[Update] New novel featuring SC2 available now!

On June 22 2011 05:04 Odal wrote:
I don't know if any of you have actually read the chapters but.. Practicing for gsl in team games? It's horribly written and it makes me embarrassed to be a member of the starcraft community

On June 22 2011 04:26 ErikaMitchell wrote:
PWNED tells the story of Sean Boxer

On June 22 2011 05:04 Odal wrote:
I don't know if any of you have actually read the chapters but.. Practicing for gsl in team games? It's horribly written and it makes me embarrassed to be a member of the starcraft community

On June 22 2011 05:33 Brotatolol wrote:
I'm surprised this got published

On June 22 2011 06:34 Chef wrote:

Self-publishing is very easy. There are also many books which are basically an interesting title/premise and really horrible content that sell well because... people just look at the title. It's like a book called Zombie Ninja Monsters! Isn't that so outrageous??

I don't know if that is the case with this book, but I'd be weary and hope to find a sample of the writing before spending money on it, just because it is likely it was written because StarCraft is popular, not because the author wanted to write about StarCraft.

On June 22 2011 06:31 floor exercise wrote:

Yeah. I don't want to shit in someone's sponsored thread but I am torn between this just being bad but an honest person's effort at writing a story or if it's the result of someone who noticed how popular SC2 is lately and having the clever idea to type out a short story one afternoon and sell it because they knew at least a handful of people will support anything if you throw out the magic word (esports).

It's not very good

On June 22 2011 04:30 fearlessparagon wrote:
Sounds like Enders game

On June 22 2011 05:04 Odal wrote:
I don't know if any of you have actually read the chapters but.. Practicing for gsl in team games? It's horribly written and it makes me embarrassed to be a member of the starcraft community

Routine took over and his mind wandered while he walked the three blocks to The Beanerie, a coffee shop where he was more or less a regular. A light wind tossed his curly blond hair off his forehead as scattered raindrops smeared their way down his glasses. He kept his head tucked to his chest, letting the fresh air clear his mind the way it always did.

The thread of the story recovered, it was easy for him to spill the contents of his mind across the keyboard. Ideas unspooled from his mind, chasing one another like carp until afternoon turned into dusk...

On June 22 2011 08:08 tehemperorer wrote:
I dunno, 1 post for that account kind of ruins it for me. This isn't an advertisement site to reach a hard-to-get demographic, but ppl seem to forget that from time to time

On June 22 2011 08:06 Richis wrote:
I think if you were to write a book about SC2 you would be far better off writing about the lore, although that is definitely the intellectual property of blizzard so it would be hard.

I just don't think that anyone but a pro-gamer can understand what they put themselves through and their training regiments ect so for anyone to write about it is doing it ignorantly.

On June 22 2011 05:04 Odal wrote:
I don't know if any of you have actually read the chapters but.. Practicing for gsl in team games? It's horribly written and it makes me embarrassed to be a member of the starcraft community

On June 22 2011 05:30 Benjef wrote:
How long is that book? I'm very interested to read it but I'd like to hear some reviews first :D. Available in the UK? (Paperback)

On June 22 2011 06:31 floor exercise wrote:

Yeah. I don't want to shit in someone's sponsored thread but I am torn between this just being bad but an honest person's effort at writing a story or if it's the result of someone who noticed how popular SC2 is lately and having the clever idea to type out a short story one afternoon and sell it because they knew at least a handful of people will support anything if you throw out the magic word (esports).

It's not very good

On June 22 2011 07:28 Dali. wrote:
Ugh. Why, when you see the rich wealth of competition, community and personalities, would you write about FBI agents and international fugitive status? Its sounds to me like cookie cutter teen fiction with a Starcraft twist to draw in buyers. When I think of a novel about gamers I want to hear the author discuss what it is life trying to improve at the game while balancing life, school and perceptions of friends/family. The game itself is somewhat unimportant in my eyes; what we want to know about is the E-SPORTS spirit, that which does us to spend hours a day at computers diligently practicing, all the while seeing the beauty and science of the game unfold countless times before our eyes.

