Another common problem is the amount of pop culture references, both by the characters to each other, and 'cannon' references. It's a bit odd when adults are slinging in-jokes and obscure references to material that teenagers think are cool, and all of the 'get' it, all of the time. I mean, CIA agents and the like making jokes or references to blockbuster movies in day to day work, as if EVERYONE knows them and is constantly thinking about it? The other aspect, 'canon' references, is not TOO bad with the major influences of H.P. Lovecraft and X-men and such, but when Church members talk about the film 'Constantine' being partly accurate, or the whole thing with Tennyo's 'Tenchi Muyo' backstory, is a bit much. Also, in Renae's Merry stories (overlapping Dr. Bender's Sara stories), it gets annoying that practically EVERY conversation between them sounds like foreplay, even very serious or dangerous situations, and every other sentence has someone giggling or chuckling at something(happens in some of the other stories too).
First, I agree for the most part. However, to be fair, there are some villains who seem to be not so thoroughly evil. They just either don't appear much (because they rule their own countries, or something) or they are students. The student villains do tend to have more depth and reasons for their villainry, even to the extent of some of them being given their own stories or being simply good guys with mental disorders that compel them to become villains every so often.
I... well, disagree. Mainly because so far, the real villains -don't- have reasons. Sebastian and Hekate are evil for the lulz, Nex is a psychopathic anti-human bigot, and Hartford just seems... well, kinda bitchy. I suppose Tansy has her reasons, but I doubt there will ever be closure, as she's the authors favorite punching bag.
True, people like Sahar and Monty have reasons, but the less said of Monty the rapist/beater, the better.
I have to agree with all the criticisms in this review. 100%.
Your approval fills me with shame.
I completley agree with this review.
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Review of a Lurker
Well, I read through some of the stories again, and decided to update my old review. Bottom line: Whateley is TG fantasy-fulfillment of varying (though often lower-average) writing skill.
I'll get to a main sticking point in my craw; the Stu/Sue/gender-neutral term for Mary Sue of the characters; it's off the freaking charts for most of them. And guess what? No matter how much the fans protest, it doesn't change it. The main characters, Team Kimba, might as well be named the Sue Team; each member is essentially one of the hottest, most powerful students in the school, if not THE most powerful (Tennyo, Fae, I'm looking at you). It'd be one thing if they were continually balanced, but so far, they've gotten asspulls and power-ups ahoy with little foreshadowing (Jade and Ayla being the exception).
Another problem I have with the stories themselves: The fact that each enemy encountered so far is a puppy-killing, serial raping, mass murdering, soul-sucking abomination (or a combination of the above). Honestly, for all of the fans declarations about the quality of the writing, I was expecting a little more... nuance, depth, *character* from the villains.
And speaking of the stories, I'll get onto my last major gripe (as space is somewhat limited): The writing quality. Don't get me wrong; a few of the writers are actually good (not withstanding the content of the stories). But for every decent writer, we get boring, badly written, clunky writing from others, like Starwolf and Heather. The first Tennyo story Starwolf wrote read like a bad Tenchi fanfic (actually, it -was- a bad fanfic). Although her writing got (slightly) better, I still find them boring and devoid of emotion. Heather's Chou pieces are just boring and wooden, with terrible prose that managed to turn what should have been a interesting story into another piece of TG/transformation fantasy.
My opinion on the series: Flawed, but worth checking out, for at least some of the stories.