Desert Spear Musings
I read every review of my books.
I’ve been told by many people, including a few well-known authors, that this is a bad practice. Some call it masturbation and others call it masochism, but whatever you label it, I can’t help myself. When you spend thousands of hours toiling on something, it’s hard to pretend you don’t care what people think. I care. So I go on Amazon and B&N and Goodreads and have google scour the internets and when a new review pops up, I read it.
I am fortunate that mostly they are positive things that give me joy and encouragement to keep up at what I’m doing. Other times they are critical in a fair way, and give me ideas about how to improve my craft in the future. No one likes to have their weaknesses pointed out publicly, but I think it’s worth the price if it makes me a better author.
And sometimes, reviews kick me square in the nuts. People get angry about my choice of POV character, or who slept with who, or whatever, and say some mean and hurtful things. A lot of times these reviewers don’t even know what they’re talking about, having read more into the story that was actually there, ignored sections of the text that counter their arguments, approached it with a chip on their shoulder that I accidentally knocked off, or whatever. But even when I can see this and know that I wouldn’t change the book even if I could, it stings a bit, and sometimes throws me into a funk that can last for hours, especially since I know there’s no point in responding to defend it. It’s like knowing a bully is picking on your kid at school and not being allowed to go beat him up yourself.
You have to take the bad with the good.
I know I took some chances with The Desert Spear. I didn’t want to just repeat the formula of The Warded Man, however successful it might have been. I already wrote that book, and had no interest in writing it again. I wanted to do something different. I knew this would elate some readers and piss others off. Such is the risk an author takes when they roll the dice and send a manuscript out. It’s been interesting to see the progression of reviews from one book to the next.
I used to post every single review here on the blog, but I just don’t have that kind of time anymore, but here are some recent reviews that injected a little joy into my life:
The other night at Balticon while playing arm candy to the lovely and talented NYT Bestselling author Gail Carriger, I gave a copy of The Warded Man to Howard Tayler, the Schlock Mercenary. He has since called it the best convention swag ever.
Bookish Ardour reviews both The Painted Man and The Desert Spear.
Dave Brendon was one of my very first reviewers and conducted my first online interview. He had to wait a bit to get The Desert Spear down in South Africa, but he finished it this week and wrote this great review.
Jessica Strider is a Canadian bookseller and one of the nicest ladies you’ll ever meet. She runs a site called Sci-Fi Fan Letter where she reviewed The Warded Man last year and did an interview with me. Here she reviews The Desert Spear.
Mark the Walker of Worlds wrote a kickass Desert Spear review recently as well.
Okay, enough masochistic masturbation. I have a Daylight War to fight…
Thanks for the mention and the link, Peat. 🙂 I’ll now leave you to plan and plot Sharak Ka. 🙂
Peat, I think the worst response would be apathy. If people are reading and getting riled up (either in a positive or negative way) it shows you have made these characters real, and people care about them. Of course you’re not going to please everyone, but that’s not your goal, is it?
Keep on keeping on. There’s plenty of us out here who appreciate it and are waiting in line for Sharak Ka. Fuck reading the reviews, and get writing. 😉
Hi pete,
It must is always difficult receiving criticism. I however Loved TPM, and must admit I was a bit unsure of the TDS to begin with, but very much changed my mindh once I got to know the newer characters. I’d now struggle to say which was my favourite. I agree that to have followed the same formula and character set would have been a mistake. I love the world you’ve created, and can’t wait to see what you do with it!
Don’t be disheartened by people who disliked the books, I for one cannot wait to for the next instalments, and I’m sharing my love of the books with many friends who are all in agreement.
Paul Daly
I was actually goiing to ask you how you cope with those bad reviews and if you read them at all – funny that you just wrote the answer for me.
I’ve read some reviews on TDS. And mostly I understood what people were getting at even when it was a more critical review – and even if I didn’t agree. Sometimes, though, the reviews are just plain mean and stupid like you said. And I wondered how you swallowed those. Seems like it’s not easy, as I imagined.
