Storyteller by Edward Myers

So I picked up Storyteller out of fear. I have been working on a storyline that sounded eerily similar to this one for several years, and when I saw this book on the shelf my heart sank with the concern that only rookie writers have: "oh no, someone already wrote my book!"

Of course, that is ridiculous and as I got into this book its ridiculousness was confirmed. This book is nothing like my book. The characters are different, the plot is different, this one is finished, mine only has a few chapters. This one is published, mine is destined to be a rarely downloaded e-book.

So was it a good book? Umm... more or less. Was it a waste of time? Not remotely. Why? Well, only one chapter into the book I formed two opinions. First, I was convinced that this was a first-time author, and second, I was also convinced that if this book could be published, then mine had a shot as well. It wasn't a horrible story, but it lacked the polished touch of most published books. There were two timelines to deal with and very short choppy chapters that kept you from really digging into the plot. It was 2/3 of the way through the book when I finally felt involved in the story and cared about the characters and what was happening to them. If I were to compare this to one of my previous reads it would be the Book of Story Beginnings, although that one is a notch or two above Storyteller. It could also be compared to The Book of Lies.

Unfortunately, I was wrong. It turns out that Meyers has written a number of books. I was surprised, but in either case I thank him for the motivation I got from the experience. It is good to have that "I could make it" attitude.

Date Completed: 10/31/08
Rating: 3.1