Around the Bookish World: News Week-in-Review

Filed in Ally Condie , Brandon Sanderson , Jeyn Roberts , Keri Arthur , Lauren Dane , MJ Scott , Nalini Singh , News , The Smutty Lover Posted on March 18, 2011 @ 1:18 pm 7 comments

This week in the blogosphear we have Goodreads questionable policy and trashtalking galore for Dabwaha which has commenced this week in style. (Note this year has been brutal and if anyone follows Dabwaha on twitter – I apologize with the penis pics and the altered tweets which has led to cries of foul cheating!) But good luck to everyone who has entered Dabwaha!

Lauren Dane has highlighted another issue with Goodreads. She noticed that more and more star ratings are given to books that have hardly been written, and contacted Goodreads about this issue because it wasn’t realistically reflective of a book’s ranking. Goodreads replied with the following:

“Thanks for writing in with your feedback. While I can understand your frustration, it is not a requirement that a user read the book before rating it. While we would like it if our members reviewed as many of their books as possible, we cannot force them to.”

Now I agree with Lauren – I thought it WAS a requirement for people to read a book and give it a rating or review? Isn’t that a whole point for a review site? Recently they have imposed big warning alerts to all authors who not to respond negatively to any of their book reviews. I can see why this can be annoying them because a minority of a few has tarnished all authors on the site. And like what Lauren points out in her post – this is a site that allowed personal attacks to an author’s appearance and weight and ignored it. I am wondering if Goodreads with this slanted support against authors is a good thing because one of the good things about it is to allow engagement and discussion about books, but it is also a way to engage with authors as well. If they feel that is not important then ignoring that balance is not a healthy to this site in the long term because it gives out conflicting messages that its okay to rag and attack on authors but not vice versa.

The White House is looking into strengthening copyright law and has indicated that even linking to streaming sites will be a felony. I really don’t have a lot to say in this matter other than thinking there might be a better approach and money spent in combating illegal downloads. I also do think this new move will probably hurt innovation and new mediums because it is a restrictive policy.

New covers and blurbs:

Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds.

Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice. One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will.

After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.

Lord of the Abyss is part of the Royal House of Shadows continuity that I’m participating in with Gena Showalter, Jill Monroe and Jessica Andersen.
A continuity is a short series where each book is written by a different author, but there is a backstory that runs through all of the books. Here, the stories are connected by four royal siblings and the kingdom of Elden. My book is #4. More information to come in the next few months!
Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four royal heirs…and time is running out.…
As the dark Lord who condemns souls to damnation in the Abyss, Micah is nothing but a feared monster wrapped in impenetrable black armor. He has no idea he is the last heir of Elden, its last hope. Only one woman knows—the daughter of his enemy.
Liliana is nothing like her father, the Blood Sorcerer who’d cursed Micah. She sees past Micah’s armor to the prince inside. A prince whose sinful touch she craves. But first she has to brave his dark, dangerous lair and help him remember. Because they only have till midnight to save Elden.


Ally Condie’s followup to MatchedCrossed has a cover and blurb!

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky — taken by the Society to his certain death — only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia’s quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander — who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia’s heart — change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

Ohh this book I really really wantz

Since mankind began, civilizations have always fallen: the Romans, the Greeks, the Aztecs…Now it’s our turn. Huge earthquakes rock the world. Cities are destroyed. But something even more awful is happening. An ancient evil has been unleashed, turning everday people into hunters, killers, crazies.

Mason’s mother is dying after a terrible car accident. As he endures a last vigil at her hospital bed, his school is bombed and razed to the ground, and everyone he knows is killed. Aries survives an earthquake aftershock on a bus, and thinks the worst is over when a mysterious stranger pulls her out of the wreckage, but she’s about to discover a world changed forever. Clementine, the only survivor of an emergency town hall meeting that descends into murderous chaos, is on the run from savage strangers who used to be her friends and neighbors. And Michael witnesses a brutal road rage incident that is made much worse by the arrival of the police–who gun down the guilty party and then turn on the bystanding crowd.

Where do you go for justice when even the lawmakers have turned bad? These four teens are on the same road in a world gone mad. Struggling to survive, clinging on to love and meaning wherever it can be found, this is a journey into the heart of darkness – but also a journey to find each other and a place of safety.

I haven’t highlighted any upcoming UF recently so check these out –

Imagine a city divided. On one side, the Night World, ruled by the Blood Lords and the Beast Kind. On the other, the elusive Fae and the humans, protected by their steadfast mages. A city held together by nothing more than a treaty-and even then, just barely…

I was born of a Fae mother, but I had no place amongst her kind. They called me “soulless.” An abomination. Perhaps they’re right…I’m a wraith, a shadow who slips between worlds. I was given into the service of a Blood Lord who raised me to be his most feared assassin. Still, I’m nothing more than a slave to my master, and to the need that only he can fulfill…

Then he orders me to kill Simon DuCaine, a powerful sunmage. In the blaze of his magic, my own disappears. Instead of seeking revenge, Simon shows me mercy. He wants to free me. But that’s one thing my master and his kind will never allow.

