Thank you for elaborating.

However, you are wrong. Context is always present in fiction. That of the author, that of the reader, and that of the era (zeitgeist). All authors write on the basis of their personal life experiences. No exceptions. That introduces bias in setting, characterization and dialogue, since all of those stem from the author and his past, his personality and his culture. While an author can "research" to try and cover up this context, the result is frequently boring and usually a base act of cowardice. Even in that case, though, the context is still there - hidden beneath those layers of plagiarized "experience" borrowed by the author. Professional writers who do nothing but write tend to constantly struggle to keep themselves out of the work.

As for the reader's role in all this, any reading of fiction that disregards context is an ignorant reading by someone who is likely to get duped into joining a cult, or something. Anyone with a proper education and a bit of intellectual integrity should be able to read and enjoy a work of fiction without getting brainwashed by it. Otherwise, they are, as TOWDrac said, a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded. Very poetic, I think.

EDIT: Also, I'm not "judging the author". I'm just correcting your completely wrong notion that fiction can be totally unbiased and apolitical.

I'm glad that it was finally mentioned that the whole paragrah about the dress was taken way out of context and like the above poster points out it does come from a 15 year old orphan boy who has never been in surrounding where he even had a real bed to lie on.....  So, I can imagine that the dress being of Silk would be a Important thing to him. Having read 22 Chapters, all of Book One and 150 pages....

I can honestly say that this is not a bad book at all..... Yes there are rough spots but I've seen alot worse... Good Story, Good Characters, Lots of Action I really like what I've read so far..... (keep in mind that my opinion might change by the end of the book.... One never knows til the last page).

Beakie

 

 

You're right, I don't think you were being malicious...I take it back and apologize.
Been a little on edge about that stuff lately.

"using fiction as a substitute for real-world testing of political ideas is not only acceptable, its often quite good reading."

Yeah, I agree...though I do think trying to slide an idea into someone's mind via a story (trojan horse of sorts) is cowardice. Of course, what separates the two is intent, which sometimes is hard to gauge.

I think you are dead on with your post on context here, surlybob. "Unbiased" is not a thing an author can be, and "non-contextual" is not something a book can be.


Coming back to Destiny's Embers, though, I am quite excited to see what it will be like, and quite happy to have these attacking reviews exposed in their contexts. I think it should be quite enjoyable, but we'll see.

Whether or not Angie's husband was banned from Quarter to Three, whether or not she and her spouse have personal feelings about Wardell and his politics, the quotes from the book itself support her conclusion.  I really don't see why any personal feelings matter here.  Bad writing is bad writing.  Fantasy cliches are fantasy cliches.  Unintentional hilarity is unintentional hilarity...

Avoiding the other issues aside from it the  http://www.unamommer.com (haven't read the amazon review comments) shouldn't be taken into consideration.  I get that to some people the grammar of a book is important, but as long as its in general english (as in understandable and without pointless dialect/slang injections) then what the hell do grammatical errors every now and then matter for enjoying the book?  (Unless you're an english professor)

As for my view of the book, its generic fantasy.  

The Good:

There isn't anything wrong with the story/book to really make it stand out as something worse than generic fantasy.  Its enjoyable to read as a filler book, something that I don't really need to think too hard to comprehend - I read a lot of educational/theoretical books - or something I don't expect to get too attached to and can burn time reading on a flight.  So, despite what I'm going to say in the next section I don't feel I wasted the money, but that is with the understanding that I came into it expecting a generic fantasy book.

The Bad:

I'm pissed as hell because its yet another orphan teenager out to probably save the world with a paired up love interest.  I'm so sick of the fact that authors can't get creative or at least add 10 years to a character's age and give them some maturity so they don't have to constantly spew ridiculous immature statements and opinions that even modern day teenagers don't spew all to keep up the stereotype.   (Really, I mean am I missing some basic thing that prevents that from happening?) I don't know why I expected something different from this book, but there you have it.  On top of that the ending leaves a lot to be desired, even from your standard cliff-hanger onto the next book perspective.  

Excepting those two issues the bad is the same as the good.  Its nothing special and its nothing great.  It just is as far as books go.  Its got action scenes, but they're not up the standard that people who focus on action scenes make them.  Its got cheesey dialogue, but nothing cheesier than any other generic book out there.  Ignoring the ending its got a story that is at least entertaining but not all that engaging.  So on and so forth...

Heh. I learned about QuarterToThree.com thanks to PC Gamer and discovered a hilarious thread:

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=60997

Check out the asshole parade in that thread. It's hilarious. They're obsessed with Brad Wardell. 

But it does not have to reflect the stance of the author, which was described, particularly in the vast majority of writings.  I spoke nothing of life experiences or research, merely of the direct point of the author's nature.  Of course the author is trying to get a message across, but this message does not necessarily equate to one he/she subscribes to.

Maybe I misinterpreted something you posted and am not on the specific topic that you are, or am thinking of something else, but it is my belief and understanding that the most talented of authors have that uncanny ability to step outside of themselves to tell a tale.  Regardless, it is obvious that you are a student of literature while I am merely a rabid consumer, so I'll simply bow out.