When you watch this, this and of course #100 do you think to yourself, "Man, how cool would it be if NaDa was kidnapped by terrorists"?

GL with your book.

On June 22 2011 08:40 ErikaMitchell wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +

Hi! I'm the author, and a few people have commented on this so I just thought I'd weigh in. Obviously as a pro gamer, the majority of his games are 1v1. But, what I wanted to convey in his interactions with his teammates was a sense of camaraderie. Gamers get a lot of crap for being loners, but what I'm trying to show in this book is a vibrant community.

As for the poorly written part? Well, all I can do is shrug to that. I do, however, appreciate that you took the time to read the sample chapters.

On June 22 2011 08:48 ErikaMitchell wrote:


I think it's understandable to wonder where I was coming from when I wrote this. After all, I'm not a gamer!

My husband is, however, and I came up with the story idea while he was telling me about the GSL last year. Pro gaming was an entirely new world to me, and I thought it would be fun and cool to introduce people to it.

And it was.

I learned how to play Starcraft 2, I watched so many Day9 replays I sometimes hear Sean Plott's voice in my head, and I took enough notes to choke a goat. Starcraft 2 is cool, and my goal in writing this book was to share a fun story and maybe introduce new people to pro gaming.

On June 22 2011 08:06 Richis wrote:
I think if you were to write a book about SC2 you would be far better off writing about the lore, although that is definitely the intellectual property of blizzard so it would be hard.

I just don't think that anyone but a pro-gamer can understand what they put themselves through and their training regiments ect so for anyone to write about it is doing it ignorantly.

On June 22 2011 08:12 Dali. wrote:


That's why writers do interviews and research. Do you really think pro players, when asked about their path to becoming a pro (especially for a published book), would do anything less than spill their guts?

Funny that you'd mention realism and writing with first hand knowledge, yet the book is about FBI agents and "bureaucratic red tape".

On June 22 2011 08:59 Alabasern wrote:
As a writer I can say the you are the subject your audience what's to hear about. Animals are very curious about each other.

And about SCII as your topic, I can say it goes both ways, either you'll never want to publish because you're endlessly revising or you can't wait to get the product finalized.

"A book is never finished; it's abandoned."
— Gene Fowler

On June 22 2011 09:09 ErikaMitchell wrote:


Ha! I actually laughed when I read this because I did try to contact a few pro gamers in an effort to do my due diligence and was met with a lot of silence. Not everyone is excited about talking about themselves.

As for first-hand knowledge, you would be shocked to know how much I learned about extradition laws, the NSA, and the U.S. government's right to seize computers and intellectual property. I also learned a fair amount about ciphers, but that was mostly just for fun

On June 22 2011 09:05 Enervate wrote:
Are you an Arrested Development fan and a Firefly fan?!?

You're the coolest person ever. Good luck with your book!

On June 22 2011 09:05 susySquark wrote:
[
Its great to see that kind of interest from someone who used to be an outsider. What I don't understand is why you chose the approach you did! Your hero starts off as an insider, a Starcrafter already familiar with the community. You had a huge opportunity to start him off as an outsider like yourself, and bring the reader along for the ride, to share your experience of discovering a new culture, coming to love icons like Day9, and eventually becoming passionate about esports.

On June 22 2011 09:16 baneling wrote:
If you're going to get a family member to leave you the first review on Amazon you should probably get them to change their name or something.

Good luck with the book though.

On June 22 2011 08:56 ErikaMitchell wrote:


Thanks for commenting! I can't do anything about my idea seeming cookie-cutter. It is, admittedly, not the most original idea in the world.

However, if you read on you will see that I did my best to do justice to the very issues you've brought up. I won't give away any spoilers, but I am acutely aware of the perils of pursuing a passion that many people may not understand or give credence to.

It's tough to convey the emotional scope of a novel in the first two chapters, but should you ever find occasion to read on I think you'll be mollified by what you find.

