MFM
Since: Jan, 2001
05/24/2015 00:00:00
I always speak out against reviews that don't use enough line breaks, but this might be going too far in the other direction.
Also it seems a bit disingenuous to say that you're specifically going to talk about the story's flaws, then gloss over every flaw by either saying the flaw disappears later in the story, or just saying it's not actually a flaw.
Also also I assume all the instances of "creepy as" are supposed to have another word at the end there, which somehow got cut each time.
LizardQueen
Since: May, 2015
05/24/2015 00:00:00
Probs, sorry.
And, hey, I said "YMMV" for a reason. The haters wanna use words like "mind rape" to call the story bad? Okay, they get their opinion. I respect that. But it's part of what makes the story good. That it explores this stuff.
Leave a Comment:
Too Good for Fanfiction
It "suffers" from the same issues as Ang Lee's Hulk, or almost everything written by Kubrick.
You go into it expecting a generic story. You come out hating it.
You go into it expecting a work of art? What you get is a work of art. You get handed a complex character study of what it means to be human. What it means to do the right thing. What it means to be a monster. How godlike power changes people.
The OCs are brilliant, complex, and you can fall in love with them in a single scene- usually their first character perspective chapter, Tana always waits a while to show those for some reason.
Tana Nari does canon characters justice, and in many ways makes them *better* than Canon.
Now? The flaws.
Writing skill: Kinda like the art for EGS (which I was introduced to thanks to Amelia) and Sluggy Freelance... Tana's writing skills leave a lot to be desired at first. Not bad, but not amazing.
He gets soooo much better. He implied he was a writer, already. I believe it. Plays or perhaps movie/TV show/video game scripts. Def not books. He started weak (as a writer) while being a great storyteller. Then became great at that, too.
And the plot is brilliant. Also creepy as.
The accusations of "mind rape"? Is it rape if it's mutual and consenting? It's a bizarre, transhumanist sort of storytelling that is MEANT to make you uncomfortable.
Tana says it squicks him out sometimes. He calls it the "darkest fix fic", and that's what he delivers. It's a beautiful story of hope, love, triumph over tragedy and an epic tale through and through.
Until you look beneath the surface. And then it's creepy as. A perverse tragedy full of death of main characters, brain fuckery, and a bunch of characters trying very hard not to think about just how fucked up the shit they do is.
Kinda like the modern interpretations of Alice in Wonderland. Amelia's not that creepy. YMMV.
So. If you like fanfic like you like summer movies. Cheap, flashy, and ultimately shallow action? Pass on Amelia. Pass on it so hard.
If you like a story that goes out of its way to challenge the preconceptions of the audience, and makes you think? Then you can't do better.
And the ENDING! Fuck me running, that ending. Perfect.