Last one, really (or: Reviews!)
OK, I'm finishing up my week of talking about Red Legacy. I'm sure everyone's bored of it by now. I considered just stopping and not posting today, but hey, this blog is as much an archive for me as anything else, and I wanted to keep this next part around.
(oh, and yes, this story is the one that led me into the weird moral intuition)
So, before I do my final blogging on this, I will acknowledge that I've heard it's extremely stupid for a writer to ever comment on reviews of his/her work. And honestly, it's best for everyone involved if the writer doesn't even read them. But I dunno... I think you just shouldn't be like Teddy Bear Noir guy. I mean, Larry Correia responded to my review of "Warbound" and I thoroughly enjoyed being engaged, and think everything was very civil and cool. This was the sort of discourse I enjoy! So in that vein, I'm going to try this. If nothing else, I hope I can get a pass under the "first time published" newb-excitement excuse.
That being said, here's some reviews!
> the ensuing story of the infiltration of the facility is rather cartoonish and marred by lots of unnecessary violence and gore.
This is absolutely true. I am glad he pointed this out, because the sort of people who dislike this sort of thing will really dislike the story. They should be warned away from it - I don't want to waste their time, and I don't want to leave them with a negative association with my name. I thank Jarred for doing what a good reviewer should do.
Farther down on the same page, Nicky Magas says
> Sleep is a luxury and secrecy is everything, but there’s nothing Marya won’t do to keep her daughter alive. Nothing.
Emphasis in original. This makes me extremely happy! This is exactly what I was going for and I'm so glad I managed to touch the right nerve! :) She continues:
> The combination of gene manipulation, social evolution and a mother’s obsessive love makes for an interesting, if at times disturbing story.
The warmth and happiness that I'm feeling at reading that cannot be overstated. I'm very happy when I'm disturbing people. :)
Lois Tilton also reviewed Red Legacy, but didn't have much to say one way or the other, basically just a summary. I assume that means it didn't touch anything and the story was forgettable. Really the opposite of what a writer hopes for. Ah well, not everything is for everyone.
>A very good debut. I will think about Eneasz Brodski for a future Campbell Award nomination.
Aaaaah, omg omg! Am I jinxing it? Should I not say anything? I mean, holy crap! I've heard you shouldn't fantasize about things you really want, because that feels sorta like getting it, and you're less motivated to pursue it when you're getting that happiness-hit via fantasy. But damn, that is *so* everyone's fantasy! I'm just going to leave this here and walk away, and have silly, silly dreams tonight.
EDIT: One more. Mark Watson says "Brodski packs some detail and some depth of the type you rarely see in a first published story, which bodes weill for the future. To be honest if I’d read this, and Michael Bishop’s "Rattlesnakes and Men" without knowing which was written by which writer, I’d have guessed this was the Bishop story, and the other was the novice writer’s story." I am honored/flattered. :)