On June 22 2011 09:09 ErikaMitchell wrote:


Ha! I actually laughed when I read this because I did try to contact a few pro gamers in an effort to do my due diligence and was met with a lot of silence. Not everyone is excited about talking about themselves.

As for first-hand knowledge, you would be shocked to know how much I learned about extradition laws, the NSA, and the U.S. government's right to seize computers and intellectual property. I also learned a fair amount about ciphers, but that was mostly just for fun

On June 22 2011 04:32 Pughy wrote:
How strange. I'm not a big reader (dyslexia) but that book sounds very funky. I wonder if its any good, especially the writing when games are on. I bet its not easy to write a game of SC2 so people can understand it without the visuals of actually seeing the game being played.

On June 22 2011 10:47 OreoBoi wrote:
Since the main character is named Sean, this book better have a good plott.

This sounds pretty interesting, I'll have to give it a read.

On June 22 2011 10:47 OreoBoi wrote:
Since the main character is named Sean, this book better have a good plott.
.

Cracking his knuckles, he set his fingers to the keyboard and got to work.

On June 22 2011 12:19 endy wrote:


That wasn't a tasteless joke for sure.

On June 22 2011 16:07 cursor wrote:
I'd copy and paste the Negative review of it from Amazon here, but you guys can go check it out for yourselves. It is very poignant and almost antagonistic, because it's obviously made to both criticize the writing style and be better written that the book.

On June 22 2011 09:17 ErikaMitchell wrote:


Ah, that would have been a great angle except how likely would it be for an outsider to eventually rise to the ranks of the GSL?! I'm a total outsider (I never even played Super Mario Bros as a kid) and I'd say there's exactly no chance at all that I'd ever be good enough at SC2 to make it to the GSL.

But yes, that would have been a fun angle!

On June 22 2011 04:30 fearlessparagon wrote:
Sounds like Enders game

When I first announced that PWNED was coming out, a friend of mine, in the interest of being a good friend, asked me if it was ready. If it was the best it could possibly be.
At the time I answered yes, because I thought (and still think) that it’s a great story. Now, though, I’m inclined to think it’s not the best it could possibly be.
The reason being that I’m not as good at writing as I will ever be. I could keep every book I write cloistered on my computer for decades, and just work through them with a fine-toothed comb every time I learn a new technique. I could spend my entire life re-writing and revising them, convinced they’re not ready because of my fear of what I don’t know.
I’m not interested in doing that.
This is me fully admitting that I’m a writing noob. PWNED is not the Great American Novel, and I fully admit to having room to learn and grow.
What I also fully admit to is loving the story, the characters, and the plot. I had so much fun writing this book, and it shows. I’m steeling myself for the inevitable bad reviews on the horizon (because trolls are everywhere and I’d be foolish to think they’ll ignore me) but I’m also just really excited to share the story with whoever is interested in reading it.

On June 22 2011 17:24 HoMM wrote:
Doesn't sound too promising + money leaving esports scene and going to book companies and authors isn't what I like.

On June 22 2011 18:49 Lesser wrote:
"Sean sent his tall, leggy Colossuses"

DURRR DURRRR DURRRRR.

On June 22 2011 17:03 Cel.erity wrote:


Interestingly, I checked out the Amazon reviews for the book, and found one positive 5-star review. I quote: "Read this book when it came out based on a facebook recommendation. I really liked it! Was lots of fun ". This review was submitted by one Wesley Mitchell. Hmmmmmmmmmm.....

The rest of his teammates were scattered throughout the map, embroiled in their own battles, and no help would be forthcoming in time enough to be useful.

He was on his own.

Serenity: gg newbs wp

BOBLOBLAW: TYVM

ProfPlum: I thought you were a goner, Captain. That was pretty gosu

On June 22 2011 14:07 suspiciousbear wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +

This completely sums up why I find the writing itself to be so hard to stomach. A ridiculously disproportionate amount of the text is written this way. This makes everything so disjointed for me, it's not a pleasant read at all. I love that the writer found an interest in Starcraft 2 and wanted to write a story based around it, but even the best plot (which isn't present in this book) wouldn't be able to do it for me if it's being hampered by such viscous writing.

