Sorry

[Faceless Woman]

But I have a complaint about Imperial Spy. Not about the way it was written, I loved the story itself. It's just that you gave away an important plot point before the story had even started. I mean, why? Why would you do that? I spent the whole book thimking, so when's this trial then?

And why list Rikala as an important character? She wasn't, not in this book. Not important enough to warrant a mention in a character list. I don't actually think you had enough characters to warrant a character list at all. It was pointless. It smells of plumping up the book.

Other than that, better than I've read for a while, sadly. I like Femke. She seems real.

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by Faceless Woman

But I have a complaint about Imperial Spy. Not about the way it was written, I loved the story itself. It's just that you gave away an important plot point before the story had even started. I mean, why? Why would you do that? I spent the whole book thimking, so when's this trial then?

And why list Rikala as an important character? She wasn't, not in this book. Not important enough to warrant a mention in a character list. I don't actually think you had enough characters to warrant a character list at all. It was pointless. It smells of plumping up the book.

Other than that, better than I've read for a while, sadly. I like Femke. She seems real.

Hello, Faceless Woman, and welcome to Chronicles. I'm glad that you enjoyed Imperial Spy, despite the spoilers in the Dramatis Personae. To be fair, it was the publishers who wanted the Dramatis Personae. I'm not really a big fan of them myself - I never tend to look at them. Perhaps it was because of this that I did not fully consider the implications of the descriptions I supplied of the characters they wanted to include. It was certainly not included to 'plump' the book. I was actually asked to cut the word count several times before we went to print. More pages = more production costs, so no publisher will put in stuff that they feel unnecessary.

Thanks for the feedback. I hope you will take the time to read my other work. I look forward to seeing you around the boards here again.

[Joel007]

Don't read the Dramatis Personae in Imperial Assassin either! I have to say I also dislike them. Usually the best way to get new readers up to speed is a quick plot summary of the previous book by the author. Why are so many things changed after the book is out of the author's hands? Mistakes are made so often that weren't in the original. (I'm thinking Good Omens as a classic example of many things inexplicably altered)

[SpaceShip]

Originally Posted by Joel007

Don't read the Dramatis Personae in Imperial Assassin either! I have to say I also dislike them. Usually the best way to get new readers up to speed is a quick plot summary of the previous book by the author. Why are so many things changed after the book is out of the author's hands? Mistakes are made so often that weren't in the original. (I'm thinking Good Omens as a classic example of many things inexplicably altered)

I suppose that's one good thing about being your own publisher - at least then you know what's going out there.

[Faceless Woman]

Joel: Too late. I still liked the book, though.

Mark:Ok, I forgive you. I will now blame the evil publishers for ruining your masterpiece. Please don't let them do it again. That was really annoying.
Still, from now on I know to avoid those if I see them.

Oh, and thanks for the welcome. A little late, but thanks.

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by Faceless Woman

Joel: Too late. I still liked the book, though.

Mark:Ok, I forgive you. I will now blame the evil publishers for ruining your masterpiece. Please don't let them do it again. That was really annoying.
Still, from now on I know to avoid those if I see them.

Oh, and thanks for the welcome. A little late, but thanks.

LOL! I could have sworn your post count was low! Oh, well, I guess that could explain my occasional lapse of attention to detail! I put it down to my age, which hides a multitude of sins. I'm fairly certain that I've not really spoken to you before here - though if I have, then my memory will need to be sharpened somewhat if I'm to hope to hold a mass of detail in my head for the next four book series.

I shall certainly veto a Dramatis Personae in the Dragon Orb books.

[SpaceShip]

Originally Posted by Mark Robson

I shall certainly veto a Dramatis Personae in the Dragon Orb books.

Excluse my ignorance but what is a Dramatis Personae?

[Winters_Sorrow]

Originally Posted by SpaceShip

Excluse my ignorance but what is a Dramatis Personae?

Basically a list of the characters encountered in the books along with a brief description of who they are. As a series progresses and characters are killed they also usually say (deceased) next to them. Possibly that's what Faceless Woman is referring to.
I can take or leave Dramatis Personae. They do help with novels with huge lists of characters in them. I definitely referred to the one in Gardens of the Moon by Steven Eriksson several times as I couldn't keep track of who the hell everyone was and how they fitted in!

[SpaceShip]

Thanks. I have seen them but didn't know that was what they were called and yes, sometimes you do have to refer back. I'm reading Bleak House at mo and they have one in that.

[rune]

Do what I do, egnore the list completely. I never look at that kind of thing in a book or any extra info at back or front of books. I dive right in and let the story unfold

[Faceless Woman]

I love them, usually. Usually being the operative word.
I'm a book-slut, you see. I physically cannot read only one book at a time, so I can get a little mixed up. Also, it shows attention to detail, but only in larger books or stories set in a society different enough from ours to require differernt terminology. Here, it was pointless.

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by Faceless Woman

I love them, usually. Usually being the operative word.
I'm a book-slut, you see. I physically cannot read only one book at a time, so I can get a little mixed up. Also, it shows attention to detail, but only in larger books or stories set in a society different enough from ours to require differernt terminology. Here, it was pointless.

Point taken. I'll see what I can do about getting it omitted in the last book of the series - to be honest, if people don't know who's who by then, they don't deserve to know what's going on anyway!

Thanks again for the feedback. It's always useful to have constructive criticism.

[Joel007]

I wouldn't mind so much if it was at the end. I usually assume that stuff at the beginning is intended for reading before the book, and the end for after reading the book.