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The Other Side of Life Book #1 / Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy Jess C Scott Books

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The Other Side of Life Book #1 / Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy Jess C Scott Books

I thought, "Cyberpunk elves? What could possibly go wrong?"

Well, just about everything except coherent sentence structure. Good editors are hard to find in the indie publishing business, so I'm somewhat impressed to find mistakes are at a minimum.

But the characters? Forgettable. The human girl, dreaming of a romance with something special, a thief with a heart of gold, who returns stolen artifacts to their rightful owners and gives her pay to her struggling mother. How utterly without flaw! And the other- the elf prince, who has rejected his elitist elven society, so he can use really cool elf gadgets to combat the destruction of the environment in totally sweet ways! He is, of course, charming and handsome and will quote elven poetry at you.

I think my focus cracked when the human girl (there's no narrator, by the way. "Third person omniscient," in this case, means that the point of view shifts constantly between the two main characters. Without warning) went into great detail about the "soulful, emotive vocals" of the "eclectic red-headed frontwoman" of a band who apparently sings exclusively about the romance "sub"-plot that developed as soon as our main characters met. Basically, Bad Romance, but if Stevie Nicks had done it first. Lyrics are quoted. Our heroine curses her anti-government iPod's song selection, and focuses on how cool future motorcycles are.

The plot... isn't, really. It could have been interesting, like a futuristic Indiana Jones, except this is what Raiders of the Lost Ark would have been if Indy were actually a sparkly vampire, and Marion the whole time hyperventilating and wondering if such a golden god could ever desire someone so plain as her. And then she flaunted her jailbroken iPhone, because THE MAN isn't gonna keep her down!

It kept me occupied during work, and I'm loathe to give a one-star review to cyberpunk elves, in the hopes that better authors might give it a go. I suppose it's got four dollars worth of entertainment, but at this rate, I'd rather have four dollars worth of chocolate.


Tags : Amazon.com: The Other Side of Life (Book #1 / Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy) (9781456529048): Jess C Scott: Books,Jess C Scott,The Other Side of Life (Book #1 Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy),CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,1456529048,Fantasy,Fantasy - Contemporary,Fantasy - Urban,Fiction,Fiction - Fantasy,Fiction Fantasy Contemporary,Fiction : Fantasy - Urban Life,FictionFantasy - Urban

The Other Side of Life Book #1 / Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy Jess C Scott Books Reviews

Creative and stylish in theory, but lacking in execution, it has been the hardest book to review thus far, and I'll tell you about why.

First of all, the bad.

There are a number of mistakes (okay, you can call them creative license, I still call them mistakes) the author has made here that made the book hard for me to read. For starters, the POV is all over the place, jumping from character to character, and then into an omniscient state. We're never fully in one person's head for long enough to really understand any of the characters, and in sections where multiple people are together and talking, it can actually be hard to know who said what until you're three or four lines down the passage. I found myself having to constantly go back and reread things and kind of "force" myself into the narrative, especially in the first 25%. This is the opposite of what you want, i.e., a book well written enough that grammar and technique are playing in the shadows while you fall into the story! Additionally, and more minor, Scott throws in a bunch of extra commas, meaning that I'm pausing mentally when I shouldn't be.

Another thing I had a major issue with was character motivation. While Scott *does* give us insight into why her characters do the things they do, I find the explanation to be thin, hard to believe, and lacking - both for minor actions, like "Why do Anya and Nin initially each other," all the way to major things, like, "Why is Anya risking her neck to help Nin in the first place?" I would have really liked it if the thought processes that led up to the actions were better explained - either through memories, pieces of backstory, or a more detailed description of feelings." I also (and this one may just be my fault) didn't really understand how the rules of this new universe worked, especially in how characters suddenly "knew" incredibly complicated and important pieces of knowledge. Like, how does Julius understand that he can choose between his own welfare and Leticia's without anybody telling him or giving him a clear sign? Did he sense it from the "tree's" force? If so, that needed to be better explain. This was a pattern I found repeating itself throughout the course of the novel; I just kept saying - How did they know that?

The final complaint that I had with this book is that at times, it felt like a diatribe with a novel pasted on top of it. I understand that cyberpunk is all about being against commercialism, the machine, and the danger of misusing technology, but there were entire, oddly timed passages, that espoused these viewpoints without really weaving them into the story. It was frustrating; while writing with a meaning is important, it should always (in my opinion) fall second to the flow and development of the narrative itself.

Oh, and minor point. The Mayans were the first with Cocoa as in "chocolate", coca leaves as the forerunner to cocaine were actually an Incan/Quechua device.

