: Re: How do critics review an author's first and second and maybe third novel differently? Do critics review first, second, and third novels differently? And if so, how? What do critics think is

@Looi5811334

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Yes, many reviews mention whether the book is the first, or second novel by this author. Good critics usually take care of knowing the basics about an author they review. A careful publisher has sent the book together with information material where it can be stated. But this information can be misleading, and as others remarked, many writers use pseudonyms.

I believe it is perfectly natural to review the first, second, third, ... novel of an author differently.

Writing a novel is tough. Most of the time, it changes you. There is also an element of craftmanship and lifelong learning in it. You can expect writers to grow with their activity and it is natural to expect more from a second or a third book than from a first.

Good critics write to be read not only by potential readers but also by authors, to give them perspective, to make them discover implicit relationships between their work and others. You could say the same about good editors.
But there is a point which has not been touched already. Your first published novel might not be your first written novel.

It is well known it can be quite difficult to convince a publisher. And many authors succeeded only with their second, third or even fourth work. Then the question arises of what to do with the previous ones.

One of the troubles is that your are probably not the same writer who wrote the older ones. But if you decide to edit them, you take the risk of making it duller to conform to your current personality. It is a point where having a good editor is important. He or she will tell you if it has worth as is, needs a little editing or if you should start something new.

It is another reason for a review to be different for a second or third book than for a first. A discerning reviewer can guess a lot about the exchange (or lack thereof) between the author and his/her editor.

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