ZT Review at Blogcritics + Baltimore City Paper Article
Posted on September 24, 2008 Posted by John Scalzi 5 Comments
There’s a very nice review of Zoe’s Tale going on over at Blogcritics (which recently became part of the Technorati media empire, so well done on them), and the reviewer (author Mel Odom) seems taken with the character of Zoë herself:
Zoe is a marvelous character and leaps from the pages. As a kid, I knew girls like her. As an adult, I raised a daughter like her in so many ways. The fierce independence and need to shield her parents from her world (and to protect her privacy) was endearing.
Scalzi’s voice in the first-person narrative is pitch-perfect. If I hadn’t known the writer was male, I wouldn’t have believed it. The views and opinions Zoe and her best friend Gretchen shared were incredibly well done.
I’m always happy when other people like Zoë, so I’m fond of her myself, although this is the first time I’ve heard someone note feeling a connection with the character from the parental point of view. That’s kind of neat.
(Note: Readers with very long memories might remember that I was the person who actually gave the Blogcritics site its name, and I let them use a few of my music reviews when they were starting out. I haven’t had anything to do with them operationally for a few years, however. Also, in an interesting coincidence, Mel Odom and I have the same agent. Science fiction, it’s a small world.)
Concurrently, I’m quoted in a Baltimore City Paper article on the YA and science fiction genres, along with Scott Westerfeld, Cory Doctorow and Gwenda Bond, among others. It’s pretty interesting, and worth your time to check out.
“Note: Readers with very long memories might remember that I was the person who actually gave the Blogcritics site its name”
I can’t remember what happened last week, never mind lon ago. But good on you.
Zoe is on top of the pile to read next but the book I just finished was Doctorow’s Little Brother. What an amazing book. Loved it. I hope the kids who read it get as much out of it as I did.
Well, I think it is your best book. Funny, I began it thinking “he’s got to start branching out” and by the time I finished, I was going “this is the best one yet; he needs to do more books in this universe!”
Fewer battles and much more relationships. Zoe is a person I really care for and like.
I just thought i’d let you know, i’m in the process of restoring my first car, a 1989 Ford Escort Pony in white, just like yours! My car stopped being driven in September 04, because i had a nicer cadillac, and gas was cheap. Now my old lexus costs 80 a fillup. So i decided to bring this car from the dead. Can i ask, what kind of gas mileage did you average in this thing? What happened to yours? What did you replace it with? my email is ghoshehomar@gmail.com I hope my escort will be as reliable and enjoyable as yours!
http://hagelrat.blogspot.com/2008/09/john-scalzi-last-colony.html
Excellent review of the last colony by Geek Monkey.