And even if I thought I could trust Simon, stepping from the shadow into the light isn’t as simple as it sounds..

Risa Jones is as extraordinary as her heritage. Born from a lab-enhanced clone mother and an Aedh father, she can not only talk to the souls of the dying and the dead, but she can see the reapers and walk the gray fields that divide this world from the next.

They are skill she rarely uses, however, preferring to concentrate on the business she shares with her two best friends. But when her mother asks her to help the parents of a little girl locked in a coma, she reluctantly agrees. What she discovers scares the hell out of her. Because the little girl’s soul no longer resides in her body, and it wasn’t death and the reapers that took her.

Someone had ripped her soul from her flesh.

As it turns out, a creature consuming the souls of the innocent–and not so innocent–is the least of her problems.

Because someone wants to rip open the gates that divided hell from earth, and Risa is a key component in their plans.

And the only person standing between her and disaster is a reaper who isn’t exactly on her side.

Because this week has been pretty quiet – I am going to open up questions about which books you wished had more exposure from last year? Also do you Agree with what Goodreads is doing?

About Susi


Susi is a geeky vegetarian from Gemany. She just finished university and now works as a civil engineer in steel construction. Besides her reading addiction she also knits like a maniac while listening to audiobooks. Susi also blogs at the Secret HEA Society.

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7 Comments

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  • pattepoilue March 18, 2011 at 4:15 pm

    Don't apologize for Peen Friday! It's tradition lol *g*

    The cover of Shadow Kin is pretty awesome
    I'm not convinced by the new Lord of the Abyss series. The covers are all pretty cheesy

  • Sullivan McPig March 18, 2011 at 4:40 pm

    Probably this won't be a surprise as I keep shopping this book around everywhere:
    Dark Oracle by Alayna Williams!!!
    there's a giveaway on my blog at the moment where Alayna is giving away both Dark Oracle and Rogue Oracle btw!
    http://mcpigpearls.blogspot.com/2011/03/two-of-swords-guestpost-by-alayna_17.html

    Just saying 😉

  • Lea March 18, 2011 at 4:49 pm

    Hey Has, enjoyed the News as always.

    Some nice cover art there, I especially like the Nalini Singh cover. 🙂

    As to your question? Well, I don't think it's what Goodreads is doing, the fact is they do nothing. Much like Amazon.com and the "reviewing milieu" at that site, it's pretty much a quagmire with a group of individuals trolling around lobbing grenades at authors as well as folks that share thoughts about the books they read.

    However, the problem is that I don't know what can be done on an individual basis because the types of personalities that do the sorts of things that Ms. Dane is describing & that took part in openly defaming that author's appearance, thrive on attention by behaving badly. It is a personality issue and they see no problem with their actions. So, there is no recourse but to ignore them. Or resort to abandoning the site as a place to share thoughts about books which is really too bad.

    Sorry, it takes a lot to annoy me, especially in the 'virtual' world but the kind of issues you described unfortunately are destructive.

  • Chelsea B. March 18, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    I adore Nalini Singh's cover. Also, Crossed looks very interesting.

  • LSUReader March 18, 2011 at 10:47 pm

    It never occurred to me to rate books on Goodreads without reading them. I’m amazed the site doesn’t at least enforce a link that a book must appear on a person’s read list before it can be ranked. Not a failsafe, but at least let’s make it more trouble for people to lie!

    Thanks for the heads up on Keri Arthur’s publication of Risa’s initial book. This is the first blog news I’ve seen of it and I’m interested in reading more.

    One 2010 book I enjoyed that could have used more exposure was Still Missing, the debut novel by Chevy Stevens. What a unique, engrossing thriller. Her second book, Never Knowing, is set for July publication.

    As always—great info-packed column. Thanks.

  • GeishasMom73 March 19, 2011 at 8:24 am

    I was shocked when I heard about the Goodreads fiasco. I hadn't visited that site before I heard about the problem. I have heard complaints by other authors too about being targeted by people with a grudge. Based on Goodreads reputation I don't think I'm going to bother with visiting their site.

    Stacie
    GeishasMom73 on twitter

  • Sheree March 20, 2011 at 1:32 am

    Re: Goodreads, dang! I was hoping it wouldn't be as filled with trolls and crazy like Amazon is sometimes. I don't even post book reviews on Amazon anymore.

    Re: "The Alloy of Law", is that a Chris McGrath cover with John Paul Pfeiffer? Cool anyway.

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