After you read and give feedback on three books, you can share your work with the Book Country community.
Your Bookshelf will hold books you’ve written and books you want to Follow, Read, or Review.
It cannot be seen, read, or purchased by other community members or visitors. You can, however, order copies of your own book. If you'd like to make your book available for sale again, please do so through the "Edit & manage" button at the top right of your book detail page. Remember, though: You can only make changes to your distribution channel every 60 days.
A simple salvaging run turns into a nightmare when scavenger Cam rescues a lone juice rat from a sandstorm. One small act of kindness brings on the wrath of the Rapture Riders and their charismatically unhinged leader Joel, and a couple of ambitiously wrong-headed EPOW! workers. As things spiral out of control Cam realises she may have to seek the help of Joy, a near-mythical figure residing in the nearest United Faith City. Getting into the city is hard enough, getting out again may be impossible, but Cam is all out of choices...
Have had quite a bit of trouble uploading this, and it refuses to retain formatting. Apologies in advance for the lack of double spacing, I'll try to figure out a fix for it.
Really liked the definition of 'darklings' to start off with.In general, enjoyed both chapters. I found the technology references quite hard-going but it establishes the world really clearly.
I like Cam's hardboiled attitude - she's got quite a lot of Hans Solo about her! The 'Cam was who she was and did what she did' was a bit overplayed - obviously a woman like Cam holds no truck with miracles.Also liked that the chapter opened with dialogue, great and snappy.I'm a bit unclear on the slang, there seems to be a real mix of old and new, fictional and real. It would be great if this world had it's own slang terminology.
A lot of time and energy put into the dynamic between Cam and Brian - I enjoyed it but their relationship also has quite a simple premise so it probably doesn't need as many words!Tension building is great.Joel arriving really changes the dynamic, I enjoyed the switch to his POV, looking forward to Joel and Cam meeting.
It's the end of the second chapter, and I'm still not sure what's going on. I think putting a few more clues about what the world looks like would be helpful. I'm curious about the "even" and want to know what they are scavenging for. Has potential to be an interesting story.
Cam seems a mix of new world lingo and words like grandpappy and frickin -- not sure that works. Joel's chapter is all introspection -- maybe have some conversation with some of his fellow riders to give more a look at how he talks.
First chapter, good. Keeps moving. Ends at good spot. Second chapter, less clear.
I am definitely interested in this world and curious to know what the "event" was. I am really uncomfortable on behalf of Cam and Brian in the unreliable little vehicle in the sand storm. Compelling, convincing imagery and just enough info about the world to make me want to keep reading. Alas, when I did, chapter two really disappointed. (But I was still interested in the bare information I got in chapter two. It just wasn't a riveting read.)
I liked the voice in the first chapter. I could believe it was Cam, though it got a little repetitive at times with phrases like "she hadn't the patience," "she hadn't the time," etc. Might help to read aloud and be sure you aren't reusing words or phrases or figures of speech too very often.I don't like the voice in the second chapter--I m not convinced it is Joel. It's dreary and narrative-heavy, but see below.
The first chapter was fine, but the second is way to info-dumpy and heavy-handed in the introduction of Joel. It reads like notes toward a draft. I'd put action in place of all the narrative and let the reader see Joel unfold through his dealings with his gang, dialog, and Brian's reaction to him (if indeed, Brian is going to see him).
This is a really interesting novel thus far, with plenty of space for fluff expansion. Cam's a great character - strong, indepedent, mature, and a veteran of the wasteland she finds herself in. I like Brian, and I think his innocence provides a nice balance of character in the opening scenes of your story.There's been a lot of Rapture-fuelled silliness recently, and I like the idea of Joel bringing it down upon people because he feels that no one should have survived. It's that kind of single-minded determination, that arrogance, that I think humanises someone who could be deemed villanous had they been introduced in any other manner; I want to understand him, rather than simply hope that Brian doesn't end up dead.I like your use of tech - it's very clear that you know what you're talking about, and the use of scanners and other familiar sci-fi technology mixed in with your own creations helps ease me into the tech aspects of your universe without any confusion.This is a great story, and your writing style is confident and very strong. I hope to see more of this, and I think it's one of those stories I'd describe as "cinematic." Everything feels epic, and it makes me want to reach the next scene to discover whether the characters in your world succeed, for fail. I do think the second chapter need some voice work, but I'll go into that now.
