Thank you for elaborating.

However, you are wrong. Context is always present in fiction. That of the author, that of the reader, and that of the era (zeitgeist). All authors write on the basis of their personal life experiences. No exceptions. That introduces bias in setting, characterization and dialogue, since all of those stem from the author and his past, his personality and his culture. While an author can "research" to try and cover up this context, the result is frequently boring and usually a base act of cowardice. Even in that case, though, the context is still there - hidden beneath those layers of plagiarized "experience" borrowed by the author. Professional writers who do nothing but write tend to constantly struggle to keep themselves out of the work.

As for the reader's role in all this, any reading of fiction that disregards context is an ignorant reading by someone who is likely to get duped into joining a cult, or something. Anyone with a proper education and a bit of intellectual integrity should be able to read and enjoy a work of fiction without getting brainwashed by it. Otherwise, they are, as TOWDrac said, a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded. Very poetic, I think.

EDIT: Also, I'm not "judging the author". I'm just correcting your completely wrong notion that fiction can be totally unbiased and apolitical.

You're right, I don't think you were being malicious...I take it back and apologize.
Been a little on edge about that stuff lately.

"using fiction as a substitute for real-world testing of political ideas is not only acceptable, its often quite good reading."

Yeah, I agree...though I do think trying to slide an idea into someone's mind via a story (trojan horse of sorts) is cowardice. Of course, what separates the two is intent, which sometimes is hard to gauge.

I think you are dead on with your post on context here, surlybob. "Unbiased" is not a thing an author can be, and "non-contextual" is not something a book can be.


Coming back to Destiny's Embers, though, I am quite excited to see what it will be like, and quite happy to have these attacking reviews exposed in their contexts. I think it should be quite enjoyable, but we'll see.

Avoiding the other issues aside from it the  http://www.unamommer.com (haven't read the amazon review comments) shouldn't be taken into consideration.  I get that to some people the grammar of a book is important, but as long as its in general english (as in understandable and without pointless dialect/slang injections) then what the hell do grammatical errors every now and then matter for enjoying the book?  (Unless you're an english professor)

As for my view of the book, its generic fantasy.  

The Good:

There isn't anything wrong with the story/book to really make it stand out as something worse than generic fantasy.  Its enjoyable to read as a filler book, something that I don't really need to think too hard to comprehend - I read a lot of educational/theoretical books - or something I don't expect to get too attached to and can burn time reading on a flight.  So, despite what I'm going to say in the next section I don't feel I wasted the money, but that is with the understanding that I came into it expecting a generic fantasy book.

The Bad:

I'm pissed as hell because its yet another orphan teenager out to probably save the world with a paired up love interest.  I'm so sick of the fact that authors can't get creative or at least add 10 years to a character's age and give them some maturity so they don't have to constantly spew ridiculous immature statements and opinions that even modern day teenagers don't spew all to keep up the stereotype.   (Really, I mean am I missing some basic thing that prevents that from happening?) I don't know why I expected something different from this book, but there you have it.  On top of that the ending leaves a lot to be desired, even from your standard cliff-hanger onto the next book perspective.  

Excepting those two issues the bad is the same as the good.  Its nothing special and its nothing great.  It just is as far as books go.  Its got action scenes, but they're not up the standard that people who focus on action scenes make them.  Its got cheesey dialogue, but nothing cheesier than any other generic book out there.  Ignoring the ending its got a story that is at least entertaining but not all that engaging.  So on and so forth...

But it does not have to reflect the stance of the author, which was described, particularly in the vast majority of writings.  I spoke nothing of life experiences or research, merely of the direct point of the author's nature.  Of course the author is trying to get a message across, but this message does not necessarily equate to one he/she subscribes to.

Maybe I misinterpreted something you posted and am not on the specific topic that you are, or am thinking of something else, but it is my belief and understanding that the most talented of authors have that uncanny ability to step outside of themselves to tell a tale.  Regardless, it is obvious that you are a student of literature while I am merely a rabid consumer, so I'll simply bow out.

That thread made me LOL.

 

That's correct.  Everything about this game turned out to be bull.   Clearly, it's all about the

I know. You gotta wonder if they are even self aware enough of how they look to outside observers. They almost need narration "Gathered together, in this great hall of douchiness are the most loathsome assholes ever assembled."

I haven't read the book. It might be so terrible it causes me eye cancer. But no mentally balanced person dedicates the kind of time to attacking a book like that. It's a goddamn book for a video game. Yet they've managed to put together 4 pages and counting of venom about it.  

Which industry? The book industry? I doubt it.

Maybe human waste is too strong a word. A more accurate term would be terrible, hateful, people who clearly have no idea how terrible and hateful they appear to be.

LOL. And I can also read the first chapter on my iPad and decide for myself. But the embittered wife of someone who has a personal problem with Brad doing a review is laughable.

I could care less about the book. I'll be buying it for the same reason thousands of others will, I'll get some extra game content with it. I suspect that's the whole reason they made the book in the first place. What I find hilarious is the amount of words being spilled by these people about someone they don't like.

It's like watching a group therapy session except the people engaged in it are apparently oblivious.

The game development and journalism industry.

I think it is fair to give Brad the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is capable of writing a fantasy novel about racial conflict without overburdening it with his conservative viewpoint.

Likewise, I think it would be fair to give Whatsherface the benefit of the doubt and assume that she is capable of writing a review about said book without overburdening it with her anger regarding her husband's banning from an internet forum.

Fact is, people waste tons of time on the internet kvetching about random stuff. We're all doing it, right now. I think its poor taste to diss someone else for something you are also doing.

Finally, anyone who read that thread and didn't think it was funny is dead inside.

It's clear you people have no reading comprehension. Angie/Unnammomer reviews laughably horrible books, it's part of what she does. She doesn't spit when she says his name and she's entirely reasonable.

 

Originally Posted by Angie Gallant

Alright, I can see where you are coming from. I think I did acknowledge that these easily could be common fantasy tropes being used without thought in my review. I certainly didn't say that I think Brad is a racist or anything to that effect. I don't know the man and I am not going to comment on his character. I just think it's a shame that those tropes remain as common as they are, and that they deserve to be called out.

Angie Gallant

//

Galadin, have you completed the book? A lot of the subtext I picked up on comes from the wholey human Kraxan "blood traitors" and the way they as a group and Calis in specific are treated through the story, and the final confrontation between the two Titans as they discuss their motives. But I am someone who sees racial subtext in LotRs, so we may just have different goggles through which we view these things.

This was a gown. This was silk or something.

He yanked the sword out of the first one’s throat and swung it at a second, the nearest one to him, gouging it in the shoulder, and the thing screamed, and slashed at Calis’s blade ineffectually, and Calis slashed again, and caught the creature in the face, and blood gushed, and it screamed a second time, and stumbled, but that was all Calis saw.

A moment’s embrace, a few words of good-bye, and then she— and Mirdoth— were gone, and it was just the two of them— Tandis and himself— remaining in the Hall.

Wow, just wow.  I'm sure that banning was traumatic, and the entire clan has bent their collective might, using all professional avenues, and dedicating much thought and dedication to avenging this Internet Injustice.