On June 22 2011 22:36 [F_]aths wrote:
If I would write a book about a Starcraft player, I would establish the hero as a solid player who however has a particular weakness in his play, preventing him to come out at top. Of course he also struggles with his real life. Then he needs to make a choice: Either practice more, to get rid of the aforementioned weakness, or sort out the biggest RL issue. He picks the first. As he finally overcomes his big playing weakness, the other players also have improved their skill. So the hero still don't win the ultimate championship. But he gets recognized, gets a good clan offer which he accepts and is able to both follow his gaming career as well as take care about his RL.

On June 22 2011 23:14 Chef wrote:
I'd like to also point out (since it has been brought up more than once) 75k words is not really 300 pages for most books... The pages would have to be pretty small (yeah, some books are like that) and the writing kinda spacey (lots of cheap books are like that to try to look longer, but also some are like that just so people with bad eyes can read them). My 95k word book is only 226 pages, or about 20 pages shorter than what Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was, if you have that (which has by no means large pages, they're actually a little smaller than what is standard these days). It very much depends on typeset size etc, but don't think you are in for an epic here... This is a novel which got ended early on what would be page 160 of most books (which given the topic, is not the most reassuring thing). It's kind of like writing a 10 page essay... When you get to page 6 or 7 you start thinking 'if I just decreased the margins a little I would have a lot less work' hahaha... Of course you'd fail, so you don't do it. The light novel is actually a format I kind of like tho, so I don't mind books of that length... But it's clear this person set out to write a full novel, and 75k words might be the very minimum with a lot of type setting for that. Stretching that to 300 pages tho would look silly... A lot of good novels aren't much longer than 200 or so pages, there's no reason to make it 300 unless you want people to feel like speed readers (I read that page in less than a minute!).

On June 22 2011 23:48 StorkHwaiting wrote:


What in the hell are you talking about? Page counts can vary widely. A dialogue heavy novel can easily be 300 pages at 75k words. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was 76k words and 300+ pages. Oh but I guess in Chef world JK Rowling was just silly stretching and clearly set out to write a full novel then stopped at the bare minimum.

P.S. Is your 95k word book even published?

On June 22 2011 07:43 susySquark wrote:
Even if it's something little, like "He ducked his head and walked a little faster in the rain, wondering if, in fact, he was getting his glasses wetter by jogging..." And then the audience thinks, "Oh, I totally know someone like that!" Or if you're me, you go, "Oh, I totally do that! If I go faster, I add a relative horizontal component to the velocity of the raindrop which makes it hit the plane of my glasses more! Surely there must be an optimal speed to walk at the minimizes time out but ...." and so forth.

On June 22 2011 06:49 Phil Phoenix wrote:


Have you read Ender's Game? I haven't read anything about this book except for the description in the OP and I can promise you that this is NOTHING like Ender's Game.

On June 22 2011 07:08 Alabasern wrote:


They are very different. This proves objective writing isn't easy. It's take massive subjective involvement. I'm still very happy for Erika Mitchell, she did something. As an intelligent animal I feel the ordinary is overlooked as obvious.

On June 22 2011 22:46 SirJolt wrote:



No way, man! Play the tragedy card; at the very end of the book, he stands on stage, accepts the GSL trophy and looks out into the crowd, looking for the girlfriend he neglected so that he could finally add that tiny little bit of polish to his game, and realises that she didn't come to see him in his finest hour. She wasn't there to see what all the hardship and the waiting was for.

Tears run down his face and in all the celebration, there's nobody there who can understand how much it's cost him to get where he is.

On June 23 2011 00:34 LarJarsE wrote:
is this fiction or non fiction?

On June 22 2011 17:24 HoMM wrote:



Doesn't sound too promising + money leaving esports scene and going to book companies and authors isn't what I like.