I like Cam's voice; as I've said before, she's really confident and has a world-weary feel to her that I find very endearing without feeling like I'm engaging with a veteran cliche. Her perspective is kind, and her competency with technology and the way you help describe what she's doing and what challenges she faces helps reinforce her skill at what she does.Your voice is strong and really well-honed in the first chapter, and I feel it adds a lot to your narrative. I think you can tell when writers are really big fans of what they're writing about, as everything seems more slick and well-presented, and that's evident here.Where I do feel the novel needs some work is the introduction of Joel. I think he's a great character and there's a lot to work with, but I think the syntax just feels a little clunky, occasionally, and I had to re-read a sentence to fully understand the irony of his existence, but you might be able to blame that on my being generally dopey.I think it was the fact that I don't think his parents could have shared his beliefs - I get what you're saying; that they'd have killed him for the same reasons he believes everyone should be dead, but I think that would apply to everyone.I also think that it might be worth shifting the reveal about murdering his folks to later in the novel, as that comes slightly out of the blue and isn't really expanded on in terms of how he felt, as understandably it was a heartless killing, and the reasons make sense, but I want to hear more about it. Perhaps someone forces him to reconsider later on? Who knows.I just felt it was a lot of exposition in a very short space of time, and perhaps it would be better to talk more about his motivations as time wore on during the upcoming assault, rather than getting it in there as soon as possible. Other than that, the voice is great - keep it.
Ah, the pacing - it was great, honestly. I was so sucked into learning about the world around them and trying to figure out what they were hunting down (as they were doing) that the read flew by, and that's a great sign. I didn't feel like I was struggling forward, and even during your exposition paragraphs nothing dragged.I think sci-fi can indeed be extremely boring if people forget that the story matters just as much as the setting and the technology within it. But you seem to have nailed the idea that things going from bad to worse at the start tends to allow your novel to hit the ground running, and that works really well for Darklings.Again, this is a great opening section, and I look forward to hearing about any future updates. Best of luck with the rest of the writing process.
The following are quibbles: Sonar uses sound waves transmitted through water, while its also know as echolocation (what bats use) I'm not sure it would work in a sand storm. "heatsig" is good, so why not just with radar or just the old generic "sensor"? How would they "all" survive? Does she have a stable of co-pilots? In a survival situation I suspect she would stick with the best, not swap shifts among weak co-pilots. "Blueish web"?? How does sonar or infra-red sensors tell you if something is "nickel alumite"? How much heat can we be talking about? Materials can resist heat, but they will still be at ambient temperature. Go with your imagination, but don't hobble it - use sensors! Also damp sand doesn't occur in sand storms. The dampness makes the sand grains stick together. If it's a dust storm then even if wet the dust will splash up onto the vehicle and adher to the windshield (I know I'm nit-picking, but believeability in these small things makes a big difference). Also, I'm still not quite shre what kind of vehicle they are in. At the beginning of the chapter I assume some big Hummer-like thing, but by the end I wasn't sure if they were on a ATV for two or something else.Chapter 2: If just being alive is anathema to Joel then why doesn't he do God's will and kill himself? Overall Chapter 2 doesn't seem to be as well written or thought out as Chapter 1. Is Joel a fanatic, a psychopath or both? In any case he should be thinking of God's plan - not his. BTW sending the evildoers to hell is godly work - noble from the point of view of the true believer.
