Read it Later story count: 89 (-2)
Words read this week: 23,459
My Little Red Dwarf by JimmyZD
And The Serpent Said Unto The Princess by UndomeTimwe
Under the Harvest Moon by Rangelost
Her Song by marmalado
Without Another Word by Jack of a Few Trades
★: 1 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 1 | ★★★★: 1 | ★★★★★: 1
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I enjoy an average amount scores two stars.
My Little Red Dwarf by JimmyZD
Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Spike
G4 AU Crossover; Comedy; 5k words; Apr 2012; Teen
3 million years from Equestria, the EMC mining ship Red Dwarf.
I'm a big fan of Red Dwarf, especially the first six series. It's lots of fun. As such, I was very much looking forward to this crossover fic. Admittedly comedy crossovers don't always hit the mark, but this one? Well... you're probably looking at that star rating and wondering what went wrong. All the more so as in isolation this story is a reasonably amusing read. In short: way, way too much of the fic is simply a very lightly ponified version of the early parts of the original. And I do mean very lightly, down to near-verbatim dialogue for extended passages in multiple places. It's a real shame, since Rainbow Dash as Lister and Twilight as Rimmer could work really well, even if Spike as the Cat is more of a stretch. But lifting great chunks from the show/novelisation without any meaningful change at all? Even though the author acknowledges in the end A/N that this was more a writing experiment than a story, I'm not going to reward that. ★
And The Serpent Said Unto The Princess by UndomeTimwe
Celestia, Discord and Tirek
G4; Romance/Dark; 3k words; Sep 2018; Teen (Sex)
In the beginning, there was Harmony. Then Discord stole Fire from the Alicorns.
This story won an RCL feature, something which tends to mean I will like it. And indeed, so it is here. A fascinating piece of Equestrian mythology, which clearly draws on some stories from our own world without adhering too slavishly to any of them. There are multiple layers here, covering everything from where Tirek might fit into all this to some sly commentary on real-world fanaticism. As to who the Hero of this tale might be... you'll see, eventually. I'm personally not as keen on the kind of prose used for this sort of tale as some, but it does fit its subject matter well. A very easy four and a similarly easy recommendation. ★★★★
Under the Harvest Moon by Rangelost
Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack
G4; Romance/Slice of Life; 2k words; Sep 2013; Everyone
Fluttershy writes in her diary.
The only story by Rangelost, and it's a fairly simple, moderately cute one. The "Dear diary" format is a little bit strained on occasion, in that some of the entries sound more like Fluttershy musing to herself than writing on a page. The twist, such as it is, is really not the most startling but it's mildly entertaining and by 2013 standards it probably did make this stand out from the crowd of Fluttershy shipfics a little more. ★★
Her Song by marmalado
Sweetie Belle
G4; Slice of Life; 2k words; Jul 2022; Everyone
She sings. She sings with all her heart.
Whether the chapter title "Sweet Music" is a deliberate G1 reference I don't know, but I smiled anyway. It's a very warming piece of fluff about a little filly with a big dream. Okay, not that little as she has her cutie mark by then. Although the character tag gives it away immediately, Sweetie's name isn't actually used in the piece. I'm undecided about that: it keeps the focus on her thoughts, which I like, but given how easy it is to guess it's Sweetie it also seems just a little forced. It is very cute, though, so I'm happy to rate it as a solid three. ★★★
Without Another Word by Jack of a Few Trades
Grand Pear, Other and OC
G4; Drama/Sad; 12k words; Jul 2017; Teen
It took years for Grand Pear to recover from the fallout of leaving Pear Butter behind, but all it takes to undo that is a single letter.
"The Perfect Pear" unsurprisingly inspired a lot of stories, which are – equally unsurprisingly – of very variable quality, some very good, some... less good. Without Another Word is firmly in the former category. Another RCL inductee, this story completely succeeds in, as Soge put it in his RCL comment, "exploring the empty spaces left behind by canon". The centrepiece is a letter from Ponyville. We know what it's going to say, but we don't know how Grand Pear will react. What makes this fic is the character work, with Grand Pear's actions entirely consistent with what we know from the show, despite the details of his rough-edged relationship with those in his life being Jack of a Few Trades' creations. Add in a very fine use of unreliable narration and a willingness to eschew the easy solutions I'm sure many readers will be rooting for, and you end up with a story that's feels absolutely believable. Excellent. ★★★★★
Heh, one story for each star rating this week! Couldn't have been neater if I'd planned that. Next week's pile o' fics will contain the following five stories:
Can't Choose Your Family by CyborgSamurai
The Heart Thief by Sharaloth
Button Squash (Or, Maud Doesn't Write About Rocks) by Rinnaul
Moonbug by Sledge115
Supper of Scootaloo Stew by Lucky Dreams
Heh, one story for each star rating this week! Couldn't have been neater if I'd planned that.
ReplyDeleteMust have been ages since that last happened! Always fun when it does, though.
I didn't quite give Without Another Word the top rating myself, but it is a splendid fic, and even with quite a strong tradition of "The Perfect Pear"-derived fics, it's a standout, and I heartily recommend it, especially for the turns it takes and the unusual brittle edges Jack chooses to employ in this one. It's certainly far more than just a letter informing Grand Pear of the dreadful truth, that's for sure.
Two fics next week I've read before! Especially looking forward to what you think of Moonbug, Sledge115 never disappoints, I find.
Yeah, I thought for quite a long time that it would be a highish four-star story. A very fine rating to be sure, but it didn't quite blow the doors off. But it never faltered, even in what could have ended up a very clichéd final chapter. The more I thought about it, the more I appreciated it. :)
DeleteAnd yes, I do have a high regard for Sledge115's work. I've reviewed three stories, which have scored 5, 3, 4 -- and the 3 (The Rose of Fiorentina) probably got dragged down a tiny bit by the feeling that it would have been even better had I read Spectrum. So looking forward to Moonbug!
Hey, I've read that last one, and yes, it's a good one. I had the pleasure of helping the author after its first draft, and I've ended up working with him again afterward on his ongoing story "Set Sail." He's definitely been a good writer to work with.
ReplyDeleteI realised while checking some details about this one that I'd never looked at a JoaFT story before. So this was the first: I don't intend for it to be the last.
Deletehot dang, hat trick! :D that's so satisfying
ReplyDeleteNot quite a hat-trick: only two PRs in a row with five-star fics. But even that is very rare. :)
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