Tag Archives: review

Book Review: Generations by Noam Josephides

Posted on by
Comment

My first book review as an Indie Story Geek judge.

In December, I applied to be a judge for the 2024 Indie Ink Awards managed by Indie Story Geek. I’d heard about the contest on Mastodon and thought, why not? I like to read. Maybe this would expose me to some new authors that I would not otherwise find on my own.

To be honest, my reading lately has been mostly a mix of non-fiction thought pieces like Stolen Focus by Johann Hari and Filterworld by Kyle Chayka — both recommended if you think social media and addiction to our mobile devices might be a problem (spoiler alert: they are) — and, believe it or not, novels based in the Star Wars universe, primarily those that are part of the canon. (Yes, folks, there’s more to Star Wars than 11 movies and a handful of TV shows on Disney.) My fiction tastes run to science fiction and mystery, but I’ll also read some fantasy. I don’t like heavy, depressing books that make me sad. What I like to avoid is juvenile writing — either writing meant for kids or “young adults” or books written by authors who write like that.

The Judging Experience

I was very surprised to be selected as a judge. One of the reasons for the surprise was that when I filled out the application form, it asked me what my pronouns were. The pronoun thing doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it bothers crazed conservatives, but it is becoming tiresome. I think that field should be optional on any form. If it matters to you and it’s not the usual he/him for males and she/her for females, by all means, fill it in. But if I identify myself as female — another field on the form — I should be able to skip that question and let you assume I’m a she/her. But the field could not be skipped so I wrote “I’m a straight female and old school; figure it out.” I figured that my sarcasm would disqualify me but it did not. They’re either in the same camp I am about this topic or desperate for judges.

Interestingly, half of the judging categories are related to “Writing the Future We Need,” which relates directly to LGBT, disability, transgender, Asian author, Black author, or a variety of other topics that they want judges to be “qualified” to judge. This is easy for me — I wasn’t qualified for any of them, not having the kind of first hand experiences I think they were looking for. This actually makes sense when you consider their pronoun question. They want to be inclusive, which I think is great. But they also want the judges on these topics to actually have a clue about them. That’s also a good idea.

I was accepted and invited to join in on a Discord forum (or whatever). I signed up and joined in. That’s when I realized that at age 63, I was probably old enough to be the mother or grandmother of most of the other participants in the judging process. Animated emojis are a big thing among my fellow judges. I’m sure their social media feeds are plastered with selfies and memes that include poetry and flowers.

(Do I sound cynical? I hope so. That’s my intent here.)

Anyway, once I got set up with the Judge’s Portal on the Indie Story Geek website, I was able to get to business. The process is pretty simple. You “reserve” a book to judge — you need to read and judge at least 3 over over the next four or five months — and then download it as an EPUB, PDF, or (if available) audiobook. I chose Generations: A Science Fiction Mystery Thriller, which has the following blurb:

WINNER: 1st Prize – 2024 BookFest Award • WINNER: Global Book Awards – Silver Medal • “An epic science fiction noir!” – Publisher Weekly’s BookLife • “Extraordinary… dense and enthralling journey” – Kirkus Review • “An amazing space story of mystery, adventure, and exploration. It’s smart, funny, but above all, endearing” – Reader Views

Are Humanity’s leaders steering them into a trap? And can one woman stand up to power and uncover the conspiracy that had been brewing for generations?

The THETIS is humanity’s last hope: a generation-ship carrying the last remnants of Earth to resettle on a new planet.

But, under the facade of a tolerant and cooperative society built across two centuries of space travel, a deeply-buried secret lies – a secret that puts humanity’s new beginning at risk.

The key to uncovering that conspiracy lies in the hands of SANDRINE LIET, an Archivist introvert who has everything to lose by pitting herself against the most powerful people on the Thetis.

The deeper she digs, the clearer it becomes that there is only one way to save both herself and the rest of her fellow Thetans – and it’s the most horrible choice imaginable…

GENERATIONS is a heart-pounding space mystery, an instant #1 Amazon Science Fiction Bestseller of 2024.

