The Best Worst Book Ever
Contains Spoilers: Read the book first.
As a harsh critic of genre fiction and even harsher critic of the genre writers, I found many of my criticisms validated by the novella, Micro God by K.R. Martin. Martin is a book critic on YouTube whose review of an indie author’s book, first caught my attention. This thorough, funny review sent me searching Amazon for the indie author and to learn if Martin published books. The discovery of Martin’s novella Micro God should have induced joyous reading but instead caused lament for western civilization’s death heralded by pervasive illiteracy. No, Micro God was not the cause of my dismay, but rather the complete lack of understanding of the book by readers.
The Video that Led me to Micro God
Summarizing Micro God ruins the reading experience because the novel’s satirical view of amateur genre fiction writers is best left to the reader’s discovery, or so I thought until the reviewers revealed the need for spoilers. Filled with every mistake possible by a fiction writer reveals Micro God, an uncomplicated parody of the hero’s journey through Detroit’s mean, crime-infested streets. Many hyperbolic idioms and endless redundancies intended to show terrible fiction writing also seems to slap the reader’s face with satire.
“Are you kidding?!” Clarence shouted. “They would have killed me!” “Better to die on one’s feet than live on one’s knees.” Clarence was in huge trouble. (Micro God p. 35. Kindle Edition)
Unsatisfied by the abundant use of adjectives and idiomatic motifs, Martin employs obvious allusions, movie references, and derivative character elements to illustrate the book’s theme. Going as far as to name the main characters “Clarke,” “Chloe,” and “Clarence,” Martin hammers satire, invoking many action movie stereotypes, overused archetypes, and dialogue masquerading as meaningful.
“You know, you don’t have to be so hard on him,” Hall said. “He looked like he thought you were going to kill him.”
“Some people need to be pushed like that in order to have any motivation or drive. I just said what he had to hear and did what was necessary.”
“You catch more bees with honey than vinegar,” Hall said, picking up a new clipboard from the tray behind her. “What do you do with the people who don’t give in the way Clarence does?”
Clarke paused for a moment before answering. “Some people aren’t worth saving. I just weed out the weak and parasitic while trying to preserve the potentially useful.”
“Everyone’s worth saving,” Hall said adamantly. (Micro God pp. 37–38. Kindle Edition)
Despite providing a good laugh, the humorous novella didn’t seem to warrant further discussion, but I was wrong because Micro God formed a story far too complex for the average genre reader. Once again, the genre fiction writers and readers compelled me to discuss them by leaving reviews void of understanding the book. Voltaire turned in his grave as I read the good reviews that had nothing to do with satire or social commentary but instead talked about Micro God as a serious fantasy novel. One reviewer claimed the protagonist to be a “sympathetic character” and claimed the writing “tight” with “good pacing.”
Clarke, the protagonist, is not sympathetic; he is a superhero caricature, and worse yet, the writing is awkward and the pacing terrible because it is supposed to be. Even the bad reviews are bad reviews, missing the mark with people claiming the book “poorly written” and “not exemplary of Martin’s literature critiquing knowledge.” From his grave, Harold Bloom screams,
“It’s satire, fool!”
How these reviewers felt competent and justified reviewing a book they didn’t understand defies logic. Worse yet, many of these individuals are amateur genre fiction writers discerned easily from their nonsensical talk of pacing, plot, and other literary elements escaping their comprehension. This problem should not have surprised me since people who only read genre fiction or nothing often believe they can write a novel after watching Harry Potter and Stephen King movies.
Perhaps most disturbing to me is the genre fiction writer’s oblivious nature highlighted in Martin’s video above. The book’s author claims Martin is “a kid immersed in fourth-rate media” when he should have seen the attacks on his book as signs of writing issues. While authors go overlooked or ignored and prove critics wrong, believing this to be true without rigorously examining criticism begs for poor writing. The inability to accept criticism has long plagued literature, but the internet echo chamber promulgates the problem into a literary crisis where reviews become suspect. Independent and published authors form networks of fans and friends to provide desired reviews, making improvement impossible. Highlighting this crisis makes Micro God a true success for showing the tragedy of believing one’s fiction. (A delusion Martin clearly identifies in the video of the reviewed author, applicable to Micro God’s reviewers.)
