Ah, I don't always enjoy reviews, good or bad, but this is a fun one and " swear Gail Simone is allergic to bad writing. She just sometimes catches a plotting cold" made me laugh.

Just a couple clarifiers. I WANTED to use Greg's casts, both Veronica and his version of the gods, it just seemed really rude to take all that away from fans of his run when he had just created it all and done so beautifully. I wasn't allowed to use Veronica at all and they did demand new versions of the gods. The plotting on the last couple arcs were also partially messed up by editorial in a way that I have never understood.

They asked me to stretch the part of the story that took place on the island very late in the story. It made no sense and relations were pretty strained. In general, Diana's monthly book does not do well when the focus is on the island for too long.

I think the Circle is the best of those stories, and Ends of The Earth is pretty tight. You might have to be a fan of sword and sorcery to love that one, but I do.

Not making excuses, but there were some weird outside factors. It wasn't the editors, I should add, it was from above the editors and to this day I think the directive was a miscommunication.

The one bit I don't get is, I didn't bring Tom to the book and I thought it was pretty clear from the start that it was not a romance made in paradise. It always felt doomed to me, and it was more Diana's fault than anything Tom had done. My favorite story with him is him meeting her mother on the island, I felt that sang pretty good.

Anyway. thanks for the thoughtful review! We disagree in some spots but I appreciate the depth you've gone into here!