 |
| Johh Bauer, 1915. |
Louis Shalako
'Look at them, troll mother said. Look at my sons! You won't find more beautiful trolls on this side of the moon.' > John Bauer.
A great and epic read.
An
awesome, epic read. I wasn't so sure if it was a work of fiction because What I
felt so real. What a ride.... enjoyed every page. Great book. > Barry
Burch.
One of the best books I’ve ever read.
First
of all, let me restate the title of this review: This is by far one of the best
books I've ever read. The story is great, the technical aspects of it (flying,
gunnery, etc) can be held up next to the many WWI flying memoirs I've read, and
I haven't loved a literary character this much since Bernard Cornwell
introduced me to Richard Sharpe (there are a lot of similarities between the
two).
The
writing style is that of a memoir, written in the first person from the point
of view of what I imagine is a much older WIll Tucker reflecting back on his
days in the RFC. The writing is so well done I could almost picture listening
to Tucker telling his old flying stories. The plot and his irreverent
commentary are seamlessly entwined together and the result is an absolute joy
to read and immensely quotable. As for the plot, I thought it seemed a little
far fetched at first (assassinating the Red Baron?) but Shalako made it work
and well.
All-in-all,
any enthusiast of the Great War and WWI aviation in particular should give this
book a read. You won't be disappointed and for the price, what have you got to
lose? I'm already reading it a second time and it's just as good. > M.J.
Thomas
***
as
long as you don't read it as factual this is an entertaining read with the
first half being more entertaining than the later chapters which drag somewhat.
> Lee Whitfort.
I
agree with your comments regarding the use of the modern idiom and the shaky
style. Somewhat entertaining but could probably profit from the use of a
competent proof reader. > John Cameron.
Okay, here are some sample reviews for The
Handbag’s Tale.
A
purse is found next to a dead man in an alley. He had been at a party with
drugs, gambling, sex, and alcohol. There a many suspects - but which one? This
very short (31 pages) book follows two police detectives as they piece together
the facts. A lot of story in a little book with a surprise ending. > Quanita’s
Reviews.
***
A
murder is committed in a Paris alley. This is just the latest of eleven reported
over the previous three weeks. This time the victim is a well known and
universally liked banker with one fatal shot between the eyes. This tale is
presumably set during the dawning years of the twentieth century. Forensic
science is in its infancy and large city crimes are solved by interrogation and
luck. As lead detective Gilles Maintenon interviews an avalanche of humanity,
slowly a picture comes into focus. Like a French Sherlock Holmes, he shifts
through the witness statements, picking out bits and determining the facts from
fiction. The brevity of the story and the search for a red haired woman (I’ve
always been partial to redheads) keep me ponderously reading on. This story
would have probably rated higher by me if more attention was given to details.
It reads like a summery and doesn’t add anything to really grab the reader’s
attention. Like a play, the narrative is divided erroneously (as each section
has multiple settings) into three scenes. I will use a quote from the book that
nicely sums up this author and his works: “Prior history is the best indicator
of future behavior.” I must say that the redhead was eventually found so let me
end this review on a positive note (with another quote from the book): “No
honest effort is ever wasted.” > Thom Swennes
Here
are a whole slew of Goodreadsreviews and ratings with no additional comments.
In
the case of Heaven Is Too Far Away,
the reviews seem to contradict each other. When I read the first review, my
initial impression was of a troll review, using a bit of reverse psychology as
it seems very unlikely that a first book by an unknown author could really be
‘one of the best books I’ve ever read.’ That, I think, is the benefit of
multiple reviews. The truth probably lies somewhere in between two
extremes.
In
the case of The Handbag’s Tale, the
first two reviews I ever got in my life, were lovely, four-star reviews by
people who clearly enjoyed the book. They seemed knowledgeable, and appreciated
the fact that there was some experimental aspect to the story.
Then,
one day I opened up Goodreads or Amazon, I forget which, and saw a whole slew
of one-star reviews, where it appeared the reader had purposefully set out to
slam an author they knew nothing about, made sure to point out they hadn’t
actually read the book, etc. (In other words, trolls. – ed.)
I
can honestly say that my blood ran cold. My body tingled all over, it sort of
flashes over you in that adrenalin-rush. The fight-or-flight instincts are
fully aroused in that moment.
As
authors, we all know the facts. The best thing to do with troll reviews is to
ignore them. And of course, that’s very hard to do.
The
worst thing is the sense of psychological rape, that sense of absolute
powerlessness.
We
know there’s nothing we can do about it.
The real fear of course, is that the same
people will keep coming back, and make a real science of hounding you, and
slamming your books. We all hope to be successful, and we all hope to make
money. We see this as having a real impact on other potential readers. The real
trolls want to scare you away. They want you to be paranoid or something. The
funny thing is, after a few years, they’ve moved onto someone else. I still get
readers. I had three novels and one novella out at that time. It really does feel like the end of the world.
Hell, fourteen novels later, I’m still not sure if I can really write or not.
It’s not like some of us have massive sales numbers to back up any claims or
simply to give us confidence.
Five
years ago, I had no reviews at all. Not a one.
Perhaps
that is the difference.
Now
we have dozens, maybe even scores of reviews. We still get less-than-glowing
reviews. Every so often, a troll stops in and pisses on our gate. Every so
often, someone takes the time out of their busy day to give us an honest
opinion of the book.
The
simple fact is that 99.9 % of readers never review a book in their lives. Those
that do often confuse it with a book report from elementary school. The best
reviews excerpt memorable passages from a book. In the case of criticisms, the
reviewers really ought to give an example, but again, they’re not professional
readers. They’re just people giving a quick thirty seconds out of their day for
whatever reason. Without amateur reviews, I probably still wouldn’t have any
reviews at all.
We may never get a professional magazine review in our lives, and that's probably the case with the majority of independent authors writing today.
We
learn quite a bit about books and reading and readers when we get reviews. It’s
important to listen to them, and to try and understand from their perspective what we
did right or wrong, without letting it cripple or embitter us.
It
goes with the territory, and it is best to remain philosophical. We will basically manage our own attitudes and perceptions, and let them manage theirs.
It's their dime, after all. As far as this writer is concerned, the trolls are beautiful people.
END