Well, I wish you more good reviews, reviews you honestly deserve.
You’ve read all 513 reviews on Goodreads?! I could see myself doing the same thing though so I guess I shouldn’t act surprised. I’m a bit compulsive though.
Even with the differences people may have, I can’t imagine anyone outright not liking the book. You did a fantastic job and the cover was absolutely amazing. Please use the same cover designer for the rest of the series.
Hi Peter, thanks for the mention and link back. I had this sneaking suspicion you’d find my reviews (I reviewed Painted Man a couple of years back and posted it on several websites including Booktagger which you found me on and commented about, but I was using a different username then).
I really don’t like reviewing books like yours because I’m quite pedantic and can have a tendency to rip into novels even when I love them to pieces (I do love yours) so I was really worried you’d find mine and well it’d hurt your feelings.
I know I should think perhaps you have a tougher skin then that, but I know people criticising your work on a smaller scale can be bad enough, I’d hate to think what it’s like on a bigger scale!
I’m glad you’ve found reviews that are far more pleasant and encouraging (I had a look round when I finished The Desert Spear and found more positive than negative) because I think your books so far are highly entertaining (even when I’m nitpicking) and hope you keep it up!
P.S. If you ever read those comments my friend and I made please don’t take that as bad criticism. We might sound like we’re ripping into it, but it’s not always possible for novels to get us so animated like yours do which I think could be a very positive thing rather than negative.
Thanks for the mention and link Peat. Loved the book and I can only say how much I’m anticipating The Daylight War, and considering I’m mainly a sci-fi reader it says something that a fantasy book is among my top anticipated books 🙂
Actually, it appears the great deal of criticism wells from people believing that the characters starting acting in ways antithetical to the way in which they’d previously been portrayed. That’s a fair criticism, as that ruins suspension of disbelief… absolutely critical in fantasy.
Authors have enough problems with worldbuilding as it is. Imagine if the rogueish Han Solo turned himself in to Jabba the Hut in Empire. Everyone would have returned their geek cards right there.
I applaud many of the risks of the Desert Spear. I enjoyed the look at the Krasian culture, and thought the reintroduction of Renna was absolutely brilliant (not to mention the way she needles Arlen).
******SPOILER ALERT!******
However, I would hope that it would not be difficult to admit that having Leesha, a rape survivor, willingly join in any way (friendly, more than friendly, however), with anyone who would allow the rape of the women of Fort Rizon, is a very difficult thing to understand and accept.
******SPOILER ALERT!******
Dan,
I don’t agree with your feelings, but I do appreciate them. Rape is a touchy subject that rightfully stirs strong emotions in those of us who retain possession of our souls (even if we still have a few years left on the mortgage). If you’re interested in some of my thoughts on the topic in general, there’s a really good forum on goodreads where I comment at length on the subject:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/328782-leesha-spoilers
One of the things noted in the thread is the important point that there is no “right” or “wrong” way to be a victim of sexual assault. Each person is unique, as are the circumstances of their assault and recovery. To say that a victim should act one way or another negates their free will, and any research into case studies of victims in the real world will show that reactions are wide, varied, and often counter-intuitive.
With regards to The Desert Spear, all I can say is that Leesha’s a big girl and she knows what she’s doing. Much of her thought process is outlined in the text, and shows that there was considerably more to her decision than romance. There are thousands of lives riding on her actions. Further light will be shed on the matter as the series progresses.
As for Jardir, I would note that he has never raped anyone, and is in fact a victim himself. It’s true that his troops have done so, but so have the troops of every invading army in human history, up to and including modern times. War is ugly business. Is Abraham Lincoln accountable for the liberties the Union Soldiers took of Confederate women during the Civil War and Reconstruction? Maybe. But I don’t think it’s fair to paint it as a black and white issue.
