I LOVE that this was written in parable form! It made learning so enjoyable. I wish all writing books were like this. Not only did I get to learn about writing fiction, I was reading fiction, without all the cryptic deconstructing you have to do with a regular novel.

I looked at the snowflake method briefly before, but didn't really understand it, so I kind of passed it by. I've been writing for a while, but honestly have been unable to find a groove. I started out pantsing, but it's easy to become lost in the story or stuck or where to go next. Then I tried planning, but I easily fizzed out on that, mostly abandoning the outline as problems arose with the planned story. The snowflake method has blown my mind. It's like writing and planning all at once, with none of the time-wasting and none of the drudgery. After reading this book, I'm more enthused than ever to get back to writing, and even rewriting. I need to deconstruct some old stories and fix them, but I'm confident I will be snowflaking from here on out. It's just right. :D

I downloaded this as an Amazon freebie because I like time travel. I didn't really know what else the book was going to be about to be honest. I'd recommend you not to read the full blurb since it's one of those that tell so much about the story already.

 

American archaeologist Rivka (who happens to know a lot of dead languages by the way) learns about Ari and his time travel device and gets trapped in the Jerusalem of 2000 years ago.

 

At first I thought the book was a bit too strong on the religion side, and although is was more interesting since I know less about the different groups of Jewish faith but there's a scene particularly anti-Christian (and I don't like my books anti-anything). I was afraid this would be the tone for the rest of the novel, but luckily, although religion does seem to play an important role in the rest of the novel it didn't feel pushy anymore and it didn't really bother me.

 

Rivka's transgression into the new society is very smooth. She happens to know the language and figures out extremely easy how it's supposed to be spoken. There are a few mentions in the beginning of her finding the right wording, but after that she can hold very long and difficult conversations. The same goes for the rest of her transgression. The story that Damien tells her is utter crap and I can't believe she fell for that even in the beginning.

 

Besides these things I did find myself enjoying the novel, but not so much I'm already planning to read the rest of the novels. Perhaps some day.

 

Transgression is the first book in the City of God series, the other books are Premonition and Retribution.

Quick review for a quick refresher read. I picked this up as my first read of the year because of some of the goals I'd set for myself in the new year. Granted, I have my own method of writing that I follow with composing a novel, but I always like to look at other methods and processes, and see how they may work for me.

I've known about the Snowflake Method for a while now, but this was my first time perusing this little book with its creative explanation of it. I liked it, even if sometimes the method of explaining the concept was a little convoluted. It did a decent job of summarizing key points at the end, and showing how the author used his own method to plot the story given in this guide. I liked the step by step application, and no doubt I'll refer to it when I find myself needing a visual example of how this method is applied.

Overall, a valuable read.

Overall rating: 3/5 stars.

Lots of twists, turns, and suspense in the plot of this continuation of the Mars mission story which began in Oxygen. The ending was funny & clever, but a bit abrupt. This was a fun read that you're sure to enjoy if you liked Oxygen, however, I liked Oxygen a little better so I gave The Fifth Man 4 stars.

No spoilers here. Oxygen is a story about the first manned flight to Mars. It starts a bit slow but, after introducing all of the main characters, the suspense builds to thriller levels by the climax. This is good, old-fashioned science fiction -- stuff that could happen in the near future -- not fantasy. There is some very light romance, but the astronauts' mission is what's central to this story.