Today we see that even sub-genres that are not really my thing can survive the treadmill.
What I gleaned about the story: As human society slumps into chaos, spurred by corporate myopia and eco-terrorism, one woman manages to catch the last flight off Earth. But the world that awaits her in orbit is almost as confusing as the one she left behind, and before long, she finds herself thrust into the arms of a handsome rogue, with no clear idea whose side he’s on. Or for that matter, whose side she is on.
Find this book on Amazon.
Analysis: There was plenty of opportunity to go long and preachy on the exposition, but that temptation was avoided, and we got only the backstory we needed, as we needed it.
Analysis: Maybe I don’t travel in the right crowd, but Char’s initial physical response to Jake felt unrealistic to me and a bit out of place. It’s too soon and somewhat awkward feeling to me. I was worried that it was about to become an “SF-romance crossover novel,” but it’s too soon to tell if that’s what’s happening here, or whether it was just a one-off incident.
Note: Having read the entire novella now, I can say that there is definitely a romance element at play here. Not my usual taste, but it isn’t all breathless and angst-ridden, which is my usual fear around romance themes, so I ended up enjoying the ride quite a bit. I encourage you to check it out.
Just went & read the featured ‘ugh’ review. Should be interesting. Your take pretty much 180 the other way.
I’m just wondering… is there something off with the website? It seems to be in mobile view even on my computer, and then when I was trying to read it on my phone it was running off the screen. I had to read it on feedly in order to see the article correctly.
Maybe it’s just my computer?
None of my site monitoring tools are showing a mobile/desktop confusion, Crissy. There are some known problems with some tablets not displaying the entire page width, and I’m currently working on those.
First off, brilliant site, Jefferson. I’ve been gobbling up these reviews for the past couple of weeks. I’d echo what Crissy said. This site reads mostly fine on my iPad (the right edge of text gets shaved off), but only the left half of the page shows on my iPhone. May want to check it out. I’d also like a little more detail with certain WTFs, such as where you point out shifts in tense. It would be sweet to see some specific examples of these for our edification, if it’s not too much trouble. Thanks and keep up the great work.
Thanks, Stuart. I’m glad you’re enjoying the reviews. Yes, I have been a bit vague about specific details for some of the WTFs I’ve encountered. To be honest, I’m walking a fine line. There are some things that irk me and cause immersion breaks, even when they’re fairly subtle. In such cases, I discuss the problem, but I refrain from quoting the example passages because, taken out of context, they often make me look extremely petty, because it’s only when that niggling little issue is repeated ad nauseum, on page after page after page, that it finally trips my threshold.
So there are a few issues that I have not yet quoted a good example, because I haven’t found an instance that I think demonstrates it clearly enough. Fortunately, I think there’s an upcoming review in a couple of days that speaks to the tense-flopping problem with a specific example. (I usually write these posts about a week before they get posted, to ensure a smooth and steady daily supply. :-)
Last night the site was working fine on my tablet; today it isn’t displaying the full page on either tablet or phone.
Thanks for the heads up, Julianna. I’ve been making some changes to the mobile theme and site optimizations over the last 24 hours. It should be stable now, but if it still isn’t displaying properly, try refreshing your browser. Sometimes, the old files get cached and interfere with the new ones. If it’s still a problem in another day or so, let me know.