Thanks for bringing the topic up and letting me have a chance to address it. My online forum should be up and running in a couple of weeks, and there will be at least one discussion thread where people can ask me questions like this.
-Peat
Over the weekend I read the Warded Man and the Desert Spear for the first time. As I’ve gotten older, I have found it difficult to read fantasy books because most of the characters in the genre are flat and the writing atrocious.
That said, your work is refreshing. Your prose is tight, your characters fleshed out, and your plot filled with believable events. Reading the Warded Man filled me with the same excitement I felt when reading Name of the Wind. Authors like you are needed in the Fantasy genre!
However with Desert Spear, I had some points of contention. **Spoilers**
I had no issue with the introduction of Jadir (which was FANTASTIC!), the rape(s), even the Leesha and Jadir love interest. (Plenty of conquerors have taken foreign wives who acted against the established norms. Foreigners tend to have different expectations placed on them than natives.)
I just had two questions really:
a) Why are the demons so easy to beat now?
b) Why didn’t everyone just start painting wards on their tools, weapons and faces a lot earlier, before the Warded Man? It seemed in the Warded Man that painting wards on objects was only done by a skilled Warder. But now everyone and their puppy are warding chestnuts.
Overall it was a good read, but those two points just bothered me. I await your next book eagerly.
d,
A) The demons are not easy to beat. Holy shit are they not. Just you wait and see.
B) Before the Warded Man came along, the only wards were defensive in nature. This means they form a barrier to demons, rather than harm them. So there wasn’t much point in warding objects or people.
In addition, warding objects with complex 3D shapes takes a high level of proficiency. Warding a circle is simple math compared to the complex calculations needed to ward a sphere with an even net.
In most parts of the world, complex warding is done only by skilled professionals and artisans, properly trained. But in Tibbet’s Brook, where both Arlen and Renna are from, everyone performed their own warding, so the average person has a high degree of proficiency, and warded objects were used quite a bit.
The catch of warded objects is that you need contact with a demon to “charge” them. Most people don’t care to get that close…
“The demons are not easy to beat. Holy shit are they not.” Good call ! The Mimic demons are an ever-shifting pain in the ass! Changing aspect too null what ever element may be used to harm it! And the mind demons!!!!! Now you have to question even the best of friends just too be sure they are not being influnced. Undermining the ties of the humans can verywell keep anyone from unifying and keep humans in fear. Not to mention the use of sticks by demons since wards can stop them! Easy to beat?????? Crap I see DARK days and DARKER nights to come!
::Shivers In Anticipation and Fear::
9.Peat
I’m a huge T. Brooks fan as he has a brilliant way of drawing me into the story and allowing me to immerse myself into the characters and his world. I have no doubt that you will find your place on the Best Seller list quickly.
I just finished The Desert Spear, and man what a fantastic story. You tell it so brilliantly. I started reading The Warded Man about a month ago in a state of depression waiting for the release of The Bearere of the Black Staff. I could not put it down. In fact, I read The Warded Man faster then I’ve ever read a book in my life (which still isn’t that impressive as it took me a week.. I’m a slow reader who has to absorb every detail and often read pages several times over to make sure I’m not missing any).
Of course, when I finished The Warded Man, I was only too happy to find The Desert Spear already available, and was in high hopes that you could match the level of intensity and story in the sequel. And you delivered beyond anything I would’ve expected. In fact, I read it in 3 days, having just finished it only an hour ago. Well done friend. Not only did you provide me with one of the most amazing story lines, but you also enraptured me in the painting of it, and sped the reading along as if by the magic in the story itself.
I eagerly await The Daylight War! If you are looking for someone to give you some feedback on it, (or if you would find pity on a story starved reader who is now hooked), I would love to have a look at it. Would love an ARC if you are thinking of such things. I have already gotten 3 friends to get TWM and TDS.
Thank you very much for putting this story to pen. I think one day I will write too, and I hope that I can create as well as you have.
