Whose Book Reviews Do You Trust?

Bad author behavior has been a trending topic that's been popping up for the past two weeks with enough frequency even for me to pick up that the authors of right now think they are in a MMO real-time-strategy, where they mobilize small armies and wage war against the rest of the Internet. 

I can't help, but imagine what's happening right now in the publishing world as a warped, sales-bent version of Heroes. I have heard of an author who sics fans against people with less favorable opinions of their books, authors who bash the books of rivals via anonymous profiles and authors who buy reviews online. I'm not really going to comment on the details of the current shit storm since others have done so far better than I (Steve Mosby and Alan Baxter have been eloquent enough to sum up). 

The current situation with reviews is dire, because Baxter says "reviews are the life blood of authors" (paraphrasing from a conversation on Facebook) and if we can't trust the veracity of reviews on Amazon, which are the customer's primary guideline as to the quality of a book, then what happens? I can't answer how this problem can be solved. I think that fake, marketing copy reviews and wars with fake negative reviews are still in their infant stages. As authors learn the ins and outs of the Internet, the skills to create fake buzz will only branch out. 

However, the dialogue is now beginning and I hope the culture surrounding the reviews and how they're obtained will change towards the better. What I'm a bit more interested in is whether the trust in reviews has been betrayed within the community itself? Do you still trust what reviewers write about books anymore? More importantly, whose reviews do you trust? 

I've been a reviewer for a significant time period and reading reviews has been an integral part of my education as I pick skills along the way. Over the years I have picked up words (hyperboles), phrases (comparisons, generous predictions) and structure of the review (speaking vaguely about the quality of the book with no details or just heading for an emotional reaction that seems rather out of place). If a review doesn't have an ounce of depth or show me the book has had a genuine effect on the reader either emotionally or intellectually, I disregard the review altogether. 

I'm sure other writers, other authors and other book aficionados have an eye for whether a review is sincere, but sometimes that eye might not catch the lie. Who can vouch for this and that reviewer, especially on Amazon. I don't use Amazon for my book buying and I don't intend to ever again. Big sites like Amazon are the perfect target for fraud, because they allow for anonymity so I naturally stay away from Amazon. Do you value Amazon high in terms of trustworthiness? 

Whose reviews do you trust anyways? Do you go to GoodReads or do you trust a site like LibraryThing? Do you log into forums and what is your relationship to the reviewer? I believe that these are the questions that people are asking and answering for themselves right now or at least should be asked and emphasized on. If authors try to cheat, then it's quite necessary for readers to recalibrate whatever defenses they have against fraudulent behavior.

I think that a discussion about how to make authors abandon these cheap tricks is necessary and I think it has already begun, but by answering the question of whose reviews we trust alongside, we will be able as a community invested in literature to help the occassional book buyer to avoid a potential scam. 

What do you think?

[January 16th] To-Do List Apocalypse

As you can tell by the lack of posts, I'm extremely busy though I missed at least five great opportunities to share my opinion on relevant topics such as the bitch fight over a negative review written by Liz Bourke at Strange Horizons [oh boy that was a delicious fight] and a matter of female objectification as led by Jim C. Hines. All rather brilliant, but at the moment, I'm amidst preparing a final paper for this semester, dealing with domestic warfares in my household and preparing all the future shows over at "Tales to Terrify" [more on that later] and writing for "Weird Wednesday" [thankfully I prepared earlier this time and am having help on polishing the rough edges].

This is why I'll leave you in the company of naughty pen and his nerd dirty, dirty talk.

I think the follow-up to that was "You will fit me like a glove".

 

[January 12th] The World Fantasy Award: Y U NO World Enough?

I'm not much of an award person. I seem to miss all the major awards. I grow confused about eligibility and all of the dates. With my limited, often retrospective reading I don't think I can stay tuned to how fast new books pop up on award radars. Perhaps that is a fault of mine, but nevertheless, I 'm interested in The World Fantasy Award and Lavie Tidhar's call to internationalize the recommendations list.

Here a small excerpt from his post at The World SF blog: 

The judges for the WFA have to wade through an enormous amount of material. That that material is exclusively in the English language comes as no surprise, but still. I would like to see 2012 being truly representative of the best that international fantasy has to offer.

