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Review Quakes and Storms: A Natural Disaster Anthology

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. . . . . Not Yet Rated  

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. . . . . No Rating  
Dec. 30, 2007 By Jenny Torgerson
"Pass on This One"
The introduction to this book is a rambling, incoherent, and ungrammatical mass, and the back cover copy is even worse. Lines like, "Do not photocopy...the contents of this publication unless given kind permission is given by the authors or editors involed with the project" and, "Proceeds of this anthology goes..." are but a couple of examples.

The stories range in quality, but I thought four stood out as better than the rest – “As Lost as a Northwest Alabamian in a Snowstorm” (non-fiction/essay), "Half the Storm", "Just Passing Through" and "Peas in a Pod".

By far the worst stories are "Utica, Illinois" and “Flood Memoir”... More > written by the editor himself. Like the introduction, these are rambling, incoherent, and ungrammatical. They lack any semblance of a plot, mention "horrors" without actually describing them and make references to what movie the situation is like. “Any Port in a Storm" was also poorly written. The story takes place on a cruise ship at a never-specified time in a never-specified place. It’s a story without any background or context. And without any characterization.

Other stories had major problems and could have used some editing. Several fell victim to bad science. For example, in "Element of Surprise", an asteroid strikes the Eastern Seaboard with almost no warning. "The Way Things Were" has both the unexpected eruption of an active volcano AND an unexpected tidal wave hitting -- again -- the Eastern Seaboard. While these events make for good drama, an asteroid can't sneak up on the Earth with our modern capability to monitor the space around us. Likewise, we have systems in place to watch for tsunamis, and active volcanoes tend to have geologists running all over them.

The bad science that occurs in "The Avalanche of St. Aspin" is of a different kind. The author clearly has some knowledge of what makes snow conditions ripe for an avalanche, but she seems to have a limited knowledge of airplanes. The story also mentions a victim who had third-degree burns over 95% of her body, but who was given a "good chance of survival". Third-degree burns of that extent would be fatal, probably within hours.

Many of the stories, however, fell into that middle ground where the writing is neither good nor horrible, but where there are crucial plot problems or the writing just doesn’t grab one’s attention.

The supposed non-fiction essays confused me the most. It says in the intro that there are three non-fiction pieces. However, only one story is labeled – in the sub-title – as non-fiction. The reader is left to guess about the others.

In summary, I cannot recommend this anthology. The few good stories don’t make up for the weaker ones, and the shoddy writing and editing of the editor bring down the whole project.
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. . . . . No Rating  
Sep. 14, 2007 By Darren Toledano
"Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: I got blurbs " What are you doing, man? This review is almost a year old and you're still bitching about pirated copies. Let's face it, there's been copies of your work floating around the Net for years, and released by you. So just relax.
. . . . . No Rating  
Feb. 14, 2008 By Tad Worshon
"Re: fuck off Shadowtron" I pointed you to a photo, nothingmore. Your incompetence is what lead to the actual copyright violation. Check your sources, my friend.
. . . . . No Rating  
Jan. 13, 2010 By Nickolaus Pacione
I guess some of you leaving the bad reviews actually set the match to the book on youtube.com (I know some of you Hilter's are behind it.) Each author did a good job with their stories, my own story gained me a nickname that I a have a hard time living up. David Lee Sumers said this of me, "What H.P. Lovecraft does with the supernatural, Nickolaus Pacione does with natural disasters."
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Apr. 5, 2011 By Nickolaus Pacione
"a friendly wager."

This is the most abusive review I've seen on here and I will get you pulled from here. If you don't like an anthology project, why don't you create your own? You got the account on here now do one and see how it turns out. Since you like to steal my work, I suggest you do an anthology with your new found friend in Koalin.

A land hurricane is when the winds are strong and they are the same force winds as a hurricane. This is something I encountered living in Iowa. Those of you who give the malicious reviews of the book. I have one question, have you even read the book without taking a steamer on the thing. Utica is one an editor read as I was doing the... More > anthology and coined me what H.P. Lovecraft did with the supernatural, I did with Natural Disasters.

So Julie I really think you're talking out of your anus when you're blasting this book. I've written another story using a concept based upon what I did with Utica and added the supernatural elements into it. Utica is a story I was doing experimation with. So those of you who do these one star reviews. Shut up and read the book before you do them. Thank you. < Less

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Product Details

ISBN 978-1-4116-3888-4
Copyright Standard Copyright License
Publisher Melyssa G. Sprott
Published May 27, 2006
Language English
Pages 251
 
Binding Perfect-bound Paperback
Interior Ink Black & white
Dimensions (inches) 6.0 wide × 9.0 tall

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