Sagiro's Story Hour: Now That It's Over

Everett · Jan 10, 2016

Sagiro said:
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it, and look forward to reading your review. I'm not much farther along The Crosser's Maze than I was the last time I mentioned it, since I've been busy with the thousand details involved in polishing up and publishing TVC. I'd say 1/4 of the way through the first draft, though when I look at my outline, I have so much to cram into it, I may end up splitting it into two books.

How many books do you think the whole series will be?

Sagiro · Jan 10, 2016

Everett said:
How many books do you think the whole series will be?

My best guess is 4. My second-best guess is 5.

SolitonMan · Jan 11, 2016

I finished my read through yesterday. I want to do a review after I've had a chance to think about it, but my first impression was: AWESOME!

I had just completed my fifth or sixth read through of the SH PDFs over the holidays and so the details were relatively fresh in my mind. It took a bit until I was comfortable with the changes, but by the time I was finished I was very satisfied with the pacing, tone, story and most of all the development of the characters. I'd say the best of what makes the SH great has been distilled into a tale in which (and I'm not sure if this clearly conveys my sentiment) the edges are crisper.

Totally gonna read it again!

Sagiro · Jan 11, 2016

SolitonMan said:
I finished my read through yesterday. I want to do a review after I've had a chance to think about it, but my first impression was: AWESOME! I had just completed my fifth or sixth read through of the SH PDFs over the holidays and so the details were relatively fresh in my mind. It took a bit until I was comfortable with the changes, but by the time I was finished I was very satisfied with the pacing, tone, story and most of all the development of the characters. I'd say the best of what makes the SH great has been distilled into a tale in which (and I'm not sure if this clearly conveys my sentiment) the edges are crisper.

Totally gonna read it again!

So happy that you enjoyed it! I look forward to reading your review.

SolitonMan · Jan 12, 2016

I've added my review on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/review/R1LHIGG04I84F3/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Sagiro · Jan 12, 2016

SolitonMan said:
I've added my review on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/review/R1LHIGG04I84F3/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Thanks for the review!

Also, thanks for cutting the Gordian Knot for me. I had been struggling to decide whether I should encourage or discourage reviewers from mentioning the RPG roots of the story. I imagine that will turn off some potential readers but intrigue others. Now I don't have to decide.

Sagiro · Jan 13, 2016

Sigh. This is what comes of having friends with opinions.

Since posting the below, another friend has come forth to say the opposite: be proud of your book's origins. "Own it," he said, among other exhortations. I've spent some more time considering -- additionally noting that your review mentions the book's origins in part to establish your possible biases, which is a degree of honor I quite admire -- and I'm amending my opinion below, to instead be this:

"If you have read the book and want to leave a review, write whatever you are moved to write." And, upon reflection, I should just shut up about this and be glad that anyone is willing to invest the time and energy not only to read the book, but offer an opinion on it. The book isn't in my hands anymore. It's in yours.

I'll leave what I wrote below, lest anyone think I'm trying to rewrite my own history, but feel free to ignore it. Thank you all again for your decade-plus of support. I should stop meddling and just be grateful.

-D

SolitonMan said:
I've added my review on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/review/R1LHIGG04I84F3/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Hm.

SolitonMan, this is a difficult post to write, because I don’t want to seem ungrateful. Nothing could be farther from the truth, I assure you. Your review was generous, flattering – in general, everything an author hopes to hear about his work.

But…

Since you posted your review, three different friends of mine have come to me, separately, with the same general observation – that there is a large segment of my potential audience who will be severely turned off by the notion that my books are based on a D&D campaign. That there is a widespread perception that such works are – the Forgotten Realms books notwithstanding – a red flag for amateurism in the wider world of fantasy fiction. And though your review is glowing, it does spend its first half announcing to the world that TVC is derived from the gaming table.

One of the three aforementioned observers also said that as the body of the review makes comparisons with the game itself, it makes it sound as though a reader *not* familiar with the Story Hour might have a different and more impoverished reading experience. I personally wouldn’t go that far, but I can understand the concern.

I’m not going to ask you to edit your review – that would be a step too far I think, a step that no author should take towards any reviewer. I will leave that to your own judgement, in light of the above. But if I am allowed any gentle nudge of my EN World readers in general, who may someday leave a review on Amazon, it’s that you treat the book as its own entity, and judge it entirely on its own merits – even if that would diminish the book itself in your estimation.

Thanks much,

-Dorian

Everett · Jan 13, 2016

Sagiro said:
One of the three aforementioned observers also said that as the body of the review makes comparisons with the game itself, it makes it sound as though a reader *not* familiar with the Story Hour might have a different and more impoverished reading experience. I personally wouldn’t go that far, but I can understand the concern.

The truth is, readers who've never encountered your story hour will have a hugely different experience. Greater or lesser - that's subjective, but we already have an appreciation for what we're reading that they don't. We have vastly more context for this world and these characters; all of us will start the book knowing the story and knowing where every introduced plot hook will lead - Abernathy not knowing why the spell chose them, Dranko's bottles, the statue of Ernie, Grey Wolf's disappearances, everything. Sure you've changed things up, but we know all the beats.

I won't mention the story's gaming roots in my review, but some may have some trouble separating novel from basis. This forum might help as a venue to talk that stuff out so it doesn't come out on Amazon or elsewhere.

SolitonMan · Jan 14, 2016

Sagiro said:
[snip] I've spent some more time considering -- additionally noting that your review mentions the book's origins in part to establish your possible biases, which is a degree of honor I quite admire -- [snip]

I’m not going to ask you to edit your review – that would be a step too far I think, a step that no author should take towards any reviewer. I will leave that to your own judgement, in light of the above.

Hey Sagiro, thanks for the kindness and the honesty. Immediately after posting my review I had thought to myself, "Maybe I should have left the game angle out of it." While I've been a pretty half-assed gamer for the last few years, I'm not completely ignorant of the stigma attached to gaming and in particular gaming fiction. The fact I included it had me a bit uncomfortable, because when writing it I was only thinking about it from my perspective of establishing bias - and not about the larger effect. When I saw your post I was like, "Yep, should have followed my gut."

Fortunately I had a bunch of stuff going on IRL the last couple days that kept me away from the net, so while I saw your posts yesterday I wasn't able to address anything until today. That gave me a chance to reflect on my purpose in writing the review, and in what I wished to convey. I did rewrite the review, and hopefully it works both to express my potential bias while remaining discreet about the novel's origins.

Sorry for the turmoil, and thank you for the insight. I hope your progress on the remaining novels is fun and productive.

And quick.