If anybody visiting my blog were in any doubt about what thriller to buy this Christmas, here's the recommendation of Simon & Schuster's Editorial Director of Fiction, Maxine Hitchcock!
Hi Dean, I am the person who you responded to on the Amazon review. I just read what you wrote. I want you to know that it wasn't criticism about my religion I couldn't handle. Believe me, as a Catholic I am very much used to it. And I wouldn't get to read much or watch any telly if I was easily offended or wasn't able to take criticism. Maybe i'm wrong but I did feel, as a reader, that you felt we were stupid for having our beliefs. Not because of the crazy preacher, there are always nutters like that around, but in the scientific explanations etc. I'm sorry if you felt my review was unfair but it was how I felt. I have deleted it now. I still wish you lots of success.
I did wonder if you were one and the same, but wasn't sure... For what it's worth, none of the other novels in my series deal with the subject matter that Covenant confronts, so there's no agenda here or anything.
I responded to the review simply because you appeared to have scored Covenant low on the basis of it conflicting with your beliefs, as opposed to it being a 'bad' book, which I did feel was a bit unfair. You also wrote about how I had "no respect for religion or people's beliefs", in capitals. This is not true, and there is no criticism of religion in the novel - it's critical of blind faith in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, something which is indeed dangerous when found in political discourse and other circles of power.
The science regarding evolution and the origin of life etc within the novel is all real, true and easily researchable: I've had a few mails ( especially from the USA ) from people very shaken by what they've read in Covenant. It's not the book that they have a problem with, but the implications of the science - the fact that we're made of nothing more than stardust,to name but one. There wasn't room to fit in everything I learned during my research and my agent asked that I remove some things from the original draft that he felt would genuinely terrify and alienate many readers from religious groups, but I think that the book's message is none the less very clear. Speaking of which, it's a message mostly directed at America, where religious political activism is much more aggressive than here in the UK.
I do welcome all criticism of the book's contents, because I know that I can defend it without problem - that's what science enables people to do, find the truth. But I certainly don't have any issue with what people believe, just as long as they don't pass it off onto others as 'fact'.
I hope that your issue with the content within Covenant doesn't put you off reading further books in the series, and I hope Phil is still working hard at his own novels.
2 comments:
Hi Dean, I am the person who you responded to on the Amazon review. I just read what you wrote. I want you to know that it wasn't criticism about my religion I couldn't handle. Believe me, as a Catholic I am very much used to it. And I wouldn't get to read much or watch any telly if I was easily offended or wasn't able to take criticism. Maybe i'm wrong but I did feel, as a reader, that you felt we were stupid for having our beliefs. Not because of the crazy preacher, there are always nutters like that around, but in the scientific explanations etc. I'm sorry if you felt my review was unfair but it was how I felt. I have deleted it now. I still wish you lots of success.
Hi Eloise,
I did wonder if you were one and the same, but wasn't sure... For what it's worth, none of the other novels in my series deal with the subject matter that Covenant confronts, so there's no agenda here or anything.
I responded to the review simply because you appeared to have scored Covenant low on the basis of it conflicting with your beliefs, as opposed to it being a 'bad' book, which I did feel was a bit unfair. You also wrote about how I had "no respect for religion or people's beliefs", in capitals. This is not true, and there is no criticism of religion in the novel - it's critical of blind faith in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, something which is indeed dangerous when found in political discourse and other circles of power.
The science regarding evolution and the origin of life etc within the novel is all real, true and easily researchable: I've had a few mails ( especially from the USA ) from people very shaken by what they've read in Covenant. It's not the book that they have a problem with, but the implications of the science - the fact that we're made of nothing more than stardust,to name but one. There wasn't room to fit in everything I learned during my research and my agent asked that I remove some things from the original draft that he felt would genuinely terrify and alienate many readers from religious groups, but I think that the book's message is none the less very clear. Speaking of which, it's a message mostly directed at America, where religious political activism is much more aggressive than here in the UK.
I do welcome all criticism of the book's contents, because I know that I can defend it without problem - that's what science enables people to do, find the truth. But I certainly don't have any issue with what people believe, just as long as they don't pass it off onto others as 'fact'.
I hope that your issue with the content within Covenant doesn't put you off reading further books in the series, and I hope Phil is still working hard at his own novels.
Best wishes,
Dean
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