I blame John Sclazi for this irresistible idea. Following his example - here are some choice comments from one star reviews I got for Midnight Riot/Rivers of London. Just so we're clear; I'm posting them as an act of bravado, to prove that no matter how well received your work is somebody, somewhere will not like it and because it does an author good to eat a bit of humble pie.
This should go without saying but, just in case it doesn't, this should in no way be construed as an incitement for others to attack the reviewer - do not do this.
"This
is easily the worst book I have read for a while. A long while. I
suppose it's meant to be Harry Potter for grown ups but I just didn't
find it in any way shape or form plausible or entertaining."
"I
really tried to like this book. I thought it would be more engaging but
I just couldn't get into it. This is the first book in a long while
that I stopped reading before it was finished."
"I
adored the premise of this book & it started off fine but it just
got harder & harder to plow through until I gave up & just
skimmed the last 40 pages. It was just depressing that the character
discovers magic is real but it's directed towards hurting people &
quarreling"
"As
a Londoner, I liked the descriptions of the city, and I loved a POC in
the role of the magical protagonist, but the plot's ridiculously
predictable to the point of being silly. I gave up about halfway
through."
"This just didn't engage me in any way. I was disappointed and only got about 3/4 of the way through."
"Did not like it."
One-star (and otherwise negative) reviews happen. Accept them, own them, and then move on from them - John Scalzi
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10 comments:
Hey, Scalzi won a Hugo for "Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded," so I say more power to you!
Also, haters gonna hate. But fans gonna love!
thats a peculiar form of self harm youve discovered there....
well sadly didn't float his boat. I do love the Harry Potter mention, it is so lazy, I have a copy of the night watch which has something like "Harry Potter in moscow" as a review on the cover waiting for a Harry Potter comparsion with 50 Shades of Grey.EE
Brave of you. To counteract the hate, I left two positive reviews for Midnight and Moon on Amazon, and will post one for Whisperswhen it allows me. I thought it was a fabulous read.
Brave of you. To counteract the hate, I went to Amazon and left my goodreads reviews of Midnight and Moon, and will do the same for Whispers when it allows me. I happen to think the series is fabulous, and they've gone on my automatic buy list. Still searching out a new hardcover for Moon.
It occurred to me whilst i was lending Rivers to a friend, not a single review ive seen has referenced Dresden, its always Potter.
Well, I suppose you really need to start worrying if there are no negative reviews and everybody is just praising you because either your mind is quietly moving to a parallel reality with padded walls or people just don't want to scare you while quietly pouring gasoline on the walls of your house.
These books are really well written and each one I read I couldn't put down- that hasn't happened for me for ages. Oh and some of my other favourite writers are shakespeare, jane austen, byron and the 19th century poets. Sod the naysayers. They have no imagination or style- which ben aaronovitch does have.
I think you should just ignore them. I think this for the entirely selfish reason that if you start paying them too much attention you might think twice about writing. And I want you to crack on with the next few books as I love this series more than anything else I have read in a while. So I will stop writing waffly comments and let you get back to it...
how ben aaronovitch gets inside the mind of a copper i dont know,found the the historical stuff fascinating, laughed out loud,alltogether a very good read and great escapist stuff.cant wait for more
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