tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17224228.post6899991044715339187..comments2023-10-25T03:40:54.655-07:00Comments on Neth Space: Review: The Traitor by Michael CiscoNethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16963540055415924510noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17224228.post-23222436979210926942008-01-15T15:39:00.000-07:002008-01-15T15:39:00.000-07:00In that case...6.75 ;)In that case...<BR/><BR/>6.75 ;)Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17224228.post-62709802998520361642008-01-15T10:33:00.000-07:002008-01-15T10:33:00.000-07:00Larry - exactly!Larry - exactly!Nethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16963540055415924510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17224228.post-68221197465235128372008-01-15T10:28:00.000-07:002008-01-15T10:28:00.000-07:00Use it to make important life decisions? You mean...Use it to make important life decisions? You mean like, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how does today's bowel movement rank in comparison to others I've had?" :PLarry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17224228.post-80320473487373654702008-01-15T08:52:00.000-07:002008-01-15T08:52:00.000-07:00bah - I didn't really mean for this to become a di...bah - I didn't really mean for this to become a discussion on ratings, but the input is appreciated.<BR/><BR/>The rating system that I use is a usefull guide for someone to use and for me to play around with on occasion. But my goal with each review is to write in a way that if I were to leave off the rating at the end it would have no impact on the review - I want the review to stand on its own with or without a score at the end. Hopefully I am accomplishing that. So, you can happily ignore the score if you wish (or you could use it to make important life decisions).Nethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16963540055415924510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17224228.post-80444803935413379532008-01-15T01:25:00.001-07:002008-01-15T01:25:00.001-07:00Well, whatever works best for you, Ken. It's just...Well, whatever works best for you, Ken. It's just one of those cases where almost any numbering/letter system has a "glitch" in it where you almost have to write the review in a sort of "Despite the score I gave this, this book really could..." way.<BR/><BR/>And as for the person saying it's "cowardice" not to give a score, my response is that I am very old school in my thinking, since my formative reviews were for historical monographs back in grade school. Too many variables with books to give a consistent score - one would have to harmonize the "ranking" with the internal mechanics of the book/story/article, making it very difficult to have a single assigned "score." I never got "just a score" on any of my papers, neither did I assign one when I reviewed books in my specialty period. It's just the way I roll, I suppose... ;)Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17224228.post-20608942720038102512008-01-15T01:25:00.000-07:002008-01-15T01:25:00.000-07:00If the ratings are essentially meaningless (and th...If the ratings are essentially meaningless (and this review proved that), then how is leaving them off cowardice? You shouldn't need them anyway.<BR/><BR/>Nice honest review, btw. And as an appreciator of fine prose, I'm now intrigued enough to try <I>The Traitor</I> :-)Ian Saleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15375389971610069381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17224228.post-64363917381853028472008-01-14T23:31:00.000-07:002008-01-14T23:31:00.000-07:00I guess I'm from the other school that prefers tha...I guess I'm from the other school that prefers that the rating system be left as it is now. I think the number should be a simple reflection of whether or not you liked the book. If there are issues which a simple number can't convey, well, that's what the words are for isn't it? <BR/><BR/>As far as leaving off the scores, well to me that's just a form of cowardice.Ed S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15580602235331051071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17224228.post-36046899986753174302008-01-14T16:48:00.000-07:002008-01-14T16:48:00.000-07:00Interesting review. I like how you have managed t...Interesting review. I like how you have managed to give it a fair analysis despite not enjoying it. I too read primarily for entertainment and don't mind a challenging book, but it is a little disheartening when it doesn't feel worthwhile when all is said and done. <BR/><BR/>I like the Gamepro idea of Larry's. I had the same conundrum when I reviewed The Big Time by Fritz Leiber. I would give the main character, who I adored, a 5/5 star rating, but I couldn't give the book more than a 3 for the overall story.Carl V. Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15948764216438379394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17224228.post-89496653853787698292008-01-14T14:19:00.000-07:002008-01-14T14:19:00.000-07:00Oh well - I can't like them all.I have seriously t...Oh well - I can't like them all.<BR/><BR/>I have seriously thought about going back and re-doing my ranking system to a two-score system. I've decided against it because I want to keep things consistent (and I don't want to try to rank books in retrospect). I also almost gave up on it completely, but then the geek in me was happy I could do <A HREF="http://nethspace.blogspot.com/2007/12/rating-trends-in-all-honesty-im-not-big.html" REL="nofollow">this</A> with it. So, I'll just have to live with its limitations.Nethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16963540055415924510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17224228.post-981782505004171652008-01-14T14:09:00.000-07:002008-01-14T14:09:00.000-07:00Sorry you didn't like the book, since you know it ...Sorry you didn't like the book, since you know it was one of my favorites from 2007. But you're right, Cisco is not for everyone and if one reads with one goal in mind and the author writes (well, in this particular case) with another goal, chances are something will give way and that's pretty much what you said in your review, no?<BR/><BR/>As for "ranking" it, one thing you could do that would apply in such cases is steal a ranking system I remembering <I>Gamepro</I> magazine using many years ago when I actually played video games: Break it down into a few components (say Writing, Characters, Worldbuilding if you must have that, Entertainment) and have scores for those before an overall. That might do the trick for ya in a few cases. That or you could just leave the scores off like I do :PLarry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com