Review: Write once, charge twice
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 03 13, 2014
This book seems to form part of a new trend for P&P; variation writers: write one story, divide in parts, and sell is as two (or more) volumes. This doesn't mean it's a longer story, or  a better and more in-depth story, or even that there is a logical division between the two sections (such as vol. 2 picking up years after vol. 1 and dealing with a new phase of the character's life.) No, it is obviously just one book split into installments for which you are charged separately. At least, some authors warn you as part of the book title, calling it "Vol. 1" or whatever. Then you know to stay clear, watch reviews carefully, and wait for all parts to be published.Not all books that come in parts are bad, of course. I'm only referring to books that seem to be intentionally divided for pecuniary reasons. Pamela Aidan is one example of an author that continues one book into the other in an orderly and logical way while still giving you, the reader, whole books and complete stories that stand alone even if you only read one. The quality of her writing is such that you don't mind paying several times what this book costs and still feel you're getting a bargain. Unfortunately, that is not the case here.I had downloaded a sample from my Amazon recommendations, read the first 10% and was entertained; went to "book description" and saw that the price was a bit steep for a short story and that it didn't have any reviews yet (both of which, normally, would deter me) but decided that I would take a chance on a new author. There was no mention on the first screen of "book description" that it was only going to be a partial story. (I would have had to press "more" on the link above "buy" to have found that out in the second screen. I now regret I didn't, because I would not have bought it had I known it would leave me hanging in what might (or might not) be a pivotal moment in the story.I don't feel that I can, honestly, return the book for a refund because I read the whole thing and did not have a moral objection to anything written in it. My objection is of a completely different nature. So I'm stuck with my mistake.If it wasn't for this, I think the book might have rated three stars. Granted, it is nominally interesting and, though not brilliantly original or well-written, it does entertain and manage to maintain some 'canon' personalities while making a great many 'non-canon' assumptions and deviations. If you've read enough variations, you probably won't discover a completely new or different twist, but just so many possibilities exist and the success of a story depends on how they are shuffled and how they fit together. In this case--as far as it has gone, which isn't much--the possibilities work fairly well. Editing and other errors are not as egregious as in many others.Still, I feel cheated on many levels.