Thursday 26 May 2016

The Reviews - The Good, the Bad and the Awful

Generally I have some really excellent reviews, but I have had a few less favourable ones.

How do I deal with this mix? Well like most human being I have feelings (although the wife disputes that). I feel elated when I get a good review and I can also feel very dispirited with a bad one. Having seen many reviews for books other than mine, I realised that even very well known authors get the occasional poor review, which shows that you cannot please everyone.

Fortunately, the number and quality of my good reviews outweigh the bad ones so I am clearly pleasing more people than not. I would never ignore negative reviews and do try to learn from them, so any future writing may incorporate these comments. However, an author then runs the risk of alienating existing fans so this is a constant struggle.

My proudest reviews are:
http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk
http://www.risingshadow.net/
http://dragonsheroesandwizards.blogspot.co.uk/
https://sfbook.com/

But my favourite by far was by Neo on  Kindleboards.com:

"I'm halfway through Shadow of the Demon (book 3) and couldn't agree more: this is a fantastic trilogy, one of the most enjoyable reads I have had in a while, really! Now it's getting bitter sweet though: can't wait to read what happens next (and how it finishes) and I NEED to read on, but I also don't want it to end and so find myself slowing down, aaaargh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for writing it and bringing your readers such a good time through it David"


This was so heartfelt that it made all the struggles of writing and publishing worthwhile. 

Many thanks and keep the reviews coming - good or bad :)



Outlaw by Angus Donald

Outlaw (The Outlaw Chronicles, #1)Outlaw by Angus Donald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed this book. I was concerned a Robin Hood book would not be new, but the writing was good and the tale interesting. It had a gritty realism that was good. The outlaws and the Sheriff's men were in small bands that was probably accurate for the period. The book is written from the perspective of Alan Dale which makes it interesting. Alan is quite young at the start of the tale and due to circumstances, a thief. His relationship with Robin and the outlaws develops over a year or so and the tale is nicely interspersed with action. Overall, not bad.


View all my reviews