Reviews Literature / The Eye Of Argon

Hysterically awesome, at first

I read this entire story, and was cracking up before I'd finished the first few paragraphs. As I went on, though, I simply got used to the consistent badness and then could only judge The Eye Of Argon on its merits as an actual story.

This happens to me a lot when reading/watching/playing something So Bad Its Good. If there's a new surprise of sheer badness around every corner, I consistently have something new to laugh at. This is the case with the films Troll 2 and The Room, where some new bizarre element of awesome brokenness is guaranteed to keep me watching. But if the humor comes from, say, only one thing, such as in this case overwrought and poorly-done Purple Prose and horrible spelling and grammar, then once I've stopped laughing at it there's not much left.

That was kind of the case here. Other than some bizarre usage of the word "slut" as an insult for men, a woman talking "bustily", "half chapters", and some other surprises, I pretty much had encountered all I needed to see within the first chapter or so. What was left was a story that is, I have to say, not at all the genre I'm into.

Which means that I was bored. Genuinely enjoyable stories that are poorly made can keep my interest as I both try to get absorbed into the story, while simultaneously laughing at the horrible quality of its telling. But I'm just not into Heroic Fantasy, and especially not Conan The Barbarian-esque fantasy, so not only did I not enjoy the story itself, but my lack of knowledge of the genre meant I couldn't laugh at misapplication of its conventions.

But I do recommend checking this out. It's not that long of a story, and if you're anything like me, you're gonna have tears of laughter pouring out your eyes before you've finished even the first chapter. Unless you're very well-versed in Heroic Fantasy, the first chapter or two is all you really need to get the gist of the awesome awfulness of The Eye Of Argon.