Rogue Pol
Last night Kapoor took his novel's new prologue to the critique group, partially disguised as a standalone short story with the meaningless title "Rogue Pol" (an anagram of "prologue") so that no one would be scared off by the possibility that Kapoor might be preparing to make them read the whole novel again.
The story concerned the first meeting between two of Gone to Earth's three protagonists, Shika Praluna and the artificial intelligence Loq. Those who were unfamiliar with the novel seemed okay with the story. One reader found it "readable" and "enjoyable". Another said she loved the characters, which is a good sign given Kapoor's trouble with characterization. Even a usually critical reader said she enjoyed it, and one reader wrote "Amazing."
The problems with the story seemed relatively minor. The story is framed by meetings between Praluna and her boss, and a few readers complained that it was unsatisfying. Another said the story had an interesting concept, but he had difficulty following it due to unclear wording and descriptions. Others didn't feel that Loq's personality problems could be cured so easily (they're right; Loq's never really what we would consider "normal" throughout the entire novel).
The story appears to work as a prologue (one reader wrote he'd love to see more of it, another wrote explicitly that it didn't "feel much like a story...more like a prologue"), but Kapoor must try to show more of Loq's personality. That's a challenge given how disinclined she is to show any personality. Praluna's point of view is "oddly flat" and needs an emotional tone. The nature of the emotional abuse to which Loq was subjected must be made clear.
Three people out of seven offered predominantly positive critiques. That produces a rating of 43%, which is unusually good and indicates that minor fixes are all that are needed. Kapoor's novel now has a prologue.
The story concerned the first meeting between two of Gone to Earth's three protagonists, Shika Praluna and the artificial intelligence Loq. Those who were unfamiliar with the novel seemed okay with the story. One reader found it "readable" and "enjoyable". Another said she loved the characters, which is a good sign given Kapoor's trouble with characterization. Even a usually critical reader said she enjoyed it, and one reader wrote "Amazing."
The problems with the story seemed relatively minor. The story is framed by meetings between Praluna and her boss, and a few readers complained that it was unsatisfying. Another said the story had an interesting concept, but he had difficulty following it due to unclear wording and descriptions. Others didn't feel that Loq's personality problems could be cured so easily (they're right; Loq's never really what we would consider "normal" throughout the entire novel).
The story appears to work as a prologue (one reader wrote he'd love to see more of it, another wrote explicitly that it didn't "feel much like a story...more like a prologue"), but Kapoor must try to show more of Loq's personality. That's a challenge given how disinclined she is to show any personality. Praluna's point of view is "oddly flat" and needs an emotional tone. The nature of the emotional abuse to which Loq was subjected must be made clear.
Three people out of seven offered predominantly positive critiques. That produces a rating of 43%, which is unusually good and indicates that minor fixes are all that are needed. Kapoor's novel now has a prologue.