Since it’s been over a month now since The Moon King was published, I thought it’d be cool to take a wee look back at how it’s all gone down.
Well, overall, I’d have to say the reception’s been a positive one. We had two launch events (at Eastercon and at Glasgow’s Waterstones, Argyle St). Both were well attended and lots of books were signed and sold. Friends have been reading it and telling me they enjoyed it, which is a relief.
The reviews have been excellent too. I’m adding links on the book’s page, if you’re interested, but some of the more recent ones include: a nice one from SF Crowsnest, a truly lovely one that accompanied my interview in Interzone #252 (but you’ll have to buy the magazine to read it), a very generous comment from Jeffrey Ford, and an interesting experiment over on DF Lewis’s blog in which Des attempts to review the book (or at least his reaction to it) in real time as he’s reading it…without mentioning the plot. Des did the same trick when he was reading The Ephemera, and I have to say I think the format lends itself to collections of stories more than it does to novels, but it’s fascinating following his developing relationship with the book.
And the reader reaction? Well judging from Amazon and Goodreads, it’s pretty much all good, with mostly positive reactions. However, this very morning I finally got…*drum roll*…my first One Star Amazon review. The reader believes the book to be “longwinded and pointless” and “a true disappointment”.
Which is totally fine because I always thought TMK would be a book people would either enjoy or not enjoy. I’m delighted that it’s pleased so many so far, but no book will please everyone. And this review, if it does anything, absolutely convinces me that the book is out there in the real world.
Which I still have to pinch myself to believe.
ayeahmur 