Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer


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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by SandChigger »

That's what was nice about the email exchange I had at the beginning of the week with the guy who contacted me through the website and asked why I dislike the new books so much and what he was missing (about what's wrong with them).

He asked, I answered, and we agreed to disagree. He recognizes that the McDune books aren't as good as FH's, but still enjoys them. Meh, I can't be bothered by that.

It's the dumbfucks that argue the books are just as good as FH's and a worthy continuation or addition to his universe, and that KJA is a great or talented "writer", that piss me off. Anyone who says the McDune books are better in any way than FH's is obviously too stupid to even waste time on.
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by Serkanner »

Unfront wrote:Only to the conclusion that if Mr. eclipso is serious about any BH/KJA novel being superior to any of the originals, then he has self identified as a jack ass. :lol:
Damn! I thought you were talking about the top 500 reviewer here instead of solipso. Apologies.
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by SandRider »

Serkanner wrote:
Unfront wrote:Only to the conclusion that if Mr. eclipso is serious about any BH/KJA novel being superior to any of the originals, then he has self identified as a jack ass. :lol:
Damn! I thought you were talking about the top 500 reviewer here instead of solipso. Apologies.
yeah, I get where unfront in coming from on the 'reviews' that really aren't ... but then, that's the whole fucking problem
with the Information Highway - too many goddamn on-ramps - it gives every walking bag of meat a "Voice" and a "Platform"
for their "Opinion" ... but the walking bags of meat are not intelligent, talented and educated reviewers, they are walking bags
of meat ... so all they can manage is maybe a few sentences from the blurbs on the back cover, and an "I liked diz book"
comment, which could have been served with a "thumbs up" button ...
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by Omphalos »

Its not so much the dense ones that bother me. You can spot tools even outside the garage. Its the ones who refuse to criticize because they are afraid their easy access and free books will stop.
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by SandChigger »

Omphalos wrote:Its the ones who refuse to criticize because they are afraid their easy access and free books will stop.
Yeah. That really is a factor for some of them, isn't it?

(What are the legalities on reselling those freebie copies? I figure that's an angle for some as well.)
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by SandRider »

man, you'd have to have gotten a freightload of free copies to make even thinking about a resell worthwhile ...
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by Omphalos »

The free books are worth trade credit, I suppose. Genre books don't account for much in trade stores. I can usually swing $25-30 in trade credit for a grocery bag full of hardbacks; maybe $20 for mixed hb and trade paper. Think 15% to 20% less for cash, if they are even willing.

If a publisher finds out you've sold or traded a book before it's publishing date, forget getting free books from anyone. No problem selling after the date of publishing. Usually you can only get massive amounts of books if you run a big review site with lots of name recognition. Then however you have to farm review copies out to reviewers and don't get to keep them. I just got a gig doing this, so wel shall see if the book fairy starts visiting me again.
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by SandRider »

yeah, that's what I'm sayin about a lot of things - is the return worth the investment ?

something may have revenue-generating potential, which is not the same as profit ....
which is not the same as reasonable profit .... is it worth the hassle ?

as I was saying about CalvinWoonism, I can see where there is a (dubious) revenue potential -
and depending on who you are, the investment is or is not reasonable - if you're a Freakzilla, f'instance,
and your job consists of sitting in a cubicle (or broom closet office) and diddling data for a half hour or
so a day to complete your agenda, then surfing the web, directing the porn videos and "studio shots" of
Ukrainian "starlets" to the flash drive you plugged into the back of Fat Sheila's PC when she was on "break",
then I could see taking the time to set up all the fake website and links and so forth ... you'd have the time
and opportunity to monitor all your cybercriminal operations .... but for me, the profit would just have to
be in the two-hundred fifty thousand a month range to even get high and think about "Internet Marketing" ...

then there are other things that have that revenue-potential, but not the kind of revenue I'm going to ask you for ...

f'instance -
several years ago, I started really enjoying taking little mesquite limbs that were just out of the bendy green stage
and starting to get goddamned-mesquite-hard, and making my tent and fly and lean-to poles ... depending on what
the bark looked like, I'd either skin them and polish up the wood real purty and stain it a polyurethane mix, like
wood deck water-sealant, or if the bark was in good shape and interesting, I'd just spray some clear coat and then
maybe the polyurethane ...