A comedic and entertaining read for those who enjoy satire and have a strong interest in writing, Micro God also provides aspiring fiction writers a humorous way to learn how not to write. Sadly, their comprehension of Micro God remains unlikely, but kudos to Martin for delivering a funny and educational book in the shadow of the coming dark age.
This makes the fourth in over a year of attempted reviews of They can’t kill us until they kill us by Hanif Abdurraqib, not for difficulty understanding but seeking a starting point. Perhaps more than the book, Abdurraqib is the best beginning since we travel his life as a poet, culture, and music critic. These occupations carve honesty’s treacherous path, and walking with him shares this danger for needing to open yourself to the truth. As...
Read MoreThere are moments reading If We Break when Kathleen Buhle irks with such passion you may want to reach into the pages, shake her by the shoulders, and scream, “Would you please wake up and do something about your husband!” There are moments you will roll your eyes and sigh at the grotesque privilege the novel effuses. There are moments you will grit teeth, expecting her to spiral deep into Al Anon's Twelve Step pseudo-religion...
Read MoreContains Spoilers: Read the book first. As a harsh critic of genre fiction and even harsher critic of the genre writers, I found many of my criticisms validated by the novella, Micro God by K.R. Martin. Martin is a book critic on YouTube whose review of an indie author’s book, first caught my attention. This thorough, funny review sent me searching Amazon for the indie author and to learn if Martin published books. The discovery...
Read MoreDiscovering the article “Local Man Refuses to Accept Gay Penguins” by Alex Cooper brought much enjoyment that forced the purchase of his book The Mating Game. The book proved an equally pleasurable experience, not unlike watching Animal Planet mate with E-harmony to produce a mutant reminiscent of Gary Larson’s Farside. Unique, fun, and educational, The Mating Game is a must for the animal lover’s library. The well-edited book contained a few forgivable, minor errors making...
Read MoreReluctance failed to steal the reading felt owed to Faith Jones after an unkind discussion of her TEDx. Now, Sex Cult Nun leaves an undesired compulsion to review, feeling disappointed and disturbed by this writing disaster. Torn between culprits, I settle on both publisher and writer sharing the blame for a book filled with just terrible writing that lacks substance. Just Bad Writing Publishing reached a new low with the haphazard editing and total lack of respect given to this...
Read MoreTerry Trueman’s award-winning teen fiction novel Stuck in Neutral exemplifies the negative impacts of categorizing fiction. The book easily falls into the adult literary fiction category being thematically superior to most teen books dealing with dating or bullying issues. Mentioning this issue is important because the book doesn’t receive enough credit or audience, despite winning awards. Certainly, I would not have read this book since I rarely peruse children or teen literature except when coming...
Read MoreLending copies of the Book of Five Rings to people across the years resulted in subsequent repurchases of the beloved novel. The theft and willingness to repurchase copies speak to the book’s strength, having purchased the sixth, final, unstealable digital eBook. As a martial arts and philosophy enthusiast, I continue to find value in Stephen Kaufman’s interpretation of this book since its discovery in 1996, spurring many recommendations to fellow readers. Hanshi Kaufman 10th Dan...
Read MoreFactotum (Fair Use) My editor friend says Charles Bukowski is an easy target for haters, and I agree after reading some of the approximate 70,000 Goodreads’ comments and reviews characterizing Factotum as “smut,” “misogynistic,” or “the writing of a nasty drunk.” I cannot deny these descriptors, but even positive reviews often erroneously depict Bukowski as a rebel or nonconformist hero who relentlessly pursues booze and sex while rejecting work. Factotum’s winding path through drinking, sex,...
Read More