THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!

DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL P.O.D.LINGS WILL BE CLOSING ITS DOORS.

I've enjoyed the opportunity and hopefully have helped some people along the way. But life is life and some wonderful new opportunities with my own writing career, along with other new opportunities have come along and it has become necessary to do some pruning. My schedule will not allow for much more on my plate, so this will be my last post under PODLINGS.

If you've sent a pdf for review, and I didn't get to you, then I would suggest another member or two of the De Facto Review Ring. I appreciate the growing interest and the POD CRITIC for spear heading the new initiative for POD authors. It needs to continue and I'm sure it will. Remember, keep your standards high and you might just find yourself as the next bestseller...it is attainable!

PODLINGMASTER, OVER AND OUT!

THE BATHYS by JONATHAN WARD

The Bathys by Jonathan Ward is typical sci-fi fare with the human race battling an alien race they seemingly have nothing in common with and neither race realizes their actual commonalities...."Enemy Mine," anyone?

The year is 2493, and the human Confederation is at war. The Bathys, an utterly alien species with whom no communication is possible, have risen from their watery homes and attacked the scattered worlds of humanity, destroying everything in their path. The fighting is bitter, and the Confederation is losing. Caught up in the conflict are two people who could not be more different. One is a soldier, dedicated to the defence of the Confederation. The other is a civilian, completely opposed to the war. The wildly different paths they take bring them together as both enemies and unlikely allies. As battle rages all around them, they struggle to uncover the shocking truth behind the war with the Bathys and, perhaps, to do something to stop it.

When a novel receives only two stars from me, this means I probably encountered so many problems that the decent storyline was unable to keep me reading to the end.

To Mr. Ward's credit, he is a very descriptive writer and as far as the story itself is concerned, there is a great deal of action and he throws the reader into the mix very quickly. But this is where compliments end because The Bathys has a number of problems working against it including:

• Editing problems: Paragraph indents are almost non-existent and there are continual grammar problems throughout the novel.
  
• Perspective jumps: Chapter 1 begins in first person -- Chapter 2 goes to omniscient -- Chapter 3 is back to first person -- and Chapter 4 jumps back to omniscient p.o.v. This gets very frustrating after awhile and the story simply wasn't engaging enough to keep me going any further.
  
• The cover is black and white and lacks interest and any tangible connection to the story. My first impression, unfortunately, was Asteroid or something unmentionable.

The Bathys may not be unique in story, but the main problem was execution. There are many unoriginal takes on sci-fi that still manage to be entertaining, but these numerous problems make the effort to continue reading seem wasted.

SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED!

DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL ALL SUBMISSIONS ARE TEMPORARILY HALTED!

Well, that may be a bit on the dramatic side, but you get the drift. We've still got a few to get through and as we wind our way through we'll update you on submissions opening again.

Remember, your friendly neighborhood Spiderman, er POD BOOK REVIEWER doesn't do this for a living and things can stack up in our personal lives which prevent warp speed reading and reviews...so, please be patient on the submission thing.

Thanks, PODLINGS

THE DE FACTO POD REVIEW RING

This is intended as a quick-reference chart of the blogs in The De Facto POD Review Ring. The current eight members are listed in the chart in Date Established Order. Most, but not all, of the members have responded to an e-mail request to enter the data they would like to see stated for their blog site in the chart. The data for the remaining members has been taken directly from the blogs. Please refer to the genre codes at the bottom of the chart. The information is current as of May 1, 2007. Hopefully, this chart will live a long and happy life at various locations on the web, and we can periodically update the information. Thank you to all who are participating in this project.

Name: POD People - http://podpeep.blogspot.com

Blurb: A Review & Commentary Site Devoted to Self-Published BooksFounded: January 10, 2006Submissions: E-book Submissions Closed & Paper Submissions Open as of 4/30/07

Submission Format(s): Electronic versions preferred - paper copies accepted

Author Interviews: Rarely, and only upon request

Articles of Helpful Information for Authors: Yes

Publication Dates Accepted: All

Genres Accepted: All

Preferred Genres: Any

Notes: A small team of (currently 12) reviewers run by two writers who are not self-published, but are enthusiastic about quality poetry and prose in any format. We host both a blog and a fixed website. News, promotions and commentary relating to self-POD may be submitted to the blog and will be posted at our discretion.

Name: Leo Stableford - http://www.leostableford.com

Blurb: One Monkey, One Typewriter, Infinite Deadlines - POD reviews for all interested parties

Founded: January 14, 2006

Submissions: Open for Submissions as of 4/27/07

Submission Format(s): Paper copies preferred; e-books accepted

Author Interviews: No

Articles of Helpful Information for Authors: Yes

Publication Dates Accepted: All

Genres Accepted: Generic Fiction

Preferred Genres: FA HO SF TH YA

Notes: Long-time reviewer rated 4.6/5 by peers at Francis Ford Coppola's zoetrope.com online workshop from over 130 reviews given

Name: iUniverse Book Reviews - http://iunivsersebookreviews.blogspot.com

Blurb: Legitimate Reviews for Deserving iUniverse Authors and Their Readers

Founded: July 12, 2006

Submissions: Open for Submissions as of 5/1/07

Submission Format(s): Actual paper copy of the published iU book required

Author Interviews: Yes

Articles of Helpful Information for Authors: Yes

Publication Dates Accepted: All

Genres Accepted: All genres welcome

Preferred Genres: Cheaters need not apply (See posted Submission Guidelines.)