I downloaded the EPUB and imported it into the Books app on my iPad. (I’ve been trying to stay away from Amazon and Kindle these days.) And I started to read.

My Thoughts on Generations

First of all, I was not pulled into the book as I hoped I would be. It wasn’t a real page turner — at least not in the beginning. The writing was good, the characterization was good enough, but the plot was a bit slow to take off. The author hinted at backstories for characters here and there and, over time, revealed missing information. Maybe that was supposed to make me want to keep turning pages and learning more? It didn’t. I assumed that important information would be revealed as the book progressed and I wasn’t disappointed.

What the book excelled at was world building. This is so important for science fiction (and fantasy). The author had obviously thought out the world he was writing about in great detail, inventing a spaceship where generations of people would live for a two hundred year journey after the demise of Earth. The description of the ship, Thetis, wasn’t all laid out in a long descriptive passage. Instead, it was revealed little by little, just like the characters’ backstories. And it was believable.

Unfortunately, the plot wandered into a plot device I absolutely detest: protagonist’s name is smeared by people more powerful than her and she’s set up to take the fall for things she didn’t do. Fortunately, this wasn’t the whole book, but was enough of it that I had no trouble putting the book down to do other things.

To make matters worse, an early plot development revealed (at least to me) part of the book’s conclusion. Not only was the “mystery” not much of a mystery to me, but I was frustrated that the protagonist didn’t see what I did. This only got worse when my suspicions turned out to be correct. No, I didn’t solve the entire mystery right at the beginning — that would be impossible since a key piece was not made known until nearly the end. But I knew exactly which way the plot was heading.

But I think the thing that bothered me most was how the protagonist escapes from danger near the end of the book. It was completely unbelievable. I don’t want to spoil the book for readers, but the chances of her succeeding at a certain point were pretty much nil and yet she succeeds. I really wish the author would have gotten her out of that jam in a more believable way.

In re-reading this, it sounds like I hated the book. I didn’t. As I mentioned, the writing was good and the characterization was good enough. The mystery was interesting, despite me seeing the answer coming before it arrived. It wasn’t trite or clichéd. It wasn’t written for children. But the best thing it had going for it was the world-building. When it was over, I was left wishing I could stay on board for when Thetis arrived at its destination and Generation 10 could start developing their new world.

Maybe the author will take all the work he did on building Thetis to take us there? I would read that.

On Honest Reviews

Posted on by
6

Why they’re important.

This morning, I got an email message from Etsy asking me to review some beads I’d bought from an Etsy shop.

I am ruthlessly honest when I review a product. I want the seller/maker to know what I think so they can feel good (from a positive review) or fix problems (from a negative review).

I also want other potential buyers to know if a product fell short of expectations or didn’t match descriptions or images. I want to inform other buyers so they either buy a great product or avoid a crappy one or even just know where a product might disappoint them.

One of the things that really gets under my skin is sellers/makers who ask for positive reviews only. WTF? What good is a review if it isn’t honest?

Request for Review
These amethyst beads, in the smallest size shown here, is what I thought I was buying. Nice purple color, no? Etsy asked for a review and explained why.

The beads in question this time around were disappointing. They were amethyst beads (or supposed to be) and the image on the Etsy listing showed bright purple beads in a variety of sizes. I wanted the 4mm size, which I use to make matching necklaces for some of my pendants. A nice purple amethyst and silver bead necklace could even sell on its own — I’ve sold them before — without a matching pendant.

That’s what was going through my head when I clicked the buy button.

What arrived a week later were dull, barely purple beads that bore no resemblance to the photo other than the fact that they were round. They were strung on purple string and, because they were a bit translucent, that color came through a bit — but not as much as the photo! — while they were still strung. Once removed from the string, their true color was revealed and I honestly can’t say they’re purple. More like a dull, purplish gray-black.

Frankly, I’m not even sure they’re amethyst.

I’ll be honest: the beads were cheap and yes, you do get what you pay for. Although it bothered me that the beads didn’t match the photo, it wasn’t worth returning them. I could probably find something to do with them. And even if I didn’t, it wasn’t a huge loss. I considered it a lesson learned. I would not use that shop again.

