Subject: YW-fan, here
Author:
Posted on: 2010-05-30 14:18:00 UTC
I'm not sure I make a very good beta - I can proofread, and I can tell when a phrasing or style isn't working, but I can't always figure out or communicate how to fix it - but I'm quite familiar with Young Wizards and the two published Feline Wizards books.
Contrariwise, I know just enough of Vorkosigan - and that purely by osmosis - to know that Barrayar is a major setting there.
I'm looking for betas. It's a fanfic, not a PPC mission, but it's a crossover, and my two main characters are a very not-main character and an OC, and I want to make sure they're not Mary Sues and that the crossover works. Therefore I ask you guys for help.
The fic is about 10,000 words long. It's mostly set on Barrayar, and the main characters are feline wizards. Let's see... there's discussion of suicide, but that's the only real warning.
Ideally I'd like to have two betas: one familiar with Young Wizards but not the Vorkosigan Saga and one familiar with the Vorkosigan Saga but not Young Wizards. (They're small enough fandoms that I can't count on readers knowing both, so I want to make sure it's readable if you only know one.) Anyone (or two) up for the job?
And to justify the existence of this post for people who clicked but don't want to beta, here is Lois McMaster Bujold reading the first part of Cryoburn, her Vorkosigan Saga book that comes out this fall. Fans, listen. Non-fans, listen anyway; you might get hooked. (Seriously, if you like military/mystery/political/lots of other stuff sci-fi, her books are really enjoyable. And she's won something like five Hugo Awards. So getting people to read LMB's stuff is the other point of this post.)
...I know Young Wizards and the first two Feline Wizards books.
...and the Feline Wizardry saga is my favorite - I actually read those books before the Young Wizards series itself. If you're still looking for a beta, I'd love to help out.
Haven't read Vorkosigan Saga yet, but I hear it is quite good so I've been meaning to put it on my list. :)
Thanks! Should I email it to you?
Yeah, I'm still dreaming of the day when The Big Meow gets updated.
I like the Young Wizards series, though I've only read the first book, but I would like to read more.
Also, I've never read the Vorksoigan Saga. Is it any good?
Bujold is an excellent writer. If you want to see what the Vorkosigan Saga is like, one of her short stories can be read for free here. It's set on Barrayar and not as military sci-fi as most of the Vorkosigan Saga books, but it's good if you want a taste of what her writing is like. I think it won a Hugo Award, and it's pretty Glarunging good.
I think it is. The world is your basic future setting, with FTL travel available and genetic engineering commonplace; and the main character (in most of the books; some focus on secondary characters) is a guy who's basically nobility on his home world, but has a secret identity as a mercenary. The interesting part of it is that the implications of FTL travel, genetic engineering, cryonics, and all the other technologies they have are really thoroughly explored in relation to their impact on the culture and politics of the world. Some sci-fi series are basically just modern life transplanted to space; this one is more like a different world. So yeah, it's pretty good.
I'm not sure I make a very good beta - I can proofread, and I can tell when a phrasing or style isn't working, but I can't always figure out or communicate how to fix it - but I'm quite familiar with Young Wizards and the two published Feline Wizards books.
Contrariwise, I know just enough of Vorkosigan - and that purely by osmosis - to know that Barrayar is a major setting there.
Even if you just point out stuff where it isn't working, that would be really helpful. Should I email it to you?
I am dependent for reading material mostly on my local library, so that I am often missing one or more books, usually the newest but sometimes the oldest.
I think I've read either one or two of the feline wizards books in the Young Wizards series (I'm more familiar with the ones which feature the human wizards), and about three or four out of the Vorkosigan saga.
So if you can't find someone with a more comprehensive knowledge than that, I'd be willing to help out.
Should I email it to you? It's in a few different chapters.
I think I might be the only one who's offering who knows the Vorkosigan Saga. But maybe you should also ask someone who knows the feline wizards spinoff a bit better than I do; between us we could figure things out.
My e-mail is lisa450 at yahoo dot com.
I'll email it to you.
If so, then I'm somewhat familiar with it. I read through Wizard Abroad and own the first in the series. I can also look up any information I need, though if you'd prefer someone who's read all of canon, I understand. And I'm perfectly willing to beta.
I've never even heard of the second, so no problem there.
--anamia
Thank you very much for offering, but I think I'll go with someone a little more familiar with it.