On the same afternoon, I got two comments on YouTube for the audiobook of Exiled that sum up why I don't take negative reviews seriously.
Here's the first one:
"Adjective word salad. You wanna use them to describe places? Fine, do it ,the descriptions of places is ok-ish, bordering on gross. But you wanna do it to describe people or feelings ? It's really over the top cringe. It feels hollow and forced."
And then only hours later, I got this:
"Just as good ,if not better than Lord of the Rings."
Guess who's right?
I'll let you take a stab at it.
Waiting…
Waiting…
Ready?
If you guessed the first OR the second one, I'm afraid to say…
You are WRONG, Legionnaire.
The somewhat anticlimactic answer is… they are both right. I've said it a hundred times before, but I will say it again: fiction is no different to wine or a hearty meal.
It's only as good as the palate consuming it.
It's also why I don't take snarky comments personally. In the beginning, when I was wet behind the ears and new to this weird yet wonderful creative arena, sure, negative comments carried a sting with them.
These days, not so much.
Weirdly enough, praise that compares my series to legendary works like LOTR is what makes me shift uncomfortably in my seat.
Not because I don't appreciate them.
(I do.)
It's just that I'm so early in my career that it almost feels premature and, dare I say it, unearned. But that's a conversation for a diary entry – not the Legion.
What I will say is, most modern fantasy authors are standing on the shoulders of giants like Tolkien, and I am but one of them.
The Divided Region was heavily inspired by Tolkien's work, and Book 7 is shaping up to end the series with an almighty bang that will echo long after it's finished.
Anyway, that's the tale of two comments.
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