Now THERE's a review!

[seawasp]

As I've mentioned before, Boundary -- and for that matter all the stuff I've been involved in writing -- seems to bring out totally polarized reviews; either people really like it or they hate it, with very few "well, it was okay" comments.

Here's a man who REALLY didn't like Boundary. I love this one!

(One star) another piece of garbage..., October 1, 2006
Reviewer: david in georgia (Georgia (USA)) - See all my reviews
...from Baen books, trading on a well-known name (Flint's) being slapped on the cover to sell a bit of rubbish that reads as if it wasn't even proofread much less put thru anything resembling a serious editing process. Clunky, trite and a waste of time and the purchase price. I'm not sure there was a single scene or idea in this book that wasn't stolen from earlier works...not a single original idea in the whole thing, unless doing something worse than anyone has done it before counts as "original."

C'mon, david in georgia, don't be shy. Tell me how you REALLY felt.

I'm a bit put out by the "wasn't even proofread" bit, because I know it was. As for the rest, it's just another illustration of that wonderful variation in perception. When "david in georgia" can say "not an original idea in the whole thing" and even suspect all the scenes were stolen, and others find it an exciting and original story, you KNOW that much of reading remains in the mind of the beholder, so to speak.

Of course he's totally right in one sense; there isn't an original idea in that book, really; then again, I'm not sure I've seen an original idea in ANY book in the past several years, so I would be reluctant to use that as a yardstick to judge anything I read.

Comments

Diamonds and Localizers

[denubis.livejournal.com]

Lets see. I quite liked Diamonds, a nice yarn. Again, geo/sensing-tech isn't my primary area, but I can respect those areas -- for they use far too much super-crunchy math. (I'm Databases and HCI, myself).

And if you liked localizers and mesh networks you *must* read Rainbows End -- he explores that stuff in a near-term "real world" context.

And yes, while A.J. has far more tech then Jason, I can relate far more to Jason's tech, especially his data mining. (I'm TAing a course in data warehousing right now.) And as an interesting aside, I didn't find anything objectionable in terms of your use of database tech, and I complement you on your knowledge of them (while most sci-fi isn't as egregious as hacker movies, they tend either to do databases as hand-waving or just make up new terms and ignore the current terms of art).

Re: Diamonds and Localizers

[seawasp]

Yes, the geomapping stuff they were doing in "Diamonds" was very crunchy (and you probably noticed was re-used in Boundary to some extent) and based on stuff my current employers had worked on.

Jason's profession is one that I do know a fair bit about, as I have a Master's in Information Science (UPitt) and I focused a fair amount on databases, HCI, and some assorted other pieces. I try to "write what you know" when possible. A.J.'s Faerie Dust is a (large) extrapolation from a couple of projects my current employer has going, and much of the other sensor/imaging crunchiness comes from that source as well.

Re: Diamonds and Localizers

[denubis.livejournal.com]

Well, if you ever want to use me as a resource for database/HCI info, I'd love to chat. Beyond that, the faerie dust as an extrapolation is both quite cool and really bloody scary. (And the use of sensing devices as jewelry is even more so, especially if they're still live. While: "Honey, you took your ring off when you walked into that room. What did you have to hide?" lacks a certain subtlety, it does illustrate the point.)

Re: Diamonds and Localizers

[seawasp]

The man who uses that jewelry THAT way will die alone, friendless, and ball-less.

Re: Diamonds and Localizers

[denubis.livejournal.com]

Without question, especially considering the current owners of the jewelry. However, that being said, his dust probably can be used in that fasion. (Both in a Vingian wearable computing sense, in an espionage sense by the owners of the rings, and in a very quickly and painfully terminal sense used in the original example's fashion. ) Considering that he can make rings out of it, making it support "epiphany brand" clothing would be quite trivial and extremely useful. Have you explored the implications of the dust in this fashion?

Re: Diamonds and Localizers

[denubis.livejournal.com]

Wow, I used the word fashion FAR too many times in that post. I think my brain has gone home for the night.

Re: Diamonds and Localizers

[seawasp]

It is clear that you have not registered to read my stuff ahead of time, so to speak, or you would know the answers to these, and many other, questions. *evil grin*

The community rykspoor_beta is where I have been posting my Work In Progress, including a large chunk of my proposed next solo novel Demons of the Past, parts of two new Jason Wood stories, and the entire rough first draft of Threshold (sequel to Boundary).