Remember I told you we were waiting
for the book review? Well, this morning we got it! And on a personal note, I
didn’t think I would actually cry of happiness after reading it, but I did. It
tells us Andrei is a brilliant writer, the book is awesome and my confidence in
him and his talent were worth everything.
The review was done by Morgan
Hufstader who is Managing Editor for Allwrite Publishing (Atlanta, Georgia) and according to her, “one of the
major strengths of this novel is the writer’s ability to create full, detailed
worlds. The world that Crux lives in
is vast and well imagined, populated by characters that fit into the hellish
landscape with ease.”
Well, read that over the morning coffee
and try to imagine my heartbeats, my blood rushing through my veins and my
constant need to yell “we did it!” as Morgan was going through every last
detail of the book. So I invite you to walk with me through the review and
feel, hear and enjoy my states of mind and my emotions while reading Morgan’s
text.
Grammar
“The first note is concerning the
mechanics of Crux. As the author knows
from the writing analysis, the spelling and grammar is very solid. It’s clear
the writer has a good grasp of writing mechanics”.
Indeed he does and he’s not even a
native English speaker! More points for us! Yay!
Morgan also recommends Andrei to work
a little on punctuation, but in her own words, “the edits are easy to make, and
a quick sweep through the novel should clear them up.”
World-Building
“One of the major strengths of this
novel is the writer’s ability to create full, detailed worlds”.
But I said that already. Then I
started to frown in my chair.
“As the novel goes on, the author
seems to get comfortable in the world and plants the reader’s feet solidly down
on foreign ground. However, the hard part of building an entirely new world is
the initial step of introducing it to the readers. Crux solves this problem in the way that most
writers do: Kara, a mortal human and stranger to this world, literally falls
into this new, foreign space. This is a great technique that is used by many
talented authors to bring the readers “up to speed” with this new world”.
And I remember Andrei telling me a
while ago that if I make him read the first line again, he’ll burst into tears!
Morgan continues with a phrase that
made my heart jump. I can still feel it pumping like an engine.
“With that said, the author’s
descriptions of the world (and in general) are fantastic. The story displays a
clear ability to capture images with very spot-on and vivid details. For
example, this quote is beautiful: “The firefly souls descended upon his
lifeless mass, covering him in mourning as the mechanical creature found final
death. Not only is the writing brilliantly drawn, but the image of the “firefly
souls” keeps the readers entrenched in the supernatural feel of the world”.
I burst into tears. Seriously.
First
Act
“I’ve created a separate section for
the “first act” of the novel (pertaining to the three-act structure) because it
seems to be the major weak-link in an otherwise really strong story. (...) The strength of Crux is its fun characters, banter, and
humor. I would suggest rewriting the first twenty or so pages entirely.”
Only 20 pages… only 20 pages… Man,
that’s awesome! There are writers out there who had to re-write the entire
novel three times before it got published and we have only 20 first pages to
re-work? Damn, he’s good!
Characters
“While Kara might need a little
improvement in solidifying her character (as noted above), the angels and
demons in this novel are spot on. Palisera, for example, is an excellent
character and exactly what she needs to be. (…) Maar, likewise, is a great
character. He, like Kara, is defiant, but we get the impression he has a good
reason to be so. Plus, he defies others within the rules of his own world, and
he respects certain authorities (specifically, Palisera). (…) As for the other
characters, Dominic is a great one. He’s got a nice down to earth attitude that
balance out the high-and-lofty personalities of the demons in the novel. Thomas
and Alexis are also great and, like Dominic, maintain that balance with a
variety of different character types”.
What about Akaba?!, my soul screamed
in panic. Nothing about him? He’s my all time favorite! Well, I didn’t have to
suffer much, because what came next, made me happy and shiny again.
“One thing this novel is really good
at is creating obstacles for its characters. Nothing ever comes easy for any of the characters, and just
when the readers think the characters are in “the clear,” something else comes
up to get in their way. This constant, consistent action makes for excellent
tension and keeps the reader’s interest.(...) The tension keeps the
reader on edge and the author makes a brilliant use of it.”
I knew it! I just knew it! Dancing inside. Almost
spilled the coffee over the laptop.
Dialogue
“If this were a campy action movie,
the dialogue would be perfect. And there are moments when the
banter—specifically, between Maar and Kara—is humorous and amusing.”
Note to writer: to reshape a little
the relationship between them. Fair enough!
“With that said, as the story picks up
the pace, the dialogue becomes much more natural. While all the characters
retain a very sarcastic back-and-forth with one another, their relationships
develop in ways that allow that sort of banter.”
You should hear Drew and Thomas talk
to each other. Masterpiece!
I don’t know if anybody thought I was serious
when I said I’m gonna see this book turned into a movie, but I was.
Structure
“This novel has two issues that can be
solved with a more organized structure.”
*Sigh... We need chapters. Nothing to comment.
Morgan is right. And we need to better guide the reader through the story.
Noted and will do! I thought about Andrei at this point and how he’s gonna take
the news. He’ll be fine. For him, putting chapters and sub-titles in the story
would be something to have fun with over his coffee and cigarette break.
Target
Audience
“When marketing this book, the author
should gear their efforts towards readers of supernatural action/drama or high-fantasy
novels. Even though the content of the book is more biblical than fantasy, the
way the characters interact with one another and the immense detail to world
building would appeal greatly to a high-fantasy audience.”
Remained silent for a few moments. Then it hit me. The greatness of all this.
Wanted to call him at 9 a.m. in the
morning, but his phone is out of service. Wanted to chat him online but he’s
seven hours behind me. Instead, I cried a little and jumped around. HE IS A WRITER! I AM AN AGENT! I was right all along!
I managed to talk to Andrei later. And
if he feels what I feel, just let me introduce you the happiest day of our
adventure so far!
Now, we’re waiting for the next step. Holding
our breath. Crossing our fingers. Maybe praying. But we’re definitely more
confident and more eager to have the book in the open to make other people just
as happy as we are!