And then the request for a review came from Etsy. I clicked the link and wrote the review.

I suspect the shop owner will get all pissed off about this. After all, too many shops on Etsy have 5-star review status. Like all of their customers are always happy. How can that be? Is it because these shops ask for positive reviews only?

And please don’t get me started on the number of times I bought an Amazon product or book based on glowing reviews only to have that product fail or that book be total crap?

Why aren’t legitimate reviewers being honest? It only hurts them — and their fellow shoppers — in the end.

My Thoughts on the American Great Loop Cruisers’ Association

Posted on by
3

Some thoughts after about a month of membership.

I’m writing this blog post mostly because I said I would elsewhere. I’ll try to keep it brief.

Great Loop Logo
The AGLCA logo and a map of the route(s) on the home page of the organization’s website.

If you’ve been following my blog, you know I’m interested in completing the Great Loop. In an effort to learn all I can about it in preparation for the year-long journey, I began looking for resources online. The American Great Loop Cruisers’ Association was one of the resources I found.

At first, there were just two organizational resources that interested me: videos about the Loop and the Rendezvous.

The Videos

There are a lot of videos and most were tagged $25 each, which really put me off. I honestly couldn’t imagine them charging members a fee to watch existing content, many of which appeared to be narrated PowerPoint slide shows. I assumed that the videos were free to members and it was one of the reasons I joined up.

I was wrong. The $25 per video fee was on top of annual membership. Yes, there are a handful of videos that I could watch for free and my registration to the Rendezvous (see below) included credits I could apply to two (I think) more. So simply joining the organization wasn’t going to get me much closer to seeing educational video content unless I was willing to dish out more money.

Video for a Fee
Is it worth paying another $25 to watch this webinar? I don’t know.

Understand this: I don’t mind paying for content I can learn from. But the price has to be related to the actual quality of the content. $25 to watch a 45-minute narrated PowerPoint slide show seems excessive to me. I understand that videos cost money to produce and host, but I also believe that they’d get a lot more views and likely take in a lot more money if they made the price more reasonable — maybe $5 or $10 each. At this point, I’m not terribly interested in spending $25 on a video that might or might not provide information I can benefit from.

The Rendezvous

The Rendezvous is an event held twice (or maybe three times?) a year. Normally, it’s held live at a location along the loop. For example, they’re planning an autumn rendezvous in Alabama and a new (I think) winter rendezvous in Florida. It’s designed for folks getting ready to start the journey, but it also seems like a good way to just pack in a lot of information.

Because of COVID, this spring’s rendezvous was held as webinars. That was actually good for me because it meant that I could attend without having to travel.

The Rendezvous includes social and educational activities: “docktail” parties, seminars, a vendor expo, etc. It seems like a good opportunity to network with other cruisers, learn about new products, get route briefings, and build a base of information about the trip.

I signed up for the spring rendezvous. It was conducted over a three week period with sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There was a midday (EDT) “Lunch and Learn” which was basically a vendor talking about his/her products. I learned about Waterway Guide, which I wound up subscribing to. In the evening (afternoon for me), there were route briefings, each segment focusing on a different part of the loop. The presenters were actual loopers who narrated their slide decks either in a recording or live. Some were excellent — the couple who talked about the Chesapeake Bay and the guy who covered the Erie Canal were very good. Others were good but could have been better. (These were not professional speakers.) At the end of each presentation, they answered questions we’d ask either live or via text.

There were also two “small group” sessions, which were handled like Zoom meetings. Those were nice because you got a chance to chat with a small handful of other loopers. In person social events would (of course) be better, but this was a good substitute.

There was an online Expo and Q&A sessions concentrating on specific topics. Unfortunately, they were held at the same time. I chose the Q&A session for the Erie Canal so I missed other sessions I might of benefited from, as well as the Expo.

I did learn a lot and the good presentations really fed my desire to do the trip. Unfortunately, I missed or arrived late for some presentations. I didn’t get the links I needed a few times and had to scramble to contact the office to get them. Other times, I simply couldn’t take time off to attend — after all, this was in the morning or afternoon for me because of the time difference. What’s good is that I can apparently watch (or rewatch) any of the presentations as videos without having to pay for them again.

