Reading Daniel Wilson’s Clockwork Dynasty I find myself wondering if he wanted to write a fantasy novel and decided the way to do such was to focus on the idea of Clockwork. I also wonder if there is a hint of the deeper ideas of magic in all of this. The book is well written but falls below the level of Robopacolypse by far. It is not as memorable and creates more questions in each chapter than can possibly be resolved at story’s end. It is also a rather effective learning tool I am discovering what to do and what not to do as a writer by exploring what people have (and have not) been successful doing in their narratives. Success is such a funny thing to me. You find your niche audience and, depending on how wide the niche, you will be successful. Still others will see that same writing as crap and avoid it completely. I fear this is the basic construct of literature–with a few responsible for the choosing.
Some Thoughts:
- Biden says he will pick a Black Woman for SCOTUS. Why say that up front? Transparency? All you’ve done here is given the opposition party more ammo to gun at whomever you ultimately pick. In fact, they’ll work doubly hard to ensure it isn’t a black woman simply to show you are a failure. Come on, man. This is rookie level. Just do it and don’t talk about it up front.