Chapter 1: Good. She's obviously an old campaigner, cynical and experienced. Kid seems a bit dumb. Would she really trust her life to a co-pilot like him? You're the author - you tell me.Chapter 2: Obviously switching more to 3rd person, but needs work. Writing a bit clunkier than in Chapter 1 so I'm guessing this is closer to a first draft. Why did he kill his parents? Were they infidels or did God just tell him to do it? If you want to use terms like "sissy city" switch to Joel thinking that - it doesn't work 3rd person. Also, there are levels of difference for religious bigots - living among non-believers is one thing, but being ranked below a non-believer is an abomination - don't put them on an equal footing. Make me believe this guy is a true religious nutcase! (Star ranking of two is due to a 3 for Chapter 1 and a 1 for Chapter 2)
Chapter 1: Moved well, kept me interested, although all of the little quibbles note in overall feedback tended to dampen things - slowed them up because I had a hard time sticking with the story. Some clunky writing also slowed things down. The paragraph beginning "She tried to picture the valley in her mind...." was poor - you need to rewrite this.Pacing reasonably good for Chapter 2.
Grimly fascinating. Elements of the setting are still a bit fuzzy, but one can glean the gist. The elements of whatever caused the doomsday have yet to be revealed, but I assume that there's some kind of 'gotcha' with the doom. Otherwise there's only moderate need to be coy about the details (nuclear war, asteroid impact, etc.)
Good. The Cam character is instantly likable, not just for a sharp mind but for her link to the pre-doomsday world. I enjoy having characters who know more than most, but it brings them little joy. That's a classic post-apocalypse trick but that's because it works.Joel is solid but nothing spectacular. He serves the purpose of a fanatic antagonist and you convey that well.
Nice creation of tension through reduced visibility. I like the use of symbols to represent their goals. Has the feel of a video game--but not in a bad way. Or perhaps the motion detectors from Aliens. It's all good.
Like this a lot. But from the first few pages I haven't a clue what's going on. Your writing is strong enough to carry me for now; there's enough action and such a fabulous voice that as a reader I'm willing to go with you for now, but if you don't ground me in the next couple of pages with a bit of background, I'll be losing interest. A great read.
Excellent. Straight in there. This has a strong voice that jumps off the page at me!
Wow, this is fast. Maybe a touch too fast? I can see what you are doing but I wouldn't mind just a tiny bit of context to the action. I need to catch my breath and work out where/when these people are and what's happening.
I really dig this and am keen to read more. Curious about whether or not a clear dichotomy between the two sets of characters represented thus far will emerge, or if things will stay as ambiguous as they are right now. I mean, obviously Joel isn't someone I'd leave my kids with, but he's interesting.
I quite like how so much the the narrative is linked to what is going on in Cam's head, at least until the last bit. The fact that it's so insular creates a sense of how close the quarters she and Brian are sharing really are, how dangerous their mission might be.I also really enjoy all of the technical language, and how there is little explanation of what everything is. Because Brian is so clueless it would be easy to use him as an excuse to clue the reader in, but I appreciate that there is no concept of hand-holding.
No complaints here. Solid rhythm in the story-telling and good stopping points in the respective chapters.
Enticing and well written. The dialogue flowed and felt very real. The inner thoughts of the characters was meaningful and believable.
the story was easily told and flowed well. everything that was written made sense and added to the story.
The pacing was clean and smooth. no sudden jumps or odd commentary were added so the story could move on without disruption.
found it a bit confusing, and wondering why they were flying round in such dangerous storm--and why someone in his 30's would be so inexperienced and babyish. the tech was confusing--red blips, green blips, blue blips,shcokeys and aatv (same thing?)
