first review for GRAIL QUEST: THE CAMELOT SPELL

[lagilman]

courtesy of sdn, the pertinent bits from the Kirkus review:


"... Gilman crafts a competent series opener... the characters are familiar without being utterly typecast, the author borrows from T.H. White as well as Thomas Malory and there is a consistent sense of "what's going to happen next?" that will keep readers turning the pages. (Fantasy. 11-13)"


It's not a rave, but "will keep readers turning the pages." I can live with that.



(although the readership, according to the packager's notes, was actually closer to 9-11 than 11-13, which limited how much I was able to do with the storyline. Ah well.)

Comments

[eeknight.livejournal.com]

Prosit! I'd be quite happy with that. We're talking about Kirkus after all.

[debg.livejournal.com]

Yep. And the "keep turning the pages" is an excellent blurb.

[nick-kaufmann.livejournal.com]

Oh my God, a review from Kirkus that actually sounds like it likes the book? Drinks are on the house!

[lagilman]

Drinks are on the house!


That would sound a lot better to me if I weren't, in this instance, "the house...."

[kayaalder.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! I mean, we are talking Kirkus here - I'd say time to celebrate :)

[lagilman]

Oh, they got their digs in, but in a heavy-handed rather than amusing manner. The grand old days of Kirkus Snark seem to have fled, alas...

[girasole.livejournal.com]

I review children's books both for Kirkus and for Booklist. (No, this isn't my Kirkus review of Suri's book. I know her too well to review her books.)

At Booklist, if a book doesn't pass muster, we write a note to our editors saying why, and the review is not published. This means every review in Booklist is fundamentally a recommendation. (It also means our editors have our unvarnished comments to share with publishers who might inquire.)

At Kirkus, we are encourage to call a spade an earth-turning device. Seriously, they want us to be very clear. I confess that I hate writing negative reviews, but every so often they can be positively cleansing.

[dianora2.livejournal.com]

As far as I'm concerned, that IS a rave, coming from Kirkus. Congrats!