Slashdot Mirror

I do post them to my book review blog too- geekbook.org. Feel free to hop over and experience more disappointment with my sub par writing skills. Though I have to admit I prefer this kind of complaint to the usual slashvertisement drivel.

I did write it without reading any other reviews of the book - so while you may find the quality lacking, it is individual and non regurgitated in its entirety.

The scale is in the guidelines for submitting reviews. 8 is "Very Good". Usually what I do is start mentally with a 10 and as I see issues I'll knock down the score. I can't remember if I've ever rated a book I've reviewed a 10. I'd have to go back and look and I'm too tired to do that now. I know I've read some 9s.

I didn't mean to be ambiguous. Sorry about that. I think that it's a good book with potential to have an impact. But the issues I mentioned do exist and so I wouldn't feel right if I didn't mention them. For future reviews I'll try to be more clear in how I feel about the book and if I recommend it.

Though as a rule of thumb if I really don't like a book I don't finish it and I don't review it. Though there was an exception a while back - a sci-fi novel, Space Vulture (The same review ran here at slashdot - but it's easier to find at my own site where I keep all my reviews - though I haven't kept it up to date.) That was a stinker but I finished it, but now I feel bad for having reviewed it with a low score. Just my personality. I'd rather focus on promoting what I think is good rather than bashing what I think is bad.

The funniest sci-fi I've read in years was The Android's Dream - also by Scalzi. It's not just humour - there is a lot more going on but the humour that is there is the stuff that I think Douglas Adams really excelled at creating - very silly and ironic at the same time. Sometimes biting but never mean spirited.
 
Science fiction and funny are not all that easy to pull off I think - at least based on some of the failed attempts I've read.

I loved it and hated it. It is a beautiful story - locked in a format that makes the reader work too hard to get the beauty out. If I had not grown up a huge fan of J.R.R. Tolkien I'd have probably not cared for it at all. And I'm getting a few jabs about "Oh noes, it's too hard!" but the truth is I'm not stupid. I'm no genius but I do love good literature and can work through stuff that is not considered lower shelf. Probably one of my favorite books of all time is Anna Karenina. But I enjoy fluff novels on occasion as well.

My wife loves the picture frame and I really like the walkman. It's better than my last nano and cheaper too.

I read a lot and I thought - hey if I'm gonna read, I might as well review. So I set up a blog to store them and submit them to slashdot for fun. I'm not a professional critic, I don't have a literature degree or anything, but it's fun. I have to say I really enjoy the feedback negative and positive.

Yeah - it was my introduction to Scalzi, and I'm stoked to get an electronic version to go with my dead tree edition. Android's Dream is also awesome. Shows he can write great action/comedy with a definitely dark twist. I've got Last Colony on preorder (waited for the paperback) and he just finished another set in the Old Man's war universe, Zoe's Tale. I'm looking forward to when that becomes available.

He had the guys from Penny Arcade do the artwork for Agent to the Stars - which has been available on-line for quite some time. He just seems like an all-round decent guy on his blog. Yeah- I'm a fanboy I guess, but he's just one of those really talented yet down to earth people that deserves to do well.