touches of Mad Max, but I'd read on. would prefer notto have the narration turn to omniscient in the beginning of chapter 2. "the event" is now on TV, so perhaps consider changing that
I like the pacing, despite the queries that i would be askingmyself as I read, I would be interested in reading more
This is an amazing piece!The characters are already quite distinct from each other. The main character is very different from the shy boy who says “KK”, and they’re both very different from Joel.The language used to describe the fictional world is excellent – the times in which the characters are living, the technology, and the characters themselves are portrayed in ways that seem realistic.The technology is woven in seamlessly, which allows the reader to accept the world as real, e.g. when the main character talks about distance in the following way: “Mile? When were you born again? Give me the distance in clicks please.”Description is good, e.g. the following passage: “No, the blip on the screen was more like two and a half clicks from the blue fence with the glowing red turbines behind it. Any idiot with high school math would know that that worked out at round about the one and a half mile mark. But then this guy had probably never seen the inside of a school.” This passage gives the reader a great deal of information about the world and the characters of the story, in a natural and interesting way.The mild sarcasm throughout the story is wonderful, e.g. “Joel didn’t do irony.”And the idea that Joel and his gang are planning on bringing about the Rapture is fascinating. This reads like a really great post-apocalyptic science fiction story. Nice job!Problems occur infrequently in places where the reader might be pulled out of the story when things don’t seem realistic, e.g. the boy blushing at the mere idea of a female figure appearing on the scanner. Considering how much danger they were in at the time, that didn’t seem particularly realistic to me. There are very few places in this story that don’t seem realistic, however.
The voice in DARKLINGS is great, both the voice of the author and the very distinct voices of the characters.
The pacing is excellent! This story moves along nicely, with lots of detail about the world and characters, even in action-packed scenes.
The opening line is not as compelling as it could be, and more importantly, it's narrowly focused on what's internal to Cam and not the setting of where they are so the reader can get context. The characters' ages seems off to me somehow. Brian reacts to her changing like a teenager and not the thirty-something-year-old he is. Once you get to chapter two, there's a lot going on and it feels like it has lots of potential. There's history here, and myth, and lots of tantalizing tidbits to work with. I look forward to reading more!
Cam is interesting, but she does a lot of monologging. I.e. talking to herself, asking herself questions, answering them. This is not entirely bad, but when overused it does make the story drag.The switch from Cam to Joel is a bit confusing and not clear; maybe try separating out different viewpoints with dots or dashes, too?
The overall pacing is good, once you get to chapter two. Chapter one has some slow spots which don't seem that integral to the core of the plot, like when they are debating the distance and reading the screens. It tends to drag then and makes me wonder if this is the important part, because you're spending time on it.
Good opening line. Sets up a dark mood immediately. Odd formatting, but from the author's note, I'm guessing it wasn't intentional. Some repetitive word choice. Though I get we're in some sort of transport, you could probably use a little more scene setting around the opening conversation. At first I thought they were out in space. You have a lot of long sentences in your narrative. Some are hard to follow. A little confused. They are looking at the large heatsig, then the yellow x and skull. At first I thought they referred to the same thing. Treading the line a bit with point of view at times. Almost feels like we slip into Brian's on occasion. Some run-ons and dialogue punctuation issues, though that could be the formatting problem again. The handlebars through me. Thought it was an enclosed vehicle. Now I see it has a cab, so handlebars seem out of place. Takes a long time before we get her name solidly in our minds. Some great world-building in here. I think "seasick" is the wrong word for him. They aren't on water, right? Motion sick? You're missing some words here and there. Great end of chapter one hook.
The dialogue feels realistic, though I'm not certain from the opening pages if the male is young or simply slow. Now I see he is about 34. You say he is not bright, but also compare him to a child. Maybe be a little clearer. I like the world-building terminology you use. I like her internal thoughts. I have a good feel for her voice. If he's 34, why does she keep referring to him as a boy?
I think the long descriptions of the effects of the sand on the vehicle do go on a bit and slow things. By the end of chapter one, not much has actually occurred, though there is the promise of something exciting coming.
Hi Orla - the good news is that dystopian fiction is continuing to grow in popularity. I continue to hear a lot of talk about it in a lot of areas. I think you have a solid world here - there's a lot of good "bad" stuff going on that indicates how desperate the Darklings are and how bad the world has gotten. Cam seems likeable, but to me, she's on the edge of likeable. She reads a different age to me - you state she's 40, but she reads a lot younger. Brian definitely doesn't read over 30 - more like a young teen. I think it's the extensive description of how Cam has taken on co-pilots who are useless so many times. It sounds like she's "just now deciding," which makes her seem indecisive. If you're going for "softhearted," then I think it makes her a stronger character. It's pretty obvious from the story that they are in life or death situations all the time, and even the nicest person would have to select for survival under those circumstances. It made me wonder how she made it through, if all her co-pilots were like Brian. In the second chapter, Joel is totally dreadful, so if that was your goal - Goal! An absolute monster . . .
