I tried to articulate my thoughts on the story itself here
. This resulted in a chain of comments with the author, and I'm not sure I articulated myself well.
Okay...Imma ask a question here that I think is really important.
If you've only read about three stories in the 'verse, one of which I know is Boast Busted and another of which I assume is Longest Night, Longest Day, leaving a third mystery story and Crisis as the fourth, how can you possibly know about how good our continuity is?
Like...it seems to me that you haven't actually read any of the stories where the continuity comes up.
- The truth poison Truth is a Scourge, for example, is first mentioned in Helping...Hands?, showcased to a small extent in Tales of Ponyville, and an important facet of At the Grand Galloping Gala.
- Twilight Sparkle's arc is begun in Boast Busted, continues in Elements of Insanity, A Chance Encounter, and Countdown to Crisis, and is only concluding now in Crisis on Two Equestrias.
- Night Light's issues with Trixie were established in the last chapter of An Early Reunion and come to a head in At the Grand Galloping Gala.
- The overall Season 1 plot arc, about the corruption of the Night Court, begins in File under I for Impossible and is expanded in Musicians & Dreamers, Carrot Top Season, Symphony of the Moon & Sun, A Hard Bargain, Greengrass' Night, Fishing in the Dark, and is finally concluded in At the Grand Galloping Gala.
- And, of course, Corona is established in Longest Night, Longest Day, and she is in or her influence is felt in Where there is Smoke, A Chance Encounter, Through the Fire and Flames, and Foalish Misadventures.
There are other examples I could list, but I think my point is made. If you've only read three stories, one of which may or may not be Crisis, then your complaining about a lack of clear continuity makes about as much sense as complaining about a lack of continuity in Babylon 5 after having watched Episode 7, then the pilot, and then the movie Thirdspace.
I tried to explain myself twice and it seems I failed, so allow me to try again;
You are referring to Continuity in terms of details—does someone drink the glass in scene A and is it still empty in scene B? I do not have any issue whatsoever with Lunaverse continuity. I do not use the word Continuity at any point in either of my reviews
I am referring to Pacing and structure—how long does it take to run a marathon, is that length believable, and do you take breaks at the appropriate times?
Allow me to use a metaphor; say there is a race with 10 participants and they run 10 miles. Most people would either watch the track as a whole, or follow 1 person through the entire race.
The Lunaverse instead attempts to make each individual mile (story) as exciting as the race as a whole (series/'verse). Instead of watching 10 people run 10 miles, or watching 1 person run 10 miles, the Lunaverse says that you can watch 1 person run 1 mile, or 10 people run 1 mile, and it will be just as interesting as the other versions.
By attempting to pander to every version, the entire thing is weaker as a result. There are stories that build great arcs of many standalones, there are others that do not pander to new viewers at all, and still others that split the difference. The Lunaverse tries and fails at all types, and that is what ruined it for me.
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So Okay It's Average (especially the pacing)
Writing; adequate. The prose itself is neither beige nor purple, though it does go on a lot of weird tangents at times. I'd say "inoffensive" is the best word here. The writing isn't terrible or off-putting by any means, but it isn't usually gripping either. It doesn't get in the way of the story, but it fails to enhance it.
Plotting; the plots are interesting, but long-winded. The author(s) doesn't seem to know whether they want to write stand-alone stories or interwoven arcs and this gives everything a very choppy feeling. I have no issue with scale, but the synergy between stories varies wildly, and this is not okay for a 'verse. This is what broke immersion so consistently for me.
Characterization; excusing the constant overuse of OC Stand In, the characterization is decent. Most ponies have a defined personality, and character development does occur on a regular, believable basis.
In Summation;I know it's a Love It Or Hate It work (as other reviews show), but I just can't summon anything besides ambivalence towards it—some parts are good, other are bad, and it all evens out to an unimpressive body of work. It did not grab me, it did not push me away. I've always said that popularity doesn't imply quality, and the Lunaverse is a prime example of that.
NOTE: I have only read ~3 stories from the 'verse (and it was the first chapter of Crisis on Two Equestrias that really cemented my opinion), but if you can't hook a reader with 3 stories, then there is something amiss. I have not read stories from every canon author, but the point of a shared verse is consistency, and I saw enough of that among the stories I read that one author being better/worse than the others does not (and shouldn't) fully explain the situation.
TL;DR: The stories, collectively, are not bad by any measure, but the inconsistent pacing and lackluster prose prevented me from enjoying them. Not bad, but it could be better.