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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/24617
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/24617
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I recently asked a question which cited a book by Orson Scott Card, _How to Write Fantasy & Science-Fiction_. Orson Scott Card is the author of _Ender's Game_, as well as many other sci-fi and fantasy books, and I've always assumed he was generally respected as a reliable source on how to write, seeing as he is a bestselling author. I was surprised, therefore, when a user left a comment on the question, as follows:

> Consider the source. I would take anything OSC proclaims with a hefty dose of salt.

This implies that OSC is generally _not_ respected as a reliable source. This isn't the only time this has happened:

When reading the Inheritence Cycle, I thought that Paolini did a fine job, especially given his age (minus the boring half of _Eldest_). When I came here, I found that the general opinion of Paolini was very low indeed.

In order to avoid making a similar blunder with much larger stakes, is there any way I can determine an author's standing amongst the readers? Obviously I could do detailed searches on everyone, looking up book reviews and spending hours browsing forums, but I'm wondering if there is a location that puts it all into a concise 'general opinion' description.

**Where I can I find such a description?**

Original score: 3