Critiqued!

A missive to another author, from a discussion thread this morning.

(Regarding) the review at https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R33UADCP4H6VCK) — over which I debated the wisdom of ‘(implying) things in the prose’ and leaving the reader to figure it out.

‘Trust the reader’ is a bit of advice I took to heart at the beginning of my author’s journey, on the topic of balancing exposition against pacing, and the value of a fly-on-the-wall third-person-limited narrative form, a staple in the writing of Hemingway and others. It suits me. It’s what I do now. I’m not about to change, although the critique gives me pause.

Based on reviews left for other authors, my critic is a thoughtful reader. The review is not terribly unkind. However, it’s a litany of misconceptions about what was written, implying he or she must have skimmed.

So, a pacing problem, one might think, but no … the reviewer’s complaint appears to be about failure to understand the story, implying a paucity of exposition, except the critic’s essay reveals the story was not read.

What shall I make of this? I believe book and reader were mismatched. The Anye Universe novels are not the usual SciFi fare. This is mentioned in more than one book description. Adventure intrigue family drama literary science fiction. Value-positive. The opposite of ugly and pessimistic.

Maybe the critic was looking for a dystopian costume drama, a passionate rant against corporate hegemony, or furry porn (implied by the cover, some say). Who knows?

Nevertheless, the story features 8 named principal actors, not “dozens of human and alien characters.”

The critic says, “Even the human characters all sound like engineers.” Consider, if you will, the second chapter.

Altar Mountain was enshrouded in clouds drifting thick as smoke through trees, across grass, onto decking, making everything too wet for sitting, too slippery for walking.

A party of women sharing Francine’s foxlike appearance — having big eyes, narrow muzzles, tall ears, and fine textured pelts — braved the steps down to a cabin tent where a trail guide had set up to book horseback tours.

The concessionaire was human AjJivadi, a quintessential American cowboy in chaps and Colt Peacemaker, wide grin and folksy greeting at the ready. “My lands, ain’t you a furry bunch of critters.”

He rounded them up like doe-eyed calves, launching into the gospel of any foray by Anye persons into Earth’s wide-open spaces — not getting caught at it. “In these parts, the natives might call you Sasquatch, Bigfoot or Wendigo — on account of they seen you plenty, but don’t know what you are.”

Watching from the front porch of the lodge, nursing her first cup of coffee, Francine anticipated the punchline. And they’re not going to find out today, are they?

A lady raised her hand. “I know the Manu were called Sasquatch and Mahat Limar are Bigfoot, but what’s a Wendigo?”

“The most fearsome of all.” The man tipped his hat. “A cousin to Raji Limar, only prettier.”

“Oh.” She giggled. “Iravat.”

“Yes’m. Wendigo is a corruption of the name Vadin, belonging to an Iravat who started a fish camp in Newfoundland back in the 13th century.” He gestured toward the lodge. “The boss-lady’s great-grampop, in case you didn’t know.”

Francine took her cue. “My ancestor’s patrons flew over from Jivada in Saraf Drive aircars. They didn’t even wear spacesuits.”

“Some tough old lemurs, right there.” He shooed the group away from a camouflaged air shuttle in the process of landing. “Folks, stay clear of the bus until the door opens.”

Every book is not for every reader. I do not take offense at what was said, but I’m not taking it to heart — the critic was uninterested in the tale, got bored and gave up.

I understand. It’s not ray guns and rocket ships. There are no magic swords. The gritty scenes don’t make an appearance until late in the program. There is no explicit content. There is a gunfight around the middle, but it’s not that kind of adventure story.

In fact, ‘Elbert’s’ underlying theme might be described as ‘Things grown-ups do to create successful lives’. I hate how that sounds. I’m not trying to send a particular message. It’s meant to be entertaining and fun, and I presume that it is.

Via the Amazon dashboard, I’ve witnessed readers consume my entire catalog non-stop. I no longer worry about the material not being any good, but it’s not for everyone and there’s no way it could be.