abigcoffeedragon's reviews
1707 reviews

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson

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1.0

I tried, and unfortunately I fell int that group of people that could not follow ALL of the different view points and changes and what is the point of this story, really - I followed book one just fine, but once into book two, it was like starting over and I felt let down that I invested time into a book and found by that point a new book - and a totally different angle on EVERYTHING - yeah, so I quit - so sue me - i just can not deal with a book that has more person point-of-views than there are days in the week - sorry - too much jumping around - next time, it should be separate novels in the same world, not multiple novels within one binding.

UPDATE: Re-Read
Yeah - Just as it was the first time around. This one is just too out there with too much going on and nothing going on at the same time. "Give It Time" people say. If you cannot grab me by 25%, I will not invest my time, what little I have, to reading.
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

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3.0

Definitely the older style of writing - Pages of exposition with very little action or dialog. This is also written in that sense of this is what has already happened, and I am telling you now, so you never fear for the author's life. I understand the appeal of this story, and of course time has made this a classic.
Twilight Falling by Paul S. Kemp

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3.0

Meh - I like the action and the flow and movement - I did feel that some of the events was to illistrate that, yes, the author knew the D&D rules, but overall it was a good read - BUT - my biggest issue is the ending - I know that this is the first of a trilogy, but the point of a trilogy is that you read a good book about a character or characters and WANT to read more - not have to - I have already made the commitment to read the trilogy but I feel like this is going to be more of an overly extended story stretched out to cover three books instead of three well written books - also, note to any future writers and also a spoiler to those who have not read this book - you can't name the trilogy after a character and then kill him in book one - because I know that he is not really dead and will come back, and whatever shock you wanted, you won't get - that would be like Harry Potter diying when he got the stone in book one - not falling for it - not a waste of time .. yet - let us hope that book two is better.
Write to Market: Deliver a Book that Sells by Chris Fox

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5.0

The third in the Chris Fox Writing Method, no-nonsense approach to becoming an accomplished writer.

This is five stars, though I will not implement these rules for a while. I need to get into my better writing habits and get to where I write at least 3K words an hour. Plus, I need a catalog of books, starting with the junk that every writer begins with.

I have made the promise to myself to begin, and I will continue to strive using the knowledge that I have gained from the Chris Fox books and videos. Do yourself a favor. Get these three books, and take them to heart. Do the exercises too, no cheating. And in addition, watch all of his videos. The 21 day novel challenge is fun to watch, and I wish that I had known of Chris a few months ago when he did this live.

One of Chris Fox's steps in becoming a better writer, is choosing a mentor. I have made my choice, and while I will probably not write non-fiction, I will take steps to better improve my writing, my lifestyle, and myself, using these motivational tips received in this trilogy.
The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know by Shawn Coyne

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3.0

This is about 300+ pages of great information, but it is also a bit overwhelming. I see how this can be useful, and I am currently listening to the backlog of podcasts to try to get a better understanding, but this is like reading a course book without the teacher's lessons. The information is there, including one example, but not enough to fully grasp.
I could see this becoming a lecture series for students to try to delve into the inner workings of this process.
This does a great job of breaking down Silence of the Lambs, but I do not fully understand how to do this for my own works.
Again, a wealth of information, and it probably requires multiple reads to digest it all.
Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth L. Powell

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2.0

Yeah - this should have been enjoyable, but it was not - there are basically three major players in the novel, and they are so far separated in the beginning, though they converge slooooooowly through the book - but, it just does not do it for me.

What I thought the book was about, which was Ack-Ack during world war two, is not really the story - I was mislead a bit, and this is a bit more futuristic scifi, which I do not hate, but having a talking simian from WWII in a futuristic world does not work for me. Neither do the brain implants and the whole 'backing up' your brain and memories.

Others love the series, and the writing is not bad, but the story just has too much anachronism for me to enjoy.
Guns by Stephen King

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5.0

Great essay.

It is wonderful when someone of public image takes a step forward with thought provoking words such as these. Thank you mister King.