[Update] New novel featuring SC2 available now! - Page 8

On June 23 2011 02:14 Scouter wrote:

We actually set up the Amazon link with Team Liquid so they get money for each purchase

On June 23 2011 02:21 [F_]aths wrote:
The work is obviously fiction, not a documentary. In a fictional world, a GSL (or GSTL) can conduct team games.

On June 23 2011 03:44 MaestroSC wrote:


But at least you are smart enough to say now "Buy it for esports and buy it for team liquid!" increasing your gimmick level in hopes to trick people into buying this.

On June 23 2011 03:50 MaestroSC wrote:


Why not make it more interesting and just have the player use his super mind powers to speak through the computer to his units without the use of a keyboard/mouse and he can get actual information/data directly from his units, as well as give orders from inside of his Command Center, while playing chess with Jim Raynor and Sarah Kerrigan?

Cause even fictional pieces have to maintain a certain amount of coherency/credibility. Fiction does not mean "anything goes." Don't set your piece in a real world setting, revolving around a real world event, and then be horribly inaccurate with the writing.

You cant set a story during the World Cup of Soccer/Football and talk about how it was 35 v 35 on the field.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was 76k words and 300+ pages.

On June 23 2011 05:19 Chef wrote:

My copy of that particular book is 223 pages long... Like I said it's no problem to stretch 75k words into a 200 page novel, but 300 is going to look really silly. Plus it's a children's book, they always make the font a little bigger so that kids don't lose interest reading a single page forever.

edit: I looked it up... most of the editions I found were about 220 pages give or take a few, and one that was 320 pages which was marketed toward elementary school children (you can guess who spacey the font for that would be). So yeah, it's not exactly honest to call Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone a 300 page novel lol. We are talking about a font which is designed to give children confidence in their reading speed, not a realistic page count for an adult. Also, if you're thinking the baby's version might be longer because it has smaller pages, it doesn't. The pages are actually a few cm bigger lol. So basically the 220 page version which already has larger than normal font because it is marketed to young teens got an extra 100 pages, while still increasing the page size... What I'm saying is: your example was terrible.

On June 23 2011 05:23 shindigs wrote:
Interesting concept for a book, but like many have echoed before me, a lot of things can definitely be refined. I understand that ESPORTS is just the setting of the novel, and it's mainly a thriller involving the FBI/CIA? I think most people are put off by the fact that it isn't centralized around ESPORTS.

I appreciate the effort, research, and time you put into attempting to make the ESPORTS aspect of the novel as authentic as possible. However, I think you could learn a few things by taking a couple hours to browse forums and interacting with the community, while keeping up with the latest tournaments and watching VoD's/documentaries etc.

Here's a really interesting read that encompasses a player's first experience in Korea as well:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=22425

As you can see, the ESPORTS experience in Korea isn't all glamour and ESPORTS bitches constantly (at least it wasn't in the BW days). Having a pro player enter a foreign land or being slightly apathetic to his wins and losses does not make for a compelling story. Progamers are people - they learn to grow up, they suffer with losses, they are ecstatic about wins, they are disillusioned about the glamour of ESPORTS, they worry about their future prospects, and they push themselves to continue.

In the end, my main concern after reading your sample chapters is that your protagonist doesn't wreak the same passion as many community members do. It seems he knows he's good, he takes his losses, and moves on like nobody's business. It just seems...arrogant? Bland? What is he learning? How is he growing?

I hope your book does well, but I hope the next time you choose to explore the ESPORTS setting you implement what you've learned from the feedback in the thread and from your book reviews. Best of luck.

On June 23 2011 06:42 redFF wrote:
Why is this amazing American gamer practicing for the GSL in team games on a laptop?

On June 23 2011 06:07 HyperionDreamer wrote:
I commend your motivation for writing a book about Starcraft, which is much more than most people have done. However, after reading your sample chapters, maybe it's better that this book isn't the vanguard which represents TeamLiquid or eSports in the world of print novels...

The writing is objectively second rate, and the parts regarding the actual playing of the game have many factual errors in them. If you are writing a book about something that has norms and customs, it would be very beneficial for you to research them in much more depth. In this case, the actual Starcraft content is correct on the surface, meaning that the units and races are named correctly, but they are written about in the wrong way. This has the effect of irritating readers who are informed about the respective content, because instead of focusing on the story and characters, they will be distracted by the errors. I once watched a movie set in ancient Greece that was pretty well directed and authentic, but during one scene set in a marketplace (or agora) I saw one of the extras wearing a watch. That actually ruined the whole movie for me, since it was so out of place that I kept subconsciously checking the wrists of every character for watches, and missed a few important plot details.

In the case of this book, I was reading the first few paragraphs and I kept thinking "Why doesn't this Protoss player just make three Immortals and kill the entire tank line? Why is this Terran going mech in TvP? Why is this amazing American gamer practicing for the GSL in team games?" All of these things are similar to the wristwatch in the movie I mentioned - out of place and distracting to people who possess Starcraft knowledge.

The picture you paint of Sean in the sample chapters is also quite stereotypical - he's the gamer who hasn't showered in two days and whose apartment is filled with empty pizza boxes and cans of cola. The section concerning the girl who approaches him in the coffee shop also pushes this stereotype. If you look at some of the successful American progamers who have competed in Korea, such as Nony (Tyler), you'd find almost the exact opposite traits. The fact that your main character represents the stereotype that most gamers are trying to rid themselves of would alienate most informed readers of your book.

In addition, all of this criticism leaves out the spelling errors and grammatical mistakes that are present throughout the two sample chapters. I could go on, but I think I've made my point.

Finally, I'm not attempting to berate the author herself, as I think it's pretty cool that eSports is spreading to other realms than just TeamLiquid. All of my criticism pertains to the actual book and what it contains/represents.