You're writing plainly and clearly, which fits the story well and enables the reader to absorb new terms indicating the post-apocalyptic world the story takes place in. That said, much of Chap 1 is internal dialog of Cam. This is technically supposed to be "her voice" - and again, it made me wonder about what her real motives were, what she was trying to accomplish, and where she was coming from. Joel's chapter was crystal-clear - he's going to knock out the power station so the people in the cities he dislikes so much won't have power. Then presumably he'll go in and murder them wholesale to save souls for God. So the contrast between these two "voices" - it seems as though your heroine isn't as distinct as the extremely nasty villain.
With the internal nature of Chap 1, this tends to slow down the action and reading. Again, a contrast with the rapid pace of Chap. 2. I'd look at beginnings and ends of chapters too. There's a technical aspect of how to get into a scene, and how to exit, that can help to strengthen pacing and keep the pages turning.
I'm confused at the point where they're going to be lucky to get out of the storm alive -- it seems like a very fast jump from her just grumbling about having rotten co-workers to suddenly they're in life-threatening danger and I missed when that happened. But the description of it is good, very exciting. I'm also confused by why her co-worker is so incompetent -- is he going to be having lots of character growth? Because given how many words he got in your first chapter, he should be important, but it's strange that he's so useless. Overall, though, since this is the overall feedback section, this is an interesting beginning. You set up the situation pretty clearly, you've very quickly created some believable characters and conflict, and it flows very nicely. I think she comes across as a little too negative -- you made the point early on and by the end of the first chapter, I really, really got the message that she didn't like her co-worker and thinks she's a lot better than him (I hope he saves her life in the next chapter) but otherwise, nice job.
Interestingly, I like Joel's voice better than Cam's, although he's clearly going to be a psychopath. But she was kind of whiny. They do have nice distinctive voices, and I'm impressed with how well you created a world through their eyes (voices). Nicely done. (She can whine less, though.)
I admit, I skimmed a little during the storm and the tech stuff and the power plant. This might explain why I got lost. And all the stuff about the measurements and him being wrong -- I don't really care much about measurements in real life, so I didn't really care about those details here either. And I got the message that he was an idiot the first time. So, I'd say you could cut some to pick up the pace. But that said, many of the details do a great job of creating the mood, like the details on the fence and the corporate guys finally getting smart, so there's clearly a balance to aim for and you might be on the right side of it. For someone a little more on the hard SF side (usually a genre that I tend to skim) this might be perfect. Just not for me.
Page 2Cam looked across at her passenger... and decided then and there to alter her hiring procedures...This sentence seems awkward to me. Page 3, repetition of the word snow, I want more. Page 4 Plus the fact... get rid of "at all" it slows it down. Page 5, incorporate tiny greenish one into the previous sentence, Sure enough there was a tiny greenish blip on the screen to the east of the facility. Slows me down. Right about at page 6 I want to know more about this pathetic guy in the passenger seat. He's to easy right now, just a pathetic lump, but he's come along for the ride with us this long, he's starting to feel like a plot device and it's starting to pull me out of the story. Had entirely missed the ironic point (forced)
I enjoy the voice, it's a bit harsh, and dry, but I like that.
It moves along well. I don't love where it goes in the end, but I would continue reading.
