hugo awards

Review of Don’t Live for Your Obituary: Advice, Commentary and Personal Observations on Writing, 2008-2017 by John Scalzi

In the interests of full disclosure, I was sent an ARC of this book by the publisher through NetGalley for review purposes. All my reviews, good, bad, or indifferent, are based on my own opinion and from my personal viewpoint. They are also spoiler free.

 

First things first. This is not a novel. It is a collection of curated posts from John Scalzi’s Whatever blog.

If you have followed his blog since 2008, much of the book will not be new material. There are introductions to many of the posts with additional information and insights, however.

If you, like me, have only read the occasional blog post over the years, or none at all, you will find it at various times informative, educational, opinionated, interesting, not interesting, and sometimes a rant.

It is organized by topic, rather than timeline, which can be entertaining when the technology being discussed changes without warning. Although many of the topics are specifically related to writing and are directed at writers, as long as you are interested in how books come to be it is still definitely worth the time.

John Scalzi’s precise use of language, in and of itself, made this a joy to read.

 

I give it 4 stars.

 

https://subterraneanpress.com/dont-live-for-your-obituary

Title: Don't Live for Your Obituary
Author: John Scalzi