Book Reviews?

[Cloud]

Most fantasy writers like to read fantasy.

Part of the appeal of a fantasy forum (for me) is a community with similar reading tastes that I can swap recommendations with.

As such, the "Novels & Stories" board was one of my first stops... and if I'm honest with you, I'm disappointed with it.

I think the board needs subdividing into general book chat and specific book/series reviews/discussions.

Good Fantasy Books for Children?
Do you have a re-read shelf?
Favourite -type- of character?

These are interesting threads to skim and chat in, but I feel they detract from a more serious/considered look at the field we're all passionate about.

Ideally, I'd like to see a sub-board with threads focused on specifics works, possibly with a more structured template (standard required links to wiki/amazon pages, etc - or standard, if you like this I think you'll like...).

Anything not fitting the profile could be nudged back into the general book chat main board.

I know it's easier to suggest things than to implement and maintain them - but I thought it was worth at least flagging it for discussion.

[Black Dragon]

Hey Cloud,

Thanks for the suggestion.

We could consider creating a sub-forum titled "reviews," specifically for serious book reviews. We could even create a template to be used for each review.

The question is this: is there significant interest in doing this? Or would the majority of members prefer to leave things as they are?

Feedback is appreciated.

[Devor]

Part of the appeal of a fantasy forum (for me) is a community with similar reading tastes that I can swap recommendations with.

As such, the "Novels & Stories" board was one of my first stops... and if I'm honest with you, I'm disappointed with it.

I'm disappointed with it, too.

But a big appeal to the forums, for me, is being able to contribute to the community. I know there are people here who have read and enjoyed and would be happy to discuss any number of books in the genre. Would you be willing to start the conversation with a post about the themes a few particular book has? Or else write reviews for some of the books you have read? A number of writing forums have "Book Clubs" that focus on one book each month, and I'm sure there are people who would jump at the opportunity.

If you build it they will come doesn't work for forums and subforums. Let's get a couple of people with energy and enthusiasm to activate the Novel and Stories forum, the way Phil and Sidekick have in the Challenges, and then build around their needs.

You could do that.

[Phil the Drill]

I've personally found some pretty good recommendations on the Novels and Stories section. There is actually a thread that lists a lot of people's personal bests which I thought could help those looking for new stuff to read.

I would like a Book Review section myself, but we'd need someone to spearhead something like that to get interest going. Like Devor and Black Dragon said, if there is need or want for it, then someone could take the iniative to go forward with it.

I take book reviews with a grain of salt though. I have to really trust the reviewer to buy into something. Either that or it's an author recommended by an author I already like.

[Kelise]

If there were to be such a thing, I would strongly recommend that an in-depth formatting style be required. State what character it's written in, how many view points there are, and have a star rating for characters/plot/world building and so on. Otherwise there's no reason as to why we all can't just look up the book on goodreads.

If we made it really in-depth then it could be valuable. People could easily find books they generally enjoy (I find third person a lot easier to read than first person, for example).

Though, like Phil, I generally only take book reviews from people I know I already trust.

[Cloud]

OK... well I'm just blue-skying here... so please feel free to poke holes...

But I'd love to see a couple of well written reviews being posted every week. Like the article team - but focused down to the work which has inspired us all to write.

Weekly...
Maybe 1 "current" review - for a book or series within the last two years.
Maybe 1 "classic" review - for a book older than two years

I'd put the 'classic' review on a monthly cycle... 2+yrs, 5+yrs, 10+yrs, 20+yrs etc.

Rather than lumping a small group with the responsibility, I'd encourage maybe a core 'reviewer' group of 4 members to take one review a month, with a wider group of 12 - 20 chipping in more sporadic reviews (both to spread the load and to make it a more inclusive activity).

starconstant - your point about goodreads - valid!
Why doesn't the mythic profile contain a standard link to a goodread account, the same way film forums link to imdb or cartoon/manga forums link to deviantart.

Also - Devor - book clubs - structured discussion. Great idea.

I'm a big sci-fi reader as well as fantasy, and I'm currently nearing the end of a mission to read every winner of the Locus sci-fi award. I find award lists a great way of discovering new authors, new styles, broadening my understanding of the genre, etc. Yet nowhere in the forum have I spotted much reference to the Hugo, World Fantasy Award, Locus Fantasy, Mythopoeic, etc. Seems (to me) like these should be a staple discussion/debate in a fantasy community - and if they're not, perhaps more could be done to highlight them. These awards are there to highlight (and more importantly, celebrate!) the best works in the field.

Outreach programs to existing review sites are also a good idea.

Aaaaand that's me out of steam...

My apologise if I seem overly opinionated or critical in any way - I wouldn't be here if I didn't think you guys have done a fine job! I'm just a big believer in the 'never stop moving forward' philosophy. Everyone needs a plan... or a dozen... ;-)

[Devor]

Rather than lumping a small group with the responsibility, I'd encourage maybe a core 'reviewer' group of 4 members to take one review a month, with a wider group of 12 - 20 chipping in more sporadic reviews (both to spread the load and to make it a more inclusive activity).

So let's get this going. Who here would be interested in joining a team to manage the Novels forum, Book clubs and Reviews?

I think this is something the site really needs. I'd be happy to help get this going if we can get three-to-four people on board.

Let's see who's in and then get people into a chat room to figure out how much the group can accomplish. The list of ideas can really go well-beyond anything stated here so far, but only if people are on board.

[Kelise]

I could be interested. I write reviews for the website SentiantOnline and would be interested in getting better at it. Like I said earlier though, I'd love to have a detailed 'form', so to speak, to fill in so we have more detail than the general review.

[Devor]

Like I said earlier though, I'd love to have a detailed 'form', so to speak, to fill in so we have more detail than the general review.

That can be done.

One thought which crossed my mind was to create reviews for the forums page, edit those reviews as a team, and post them not only on the forum or on the MS Blog, but on that book's Amazon account under a Mythic Scribes name. If we can build up a reputation as a legitimate reviewer, it would then draw more attention when we review the work of MS members (which of course, would also have to be legitimate reviews).

[Kelise]

That would be utterly awesome, and I'd be in for that. Could also post to GoodReads, smashwords (if available) and so on.