Morgan has a post up today about coming across four transparently phony Amazon reviews for a book that just came out. Whether or not this is a bot or somebody switching accounts is hard to say without looking at the book in question which is not named, but either way it's a pretty obvious attempt to game the Amazon review system. Here's a tip to any would-be bot programmers or review spoofers - it's really easy to check your other reviews, and that's hard to fake. If every review of a particular book is posted on the same day, and each of those four reviewers has only ever reviewed the exact same two items anyone with half a brain is going to be able to figure out that something is up with a couple of well-placed clicks and a modicum of critical thinking skills.
Let me also reassure you all that the book in question is not my new Enochian book, Mastering the Mystical Heptarchy. So far it's garnered two reviews, one from Michael Cecchetelli at The Lion's Den and another on Amazon from Christopher Feldman, better known online as Enochian magician Christeos Pir. I've summarized those two positive reviews here at my author website, with links to the originals. So far the book has been well-received, by real magicians rather than bots or clones, and while the temptation is always there to post a bunch of glowing phonies I would rather that my readers get the real scoop from actual people. If you're interested in grimoire magick, Enochian magick, or both and haven't done so already, click here to check out Mastering the Mystical Heptarchy. Real practitioners agree with me that you will not be disappointed!
I have just got this book. I'm not a highly experienced magician, but I'm getting a lot out of it. I'm reading it along with Enochian Evocation and your book helps me understand the other. I haven't tried a ritual out of it yet as I need to get some tools first, but soon. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Enochian magic.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! That's great to hear.
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of fact, for the longest time I worked out of Enochian Evocation myself. Some of the material in the book is based on my notes that I originally put together for working with James' text, so I'm glad that you're finding it as useful as I did.
Chin up and don't let is get you down. Politics in book reviewing just goes with the territory. When the Ritual Magic Manual came out it took Aaron Leitch (member of a rival GD order) no longer than a month to write a hit review, frivolously accusing me of plagiarism when our work had actually reached quite divergent conclusions.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading your new book.
And remember...
Illegetimi non carborundum!
(Don't let the bastards grind you down!)
@David: I wouldn't say that it's getting me down. To tell the truth, I actually think the whole phoney reviewer thing is pretty funny. I'm quite happy that the feedback I've gotten has been positive and that it's come from real people instead of shills or bots.
ReplyDelete