Talisman of Blood
category: fantasy, author:Brad Higgens
book 1 of Shadow of the Gryphonoriginal copyright 2005
read in September 2012
Agamedes' opinion: 4 out of 10, bad but could be read
Written in a simplistic style with very poor logic. It seems to be a series of incidents thrown together, with not enough thought given to transitions.
The characters are also somewhat flat. Actually... they are quite realistic. So realistic that they are boring.
There is action, there are parallel plots and some interesting characters. Just not very well presented.
Potential... but needs a complete rewrite.
Finally: As I suspected, the publisher is vanity press. For a price, they offer a complete publication service, from go to whoa. This includes copy editing...
And the copy editing has failed.
You pay for copy editing, you expect copy editing. So why are there repeated errors?! Can the copy editor read English? If I were Higgens I would ask for some money back, for failure of the copy editing.
The included-with-your-one-payment critical appraisal process was also weak. Sure, you are really paying to get printed. But was the appraisal truly critical -- or did the author fail to respond to constructive criticism.
Inside Talisman of Blood is the material for a good book. The good book has failed to eventuate.
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2 comments:
Hello Brad Higgens here. Thank you for your constructive comments. I have actually rewritten this book. I hope you'll like the new version when it is ready. To get this new version go to my new website www.bradhiggens.com, but wait until the new year of 2013. What I have learned is when it comes to editors, you get what you pay for. Being on a fixed budget, well what can I say. The original version was written in a hurry as I was trying to get it out before my mother died. This new version was treated with more care. Thanks again.
Good luck, hope it all goes well !
For all my book reviews... I have yet to write my own. Or to even get a good idea for a full novel! So I call it as I see it -- good or not so good -- and still admire the effort of creation.
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