I, for one, love serialized fiction. Those of us who had the pleasure of following Desert Dropping from its inception were so involved in the story, so not patiently waiting for the next installment, and so busy speculating in the Domaholics forum about what may or may not happen next that any perceived drag in the plot wasn’t noticeable. Reading the story in one sitting, as our reviewer probably did, wouldn’t produce the same drama as installment reading did for the rest of us. And, of course, it’s full of teenage angst. It is supposed to be. Dom is, and will always be, the King of Teenage Angst.
Anyone who reviews a story is certainly entitled to his or her opinion. That’s the beauty of fiction. It’s subjective based on a reader’s wants, feelings, desires. My opinion of a story doesn’t have to match your opinion to give that story value.
Desert Dropping isn’t my favorite Dom story. Rory has to be the whineiest little shit ever created. Somewhere buried in a thread in his forum, Dom even said Rory was the most annoying character he’d created. But to be able to create a character that causes your readers to want to reach through their computer screen and strangle is a magical skill. Not all authors have it; it’s not something that can be taught. Dom had the ability to make it look easy.
*As a side note to management: I disliked the way this review was presented. Lugh knew exactly what he was doing by withholding the reviewer’s identity and, with his opening gambit, intentionally baiting a portion of this site’s membership while Cia stood by with her ruler smacking anyone’s knuckles that responded just the way Lugh wanted. It’s like some twisted version of good cop, bad cop. Other author reviews have been handled in a straightforward manner. This one wasn’t just to make a point. I have never understood that fine line of utter contempt this site shows toward one of its best and most popular authors.