Burt
Oh yeah. And one more thing. The only thing that has bothered me at all about anything.
Why did Leesha react to the wardnet in Inveria’s chamber? That was the 1st time I have noticed a non-demon reacting to a wardnet.
Burt
Hey Burt,
Thanks for all the kind words! I’ve been reading Terry Brooks since I was 12. His books are a big part of why I am writing fantasy today.
To answer your question, the wardnet in Inevera’s chamber was specifically attuned to form a barrier for humans. Magic can produce most any effect if you have the proper wards for it, but the warding becomes more complex as the effect does.
The dama’ting, through their use of demon bones (alagai hora) to power the wards, have considerable magical power beyond what we have seen. This will be shown as the series progresses.
-Peat
Peat
Thanks for the really quick response. Didn’t mean to get all trekkie on you, but lore is important, especially in a story like this one.
So… When is the The Daylight War coming out?
I’m reading Bearers of the Black Staff right now. It’s GREAT!
I’ll let you borrow my copy if you let me read an advance copy of yours…. LOL.. (no really, I mean it. That is if you don’t already have your own..) I know it’s done… You mentioned something in another blog about not having enough people begging for your manuscript. Well… Please…
Burt
(of course, you would have to send it back signed…)
Hello everyone. It has taken me a long time to get around to posting my views on the whole Jadir and rape issue presented in The Desert Spear. My reason for finally doing so is that I have seen way too many people refer to Jadir as some sort of “dark hero” or someone that is generally an honourable person. This is crap and it sickens me to see people view this sociopath in this manner.
I would offer that Jadir is one of the most vile, disgusting, dishonourable and evil creatures I have ever read about in a fantasy novel (and Leesha isn’t much better). He is most certainly a rapist and murderer of innocent men, women and children. What he did was an act of terrorism, not war. He murdered and raped thousands of people for no other reason than the fact that they chose to live differently to himself, these people were not his enemy. He never even gave them a chance to surrender or join him.
The fact that Jadir is a rapist is actually quite black and white. I would explain this further by saying that we would call someone a murderer if they took a loaded gun and pointed it at an innocent person and pulled the trigger and killed them. We don’t just blame the gun, just like we wouldn’t say that someone who used an object to rape a women was not a rapist. Jadir used his army to murder and rape the people of Fort Rizon fully knowing what would happen when he invaded the city. After he had captured the city he handed over girls as young as 10 years old to his soldiers to be enslaved and raped indefinitely. Everyone seems to consider Harl to be an extremely evil person, but when Jadir grants permission for the same atrocities as those done to Renna to be done to the women and children of Fort Rizon, no one seems to barely notice.
I believe that the murder and rape of the people of Fort Rizon was done in a very trivialised and dismissive fashion. There has been no real insight into what really happened to these people because if there were we would have no problem hating Jadir. How many women did they murder during and after the attack because they tried to fight back, biting or punching their attacker whilst being raped? The soldiers consider it perfectly acceptable to do so. How many children were killed during the attack? It seems likely to me that some children would have picked up weapons and attacked the men raping their mothers right in front of them (Arlen certainly would have). How many babies where maimed or killed when they were ripped from their mothers and tossed aside so that the soldiers could rape her? How many women committed suicide after they were brutally raped? This is fairly common and averages around the 10% figure. These are all the things that do happen when you invade peaceful communities and use murder and rape to force them to comply to your beliefs, but have been left out so that the reader can still feel sorry for poor Jadir.
He may turn out to be the saviour of mankind, but he will never be honourable or any sort of hero. If any of you want to gain any real insight into what it’s really like for the victims of Fort Rizon then I would recommend that you google the use of rape in the Middle East, Sudan, Bosnia and the Congo conflicts. These are the most recent and have the most information available. Some information does exist for older conflicts but it tends to be limited.
I look forward to any replies or comments I get back on this subject. The only thing I would ask is for you to consider how you would feel if it was your children this happened to before you do so.
Brad