| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| MichelleG |
Posted - 09 Dec 2013 : 15:35:00
Does anyone know where I can get decent reviews of the Sundering novels that have been released so far?
I've looked at the Amazon reviews, and while most of them are glowing, almost all of them are by people who got free copies. Clearly Wizards is putting some coin into promoting the books, but it sort of feels like a quid pro quo situation and I'm honestly not sure if I can trust reviews in those circumstances.
Other than here on Candlekeep, where would anyone suggest that I find reviews by people familiar with the Realms, rather than random people given free copies (which is how it looks on Amazon)? |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Dennis |
Posted - 10 Dec 2013 : 13:21:06
quote:
Originally posted by MichelleG
I've looked at the Amazon reviews, and while most of them are glowing, almost all of them are by people who got free copies. Clearly Wizards is putting some coin into promoting the books, but it sort of feels like a quid pro quo situation and I'm honestly not sure if I can trust reviews in those circumstances.
I couldn't speak for the other two books, but Godborn's good reviews are mostly from people who are old-time Realms/Kemp fans. In fact, more than half of the not-so-good reviews are from people who got free copies (via Netgalley) but either are not familiar with the setting at all or just RAS fans trying to "venture" outside Drizzt's world. So I can fairly say the reviews, altogether, are well balanced. |
| ErinMEvans |
Posted - 09 Dec 2013 : 18:34:55
So just to clarify what you're seeing, Wizards uses a service called Netgalley to solicit early reviews from readers/reviewers. A member of Netgalley gets notified when the book becomes available and can choose to download it, in exchange for an honest review. That's generally how it works with traditional reviewers, too--you send them a copy of the book and hope they like it/have time to review it. Some reviewers mention explicitly they got the book from the publisher as well as any possible conflicts (e.g. I had a reviewer email me once, because he wanted to talk about Brimstone Angels, and he wound up disclosing that in the first paragraph, even though he didn't change a word of the review, I'm pretty sure). Others don't bother, because it's traditionally how things have been done. Netgalley is a little different, I think, because Amazon/Goodreads reviews "count" as reviews.
The reviews you find on Amazon and Goodreads are going to be a mix of Netgalley reviewers and readers who picked the book up independently. The closer to the release date of the book, the more likely the reviewers have an advanced reader's copy and were asked to review it. For The Companions, there are going to be more independent readers at this point. For The Adversary, it's going to be more Netgalley as the independent readers have only had their books for a week.
There is definitely a slant toward "new to the Realms" in the Netgalley reviews I've seen, that's true. I think more of the reviewers on Netgalley aren't familiar with how great the Realms is...YET. Not all of them are positive, believe me  , although my editor keeps reminding me most of them are.
None of which means you should or should not refer to them--that's entirely up to you. But that's what you're seeing. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 09 Dec 2013 : 16:43:31
I don't know if novel discussions are currently allowed on the WotC forums, but if so, you can find more reviews there. I believe the site Goodreads.com also does reviews. |
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