Holy f*ck what a pathetic show of human waste. I like the part how the lady who reviewed the book acts like she just decided to pick up the book at random without mentioning that her review decision came up right after her husband got banned from the site for stalking Brad. That's right up there with having your mom review the book but in the opposite direction.

That thread made me LOL.

Yes and if your mom reviews your book and says nice things with quotes of exceeding eloquence that doesn't change the fact that you don't have your f*cking mom review your book. By the same token, if you have some sort of weird hate obsession with the author of the book you don't write a review and pass it off as an objective review.  It's infantile.

 

That's correct.  Everything about this game turned out to be bull.   Clearly, it's all about the

Quarter to Three is the most popular forum for industry insiders.  I'd hardly call them "human waste."

I know. You gotta wonder if they are even self aware enough of how they look to outside observers. They almost need narration "Gathered together, in this great hall of douchiness are the most loathsome assholes ever assembled."

I haven't read the book. It might be so terrible it causes me eye cancer. But no mentally balanced person dedicates the kind of time to attacking a book like that. It's a goddamn book for a video game. Yet they've managed to put together 4 pages and counting of venom about it.  

Of course you don't have your mother review your book, and any review published by an author's mother should be taken with a grain of salt.  However, if that review contains significant portions of text, you can easily make your own conclusions regardless of what that review concludes.

Which industry? The book industry? I doubt it.

Maybe human waste is too strong a word. A more accurate term would be terrible, hateful, people who clearly have no idea how terrible and hateful they appear to be.

 

Look at that persons other posts thats why I asked about her/it/him.  Dethedrus, your not the same one wh agreed with her review on the unamommer are you?

LOL. And I can also read the first chapter on my iPad and decide for myself. But the embittered wife of someone who has a personal problem with Brad doing a review is laughable.

I could care less about the book. I'll be buying it for the same reason thousands of others will, I'll get some extra game content with it. I suspect that's the whole reason they made the book in the first place. What I find hilarious is the amount of words being spilled by these people about someone they don't like.

It's like watching a group therapy session except the people engaged in it are apparently oblivious.

Yes, you almost make paranoid speculation about a complete stranger's motivations sound reasonable there. And regardless of her motive for reviewing the book, bad writing is bad writing. She bought the book, she read it, and she's provided plenty examples of Brad's writing to go with her criticism. Either her criticism is valid or it isn't, and if you think it isn't then I suggest you take issue with that, not with her.

I realise that this is a tall order for most people here who are intent to spin their persecution complex until it sounds like truth but you might want to read up on the Qt3 Elemental thread and what went down between Brad and Matt Gallant and the subsequent fallout so you atleast get your facts first-hand.

The game development and journalism industry.

Also, in what kind of bizarro 1950's Leave it to Beaver world do you live in where spouses hold the same opinions?

I think it is fair to give Brad the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is capable of writing a fantasy novel about racial conflict without overburdening it with his conservative viewpoint.

Likewise, I think it would be fair to give Whatsherface the benefit of the doubt and assume that she is capable of writing a review about said book without overburdening it with her anger regarding her husband's banning from an internet forum.

Fact is, people waste tons of time on the internet kvetching about random stuff. We're all doing it, right now. I think its poor taste to diss someone else for something you are also doing.

Finally, anyone who read that thread and didn't think it was funny is dead inside.

Is anyone really surprised that the book is bad?  Has there ever been a well written consumer product tie-in novel?  Why is this such a passionate topic for some people?

It's clear you people have no reading comprehension. Angie/Unnammomer reviews laughably horrible books, it's part of what she does. She doesn't spit when she says his name and she's entirely reasonable.

 

Originally Posted by Angie Gallant

Alright, I can see where you are coming from. I think I did acknowledge that these easily could be common fantasy tropes being used without thought in my review. I certainly didn't say that I think Brad is a racist or anything to that effect. I don't know the man and I am not going to comment on his character. I just think it's a shame that those tropes remain as common as they are, and that they deserve to be called out.

Angie Gallant

//

Galadin, have you completed the book? A lot of the subtext I picked up on comes from the wholey human Kraxan "blood traitors" and the way they as a group and Calis in specific are treated through the story, and the final confrontation between the two Titans as they discuss their motives. But I am someone who sees racial subtext in LotRs, so we may just have different goggles through which we view these things.

This was a gown. This was silk or something.

He yanked the sword out of the first one’s throat and swung it at a second, the nearest one to him, gouging it in the shoulder, and the thing screamed, and slashed at Calis’s blade ineffectually, and Calis slashed again, and caught the creature in the face, and blood gushed, and it screamed a second time, and stumbled, but that was all Calis saw.

A moment’s embrace, a few words of good-bye, and then she— and Mirdoth— were gone, and it was just the two of them— Tandis and himself— remaining in the Hall.

You're adorable. Husband gets banned from a game forum. Wife decides to "review" the book written by someone who caused her husband to get banned from.The book is merely the medium for these sad people to vent their hate. 

Wow, just wow.  I'm sure that banning was traumatic, and the entire clan has bent their collective might, using all professional avenues, and dedicating much thought and dedication to avenging this Internet Injustice.