Friday, October 02, 2009

Orbus Reviews

Orbus seems to have been well received. Nice to see it sitting at the top of the Amazon New and Future Releases chart (Science Fiction) for a couple of weeks, and nice to see the response on Amazon from various fans. There will, of course, inevitably be a one star review on there from Mr Bitterly Disappointed of Tooting Beck, or from Mr Why Won’t They Publish Me You Bastard! But I’m used to filtering the bile for odd nuggets of gold.

In SFX Dave Langford says of Orbus:

As usual, Asher delivers a satisfying space opera full of adrenaline highs. Orbus may get the title role, but Vrell and wise-cracking Sniper steal he show. Fast-paced fun.

Whilst Shaun Davis in SciFi Now is less complimentary with his three star review but finishes with:

… but battle-hardened readers will be having too much of a blast to mind the odd slip into tedium. This is because each battle is, especially the final one, is written in a crazed fashion. Rail-guns rattle off, pulse rifles fire out shots and explosions ring out. This is what Asher does best, and in that respect Orbus succeeds in reaffirming the importance of Spatterjay in his body of work.

Nice enough, but have to wonder how this reviewer can describe Orbus’s past as dull…


Oh, and by the way, I haven’t seen many more entries to the Art Competition, which I’ll be judging in November. Art comp link: http://theskinner.blogspot.com/2009/03/calling-all-artists.html

11 comments:

Thisgoesto11 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
CMD said...

Aw..!
I just ordered ORBUS (and Line War...the only two of your books that where missing on my library) from Amazon UK...can't wait to have it on my handsss....!
Meanwhile...soon I'll be sending you a few more pieces for the Art Competition...

Inchy said...

Ok Neal, I'm giving you plenty of warning.
I started reading Orbus two days ago so I'll finish it in another week-ish. That'll bring me back up to date with everything you've published (I have a little special Asher bookcase, but don't panic, I'm not a stalker).
So you've got around a fortnight to get something new onto the shelves.

Chop chop!

Live for films said...

I really must get hold of a Orbus. Been looking forward to it for ages. Plus the reviews I have been seeing have all been spot on good

Hugh said...

Just had Orbus delivered by Amazon today - that's tonight and tomorrow taken care of.....

Cris said...

Hi Neal,
I have managed to get about half way through Orbus and so far so great.
I've been busy with other things... Just had a baby boy and my wife thought Cormac was a cool name - so Cormac Sharp he is!
Thanks for the great books and big thanks for the name.

vaudeviewgalor raandisisraisins said...

http://acidcow.com/pics/4370-amazing-insect-images-by-igor-iwanowicz-60-pics.html


i know i've read about these guys somewhere in Asher books.

Neal Asher said...

Shit,Cormac Sharp ... well,cool name!

CorpseZor said...

Hi Neal. I have bought and read all of your books and, as much as this is going to sound totally fanboy-ish (erm, not an actual word I know) I can honestly say that i've enjoyed them all. Currently reading Orbus and very pleased with it at that.

As a person who enjoys reading books I constantly come across the comments like "why read a book? That's what films are for". This annoys me so much. Ignorance in general actually.

Basically I would like to hear your view on reviewers and such like. Do they make a big difference to how you write a book or do you just see them as a necessary evil?

I can see how sites like Amazon are influential in sales but it must annoy you if you get a bad review that is not accurate.

Again, big fan here :) . Just interested in how the "industry" works.

Steve Horgan said...

Well, I liked it.

Christos said...

Congrats Neal!
Orbus was, as expected, another magnificent, fast-paced adventure!

Now, you HAVE to go for a follow-up spatterjay novel...
Maybe starting exactly where Orbus leaves us..?

Thank you!

Christos Pollatos