As I sat through the weekend doing things (boring things, but things nonetheless) I started wondering: just what do people think of the book they bought? More specifically, my book.
The floor is open, and nobody’s comment will be refused. Did it suck worse than Pearl Harbor? Better? About the same?
Let me know, it’s eating me alive over here…
Jason Córdova 
I genuinely really liked it. I’d say if I had a single criticism, it’s centered around the “nuke” incident. It set Tori up as one seriously powerful badassed girl… and then that power doesn’t come into play at any point after that. It also didn’t really DO anything to advance the story; there were any number of other ways she could’ve beaten him.
Don’t get me wrong, the scene itself was pretty awesome. It just gave me a sense that it was foreshadowing something, and it really wasn’t.
One thing I was worried about all the way through the novel was Dylan being something other than what he was.
Overall, as I said, I thought it was REALLY good.
I can understand that, George. I originally had Tori doing something far more horrible to Gav, but it just didn’t flow with my mental image of Tori. But the nuke was supposed to show that Tori is a total badass, just that she can’t control her anger and rage. Later, when she does control that rage, I felt she was a far more dangerous person when in control. It helps her express her rage and anger at the (unspecified) damage Gav did to her before they broke up a long time before.
Dylan- Originally I had it planned that way, but as the book wore on I really thought that two guys screwing Tori over would break her emotionally, which wouldn’t help the story. So I switched it up a bit. I’m just wondering if anybody saw it coming. 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed the book.
I enjoyed the book quite a lot. What I liked especially is the way action was paced, quick with almost no slowdowns. A real page turner.
But the betrayal trope was severly overused for my taste. Tori constantly getting involved in romance and betrayal made me at some point actually think that I was reading some soap opera. I really would have liked some original plot twist instead of so much backstabbing.
Still and all, it was a very enjoyable read.
Thanks Peter. When I wrote the backstabbing scene, I was foreshadowing a bit for the sequel which, unfortunately, hasn’t been picked up yet. I tried (and failed, I guess) to portray the mind as a damaged unit when it was in the Warp for too long. There’s something of an… addiction, I guess, with the Warp. I’m glad you liked it overall.
By the way, that “foreshadowing” thing breaks all sorts of rules I’m told. Oops?
I didn’t really mean a particular backstabbing scene but rather the fact that there were so many instances of betrayal. As for forshadowing I wouldn’t know about it breaking the rules – it’s used by other authors so it can’t be illegal:)
Still, I hope you decide to write a sequel as Crisis world seems to have potential especially with the way you described interactions between real and virtual worlds (both technical and ex. criminal jurisdiction). I would really like to read more about how two world can affect each other – terrorism, politics, law (perhaps concerning AIs) etc. Other than “Otherland” series I don’t know many novels that deal with VR in more or less contemporary setting.
Ah, I understand what you mean now.
In my defense, when I wrote it, it was still a (somewhat) fresh theme. But that was almost four years ago now…