Overall, I think it was worth the cost to attend: $165 (on top of the $89 AGLCA membership fee; you must be a member to attend).

Other Benefits

Of course, the annual membership fee includes other benefits that are listed on the website. The funny thing about membership benefits is that they’re really not worth much if you don’t need/want/use them.

But one of the benefits is discounts at certain sponsor locations. Waterway Guide is one of those sponsors and I used my AGLCA discount to buy my Waterway Guide membership, thus getting two very detailed guides about parts of the loop. I also used the discount to buy another book about the loop. If I use enough discounts, it should (theoretically) cover the cost of membership.

Another benefit is access to a member forum where members ask and answer questions. This is a typical forum like you’d find for any group, but these folks are mature adults who don’t troll and act like assholes. So if you have a question — no matter how basic — you can be assured that someone will give you a good answer for it without humiliating you. They also share information about problems along the route — for example, lock closures or fuel unavailability. They even share opinions about marina service and anchorages. There’s lots there and it can be found on the website or delivered to you via daily emails.

Full access to classified ads is also a benefit, and it’s one I took advantage of to get on the crew of a boat doing part of the loop starting later this summer.

There are Looper Lifestyle seminars held a few times a year at various locations along the loop. I suspect that these have been put on hold during COVID, but they do appear on the calendar for the future, so they might actually happen. Keeping in mind that a lot of folks live full-time on their boats, this is probably pretty informative for them.

Worth It?

I’m pretty leery of “associations.” I’ve been conned into joining more than a few that weren’t what I expected them to be.

Helicopter Association International (HAI) is a perfect example. This organization seems to cater to big helicopter operators while pretty much ignoring the needs of the little guy. I honestly believe that it was started by a bunch of guys who saw a way to make a living traveling around the country to host events while occasionally acting as spokespeople for the helicopter community. I got sucked into joining twice and let my membership lapse with a very bad taste in my mouth both times.

I’ve also had an unsatisfactory experience with Whirly Girls, an organization of female helicopter pilots. I blogged about my experience here, so I won’t cover it again.

So while I like being part of groups of people who share similar backgrounds or interests, I’m not the kind of person who will just pay up to be a member. I need the organization to satisfy my needs.

In this case, my need is for information. The AGLCA does satisfy my need, but there’s a lot of pay-as-you-go along the way. I’m starting out, my knowledge base was nearly blank. They’re helping me fill it in and I believe the forums will be very useful for getting questions answered.

The fee is $89/year with discounts for longer terms or a lifetime membership. Is it worth it? I think it might be, at least right now. If those videos were free to members, it would definitely be worth it.

Footnote:

Last night, I watched one of the webinars that normally costs $25 but was free for AGLCA members. To watch it, I had to follow a link to get a promo code, then log into Vimeo, click to Rent the video, and enter the promo code. It took about 10 minutes for the video to appear in the Vimeo app on my television, but when it did, was able to watch it on the big screen.

It was an Aqua Map app demonstration by the developers. Although the video quality started out pretty bad (on a 4K TV), either I got used to it or it improved because it didn’t seem so bothersome after the initial shock. The developers had recorded and edited a tutorial style video that showed finger tapping on a smaller screen and results on a bigger screen. That was pretty effective, despite the strong Italian accents of the presenters. They gave a good tour of the app, but spent (in my opinion) too much time on the “Master” features that I don’t think will appeal to average users. I still don’t know how they got river mileage to display; they showed the feature but not how to enable it. When the tutorial video was over, they answered questions that had been posted live during the webinar. This didn’t go as smoothly as it could have, but they were definitely trying hard.

On a scale of 1 to 5, I’d give the webinar a 3. That score reflects the length of time they spent on Master features and the difficulty they had answering questions quickly and effectively. It wasn’t a waste of my time, but I sure wish it hadn’t been 90 minutes long.

Was it worth $25? I say no. I hope the other ones I get a chance to view are better.