I'd take quite a while messing with these poles (and the first sumbitch who quotes that out-of-context
will find his heel pumps malfunctioning on the next long patrol) choosing the ones I wanted, pulling some out of
the stack, putting other back in, using some for firewood ... whittle and carve on them a little, nice & smooth,
and straight, cut some funky notches for my funky knots I make in my ropes ... the end results are always really
nice & look great holding up the canvas ... and since this is an on-going part of my over-all hobby, I'm always
making new ones ... the old ones get busted, or used for something at an encampment & left there, or given
away ...

so this old civilian shitheel with a NASCAR shirt and his John Deere cap on back'erds asks me if I made these
here poles ... well, thankee, they do look nice ... yep, mezzkeet's a real purty wood all sanded & polished up ...
yessir, you know that pole's tough .... gawddammed-mezzkeet-hard ... oh, I never really thought about it ....
well, I guess you could make some money at it ... these poles ? .... aww ... I'd letcha have'em for ... lessee,
well, I guess about seven hundred a piece ... them ridgepoles'll be alot more .... alrighty then, you have a nice day ...

which is about what I suppose they'd be worth, to me, in time, care and craftsmanship I put into them,
and then that's the "break-even" profit .... which is not the same as "reasonable" profit ....

goddamn, old dude, you want a grand for two tent poles that ain't nothing but old mesquite limbs
you didn't do shit to but cut the knobs off and splash clear coat on? Hell, I can do all that myself for nothing ...


exactly, grasshopper ... here's my handsaw, there's the treeline - get the fuck after it ...

and this may surprise you, but everynow and then, I'm just not in that amiable mood ... you know?
just ain't feelin' it today, and when the civilian says "You know you could make you some money ...."
doing whatever it is this shitheel thinks I'm listening to him about, I tend to sit down real heavy in
my handmade mezzkeet camp chair and fish around underneath for my bottle and take a swig and tell him
You know, you could not get your ass beat in this here camp right now, by just walking the fuck away from me.

also, in the last few years, I've been amazed at the number of event organizers who have not asked me not to return next year ...
................ I exist only to amuse myself ................
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I personally feel that this message board, Jacurutu, is full of hateful folks who don't know
how to fully interact with people.
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by grandmastercrafter »

yo - some interesting things happening on Amazon lately... a lot more comments on some of the bad (5*)reviews...! I've been offline or lurking for a while, but I'm catching up atm... I'll be active for a short time, I think, before I'll be disconnected again for a few months (out of internet range - no, not off-planet) for family affairs... I've had an interesting conversation with the reviewer in the links below as well - check it out, for some (fun?) reading:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1S4HM7XM7 ... hisHelpful" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3LCC06GIP ... hisHelpful" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

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grandmastercrafter wrote:yo - some interesting things happening on Amazon lately... a lot more comments on some of the bad (5*)reviews...! I've been offline or lurking for a while, but I'm catching up atm... I'll be active for a short time, I think, before I'll be disconnected again for a few months (out of internet range - no, not off-planet) for family affairs... I've had an interesting conversation with the reviewer in the links below as well - check it out, for some (fun?) reading:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1S4HM7XM7 ... hisHelpful" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3LCC06GIP ... hisHelpful" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There's no point in having a Dune vs. McDune discussion who won't read past Messiah. :snooty:

The only way anyone could give PoD an honest five stars is if that was the only book they'd ever read. Even then you should know it sucks.
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by grandmastercrafter »

Freakzilla wrote:
grandmastercrafter wrote:yo - some interesting things happening on Amazon lately... a lot more comments on some of the bad (5*)reviews...! I've been offline or lurking for a while, but I'm catching up atm... I'll be active for a short time, I think, before I'll be disconnected again for a few months (out of internet range - no, not off-planet) for family affairs... I've had an interesting conversation with the reviewer in the links below as well - check it out, for some (fun?) reading:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1S4HM7XM7 ... hisHelpful" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3LCC06GIP ... hisHelpful" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There's no point in having a Dune vs. McDune discussion who won't read past Messiah. :snooty:

The only way anyone could give PoD an honest five stars is if that was the only book they'd ever read. Even then you should know it sucks.
yea - agreed... I tried to end it pseudo-friendly-like and all, but I'm planning on tossing a follow-up comment to him in a day or two, to see if he's done the re-read he said he would - LOL - i doubt it, but maybe... either way, he DID give a 2* for Breaking Wind on Dune... whatever that indicates :lol:
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by Freakzilla »

grandmastercrafter wrote:
Freakzilla wrote:
grandmastercrafter wrote:yo - some interesting things happening on Amazon lately... a lot more comments on some of the bad (5*)reviews...! I've been offline or lurking for a while, but I'm catching up atm... I'll be active for a short time, I think, before I'll be disconnected again for a few months (out of internet range - no, not off-planet) for family affairs... I've had an interesting conversation with the reviewer in the links below as well - check it out, for some (fun?) reading:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1S4HM7XM7 ... hisHelpful" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3LCC06GIP ... hisHelpful" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There's no point in having a Dune vs. McDune discussion who won't read past Messiah. :snooty:

The only way anyone could give PoD an honest five stars is if that was the only book they'd ever read. Even then you should know it sucks.
yea - agreed... I tried to end it pseudo-friendly-like and all, but I'm planning on tossing a follow-up comment to him in a day or two, to see if he's done the re-read he said he would - LOL - i doubt it, but maybe... either way, he DID give a 2* for Breaking Wind on Dune... whatever that indicates :lol:
I didn't bother with either of those two books, is PoD THAT much better than WoD? From what I've heard that would be pretty pathetic.
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by grandmastercrafter »

Baraka Bryan wrote:
Freakzilla wrote:
grandmastercrafter wrote:
Freakzilla wrote:
grandmastercrafter wrote:yo - some interesting things happening on Amazon lately... a lot more comments on some of the bad (5*)reviews...! I've been offline or lurking for a while, but I'm catching up atm... I'll be active for a short time, I think, before I'll be disconnected again for a few months (out of internet range - no, not off-planet) for family affairs... I've had an interesting conversation with the reviewer in the links below as well - check it out, for some (fun?) reading:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1S4HM7XM7 ... hisHelpful" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3LCC06GIP ... hisHelpful" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There's no point in having a Dune vs. McDune discussion who won't read past Messiah. :snooty:

The only way anyone could give PoD an honest five stars is if that was the only book they'd ever read. Even then you should know it sucks.
yea - agreed... I tried to end it pseudo-friendly-like and all, but I'm planning on tossing a follow-up comment to him in a day or two, to see if he's done the re-read he said he would - LOL - i doubt it, but maybe... either way, he DID give a 2* for Breaking Wind on Dune... whatever that indicates :lol:
I didn't bother with either of those two books, is PoD THAT much better than WoD? From what I've heard that would be pretty pathetic.
I quit 50 pages into PoD and never looked back. there's only so much one can take.
No, PoD is NOT any better than any of the other crap. Roger the Buff has some strange criteria... I don't think I'll trust his judgment/opinion on Dune-related stuff. He won't even re-read the rest of the original series! He hasn't read the rest of the series in over a decade! That says alot right there. But he's ranked highly, so I try to be respectful, since there are many out there who will take what he says withOUT a grain of salt.

It's sorta like Freak said: There's no point in having a Dune vs. McDune discussion (with someone) who won't read past Messiah. :snooty: (in my case, generally speaking, I don't mind engaging in apparently futile communications - I've found that sometimes amazing things happen - like people changing their minds for the most unlikely reasons - I remain an optimist :dance: )
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by Freakzilla »

Sometimes. More power to you, brother.
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by merkin muffley »

Paul of Dune is awful. I think it's the worst because it's the biggest betrayal of the original books. It's the most offensive that I've read. And when I say "read" I've never finished a McDune book, even when I've only listened to it on audiobook.
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by Apjak »

merkin muffley wrote:Paul of Dune is awful. I think it's the worst because it's the biggest betrayal of the original books. It's the most offensive that I've read. And when I say "read" I've never finished a McDune book, even when I've only listened to it on audiobook.
Experiencing the "book" in the manner in which it was conceived?
I don't think the author should make the reader do that much work - Kevin J. Anderson
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There’s an unwritten compact between you and the reader. If someone enters a bookstore and sets down hard earned money(energy) for your book, you owe that person some entertainment and as much more as you can give. - Frank Herbert
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by grandmastercrafter »

Apjak wrote:
merkin muffley wrote:Paul of Dune is awful. I think it's the worst because it's the biggest betrayal of the original books. It's the most offensive that I've read. And when I say "read" I've never finished a McDune book, even when I've only listened to it on audiobook.
Experiencing the "book" in the manner in which it was conceived?
:laughing:
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Re: Amazon McDune Debate with top 500 reviewer

Post by merkin muffley »

grandmastercrafter wrote:
Apjak wrote:
merkin muffley wrote:Paul of Dune is awful. I think it's the worst because it's the biggest betrayal of the original books. It's the most offensive that I've read. And when I say "read" I've never finished a McDune book, even when I've only listened to it on audiobook.
Experiencing the "book" in the manner in which it was conceived?
:laughing:
:lol: Indeed.
"I must admit, you have an astonishingly good idea there, Doctor...."
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