Tag Archives: obvious

Book Review: Collapse, by Richard Stephenson

by

Collapse‘Collapse’ by Richard Stephenson is book one in the ‘New America’ series and I believe Stephenson’s first novel. The novel is set in the year 2027, with the USA falling apart. It is in the grip of the 2nd Great Depression and is at war with the Great Empire of Iran. The state of Florida has been devastated by a hurricane that has left over 1 million people dead and Texas is about to face the same fate. The government is about to fall. The people are descending into anarchy. What will become of the USA?

Though a first novel, the suspense and action of the novel is first rate. It is very easy to read and carries you along quite easily. However, there are serious issues with the grammar and spelling, as well as some fairly obvious errors in the actual text of the story. A good proof reader should have picked up on these mistakes and that would have resulted in a far more polished and professional  product.

There is also a short sex scene tacked onto the end of the story which I thought was somewhat tacky and unnecessary. It did nothing for the story as a whole and was completely out of place in the overall development of the novel.

If you can see past these obvious flaws without too much prejudice, the novel is a very good read and I do look forward to picking up the story when the next book in the series is released in 2013.

Buy this book at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Richard-Stephenson/dp/1477654631/

Book Review: Currently Reading – Print is Dead, by Jeff Gomez

by

I have been reading ‘Print is Dead – Books in our Digital Age,’ by Jeff Gomez and have now completed my reading of it. The final chapter ‘Will Books Disappear?’ asks the obvious question concerning books in a digital future. The answer is both yes and no I think. Certainly books will still be around for the foreseeable future – niche products, throw away copies, second-hand books, collectors items, etc. However, traditional book production will certainly slow and far fewer will be printed and distributed in the ‘traditional’ manner.

In the digital age, Print on Demand services may grow and maintain popularity for a period, with services like Google Books allowing the ability to print an out of print work cheaply and quickly. Allowing these works to also be accessed via the World Wide Web and in ebook format will limit the use of this technology I would think.

With the content of books still being the main resource, employment around the content of books should also remain. The need for editors, publishers and the like, will still be required for excellence in ebook production. The quality of books should continue undiminished, though there will also be avenues for lesser quality works via the World Wide Web. So the book will not disappear, only its appearance will be transformed and the content remain the same.

 

Closing Thoughts on the Book

‘Print is Dead – Books in our Digital Age’ covers no new ground, but it does cover the same ground of the traditional book versus the ebook very well. It presents its case and does it well. Traditional book champions will more than likely remain unmoved by the arguments of Jeff Gomez and those that herald the arrival of ebooks will probably agree with the sentiment expressed in the pages of this book. I believe ‘Print is Dead’ presents a very balanced argument for ebooks in the digital age and presents a future for books that is upon us, in inevitable and that offers up some wonderful possibilities if we are willing to embrace them. I would recoomend this book to anyone interested in the traditional book versus ebook debate.

See also:
http://www.dontcallhome.com/books.html (Website of Jeff Gomez)
Podcast (Excerpts from the Book)
Google Books
Amazon