Review: The Red Effect

[Meadow]

Read @Coiler's review of The Red Effect here, and discuss it in this thread.

 

[Alex Richards]

This one certainly sounds like a missed opportunity, sort of 'but we've got to see the battles, that's what people are buying it for' in execution.

 

[David Flin]

From the sound of it, it seems like the book was in desperate need of good editing and redrafting.

For a start, I'd suggest that the end point should be when WW3 starts. Once that has happened, the Intelligence efforts (which appear to be the focus of the start) enter a different phase.

And, speaking personally, I hate it when real people are used, but with the name very slightly altered. Either devise a new character, or be faithful to the original.

 

[Skinny87]

I do wonder why these types of books slightly change the names of historical characters. I've seen it before and it grates, primarily because I've no idea why it's done - surely the authors can't fear legal action?

It's as if @Meadow had written Agent Lavender about 'Harry White' and his escape being aided by 'Jerry Copperbarn'

 

[David Flin]

I do wonder why these types of books slightly change the names of historical characters. I've seen it before and it grates, primarily because I've no idea why it's done - surely the authors can't fear legal action?

It's as if @Meadow had written Agent Lavender about 'Harry White' and his escape being added by 'Jerry Copperbarn'

The most glaring and painful example I've seen was one where Britain's first female PM was a Margaret Fletcher.

It just grates for me.

 

[napoleon IV]

I do wonder why these types of books slightly change the names of historical characters. I've seen it before and it grates, primarily because I've no idea why it's done - surely the authors can't fear legal action?

It's as if @Meadow had written Agent Lavender about 'Harry White' and his escape being added by 'Jerry Copperbarn'

I wonder if they're trying to have their cake and eat it too. If you create a wholly fictional character, you have to introduce them to the audience and explain who they are and what they're like. If you use a historical character, you have to be somewhat faithful to how they acted in real life. But if you use a real person with the serial numbers filed off, the audience already knows who they are, and you can have them act differently from their OTL counterpart. At least in theory, in practice it's just bad writing.

 

[Coiler]

I have to admit it was strangely fun to count the exact numbers of infodumps and viewpoint shifts.