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.

On June 23 2011 07:21 Siretu wrote:
$5? That's like 1/3 of a lunch for me. I'll probably buy this. Especially with all the hate and dislike coming from this thread. Who cares if it's entirely fact based? It's fictional. That's kind of the definition.

I read fast(2~ pages / minute when I concentrate) so this should be a matter of hours of what I am pretty sure will be enjoyed time. Even if it's not, I haven't wasted a lot of money and I'll gladly show my support to e-sport fiction any day.

As people mentioned, describing the actual SC2 battles is not easy but from what I read in the sample chapters, you do a good job. Keep up the good work!

On June 23 2011 06:50 ErikaMitchell wrote:
I think you could use a nicer word than second rate. Maybe, clearly this is my first book?

I'll echo what I explained in an above reply. I don't think I could genuinely convey the lifestyle of an actual progamer. I've watched a lot of streams, spent a lot of time on Reddit. I know a lot about the community, but in the end I had to write a character I could relate to, or it would be pretty disingenuous

As far as the games go, my husband did the fight choreography. A lot of the games were taken straight out of the GSL, and I know especially with Polt.Prime's Bio performance at GSL, no one is doing much of a mech style TvP these days, but it is used on occasion.

The picture of Sean comes a lot from Day[9] who usually has crazy hair going, and often times a few pizza boxes in the background on the daily. This may be more of a college student thing than a gamer thing, but the imagery worked for me

As far as errors go, I still find errors in third editions of Dresden Files books, and I love me some Jim Butcher. I think they happen, but I can't afford the kind of editor who keeps them to a minimum.

And finally, thank you for taking the time to read the samples and communicate. Sales so far look like they are better outside the eSports community, which is good because it accomplishes my goal of helping to spread eSports, but it'd make me happy if the community embraced it more.

Hopefully once a few people have read it we'll get some good feedback on the thread and see how it goes

On June 23 2011 06:07 HyperionDreamer wrote:

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?"

On June 23 2011 06:50 ErikaMitchell wrote:
As far as errors go, I still find errors in third editions of Dresden Files books, and I love me some Jim Butcher. I think they happen, but I can't afford the kind of editor who keeps them to a minimum.

On June 23 2011 07:56 Silfurstar wrote:


Isn't your publisher supposed to take care of getting your book edited before actually publishing it ?

Are you getting a vanity publication ? Because it sounds like it.

I think the whole thing reads like you tried too hard to put in references and geeky stuff that would cater to your target audience. I find it cheesy and not well written.
But you know what ? I'd probably enjoy reading it, like some guilty pleasure movie I'd watch because it connects to something I love (The Wizard comes to mind).

Keep on writing and congratulations on actually finishing a manuscript !
Good or bad, it's more than most of the "wannabe writers" will ever achieve.

On June 23 2011 08:08 ErikaMitchell wrote:


Yes, but that doesn't mean it was a GOOD editor. First time authors don't get a lot of attention

On June 23 2011 08:37 SirJolt wrote:
I am tempted to purchase a copy, that I might stream myself reading it.

On June 23 2011 08:08 ErikaMitchell wrote:


Yes, but that doesn't mean it was a GOOD editor. First time authors don't get a lot of attention

On June 23 2011 08:43 ErikaMitchell wrote:


Lol. That's very Andy Kaufman of you.

On June 23 2011 07:28 ErikaMitchell wrote:


Thanks! I don't mind the criticism, I expected as much. Much like writing a Star Wars novel, someone is going to take issue with the way you write about [Topic x]

Hope you enjoy it!

On June 23 2011 11:21 cursor wrote:


This is what I'm talking about right here. The fact that the whole thing (that I've seen) reads like an itinerary of the guys day to day life... with no interesting thoughts or characteristics for us to attach us to it him. Couple these two things together. There is scarcely a noun that is not preceded by 3 or 4 fluffy adjectives. Its just too much.

