First, the good: the author does an excellent job of giving us Lex Luthor's perspective, and a good job of making a (flawedly) rational character out of him. He manages to make a Black and White moral situation feel decidedly grey.
However, I think the most apt criticism I can make is that this feels like Art more than Literature. The plot feels like it exists for the purpose of deconstruction, which would be alright if that wasn't the only thing it was there for.
This story could have been longer, and done well at that length. However, at the length it was, the whole thing felt like it existed purely to deconstruct. This could have been good if the deconstruction led somewhere interesting, but the ending was severely anticlimactic, and further hampered by a sudden, unavoidable idiot ball shaped like Kryptonite.
I have a severe problem with the ending, as it neither fits with the standards set up for either of the characters intelligences, nor does it provide anything like closure. Superman presents Luthor with an excellent rationalist compromise, which Luthor immediately rejects, and proceeds to kill humanity's main defense against hostile aliens. Good job.
Fundamentally, I am unsure what this story's message is supposed to be. Luthor ruins any rationalist cred he might have had with the ending, and Superman is chained to an idiot ball when it matters most. The Grey and Grey morality subplot kind of disappears, and it's kind of clear by the end that Luthor is just an asshole who doesn't like anyone more powerful than him, and a decent at rationalising his actions.
Maybe that's what the author was going for, but I don't really see it as a good thing.
Up until the ending, though, pretty solid. Such a shame.
Interesting Concept, Ultimately Flawed Execution
First, the good: the author does an excellent job of giving us Lex Luthor's perspective, and a good job of making a (flawedly) rational character out of him. He manages to make a Black and White moral situation feel decidedly grey.
However, I think the most apt criticism I can make is that this feels like Art more than Literature. The plot feels like it exists for the purpose of deconstruction, which would be alright if that wasn't the only thing it was there for.
This story could have been longer, and done well at that length. However, at the length it was, the whole thing felt like it existed purely to deconstruct. This could have been good if the deconstruction led somewhere interesting, but the ending was severely anticlimactic, and further hampered by a sudden, unavoidable idiot ball shaped like Kryptonite.
I have a severe problem with the ending, as it neither fits with the standards set up for either of the characters intelligences, nor does it provide anything like closure. Superman presents Luthor with an excellent rationalist compromise, which Luthor immediately rejects, and proceeds to kill humanity's main defense against hostile aliens. Good job.
Fundamentally, I am unsure what this story's message is supposed to be. Luthor ruins any rationalist cred he might have had with the ending, and Superman is chained to an idiot ball when it matters most. The Grey and Grey morality subplot kind of disappears, and it's kind of clear by the end that Luthor is just an asshole who doesn't like anyone more powerful than him, and a decent at rationalising his actions.
Maybe that's what the author was going for, but I don't really see it as a good thing.
Up until the ending, though, pretty solid. Such a shame.