I would also like to see the Special Award (Professional and Non-Professional categories) being representative of the international scene.

We can help make this happen.

So here’s your mission – should you choose to accept it!

Tell us, in the comments, who you would like to see shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award. Best Novel? Best Short Story? Special Award?

We’ll put together your recommendations into a list and post it. And let’s all hope for a year where the World Fantasy Award reflects that first word in its title.

You can read the rest of the post [HERE]. I'm behind the idea, though I'm not sure how successful it will be from the get go, because the domination of the English language hasn't happened without a reason. Excluding the USA, there exist an amount of countries with English as an official language and English is appointed as an international business language as well. Turning the tide towards including works in other languages [some less than popular such as Bulgarian] will bring in its own set of difficulties, unless they have been translated. 

As it is, I don't think the award can achieve the true potential of its name, unless it promotes world literature and that means somehow having the financial means and the time to translate fiction and then promote it. But then the award will turn into a publishing house, which as an idea is ridiculous.    

[November 25th] The Art of Exit Man

It's been a long day and I have been to the book launch of "The Act of Walking on Water" by Bulgarian author Angel Angelov. It was a wonderful hour and a half affair with chatting, wine and speeches devoted to the man of the hour, Mister Angelov. The wine has gone to my head, which is why I will be writing a complete report in the morning. 

In the mean time, I've been meaning to bring your mind to the art of Exit Man. He's from Spain or at the very least a Spanish speaking country, judging by his website, which I can't seem to effectively navigate. This type of art I most commonly associate with skaters as it appears on a lot of their T-shirts. It's pretty breathtaking with its psychedelic choice of colors, though I have picked the least colorful pieces of art. 

The peculiar thing about this art direction is that I see it on all the power boxes in my city. There is a real urban movement in Varna to go around and paint over all power boxes out in the street, which would be real dangerous to touch. I have to bring in some amateur photos of these sites. 

In the mean time, enjoy. Also, tell me what is the art that has you interested? 

[August 22nd] Sex, Anime and YA at random

This one is called "The Crying Tree"

I've been thinking about various topics to discuss in a blog post and also, I've been having random thoughts that can't exactly manifest into full fledged posts. So I'm stitching them together.

1] I'm tired of sex being ignored in fiction as an important pillar in a character's growth and arc. I see sex either tag along with ('naughtier') romance novels, where it acquires a sweet, sweet aura as 'making love' or I see sex turned into a weapon, either as manipulation or as violence. It's why most villainesses are portrayed as depraved or highly sexual. Poison Ivy, anyone? Catwoman certainly appears on a lot more pinup style art than say Wonder Woman? Why? Cause she is a bad girl, both from a legal and moral standpoint. When sex takes on a more important role in a work, the work itself is deemed as less important, because sex equals porn equals mindless fornication equals no place for a good story.

2] Japan needs to stop with the superhero crossovers they have picked up. Iron Man flat lined in a sense that Japan simply can't peg down his vices in a way that makes Tony Stark himself. Not to mention that the X-Men overhaul is appalling. While the Scott/Jean post-Dark Phoenix drama fits the Japanese storytelling method in anime, Emma Frost does not cry. Her name is Frost for a reason, you know. Composure. Yet, all the female characters are reduced to crying and panicky weaklings. Not to mention the breasts. I do not like the swollen flesh balloons and I do not like the closeups of them jiggling.

3] At the same time, I have to compliment Japan on giving the world "Ergo Proxy" and "Dead Man Wonderland". Though a bit typical for Japan as a story type, both follow a wonderful art direction, which more or less for my 'oh shiny' syndrome is a big plus.

4] Is YA a genre? From my comments on my Saturday post, it was mentioned that YA is an age classification, but more or less it has become a label and the term YA now creates certain assumptions and expectations, much like how Epic Fantasy makes the reader expect a multi-factional war. I feel the same way, when I hear adult fiction. I instantly think of sex and violence with a dose of reckless decadence.

5] I watched "Hanna" and was impressed. Just WOAH. It made me think of being a voyeour in a musical video game reality.