Yeah, definitely enjoying this story. Though I'm going to get to it in a bit, I have to say it now: I love the voice. I'll explain why in that section. :)The characters are what I'm very VERY interested in. Cam is fierce and I want to know her background. I want to know why she's the one going out and risking her ass. Also, a camp? You've left just enough intrigue for me to keep reading.I want to know Brian's story. I think there's more to him than your narrator is leading us to believe. Though, I could be terribly wrong. Needless to say, I'm keeping my eye on that kid. ;)Joel...Joel scares me. He's radical. And it's terrifying. I love it. I sort of want a flashback to see him from before the "incident" (whatever the "incident" is). I'd like a way to compare him from then to now. Funny, I don't think I need that from Cam..simply because I feel she had always been this stern and this badass. With Joel, though, I think this quest of his came with an epiphany...and I think I'd like to see this epiphany. But that's just me! I look forward to more, obviously. You left me with a lot of questions. A great thing, though...I think I should just say: be careful with the questions. We don't know this world, so maybe drop a few more hints as to what exactly happened. Just a bit? I dunno, it's up to you. :) I like how it's reading so far. And I'm a fan already, but that's because I like being in the dark on things. haha
Like I said, I love the voice. It's funny, but I feel like you stuck with Cam's attitude all the way through - even when describing the Rapture. It's so...sassy. And in such a great way. I don't know what else to say but that the voice is your compelling factor. It's very familiar, very comfortable...and it doesn't seem detached. It's like ...hmmm...like I'm watching a movie and someone is telling me their take on it. Does that make sense? I hope it does. Also, this person who's telling me has character. Your voice has character. That's it! And it's rocking your story. I think, in fact, it's the most compelling part of your work.
It's going. Definitely. I'm hooked and it's barely the first two chapters. The first chapter, to be honest, read in just the right speed. It gave us details on the characters while also giving us a feel of the world they're living in. I have to say I enjoyed chapter one much more than the second. The second one was more of a background blurb. Not bad, of course! Because it's that background information that's intrigued me the most about Joel. But I feel like if we saw him in action more...not just riding a bike...but maybe show us him being a leader. Show us the command he has over his crew...that'll speak more and it'll carry the story faster. Tell us in actions what's going on and move the story along - goodness, I hope that made sense. haha But, like I've already said, the pacing is working. And I can't wait for more! :)
Interesting concept. the technical aspects and technical jargon need to be polished a little. I doubt that sonar would work in a sandstorm and in a gaseous environment. Phased array millimeter radar would be a better choice.<br><br>Some wordiness and too much vernacular for a SF piece.Cam comes across as condescending and angry, not good for someone in a leadership role. Perhaps this will make sense later as the story develops.
The dialogue is sometimes confusing, needs better tags.
Good pacing. the story flows well. Would like to read more.
I'm intrigued by the concept and what your world is like. What is the event? Why are there salvage operations? What is this world? I think there is potential here. The characters interest me, but I could use a bit more personality from them. Right now, Cam is bitter that Brian is dumb and Joel is a holy warrior. That's really all I've got. Below are things I found along the way...I don't know if it's formatting or what, but I'm wondering why you're using ' instead of " for dialogue. Also, missing a few commas in dialogue ("Sorry boss" should be Sorry, boss and "I ain't your boss, nitiwt" etc.) "Probably had them scared..." - this sentence seems a bit clunky. I think I know what you're implying, but the wording is a bit knotty. Find another word for "snow" when describing the screen.A lot of your sentences have passive verbs. I think you could strengthen the piece by varying your structure, phrasing and word choice. You use miles, meters and clicks all in a short span. I'd personally pick a measurement (or make one up for that matter) that fits and stick with it. Now, we're getting something I can sink my teeth into...this paragraph starting with "She tried to picture the valley..." . This is where we start to get more about our setting, what this world is like and what is motivating our MC. Can we get more like this earlier on? Up til this point the story seems to be as muddled by static as Brian's screen. The last sentence is a bit clunky.Is the distance to the target on the screen now or did Brian suddenly become a savant to know the target is "zero point nine seven clicks"?Looks like a word is missing. "Brian had now crimson" ...missing "flushed"?"salvageer" a typo? (last paragraph)Joel seems a bit (right now) like a 2-dimensional villain. Also, you're doing a lot of telling about him. Show me how he's a zealot. Overall, I think you can streamline this piece and shape it into something really powerful.
