Anyone willing to crit a really, really, really good hard SF MS?

Justin Swanton

Justin Swanton

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It's been cleaned up quite a bit already. ;)

Premise: as the first manned mission to Mars is 4 months out, 1036 Ganymed, a 30km-wide asteroid, is hit by a planetesimal and knocked onto a collision course with Earth. In the meantime a smaller asteroid-like object is spotted headed for Mars - having changed course after Ganymed was hit. The crew of the Mars mission must try and contact the alien object and ask for help, but they have their own problems as one of them is killing off the others in order to prolong their time in space after Ganymed hits. When one of the crew disposes of the murderer and finally does contact the aliens, they are not at all what they seem to be.

I'm looking for overall impressions. Did the story hold you? Could you empathise with the characters? Was the pace too slow or too fast? And so on. After that any detailed crit you feel you have time for.

This is my second novel and I have come to realise how important objective criticism is (ego patting not necessary).

And no, this is not a promo pitch, really not.
 
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Hi Justin. Usually people will crit novels in exchange for you critting theirs, so the question is are you also willing to crit?

I'm afraid I have to rule myself out either way - life is pretty hectic at the moment and I've been burned once or twice by non-reciprocal beta's recently.
 
I'm down. What do you need from me to get set up?
 
I'm way too late for this one but if anyone else writes similar stories then I'm always up for a read.
Can't give much advice on construction of a novel etc but I'm the ultimate target - a voracious sci fi reader who buys a lot of books.
I can pick up on bad grammar, spelling and flaws in the plotline, also answer the question - would I pay for this book?
 
dannymcg said:
I'm way too late for this one but if anyone else writes similar stories then I'm always up for a read.
Can't give much advice on construction of a novel etc but I'm the ultimate target - a voracious sci fi reader who buys a lot of books.
I can pick up on bad grammar, spelling and flaws in the plotline, also answer the question - would I pay for this book?
Click to expand...

That's fine dannymcg. I've just about polished up the MS but I'm always looking for fresh critical input.

Would you like it as a Word doc, pdf, ePub or MOBI file?

Oh yes, and it's free. :)
 
Justin Swanton said:
That's fine dannymcg. I've just about polished up the MS but I'm always looking for fresh critical input.

Would you like it as a Word doc, pdf, ePub or MOBI file?

Oh yes, and it's free. :)
Click to expand...

I think word doc is one of the few allowable formats to transfer in Chrons. Otherwise it's email. So yeah, word please
 
Justin Swanton said:
Great! I supply the MS as either a Word doc, PDF or ebook (your choice) and you shoot it to pieces. By email is probably easiest. If you have anything you are working on I can return the favour.
Click to expand...

As he's no longer on board, let me know if you want me to get in touch with RX and ask him if I can give you his personal email (assuming you don't already have it).

pH
 
I am interested. I do not need anything in return.

"I'm looking for overall impressions. Did the story hold you? Could you empathise with the characters? Was the pace too slow or too fast? And so on. After that any detailed crit you feel you have time for."
I can do the overall impression. If you are looking for grammer/english crit I might not be very useful.
Let me know how you wanna go about this?
 
newstar33 said:
I am interested. I do not need anything in return.

"I'm looking for overall impressions. Did the story hold you? Could you empathise with the characters? Was the pace too slow or too fast? And so on. After that any detailed crit you feel you have time for."
I can do the overall impression. If you are looking for grammer/english crit I might not be very useful.
Let me know how you wanna go about this?
Click to expand...

Give me your email address. I'll send you the MS as an ePub, MOBI, pdf or Word doc. Send me any input you wish. If you are a film director send me a contract for the movie rights. And that's it.
 
I'd be willing to give it a read, I don't have much experience as an editor, but I'd catch what I can and be happy to let you know how I like the story and if I feel there are any improvements to be made.
 
BionicGriff said:
I'd be willing to give it a read, I don't have much experience as an editor, but I'd catch what I can and be happy to let you know how I like the story and if I feel there are any improvements to be made.
Click to expand...

Any input is appreciated.

BTW I'd better let everyone know that there is a religious angle in the novel, not much and not often but it's there.
 
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