Notes: Experienced iUniverse author offers tons of personal service.

Name: P.O.D.lings - http://podlingmaster.blogspot.com

Blurb: Hoping to Help Aspiring Authors with Honest Book Reviews

Founded: August 16, 2006

Submissions: Open for Submissions as of 4/27/07

Submission Format(s): PDF and paper

Author Interviews: Yes - Also offers Podcasts

Articles of Helpful Information for Authors: Yes

Publication Dates Accepted: All

Genres Accepted: Self Published & Small to Large Press Novels

Preferred Genres: AA CH FA SF TH YA

Notes: Small-press published author with several novels written

Name: None May Say - http://nonemaysay.blogspot.com

Blurb: Personal Outlay Developed Reviews

Founded: November 23, 2006

Submissions: Open for Submissions as of 4/27/07

Submission Format(s): Various

Author Interviews: No

Articles of Helpful Information for Authors: Yes

Publication Dates Accepted: All

Genres Accepted: All POD media, including music and other art forms

Preferred Genres: Feature reviews of free online booksNotes: Reviews of music not on corporate labels

Name: Pub-ioneer - http://pub-ioneer.blogspot.com

Blurb: "To boldly go..." - Self Published Book Reviews

Founded: November 25, 2006

Submissions: Open for Submissions as of 4/27/07

Submission Format(s): Digital formats preferred

Author Interviews: No

Articles of Helpful Information for Authors: Yes

Publication Dates Accepted: All

Genres Accepted: MF MY SF TH - E-mail synopsis for other genres

Preferred Genres: A taste for dark, edgy, unusual stuff

Notes: No nonfiction, literary, or poetry accepted

Name: POD Critic - http://podbookreview.blogspot.com

Blurb: Where I dissect the books of aspiring writers and publishers who employ print-on-demand technology

Founded: January 30, 2007

Submissions: Closed to Submissions as of 4/15/07

Submission Format(s): Digital file required (PDF preferred; MS Word/RTF accepted)

Author Interviews: Yes, but solely by reviewer's choice

Articles of Helpful Information for Authors: Yes, for authors and micro-presses

Publication Dates Accepted: All - Will apprise of any changes

Genres Accepted: AA BI CE FA HI HO LI ME MY RO SF SU TH YA

Preferred Genres: None - Film, Television, & Speculative Fiction subgenres considered

Notes: Experienced book editor fosters and promotes all aspects of quality work: writing, editing, and production.

Name: The PODler - http://podler.blogspot.com

Blurb: Reviews of POD Published Fiction

Founded: April 6, 2007

Submissions: Open for Submissions as of 4/27/07

Submission Format(s): PDF & TXT files

Author Interviews: Yes

Articles of Helpful Information for Authors: Yes

Publication Dates Accepted: AllGenres Accepted: ES FA HI MY SF SU TH

Preferred Genres: Any of the above

Notes: Home of the International Print on Demand Book Award

Genre Codes: AA - Action Adventure BI - Biography CE - Collected EssaysCH - Children ES - Espionage FA - Fantasy HI - Historical HO - HorrorLI - Literary ME - Memoir MF - Military Fiction MY - Mystery NF - NonfictionRO - Romance SF - SciFi SU - Suspense TH - Thriller YA - Young Adult

ANCESTOR by SCOTT SIGLER

ANCESTOR by Scott Sigler is a high tech horror story about geneticists who unleash man's evolutionary forefather while attempting to produce donor organ animals for human transplant purposes.

This book has been published by small press, Dragon Moon Publishing and they've done a very nice job with the book production...great cover, interior, editing and so forth.

The prose is straightfoward, lacking any eloquence, but since this is a thriller, it delivers the goods. The language is explicit and the violence abundant, so be warned. Ancestor falls short of the HOT! designation only because it lacks the originality of the other stories I've given that award to. This could easily have been another terrific Crichton novel, but doesn't present anything really fresh plot-wise. However, Mr. Sigler has done and excellent job of keeping the tension high and the pacing quick.

One of the more interesting elements about this novel is that it first appeared in a purely podcast form and Sigler has used those legions of fans to propel the novel upon its release to the status of Amazon.com bestseller status, even hitting no.1 on several category lists! Very impressive indeed. Rumor has it that Mr. Sigler may have also been able to secure a major label deal out of those efforts as well...very cool.