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Harriet Klausner's reviews


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Mithfânion
May 18th, 2004, 01:07 PM
Should you ever encounter this woman's rewiews on Amazon (and you will, because she reviews about half of all the books coming out in the various genres and is Amazon's top reviewer by a considerable margin), always keep in mind that she is a shill who is yet to publish a 3 out of 5 star review (and she has reviewed thousands already). She is extremely prolific and during my first Amazon dwellings I too was mislead by her. Why do I post this? Because with new books, she is often the only one to have reviewed the book (this is because publisher's send her advanced reading copies) and this may lead you to believe that the book is actually good based on her review, since this person appraised it so. This is not to say that books she reviews are autmatically crap, just that she has never read a book that she doesn't like and that the reviews are very misleading to anyone actually looking for info on that new book. With more famous names you might think that it's very possible that the woman actually thinks it's excellent, but I picked this obscure little May release to show exactly how extreme a shill she is :)

" FAERIE TALES contains twelve delightful stories from a virtual fantasist who's who. Each contribution entertains the audience with its enjoyable link between humanity and faerie lands that make the latter seem genuine. Many of the stories actually provide deep messages, which normally are surprising for shorts yet with authors like De Lint, Rusch, Hoyt, Huff, and Spencer, etc. it is to be expected. The other contributors are also top rate (Waggoner, Helfers, Fiscus, Lindskold, Stemple, Scarborough, and West) furbishing winners as Greenberg and Davis obviously got the top guns to provide a tale. Some inputs are amusing while others contain serious tones, but all are fun. Fans of fantasies will appreciate this strong compilation in which each contribution holds the bar of excellence at the highest levels. An aside to Mr. Greenberg the guru of anthologies: looking forward to seeing how you can top this treasure."

Yes Harriet, truly the top names of the genre

:eek:

DrBloodmoney1
May 18th, 2004, 01:18 PM
Well I only know four of them and I'm pretty well-versed in the fantasy genre.

De Lint, Tanya Huff, Jane Lindskold, and Michelle West.

Top of the genre they are not, except De Lint who is more the top of a particular niche in fantasy.

After having seen so many reviews by Ms. Klausner, I completely disregard them now. Actually I generally disregard all of the Amazon reviews and trust solely the info I gather from the various fantasy forums I visit.

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JohnH
May 18th, 2004, 01:25 PM
***********************

Julian
May 18th, 2004, 03:00 PM
keep in mind that she is a shill who is yet to publish a 3 out of 5 star review


Sorry, Mith, too stupid to understand this. What is a shill & why is this relevant to publishing a "3 out of 5 star review"?? Does that mean she's an idiot who never gave less than three stars to anything she did (or perhaps did not) read?

Shehzad
May 18th, 2004, 03:08 PM
I would say: someone who has never published anything less than a 4/5 star interview.

I just skip right over her reviews. Not even worth dignifying them.

scooter13
May 18th, 2004, 03:28 PM
Yeah, I got suckered in by her, too. I understand that someone can have the opposite opinion as me, or other reviewers, but there can't be that many good books out there that they all get a 4 or better. I just ignore her reviews as well.

Radone
May 18th, 2004, 06:47 PM
I don't believe that this is a real person, or at least that she alone is responsible for the Amazon reviews. There was one day in April where while feeling masochistic, I counted up the reviews that she had done on one particular day. The total was 41 or 51. And all the days stacked around this particular day had no less than 5 or 6.
Her reviews are useless as they are all of the cheerleader variety and contain no real criticism of any books.

Keyoke
May 18th, 2004, 07:20 PM
I actually had found a website that was her's, so, I am pretty sure she is a legit person.

As to her reviews, yes, I have yet to find a book she did not think was top notch. It drives me mad. It seems that she writes reviews by reading the back of the book. They are so general. "Fabulous Charaterization, Well thought out world" are some of the generic terms I see.

I can't stand seeing her reviews now since they are plastered on websites. Probably makes a commision of some sort on the amount of reviews she does. :)

Keyoke

JohnH
May 18th, 2004, 07:46 PM
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Eventine
May 18th, 2004, 09:20 PM
That's assuming she gets the ARCs and just doesn't read the blurb from the site...

 

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