The Good

Wow, that felt mean. Unfortunately, it also felt honest. Luckily, there are also quite a few good things to say about this work that will help pull the punch.

For starters, it's pretty imaginative, and it has many of the elements we all look for with a good story. There's a plucky heroine, a dreamy hero, a loyal sidekick, and an evil but redeemable villain (revealed only after a nice plot twist!) Nobody is invulnerable and everybody is quite human.

There are also passages where the author manages to stay in just one POV for long enough to create some real human meaning; my favorite is where the main character is giving her mom an, um, package at the mother's place of employment. The mother's concern and unspoken thoughts were both real and touching, and it was a definite point of light in the work.

And the author should be applauded for weaving her beliefs and a deeper message into her work, even if the execution isn't always perfect. She's definitely attempted something that we don't see everyday, both stylistically and in her intended message, and she gets full points for bravery in that regard.

Finally, there is a lot of creativity in both her descriptions of the near future and in some of the things we see in the Elven domains. I was pretty excited at both the presentation of Nin's homeland and in the unique method of transport that was discussed, although I felt like these things should have been developed an explained further.

Final Score 3.2 stars. An interesting read that misses the mark of greatness, but an excellent start for this author. I look forward to see how she might handle these issues in the future.

Reviewed for Maria Violante's Review Site [...]
Poor editing, bland dialog, uninspired prose, a hyper-active use of the comma, and no believable characters. The POV keeps shifting from character to character, keeping the reader from forming any sort of bond. I just couldn't get into the story and finally gave up. But the sentence that finally had me hit delete was "She rarely forgot to eat and never skipped meals." Ummmm....if you never skip meals then you NEVER, not rarely, forget to eat. And how stupid does someone have to be to forget to eat anyhow? Sorry this book is total fail.
Every now and then I try new authors based on recommendations (Friends and mostly.) Well, I went totally outside my usual and for the first time tried "cyberpunk". I was a bit disappointed. I had such high expectations after all the excellent reviews. I expected so much more out of this book. I understand this is only "book 1" but i just couldn't get passed how trusting these "thieves" were. The moment they meet the elves they agree to work for them. No probing questions, No proof that the items belong to them, Just letting them have the bauble they just stole bc they say it belongs to them the elves. Annoying. In the end trust is there downfall. A previous review commented on the needless commas and the fact you get a little lost when reading scenes and imagining them in your minds eye. I second this.
I will not be reading "book 2" and I usually read book 2 of a series. Even when I am not sold on book 1. The reasoning behind it is book 1 is the set up usually.

The only reason i reviewed this book is bc all the other reviews are so high. I just don't understand why personally, but you know what they say about opinions...

In any case I will attempt "Cyberpunk" reading again. I like the idea and elves are a change. Any recommendations for this novice "cyberpunk" ??
I thought, "Cyberpunk elves? What could possibly go wrong?"

Well, just about everything except coherent sentence structure. Good editors are hard to find in the indie publishing business, so I'm somewhat impressed to find mistakes are at a minimum.

But the characters? Forgettable. The human girl, dreaming of a romance with something special, a thief with a heart of gold, who returns stolen artifacts to their rightful owners and gives her pay to her struggling mother. How utterly without flaw! And the other- the elf prince, who has rejected his elitist elven society, so he can use really cool elf gadgets to combat the destruction of the environment in totally sweet ways! He is, of course, charming and handsome and will quote elven poetry at you.

I think my focus cracked when the human girl (there's no narrator, by the way. "Third person omniscient," in this case, means that the point of view shifts constantly between the two main characters. Without warning) went into great detail about the "soulful, emotive vocals" of the "eclectic red-headed frontwoman" of a band who apparently sings exclusively about the romance "sub"-plot that developed as soon as our main characters met. Basically, Bad Romance, but if Stevie Nicks had done it first. Lyrics are quoted. Our heroine curses her anti-government iPod's song selection, and focuses on how cool future motorcycles are.

The plot... isn't, really. It could have been interesting, like a futuristic Indiana Jones, except this is what Raiders of the Lost Ark would have been if Indy were actually a sparkly vampire, and Marion the whole time hyperventilating and wondering if such a golden god could ever desire someone so plain as her. And then she flaunted her jailbroken iPhone, because THE MAN isn't gonna keep her down!

It kept me occupied during work, and I'm loathe to give a one-star review to cyberpunk elves, in the hopes that better authors might give it a go. I suppose it's got four dollars worth of entertainment, but at this rate, I'd rather have four dollars worth of chocolate.