Read it Later story count: 88 (-4)
Verse Averse: Tales of the Versebreakers by horizon et al
OCs, Sweetie Belle, Lyra, Vinyl Scratch and Other
G4; Anthology; 25k words; Apr 2015; Teen
I don't usually review anthologies, but Verse Averse pestered me until I relented. This is a collection of short stories based on the premise that sometimes Equestria needs ponies to stop all that singing. Each author takes this prompt in a different direction, as you'd expect. Most of the fics are very short, some just a few hundred words, though the final one is over 9,000. I'm not sure I'm that keen on ending like that – especially as that last fic, while it grew on me considerably after an unpromising start, feels almost like a standalone side story rather than an integral part of this anthology. The other problem is that the setup is really fun, but in every story after the first you know what it is. Now, there are still some interesting twists (Harmony being too good for ponies is a nice one...) but the mood whiplash between chapters can be quite something at times. One has inline musical links, which always mildly irritate me since I like to read offline. All in all, the Versebreakers thing is a really interesting idea, but possibly ten variations on that theme in one go... yeah, perhaps a few too many for me. Top-end three therefore overall, though it could be a four for some. ★★★
Beyond the break, some more and spoilery thoughts about this anthology, and about each of the individual stories therein.
This whole collection was inspired by horizon's "4th District Court..." story, which won a Writeoff way back when. It's one of my favourites, involving Flim and Flam up in a court that is not happy about their rhyming ditties.¹ It teeters on the edge of being the dreaded script format, to be honest, but hay, it's so entertaining that I'm glad it's there! The other horizon entry in the collection is "On the Roof", which is a sequel to Fugue State (PR 301), although reading that isn't necessary. In this, Lyra has trained a Versebreaker and takes a final step towards full status on the aforementioned roof in Canterlot. Meanwhile, Bon Bon waits at home... this one was far more emotional, albeit thankfully not especially melodramatic. Disturbing in places, however.
¹ My fellow British readers should be aware that "enjoin" in US law means to proscribe, not to prescribe as it usually does over here!
The other author with two fics in Verse Averse is Sharp Spark. "Manehattan Takes Rarity" is a short, snappy comedy about the horrors that Ponyville can inflict when it puts itself into full musical mode, such as during the S3 finale. A reference to "the Pink Terror" is a little clunky, but it's more than fun enough to overcome this. "Heart of Silence", which closes the collection, is very different. The aforementioned 9k-word fic, it's set over a century before S1 and written in a verbose, Victorian journal style that won't be to everyone's taste. It takes a while to get going, but the adventure it becomes is worth the wait. You even get bonus casual colonial racist attitudes, thankfully not from the protagonist. And zebras. And a cricket reference!
The anthology opener, "The Clattering Crash of Destiny" by AugieDog, is a very solid and diverting setting of the scene as far as the "What do Versebreakers do all day?" question is concerned. Meanwhile, FanOfMostEverything's "The Sound of Silence" is a pleasant, smooth canter looking at Sweetie Belle's first encounter with a Versebreaker and mare-of-the-world Vinyl's somewhat unorthodox chat to her about coming to terms with them. Orbiting Kettle's "The Badge" is a short-short set in a Versebreaker's office and musing on the requirements and dangers of the job. Quite a standard crime-fighter's monologue, but a nicely written one.
BlazzingInferno gives us "Song and Seal", an interestingly different take on the underlying idea in that it considers Versebreakers as being scattered ponies with this skill, rather than a formal organisation. The "door with eldritch abomination lurking without" thing is perhaps slightly overused, but still. Flink's "Master Class" is the fic with the aforementioned inline links; these go to Disney songs, something I'm not keen on in an Equestrian context. Still, although the fic takes a little while to get going, it ends in a classic and exciting song battle. Finally, Caliponia's "The Anthem" riffs on the idea of an organisation set up to stop songs being told to compose one by managerial edict. It's short, silly and fun, though the ending works less well over here, where the real-world song referenced isn't something you can automatically assume everyone will know.
And there you have it! Plenty of interest here, though I would have preferred "Heart of Silence" to have stood alone and perhaps also for the occasional signs of an overarching arc to have either been developed fully or left out entirely. It doesn't quite mesh into an absolutely coherent whole, but there's enough enjoyment and interest here that it's more than worth reading all 25,000 words if you find the concept catches your imagination enough. A top-end three is, after all, considerably above being merely a run-of-the-mill bit of ponyfic.
Next time, I'll be back to the usual selection of four stories. I hope that one of them will be Tethered-Angel's stuffed-animal romance Down the Laundry Chute.
The tonal whiplash is always what got to me about this anthology. The original story is fantastic, and if the rest of these had simply been published individually as variations on a theme, part of a shared world, I think I'd have had less to complain about.
ReplyDeleteI liked the original, but I heartily agree that once you know what its joke is, that ruins the surprise of all the rest.
ReplyDeleteToday I learned about "enjoin"! I think I've ever only seen it in the courtroom context. How weird that it's used in basically an entirely opposite way from its dictionary definition.
ReplyDeleteThank you, by the way, for your tireless reviewing. I've had my eye off the ball for a few years, but I'm taking a pass to get all the reviews in the interim linked from their story pages.
-horizon
That's very kind of you, and thank you!
DeleteAdditional: I think "table" is a more commonly known example. Over here, you table a motion if you do want it to be debated. I can't even remember the last time I used "enjoin" in either speech or writing before this post.
Delete