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Tomorrow, I'll get back to the two memes that were dominating this blog.
However, I have things to say about other stuff, so memes can wait.
For an early birthday present, the roommate bought me a Nook. Now, I've never really thought of using an ereader (even though I have the free Kindle app on my laptop) and haven't honestly considered getting anything like it.
However, I have to say, this was perhaps the best gift I've gotten in a very long time. I'm so grateful, I can't stand it.
I've spent most of he last couple of days loading books onto it. All of them are free, but they're still ones I wanted to read. Today, I went through Barnes and Noble again and picked up some more. Two books have now been read by me, and I have a few things to say about them:
The Princess and the Penis by RJ Silver
Alright, admittedly, I'm twelve. It's a free download and had the word 'penis' in the title. How could I refuse?
Now, I didn't go into it with very high expectations. As a reader of fanfiction (and some freely posted original fiction) I have come to get what I pay for in 'free' fiction.
My expectations weren't exceeded, but they were met. It's not a very long story about a princess kept purposefully naive by her father the king. When a magical mystery begins to appear in her bed, her father insists on keeping her ignorant, until the females of the royal household interfere.
It could stand some editing but not so much that I couldn't lose myself in the story, and simply enjoy what was going on. In fact, to go back to the fanfiction analogy, it read like one of the better stories on ff.net. Meaning, I enjoyed it, it was a great way to spend a couple hours and, honestly, if I was having a bad day or not feeling well - like today (stupid heat!) - then I'd read it again. And considering the state of fanfiction and free original fiction, that's saying something.
If it weren't free, would I pay for it? Hmm. Probably not. (But, I'm a huge cheapskate, so this is not a knock on the story.) However, if I ran across it on ff.net, I would mark it as one of my favorites and probably return to it again at a later date.
Black Silk by Jan Gordon
Black Silk is a paranormal shape-shifter romance. The author admits in the beginning that she normally writes fanfiction, and, well, it shows.
The story is about Victoria Hudson and her "mysterious neighbor" Steven "Cole" Colburn.
From there, it's pretty stereotypical shapeshifter romance/fantasy. They have issues with it, some of which aren't really addressed, everything resolves and everyone goes home... satisfied.
The character building, for a first person story, is weak in some places. Victoria starts out a pretty strong heroine, but just sort of becomes another half of the whole when he walks into the picture. I lost a lot of sympathy for the heroine after that.
It, as the previous story, could stand some editing, some strengthening in some places, and someone to go over the punctuation. However, again, this really wasn't enough to throw me out of the story. I enjoyed it for what it is: Semi-well-written fanfiction. If you like romance, and don't mind it being a bit of stereotyping and definitely more than a little predictable, the story's not bad.
Again, if it were on ff.net, I'd leave a nice review, mark as a favorite, and maybe read it again when I was bored or ill.
However, I have things to say about other stuff, so memes can wait.
For an early birthday present, the roommate bought me a Nook. Now, I've never really thought of using an ereader (even though I have the free Kindle app on my laptop) and haven't honestly considered getting anything like it.
However, I have to say, this was perhaps the best gift I've gotten in a very long time. I'm so grateful, I can't stand it.
I've spent most of he last couple of days loading books onto it. All of them are free, but they're still ones I wanted to read. Today, I went through Barnes and Noble again and picked up some more. Two books have now been read by me, and I have a few things to say about them:
The Princess and the Penis by RJ Silver
Alright, admittedly, I'm twelve. It's a free download and had the word 'penis' in the title. How could I refuse?
Now, I didn't go into it with very high expectations. As a reader of fanfiction (and some freely posted original fiction) I have come to get what I pay for in 'free' fiction.
My expectations weren't exceeded, but they were met. It's not a very long story about a princess kept purposefully naive by her father the king. When a magical mystery begins to appear in her bed, her father insists on keeping her ignorant, until the females of the royal household interfere.
It could stand some editing but not so much that I couldn't lose myself in the story, and simply enjoy what was going on. In fact, to go back to the fanfiction analogy, it read like one of the better stories on ff.net. Meaning, I enjoyed it, it was a great way to spend a couple hours and, honestly, if I was having a bad day or not feeling well - like today (stupid heat!) - then I'd read it again. And considering the state of fanfiction and free original fiction, that's saying something.
If it weren't free, would I pay for it? Hmm. Probably not. (But, I'm a huge cheapskate, so this is not a knock on the story.) However, if I ran across it on ff.net, I would mark it as one of my favorites and probably return to it again at a later date.
Black Silk by Jan Gordon
Black Silk is a paranormal shape-shifter romance. The author admits in the beginning that she normally writes fanfiction, and, well, it shows.
The story is about Victoria Hudson and her "mysterious neighbor" Steven "Cole" Colburn.
From there, it's pretty stereotypical shapeshifter romance/fantasy. They have issues with it, some of which aren't really addressed, everything resolves and everyone goes home... satisfied.
The character building, for a first person story, is weak in some places. Victoria starts out a pretty strong heroine, but just sort of becomes another half of the whole when he walks into the picture. I lost a lot of sympathy for the heroine after that.
It, as the previous story, could stand some editing, some strengthening in some places, and someone to go over the punctuation. However, again, this really wasn't enough to throw me out of the story. I enjoyed it for what it is: Semi-well-written fanfiction. If you like romance, and don't mind it being a bit of stereotyping and definitely more than a little predictable, the story's not bad.
Again, if it were on ff.net, I'd leave a nice review, mark as a favorite, and maybe read it again when I was bored or ill.
