On how I slavishly follow Cory Doctorow’s advice

“They” say that the power of trusted recommendations is the ultimate form of marketing. Well here’s my example of how true that is.

I just bought a novel by Terry Pratchett – The Monstrous Regiment – basically because Cory Doctorow told me to. Not me, directly, of course, but everyone via his post about Terry’s latest book in the Discworld saga, the “Unseen Academicals.”

Thing is, I enjoy Cory’s writing enough that I took a leap of faith a while back on another of his recommendations, John Varley’s Red Thunder series. That turned out to be some of the most fun I’ve ever had reading a science fiction book (and eventually, the series). As a result of that recommendation, when Cory came along again and spoke so glowingly of Terry Pratchett, whom I’d heard of but not read, I ran right over to Amazon and picked up a copy with overnight delivery.

Will I enjoy it? Who knows. The point is I’m willing to give it a shot because I’ve previously had a positive experience based on Cory’s recommendation, which itself was based on a certain level of trust I had in his taste through his blogging and writing.

Trust rules all. I can’t wait for my book to arrive.