The voice doesn't seem to waver. When we're centered on Cam, you've got a bit of frontier slang that reminds me a bit of Firefly (yay).. when we're with Joel, that is not there. I think passages can be worked so that the voice is more consistent and effective. Be careful not to tell your readers too much. Let the characters be part of the story rather than just pawns of words.
A little slow. If she's on a salvage operation...is this a search and rescue? If so, wouldn't there be more urgency? Or is this just a routine perimeter check of some sort? For the first chapter, it seems our enemy is the storm. Now, in chapter 2 we have a real threat in the form of Joel. I'm interested to see where it goes.
Can you come up with a more "grabby opening line? Maybe "she was too exposed already" could come first. First sentence second paragraph reads awkwardly.You have an interesting world here, but there's a lot of backstory and description all at once. Can you piecemeal it out a bit more?"God still came after the bottom line" nice line.punctuation should be inside the quotes
You've got some voice when we're focused on the "juice rat" but the amount of backstory detracts from it. I completely lose sense of voice when we're focused on Joel. There's a lot of telling me things, and not as much showing as I would prefer as a reader. You need to get in the characters' heads more, in my opinion.
Same problem for me, with the backstory. You tell me their history, their surroundings, their dreams, and all of it at once, and this causes the story to drag. It might pace faster if I learned these things gradually through their actions and some dialogue.
Please choose the reason that best describes your concern. If you feel any content infringes your copyright, please refer to our General Terms of Use for information on copyright infringement and takedown procedures.
You may currently read and review 5000 out of 3059 words in this book.
To read the complete book, you need to be connected to the writer.
Request to Connect with {Writer Name}
Connections are your friends and colleagues on Book Country who you have allowed additional access to your work. Accepting a Connection request lets that member read all of the fiction you've posted (there is no word limit). Connections can also view who you are Connected to, as well as the books, People, Discussions, and Industry Topics you are Following. You can also receive Recommendations from your Connections and make Recommendations to them.
To add a new Connection, send a Request to Connect. The member to whom you would like to Connect must accept your request to make it official.
Book Country provides an RSS feed for those who like to read our Industry content in an RSS Aggregator.
Choose from the options below:
Are you sure you want to ignore this request or recommendation? It will be removed from your shelf.
You will no longer receive Connection Requests from this person, and they will not know that you have blocked them. You can unblock this person at any time in your account.
is now blocked. You can manage your blocked people in your account.
Are you sure you want to block this person?
This member is now blocked. You can manage your blocked people in your profile.
You will no longer be able to view this user’s Connections, read their complete books, or make Recommendations to them.
The user will not receive notification that you have Disconnected, but they will probably figure it out later. You can also stay in touch more casually by Following this person instead.
You are now Disconnected from this member.
By accepting this Connection Request, you will be allowing this member to read all the fiction you've posted, view your Connections, and the books, people, discussions, and topics you are Following. You can also receive Recommendations from your Connections and make Recommendations to them.
If you'd rather receive more casual updates on this person's activity, choose to Follow this person instead.
Please sign in or join now if you want to Connect with this person.
Your request has been sent to the member.
Sign in to share with your connections.
Recommend: [Author]
Done! You have recommended [Author] to [recipient].
Advertisement
Book Country Badges are awarded for community activity and accomplishments. You can earn badges for positive contributions to the site, such as writing a highly rated book, or contributing many reviews and discussions.
Each badge comes in bronze, silver, and gold. You’ll start with bronze, and then earn silver and gold as your activity grows. There are also versions of each badge at the genre level, master genre level (i.e., SF, Romance, etc.), and for all of Book Country. Our staff is always working hard to ensure fairness and good karma. The more you participate, the more rewards you’ll receive.
Preferred Genres help you track your interests and Connect with similar members. You can select as many genres as you like.
The Top Books and Top People in your Preferred Genres will automatically appear on your home page, updating every two weeks.
Recommendations make it easy to share interesting content with other Book Country members. You can recommend a book, discussion, person, or article to your Connections, and they can make Recommendations to you.
