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Author Topic: Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END  (Read 5847 times)

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Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END
« on: November 15, 2007, 06:51:20 PM »

Quote from: Shawn Rutlede, SkullRing.org
I cannot recommend this book enough, nor do I have the words to give it proper justice.

Read the full review here.
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"[Jacob] is the post-apocalyptic high priest."--Rhiannon Frater, author THE FIRST DAYS

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Re: Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2007, 01:40:40 PM »

Quote from: QuietEarth.us
If you not only like zombie stories, but also like conspiracy stories this is definitely a book for you. Get it now. Read it. Enjoy it. If you just want to read a really great story about zombies, then get it now. Read it. Enjoy it.

Read the full review here.
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Jason S. Hornsby

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Re: Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2007, 06:14:35 PM »

Wow, I really liked this one.  It's reviews like these that compel me to continue etching out this paranoid vision of mine on paper.

And on a side note, the oft-cited criticism--that ESTE takes some time getting started--will hopefully be a non-issue with 1123.  I believe the story gets right down to it, so to speak.
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"For a country to have a great writer is to have another government."      -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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"As a remedy to life in society, I would suggest the big city.  Nowadays it is the only desert within our reach."             - Albert Camus

Travis Adkins

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Re: Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END
« Reply #3 on: January 18, 2008, 10:01:12 AM »

Just found this one; not sure if it has been posted yet or not...

http://www.class-b.net/bookreviews/view.php?action=view&id=34
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Re: Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END
« Reply #4 on: January 18, 2008, 10:16:33 AM »

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Re: Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END
« Reply #5 on: January 18, 2008, 10:24:11 AM »

Just found this one; not sure if it has been posted yet or not...

http://www.class-b.net/bookreviews/view.php?action=view&id=34

Wow, good one!

I actually haven't found any bad ones... except ones written by illiterates and/or nincompoops.  :D
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Re: Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2008, 09:59:41 AM »

Oh my God!  I haven't heard the word nincompoop since I was twelve years old, I don't think.  I was never even entirely sure how to spell it.  Thanks for bringing that review to our attention, Travis.  I had never seen it either, and I am very happy about it.

To be honest, you may be right.  I have not seen much in the bad review vein (which is truly humbling and I am very grateful for this), other than a few people on Amazon who I believe to be absolute morons.  It's not that they're simple because they do not like my book, per say; it's just that their reviews are indicative of how stupid they truly are.  The people who call ESTE not a zombie book and whine about this or that is the same kind of fan base who would say crap like, "I don't get the end of No Country for Old Men," or "Why did Travolta die in Pulp Fiction and then come back to life?"

There's no use for audiences like that.  They should stick with Stephen King or something. 

Trav, thanks for posting this.  By the way, I was at a Marilyn Manson concert last night and for some weird reason was reminded of you.  I'm not sure why, exactly.  I think it may have been something Marilyn himself said on stage that was reminiscent of a conversation you and I had.  I'm not sure.
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"For a country to have a great writer is to have another government."      -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

"Fish cannot live in deep waters, and a counrty's weapons should not be displayed."            - Lao Tsu

"As a remedy to life in society, I would suggest the big city.  Nowadays it is the only desert within our reach."             - Albert Camus

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Re: Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2008, 10:25:10 AM »

This is not a good review, but I did just read it and thought I would post it.  I have to be honest: I really, really dislike the peion who wrote this one, as the whole thing is less a review and more a pseudo-psychoanalytic profile of me.  And it couldn't be more wrong, by the way.  What I always loved so much about writing is that I get to write in voices I would never be able to speak in on a day to day basis, and have characters do things that would never happen in boring reality.  Further, what really irked me was the "Ross is a reflection of the author" or whatever statement.

I love to read and particularly have a sweet spot for zombie fiction. However most follow the same formula: Outbreak occurs, character A is in place X and has to travel a great distance to get to place Y for kid/wife/parent/safety while on the way he encounters zombies/outlaws/survivors and good/bad times occur...writes itself. So when I heard that a new zombie book was coming out and that it took a different approach to the subject I preordered the book.
Then I started reading it.
I understand that the writer is trying to be different, but trying to be different and actually being different are two...well two different things. From the first page I got the feeling that the author was trying to be cool, and that he was trying to make his main character (which he obviously sees as a reflection of himself) cool. And that was the problem with the content and style of this book; it was too busy trying and not actually doing. I am sure the author thinks of himself as this misunderstood loner that is just too cool for the world, and maybe he is and I am reading too much into his writing style. However the ability to conjugate a verb or to attach an adjective to a noun does not make a great writer. Also repeatedly referring to a well known book (Catcher in the Rye) and trying to write in the same vein as that book does not make your book that book.
I know this review is mainly focused on style, but if you are too aware of the style of the book it is difficult to focus on the content. It's like watching a movie with bad acting. No matter what you just cant get over the fact that you are not being taken into the world of the movie, but are rather sitting watching somebody go through the motions of acting in front of a camera.
Even the most cliche zombie fiction can take you into the world of a zombie infestation as long as it is well written.
So, this book it not literary masterpiece, it is not Catcher in the Rye, or some new incarnation of Chuck Palahniuk. Nor is it a great piece of zombie fiction akin to World War Z.
I really wanted to like this book and I tried my best, but it is not there. The substance behind the prose was empty.