It's like those birthday cakes, when you go to your 3yo nephew's birthday party, that are made of like 80% that fluffy, overly sweet icing in huge globs and in bright colors, with only a few crumbs of the chocolate cake itself to eat... that's exactly what it's like. It's just too much fluff.

On June 23 2011 09:07 iko wrote:
That is the most absolute retarded story synopsis I've ever heard.

It just sounds like you've tried to throw in as many catch phrases as you could to appeal to a nerdier audience instead of actually writing an interesting book.

User was temp banned for this post.

On June 22 2011 05:04 Odal wrote:
I don't know if any of you have actually read the chapters but.. Practicing for gsl in team games? It's horribly written and it makes me embarrassed to be a member of the starcraft community

On June 22 2011 05:04 micronesia wrote:
I'll wait. Maybe I'll get a paperback; I'll get The Starcraft Bible also and put it next to The Epic Blog. Any others I'm missing? I want the best bookshelf in esports.

On June 23 2011 22:02 KeksX wrote:I want quality stories & decent writing / telling styles...but it seems that the author / advertiser doesn't even care about that (at least this is what I get from the OP).
All I read is "starcraft 2!", "starcraft 2" and "day9".

On June 23 2011 22:39 Cel.erity wrote:


Yes, I'm somewhat curious to read the book just so I can get to the description and dialogue of Day9.

Before him stood Sean "Day[9]" Plott, 9 being a number which is higher than 8. Sean towered above him in all his leggy glory, his glasses poised atop the bridge of his nose as is typical of glasses, his voice soothing like a Halls throat lozenge.

"You can do this, Sean," said Sean. "You can be the very best. Like no one ever was."

"But Sean," said Sean, "I have traveled across the land, searching far and wide..."

Sean cut him off. "You're my best friend, Sean. Our courage will pull us through. Now go pwn some noobs, gosu star captain."

On June 23 2011 17:01 lutarez wrote:
What happened to susySquark's book review on Amazon? lol.

Sean Boxer, as far as the first two chapters go, does not think and is not passionate about anything.

While we don't get a glimpse of it in the sample chapters, I can forgive that for the development that should have been happening.

While I'd love to support endeavors of the Starcraft community, the sample chapters do not give me much faith that my expectations for a good plot or setting will be met.

On June 24 2011 00:53 MaboTofu wrote:
I hated on this book because sean boxer turned down a co-ed to eat thai food in his bachelor pad.

Sean Plott would have turned down a co-ed to cast a daily.

Boxer would have turned down a co-ed because he has a super hot korean girlfriend.

Sean Boxer does/has neither.

On June 24 2011 03:04 PantsB wrote:
I'm having trouble giving an honest response to this without coming off as a dick...

On June 24 2011 04:43 KeksX wrote:
Even though it's now smaller, the OP is way better now.
Great reaction! That alone will make the decision easier

On June 24 2011 05:02 ErikaMitchell wrote:


Thanks! I tried to take my cue from the posts here

Now where are the links to Amazon etc.?

On June 22 2011 04:26 ErikaMitchell wrote:

Why should I buy this book?
Three things come to mind:

• It's a good way to help promote eSports

Excuse me if this seems like I'm heckling, but can you please explain how this works?

On June 24 2011 08:49 bulldyke wrote:
female + bad writing + appealing badly to a nerdy niche dominated by men = female with the cluster b narcissistic disorder; characterized by low self esteem but conflicting excessive egocentrism and little empathy, which motivates bursts of intensive study on a male's priority interest, in order to gain an esteem boost from being seen as better or equal than men in that field and as such perceives herself to be far ahead of other women on the desirable-o-meter. if you need more proof than this book, you can confirm this with just a few seconds of research on her person.