Recommendations appear in your notifications bar.
Connections are your friends and colleagues on Book Country who you have allowed additional access to your work. Accepting a Connection request lets that member read all of the fiction you’ve posted (there is no word limit). Connections can also view who you are Connected to, as well as the books, People, Discussions, and Industry Topics you are Following. You can also receive Recommendations from your Connections and make Recommendations to them.
Following is a way to casually keep in touch with a person on Book Country. By Following a person, you will receive updates on their public activities on the site, such as uploading a new book or responding to a discussion. People you Follow can’t see your Connections, make Recommendations to you, or see that you are Following them.
Private books cannot be read by site visitors or community members. Private books do not appear on the Genre Map or in searches. Some writers may choose to temporarily make a book private during revisions or while meeting with agents and publishers.
You can repost a private book to make it visible again. All comments and ratings will be saved.
Writers can Delete their books at any time, for any reason. On rare occasions, the Book Country staff may Delete a book for copyright violations. Deleted books are completely removed from Book Country, along with all comments and reviews. Deleted books cannot be recovered.
Locked Discussions are discussions that can still be read but cannot accept new responses. Discussions can only be locked by a Book Country administrator.
As a community for writers and readers, we want our members to receive thoughtful and constructive feedback on their work. Book Country Peer Reviews are designed to help writers improve in their chosen craft.
You must be a member to rate and review. Members can review a book once per draft. Each review has several sections:
Share your general thoughts on the book. Did the writer categorize the book accurately on the Genre Map? Were you engaged by the material? What really worked and what needs work? Comment on whatever else you like.
When uploading a book, writers can select two areas on which they’d like guidance. Provide more detailed feedback based on these criteria.
Give each section a star rating from 1 to 5. This will help us determine how the book compares to others in the community. Your must rate each section to save your review. But remember, star ratings are not just a scale of bad to good; it’s also a scale from rough draft to polished manuscript.
It’s easy to work on your review over a period of time with our “Save for Later” feature. Please be aware, though, that if you have a review saved and the writer of the book changes his/her feedback criteria, the feedback that you’ve inputted for any old criteria will be automatically removed. Additionally, if the writer uploads a new draft of the book, your review will be lost. So don’t sit on it too long!
When writing your review of a published book, please bear in mind that the author is not longer revising the project. For example, you may want to write your review as if you are giving your opinion to other potential readers.
Heads up! By Connecting with this person, you are allowing this user to view your other Connections, see who you’re Following, and read your complete books. You can also receive Recommendations from your Connections, and make Recommendations to them.
The other user must accept your Request to make the Connection official.
Done! You have sent a recommendation to .
Click the left arrow to view the previous page.
Click the right arrow to view the next page.
Write a review of the book.
Use page tools to customize your experience and jump to sections of the book.
Are you sure you want to sign out?
It's easy! Upload chapters at your own pace or your entire book if it's ready. Make changes any time you like.
Everyone contributes at Book Country. After you provide three peer reviews, you can share your work with the community.
Book Country is a supportive community of fiction writers and readers who offer constructive feedback to help you improve your craft.
Our members include published authors and industry professionals. You never know who might discover your work.
This is a DRM eBook. Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a technology that is used to protect copyrights in the digital environment. This eBook is encrypted and MAY NOT BE PRINTED or otherwise reproduced.
It is the decision of a Book Country author to employ DRM to limit distribution, sharing, or copying of his or her work.
This file is in "Adobe reader" format and will require the Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) software - a free download. Please be sure to install ADE before downloading your eBook. .ascm is the file extension used by Adobe Digital Editions to read DRM eBooks--such as ePub or PDF. Please refer to the Adobe Digital Editions help site for more information: http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/help
Apple Products such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch do not currently support the Adobe Digital Editions DRM used in the Adobe and ePub formats that are available on our site.
Downloading your eBook is simple; click on the "download this eBook" link from your Smart Receipt or email confirmation and then follow the step-by-step directions that are presented on screen.
RadEditor - please enable JavaScript to use the rich text editor.