I really, really hate this guy.  In fact, when I wrote the book, I had never read World War Z.  I have never been a fan of Chuck Palahniuk's, and I always thought Salinger was overrated.  I certainly did not want to invoke any of the spirit of Catcher, either.  Who is this clown?
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"For a country to have a great writer is to have another government."      -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

"Fish cannot live in deep waters, and a counrty's weapons should not be displayed."            - Lao Tsu

"As a remedy to life in society, I would suggest the big city.  Nowadays it is the only desert within our reach."             - Albert Camus

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Re: Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END
« Reply #8 on: January 20, 2008, 10:41:54 AM »

It does seem to be a rather strange review, Jason. As someone who knows very little about the book, I'm still left pretty much in the dark about its content - and, for me, that means the review has failed, somewhat...

but what I would say, about any review, is that the reviewer has not only taken the time to read your book, but write something down about it. I think, as both writer and reviewer myself, it is good to remember this and give any reviewer their dues.

When reviewing any book or author's work (including PERMUTED output) I try to be true to myself, as well as reflect upon what those reading the review need from it. I'm trying to make the review, itself, enjoyable to read as well as informative regarding its subject matter. I guess I haven't always been successful in achieveing all of this, but it's what I aim for... whether it praises the author, or not.

It's hard taking criticism, paritcularly criticism which you feel is missing the point, entirely. That's a bridge I will be crossing soon enough, myself, with DROP DEAD GORGEOUS...  :-\
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Re: Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END
« Reply #9 on: January 20, 2008, 05:43:27 PM »

Quote from: Horror Reader
This reader cannot recommend Every Sigh, the End (a novel about zombies) enough. Not only is it a brain bender of a read, but it’s a thoughtful addition to not only the subgenre of zombie fiction, nor to the genre of horror, but to fiction as a whole.

Read the full review here.
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Re: Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END
« Reply #10 on: January 20, 2008, 05:48:55 PM »

Quote from: Fear Zone
Thousands of novels are published every year. Thousands will be looked over on the shelves and completely forgotten.  Every Sigh, The End is not one of these books. No matter if you are a rabid zombie enthusiast or a philosophy major, you will find yourself mesmerized by the literary genius of Jason S. Hornsby.

Read the full review here.
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Travis Adkins

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Re: Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END
« Reply #11 on: January 20, 2008, 05:55:07 PM »

Jason, welcome to my world!

I once read a review of Twilight that went something along the lines of, "...it's perverted and creepy that Adkins would write from the perspective of a teenage girl when he is, I presume, a middle-aged man." (Underline mine.) Aaargh! I was like, 22-24 at the time I wrote it... jeesh.

I understand that the writer is trying to be different, but trying to be different and actually being different are two...well two different things. From the first page I got the feeling that the author was trying to be cool, and that he was trying to make his main character (which he obviously sees as a reflection of himself) cool. And that was the problem with the content and style of this book; it was too busy trying and not actually doing. I am sure the author thinks of himself as this misunderstood loner that is just too cool for the world, and maybe he is and I am reading too much into his writing style. However the ability to conjugate a verb or to attach an adjective to a noun does not make a great writer. Also repeatedly referring to a well known book (Catcher in the Rye) and trying to write in the same vein as that book does not make your book that book.

Yeah, I can vouch for the stupidity of that. I've spoke with Jason several times over the phone, and I can say, (with some degree of disappointment ;) ,) that he is nothing like the Ross Orringer character. Jason Hornsby---can you believe it---actually invented a character and gave him personality! I mean, that's like unheard of!
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Jason S. Hornsby

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Re: Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END
« Reply #12 on: January 21, 2008, 07:53:15 AM »

I just read the two new reviews posted, and I must thank you, Jacob, for bringing those to my attention.  The second one in particular really made my morning.  It seems like a healthy portion of any quibbles about ESTE is the multiple time frames confusion.  Luckily, 1123 does not involve that (thank God) and I can just write my next horror novel without having to draw up charts and diagrams and whatnot, though lately I have been embroiled in a great deal of depressing research on influxes of suicide at one particular location (i.e. the Golden Gate, the Aokigahara, the Sunshine Skyway, etc.

Trav, thanks for making me feel better.  I was starting to think maybe I WAS trying to be cool, and that I WAS like Ross.  I try not to take negative criticism personally, but sometimes it is very difficult when readers feel it necessary to attack YOU as a person while reviewing your FICTIONAL characters.  You obviously feel this pain as well.  If I feel inclined to write from the point of view of an eighty year old Hindi rapist, is that not my own perogative?  Should I as a writer be judged from that?

I think...not.
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"For a country to have a great writer is to have another government."      -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

"Fish cannot live in deep waters, and a counrty's weapons should not be displayed."            - Lao Tsu

"As a remedy to life in society, I would suggest the big city.  Nowadays it is the only desert within our reach."             - Albert Camus

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Re: Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END
« Reply #13 on: January 22, 2008, 08:45:17 AM »

Jason, keep in mind, man. Any publicity is good for you. If people want to read your book, they will do so despite one silly review. No worries.  :weeners:
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Re: Praise and reviews for EVERY SIGH, THE END
« Reply #14 on: January 22, 2008, 09:38:34 AM »

Jason, keep in mind, man. Any publicity is good for you. If people want to read your book, they will do so despite one silly review. No worries.  :weeners:

In fact, they may do so BECAUSE of one silly review... That's the beautyof it. ;)

I'm hoping for both good rerviews and REALLY BAD reviews for DDG. I had even considered sending a review copy to some kind of right-wing christian website - just to court controversy...  ;D

... Remember, the more people TALK about your book (for whatever reason), the more people BUY your book...  :cthulhu:
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