Lounge readers and listeners, need your help! - Page 3

Runkmud · #21 11-08-2007, 05:55 PM

Hey Enrique, thanks for listening, and I'm glad you're enjoying it. Hmmmm well, Lucian is a pretty well read guy, to be frank, he's kind of a super genius, inventor, nasa scientist, and system analyst for a military think tank. So it's some combination of both, oddly enough he claims there's nothing that can be disproved in the novel, meaning that it could all be factual.

After much discussing with Lucian, I've convinced him to put up seven chapters in PDF form, linked from his website. He's putting it up there now, so it should be ready in a few hours. So hopefully some of our Lounge readers will jump in! Be back here shortly with a link.

Runkmud · #22 11-08-2007, 08:24 PM

Alright, finally, sorry for the delays folks, Lucian put up the first nine chapters. Hope y'all enjoy it and any feedback would be welcome!

http://www.dailyplanettv.net/vidpods...hapter_1-9.pdf

Runkmud · #23 11-09-2007, 08:23 PM

Bumping in hopes of some critique now that we've got written form, thanks!

daveT · #24 11-09-2007, 08:39 PM

I have read some of the first chapter. Thanks for the written form. I will wait until I have read through it before posting thoughts.

daveT · #25 11-09-2007, 09:49 PM

I am done with the first two chapters, and I am stopping there. Sci Fi is not my first choice in reading, but I always attempt to give a book an honest chance.

Ironic that I demanded a written form, since I would have probably enjoyed it more if I was listening to it. There is a difference between spoken word and written word, and few writers can be good at both.

Despite owning an appreciation for Tad Williams, I believe in brevity. This book is over-explained, there is nothing left to my imagination. The constant referencing to the modern geography pulls me out of the world he is trying to create. I believe in getting to the point; I loathe cliff-hangers and extensive description. I feel like I could write in one concise page what the author wrote in 9.

I know that fur sizzles when it burns, or maybe I don't: maybe I want it to go up in a puff of smoke with a loud "poof!" The relationship between author and reader is that the author is a guide. He will show you the city, it is up to you to find what you like. The author has to trust the reader's imagination to stay with him.

The book would be better if there was a discovery of a problem, rather than explaining the problem out-right. I am not saying that this IS the problem, but as a reader, I am thinking that this is the problem in the future. With the over description, I feel like I am not going to find any further surprises in the book, and the last thing I want to do is wallow through a second over-description.

It is clear that this author is very intelligent. He is writing in the wrong medium, and he is not trained. Joining a writing class would help him -- he does have a "voice" that should be heard if it is focused in the right direction.

Runkmud · #26 11-09-2007, 10:22 PM

Wow, ok Dave, thanks for your opinion! I do agree that the first few chapters are a bit over descriptive, I do wish you had made it a bit further, as you didn't really make it far enough to figure out if it was sci fi. I do however understand that if a book turns you off in the first few chapters, you'll never make it to the meat of the story.

I appreciate your opinions and thankyou for giving them, I'll pass on to Lucian what you said, thanks again!

Enrique · #27 11-10-2007, 02:00 PM

Just finished chapters 6 and 7. They are the best so far. I liked the description about Dwayne's family a lot, and we also finally get to the action after all the set up. I am looking forward to the next two chapters.

Enrique · #28 11-10-2007, 02:05 PM

Dave give chapter 3 a chance, it has something happening in it. I think the Mayan-Spanish first interaction is worth the read.

Runkmud · #29 11-10-2007, 04:21 PM

Thanks Enrique! Glad to have a bit of positive feedback.

Glad you asked Dave to give it a bit more of a shot, as it might sound like groveling coming from me, but there is definitely more to the novel than just the first two chapters, and it's not all described so scientifically.

Enrique · #30 11-10-2007, 05:31 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks Enrique! Glad to have a bit of positive feedback.

Glad you asked Dave to give it a bit more of a shot, as it might sound like groveling coming from me, but there is definitely more to the novel than just the first two chapters, and it's not all described so scientifically.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, chapter 6, gives us a glimpse of a family today, so that isn't very scientific, and I think it was well done.

But chapter 3 was specially cool to me because I love the Mayan civilization. It was cool to picture the Mayan priests in the temples. I was picturing all of this being done in Chichen Itza (since 1544 AD would be in an area close to Chichen Itza for the Mayas) and I could picture everything, although some images of Apocalypto also crept into my mind.