware of the author and the publisher, I just hope that down the track Scalzi returns to these books and fleshes them out properly. This really feels like a missed opportunity.
I read this book a few days ago, and dashed off a first draft of this review, and came back a few days later, because I have been pondering how to write a “fair” review. How much were my expectations affecting my view of this book?
The “fairest” I can be, is to think through How I would view this if I had just received the 3 texts from netgalley, so That all I knew was it was a published trilogy, with no knowledge of the author or The publisher or The price; in other words, a completely cold read.
The upshot is as follows: it was a kind of okay Facile yarn. I’d assume it’s a freebie or a cheapie from an inexperienced author who self published them. There are some good ideas and the voice is beguiling. To be fair it was an improvement on the second book which was clearly a first draft which was released by mistake. This clearly talented author really really really needs to work with a good editor to think through his world building, his writing and his characters. He is a very fluent tale teller, but my goodness, everything else needed work. This has got to be one of the “toldest” books I have ever read - as to a 10 year old maybe? Reading it is to experience the author outlining the book and the story. Most disappointing is that the political/history/world building elements essential to such a story are absent...in a series about a collapsing interstellar empire.
So if you need something superficial and undemanding to listen to while in hospital, and you can get it for free, maybe give it a go.
As I am in fact well aware of the author and the publisher, I just hope that down the track Scalzi returns to these books and fleshes them out properly. This really feels like a missed opportunity.