I wouldn't care so much about an author's motivations, but this distinct personality disorder often enrages me with their ego-blinded unperceptive attempts at things that their heart isn't in to begin with.


a paste about the disorder:

This personality disorder is characterized by feelings of envy, fragile self-esteem, and behavior that is often seeking approval or admiration. The person usually has little empathy (identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings or motives) [etc]

Symptoms:
Grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
Preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.
Believes that they are "special" and unique and can only be understoody by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions).
Requires excessive admiration.
Has a sense of entitlement i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with their expectations.
Is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve their own needs.
Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others. [such as how this book is percieved by veterans of starcraft]

awaiting ban because no mod on tl.net likes an informative post. even when everyone here clearly needs to l2psychology.

On June 24 2011 03:04 PantsB wrote:
I'm having trouble giving an honest response to this without coming off as a dick. Its not that the writing is terrible - there are published works with a similar level of prose. Its not that the concept is too pulpish or seems intended to capitalize on a particular sub-culture, as you can have a good book without great depth or breadth.

Its just that it comes across as... masturbatory. From the first chapter, the main character is a world class Starcraft II player (at least according to the plot summary), a famous novelist and turns down beautiful women as they throw themselves at him. All he needs is a huge dick, a degree from Harvard and MIT and billions of dollars from the inventions he designed while recovering from the wounds that earned him the Medal of Honor.

And "The professionally apathetic barista who slouched behind the register took his money before shuffling over to begin her alchemy on the beans and milk that were her ply and trade" or "People emerged from the void that existed behind his closed eyelids, their conflicts and characteristics wrapped around each of them like cauls" or "Her smooth face, faux-vintage clothes, and haphazardly knitted scarf broadcasted her age well enough that Sean felt confident it would be illegal to serve her alcohol".... that's not good writing, that's what people imagine good writing to be when they are not the ones being subjected to it.

Its like a singer who believes herself to be a diva doing runs and variations demonstrating her great vocal gifts when simply singing the song correctly would create a much better work. You don't have to show off.

Take: "He took atavistic pleasure in imagining her pouting toward his turned back as he left the coffee shop..." You better have a damn good reason for using a word like "atavistic" if you're going to do it. There's few worse habits a writer can fall into than trying to show of vocabulary and not using the word quite right. Perhaps the use was appropriate here... maybe you wanted to emphasize the protagonists sophistication by framing the appeal of the co-ed as primitive and beneath him. But there are enough other examples - "modulated", "defunct", "forthcoming" - of questionably used words that it becomes very distracting.

One more critique is the repetitive sentence construction. "Xing ----, he y'ed" was overused. Its especially questionable in a thriller - past is OK but you're getting into real passive territory here even when your verbs are actually pretty active.

"Turning around, he yanked on the cord that dangled from his window blinds, sending them shooting up to the top of the window in a screaming hurry. ...Grabbing a trashcan from the kitchen, he hefted its bulging bag out of it and replacing it with an empty one. Carrying the can over to his desk, he shot out his arm and swept everything but his laptop into the trash.... After shaking his head like a dog to rid his floppy hair of the rain, he shuffled to the counter and ordered....Sipping the hot coffee, he closed his eyes and slipped backward into the parallel universe he’d begun creating a week ago....She sat backward in her chair, facing him with her arms folded across the top of the backrest. ...She modulated the remainder of her response, striving for the happy medium....He glanced at his watch and leaned down to pack up his laptop, replying as he did,....Tipping her a wink, he said...caught up to him, looking ....lay back and closed his eyes he couldn’t stop his mind from racing through the night’s matches, replaying the mistakes..."

On June 23 2011 03:44 MaestroSC wrote:



... amazing.

"Buy this book, cause it says Starcraft 2 and esports."

Which it looks like some people are willing to buy simply because of your gimmicks, but honestly it is kind of amazing that people are willing to exploit something they love.

Some people say this is promoting esports, I would love to hear how a terribly written, horrendously false, and incredibly misleading book about esports is "good for the scene."

(Honestly I don't see this doing anything to actually affect the scene as the only people who are going to buy it are the 4-5 people who just see "esports!!!!" and buy it simply for that. Anyone without those blinders on will not even make it past the preview pages.)

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.