Creative Reviews discussion

*****Five-Star Review

I am a self-proclaimed helpless romantic. However, I like to write (and read) love stories that don't fit the usual mold. Alan Zendell does just that in this bittersweet sci-fi romance set in a dystopian future, where hope is almost a thing of the past.

The story is told as a recollection. It begins with the narrator, the young Harry Middleton. He's a special kid of super-high intelligence, so much so that it overwhelms him at times and keeps him from relating well to his parents. His grandfather is the only one who really understands him, until Lorrie Grissom comes along. Despite being only fourteen, the two of them know that they have something very special. Even with his shaky relationship with his parents, Harry's life isn't too bad. Lorrie's, however, is quite different. Her mother, after becoming a widow, has turned to drugs and a very dangerous man.

Harry's world gets turned upside down when Harry's grandfather dies. When Lorrie disappears, he thinks his life has ended. Yet, like tragedy in real life, the ones left behind have to move on or drown in grief. Mr. Zendell handles this aspect masterfully. Harry decides to get on with his life, and though the reader (and Harry) longs for him to find Lorrie again, his decision to make positive strides starts a chain reaction that benefits everyone. He never forgets Lorrie, though, and within the pages of Harry's progression, I found myself on the edge of my seat, wondering when she'd reappear.

I won't give any more away, and the only negatives of the book were that some long political and introspective passages bogged down the pace for me. By the time I reached the last few chapters, however, I couldn't read it fast enough. The climactic ending was superbly done.

I'd recommend this book for adults, particularly those who enjoy sci-fi, dystopian, and your non-formulaic romance. Grab your copy today!

I'm a romantic too. *sigh*
Great review. :)

Say, I was wondering what your favorite genere is to read?

Thanks, Cambria!

I'm very partial to romance of all types, especially if they aren't your usual formulaic ones. But in the past year or so, I've tried to branch out to high fantasy, sci-fi, even some YA and beyond.

Anytime! Sounds like you have a great reading list going on because those are some great genres!

OMG, I went to school with a Lori Grissom, she was one of my best friends and a wonderful artist. That's neat to see that name (spelled a bit differently) and to actually know a person by it!

Sara wrote: "OMG, I went to school with a Lori Grissom, she was one of my best friends and a wonderful artist. That's neat to see that name (spelled a bit differently) and to actually know a person by it!"

That really is neat. My Lorrie was based on a real person, though I won't name her here.

Mysti wrote: "Thanks, Cambria!

I'm very partial to romance of all types, especially if they aren't your usual formulaic ones. But in the past year or so, I've tried to branch out to high fantasy, sci-fi, even ..."

I read Amy's post about something inappropriate in response to one of your posts. What happened,or isn't it worth repeating?

Let's just say I had a nice happy thread about an online interview, and then this happened:

Ouch. There are insensitive jerks everywhere.

Mysti wrote: "Let's just say I had a nice happy thread about an online interview, and then this happened:

"

LOL. love the illustration!

Mysti wrote: "Let's just say I had a nice happy thread about an online interview, and then this happened:

"

I'm with Cambria, I just love it when pictures speak in an instant what words cannot possibly capture ;-)

I came by to get click through to Mysti's profile to message asking for a review of my Dystopian SciFi non-formulaic romance novel Conditioned Response and got a double bonus: (1) the chuckle-worthy illustration and (2) I didn't realize Alan had written a "sci-fi, dystopian, non-formulaic romance" so now I'll have to add this to my to-read shelf! Thanks for the recommendation Mysti and I'm off to message you about my own book in a sec.

@Alan -

Why doesn't your book have a cover image here on Goodreads? Is it just because it was a Kindle-only version and you need a librarian to fix that? Did you know, as the Author, you can actually upload an image straight from your computer? Since cover images sell (and lack of one makes a book look weird or like something is "wrong" with it) I'd urge you to upload an image from your local computer. If you can't, or need help, please message me and I'll try to help. I have magical Librarian powers but no clue how to use them really.

-Friday
@phoenicianbooks

Marjorie wrote: "Mysti wrote: "Let's just say I had a nice happy thread about an online interview, and then this happened:

"

I'm with Cambria, I just love it when pictures speak in an instant what words cannot p..."

Marjorie -- I'm glad you added "The Portal," -- hope you enjoy it. I'm puzzled about why you don't see the cover, though. I see it on my author page, but I never know for sure what's happening on Goodreads. It confuses me a lot.

Alan wrote: "Marjorie -- I'm glad you added "The Portal," -- hope you enjoy it. I'm puzzled about why you don't see the cover, though. I see it on my author page, but I never know for sure what's happening on Goodreads. It confuses me a lot. "

Alan, here's a screen shot of what I see on your book's page (click to enlarge and see it full-size if you have a Twitter or TwitPic account)

[image error]

If you're logged into Goodreads, you can click on "edit details" and then on the right side of the screen, there'll be a spot where you can upload a new cover image (because you're the author; other users cannot do this, don't worry)

Your Grrl, Friday :)

This really is bizarre, Marjorie. When I look at the book page I see the cover (the same one you see to the right under "other editions"). What may be happening is that when Goodreads severed its relationship with Amazon, all the covers were initially lost. But I uploaded them again using the method you described several months ago. What happens when you refresh the page? Another thought: if you looked at it several months ago your computer may have cached the old image in a temporary file.

Thanks for making me aware of this -- I had no idea it was happening.

Umm, Alan, I never saw your book before today--not several months ago or any other time. Just today, when I read Mysti's review.

I just checked again (my cache is emptied but I forced a reload of images anyway) and it's still the non-cover. I can try to combine editions if you want. My Librarian Powers allegedly let me do stuff like that. Let me know if you want me to try. Since Librarians make permanent changes to books, I didn't want to touch it without your trying to remedy the situation yourself first but I'd be happy to click that combine link with my magic wand :)

Still Your Grrl, Friday :)

Thanks, Grrl. You've done enough. It's time to enlist the services of the crack Goodreads Help Team. I'll update you on what I learn.

I think if you post over in this group's own "Ask a Librarian..." that Experiment might be able to figure out what's wrong.

I hesitated to click "combine editions" because when I did (before I selected what to combine) I noticed you have 2 ISBNs on the one with the cover image and a totally different, 3rd ISBN attached to the one titled (Kindle Edition). That makes for 3 separate editions in the Goodreads script views. I don't want to mess around with it because I don't know what you intended and am not a site admin.

I do think Experiment might be able to help you though because Experiment has this Librarian business down pat!!

Good luck.

-Friday
@phoenicianbooks

Marjorie wrote: "I think if you post over in this group's own "Ask a Librarian..." that Experiment might be able to figure out what's wrong.

I hesitated to click "combine editions" because when I did (before I sel..."

Thanks for the heads up. It's fixed. The customer support group noticed that the ebook edition was missing the cover, but the print edition wasn't.