This is the first of three posts on book reviews. Today’s focus is the first half of a discussion of the reviewer/reviewing entity.
My first novel was Traveler’s HOT L – The Time Traveler’s Resort. KoehlerBooks published it in 2014. At the suggestion of my publicist, Sherry Frazier, I submitted the book to the USA Best Book Awards. It was named Best Science Fiction Novel in that competition.
At that time, Publisher’s Weekly’s Booklife opened its reviews to books from independent publishers. I submitted a copy of the book. It was selected for review. I waited for about two months for the review. My hope was modest. I wanted at least one sentence that I could use in advertising.
I was disappointed at the review. There wasn’t a single complementary sentence. The review follows this paragraph. It is the first time this review has been seen outside of Booklife. I'll get back to this review in my next "Author" post.
Booklife Review: 10/1/14
A rundown hotel hides a HOT L (Harmonious Overlap of Time Location), a nexus for time travel, in a series of stories that lack the execution to deliver on the premise. Debut novelist Downing’s conceptual framework is ambitious, sending readers into a medieval historical, two crime stories, and the book’s own alternate-universe sequel, but there’s nothing new in these familiar settings. PI Phil Mamba tries to catch a murderous politician in his past and inevitably ends up altering the future; no one believes the boy who says that his dolls can speak when, of course, they can. By the time Jesus is referred to as a temporal anomaly, it’s all too much, especially given how often explanations of theory and verbose descriptions (“he spoke with tenderness tinged with resignation”) slow the narrative. The recurring characters who direct the HOT L lack personality, limited to droll remarks and clichés such as “smooth the now-wrinkled time fabric.” Nearly every opportunity to treat these concepts originally has been missed. (BookLife)
Since Traveler’s HOT L is a book on time travel, let’s fast-forward to 2016.
I tweeted about Traveler’s HOT L in one of my weekly tweets about my books. @TimeTravelNexus liked my tweet. I checked out the website—it’s a site that focuses on the concept of time travel. Excited by my find, I sent a request for a book review. A week later, I received this reply.
I've read through the Amazon description of "Traveler's HOT L - The Time Traveler's Resort" and I'm really intrigued! It looks like the time travel plays a major role in the stories and I'd love to know more about the "harmonic overlapping time locations"! This is really appealing stuff and I'd love to read it and provide an honest review!
I mailed a copy of the book to TimeTravelNexus. My hopes this time were similar to my hopes with Booklife. I wanted something positive I could use in advertising.
Several weeks later, I received the review from TimeTravelNexus. The entire review is almost 900 words long. I’ve edited it to 250 words, both pro, and con, to keep it close to the length of the Booklife review. This entire review is available at http://timetravelnexus.com/review-travelers-hotl-by-cr-downing/.
Review by TimeTravelNexus
…No, there's no missing "E" to make "hotel" - the "HOT L" is the "Harmonious Overlap of Time Location" and is the backbone of the brilliant time travel mechanism which is described most fully in the first short story. The following stories refer back to this - and even build upon it in some cases.
Time is described as a fabric which consists of interweaving threads and which can fold over itself. Time can also be considered as a pool which suffers ripples. Such imagery is used fully and allows for some wonderful reasoning behind why (and how) characters travel in time. It's one of the best descriptors of time that I've read and is definitely the high point of this collection!
Three of the eight stories really incorporated the time travel element well - the first with an explanation, another with a time travel tourist, and a third with its 'discovery' and development…
Time travel, or the link to the HOT L, in the other five stories seemed to me to be rather tenuous, or superfluous. For example, by casting a character back in time for a second shot at something which could just as easily have been covered in the first version of the timeline in the narrative, or by tacking it onto the end of a story which would have been just fine without it.
The reviewer gave the book 3-Stars on Amazon. It's a fair rating based on the review.
The number of stars given by a reviewer is important to many potential readers. In fact, it may be the most piece of information for some readers in their decision to read the book. 5-star reviews for Traveler’s HOT L are posted on both my website and Amazon. However, if a book has nothing by 5-star reviews, I am suspicious. There aren’t many books that everyone I know likes that much.
I’ll take a few 3-star reviews similar to the one above of my books when they're offered.
What was the value of this review process?
I let you know in two weeks…
Next Authors blog: Reviewing Reviews – Reviewing the Reviewers
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I'd appreciate your feedback!
Email me at: chuckdowningauthor@gmail.com
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