Apologies to those of you looking forward to this, but the reason is simple: JoeShogun has removed the story. Judging by the most recent entries on this comments page, it happened in December, after I'd decided to read and review it here. I can't see any explanation from the author. However, I have a rule here that I will not feature stories that are not publicly available at the time of review. Sad as it is, I need to honour that rule.
So what I will do is this: I will find a mid-length fic on my RiL list, one that I can read in a few days, and I will Spotlight that story on Wednesday. So you'll still be getting a focus on a specific ponyfic. However, it will not be the one I was expecting. All I can say about Nine Days Down, unless of course it returns one day, is that it has been a good read despite a few flaws. It won RCL induction, so it's a big loss. But what can you do?
PS: I note in passing that President Dead has also deleted their stories. I had one on my RiL list (I, Fluttershy (Or Autumn Without End)), but again that can't be reviewed now. Don't worry, I'll still find something.
what the heck c.c
ReplyDeleteThough apparently that's one of the stories I never got around to reading. :B
Yeah, I was a bit surprised to see that you hadn't, as I'd had a vague memory that it was your recommendation that made me want to read it! :P
DeleteAnd this is why I routinely download offline copies of all the stories I want to read. In fact, I do very little actual reading on the FIMFiction website itself. Fortunately I have saved copies of all the stories mentioned above.
ReplyDeleteYep, me too. I much prefer reading on a kindle in a comfortable chair or outside when the weather's nice, and since text takes up hardly any storage space at all, why not?
Delete@Whisper Key: So do I; indeed, I have this fic in EPUB format on my phone right now, and I've been reading it. It's simply the review that can't happen now, thanks to my (perhaps overly finnicky, but oh well) policy that if a story isn't available from the author or indirectly but with their clear blessing, it's not eligible for review.
Delete@iisaw: I like reading outside very much. Early January in England is, however, not the ideal environment. :D
That's a shame, because I really enjoyed the story. I have copies of it as HTML and MOBI files, if you want to review it anyway.
ReplyDeleteOh, I've got the story, thank you -- I downloaded it in EPUB format at the time I decided to review it. I've read a large portion of it now, and I'll still finish it. So it isn't that I can't read it, it's that my personal rule here is that stories which are not publicly available from (or with the clear blessing of) the author are ineligible.
DeleteYou could potentially just say how much you liked it overall without going into any discussion of it.
DeleteThis is disappointing on both fronts, and it does really have me wondering why. I championed Joe Shogun's story in the RCL's showdown of best stories in the fandom, and I highlighted President Dead as one of the good new authors to watch a couple years ago. I'd only read one of the "I, Fluttershy" trilogy and wanted to get to the rest eventually.
ReplyDelete