Going by the TV Tropes description, I thought The Chronicles Of Taras would be more interesting than it actually was. I don't want to spoil the details much, because I'm sure there are people who still want to read it, so I'll keep this review short.
The premise of the series was promising, but ultimately the whole thing ended up being pretty lame. Taras is a Mary Sue who slaughters anyone who crosses her path, and yet the author seems to be under the impression that this makes her appealing or likeable. Yes, Taras is also supposed to be reviled and you're supposed to cheer for Sandra; however, the author tries very hard to make Taras badass and intimidating — too hard. Taras is so over-the-top that her exploits become hilariously narmtastic. She's a cartoon character by this point in the series, a failed attempt to combine Angela with Alucard.
No one in the series is likeable. The author is obviously trying to make the reader like the characters, but fails. I ended up saying the Eight Deadly Words to myself early in the series, and I could only repeat it as it went on. There's nothing wrong with writing about a Crapsack World occupied by unlikeable characters, as long as the story itself is interesting — The Chronicles Of Taras is not an interesting story, so all the darker elements end up making it even more of a chore to read. To make matters worse, it's hard to tell if the author wants the reader to take the story seriously.
I'm not sure if The Chronicles Of Taras is supposed to be a horror story. I think that it was supposed to be at some point, but it's not scary. At all. The violence is over-the-top hilarity, the monsters are boring, the star of the series is a Mary Sue, and the whole thing alternates between taking itself deadly seriously and not seriously at all. It's just a jumbled mess, like the author wanted to write multiple stories but didn't have the time and so decided to throw all of his or her material into one work.
Final verdict: if The Chronicles Of Taras knew what it wanted to be, it would be a much better read. It had the potential to be a fun horror story, but decided not to be; it could have been a quirky horror comedy, but failed at that, too. What we're left with is... well, The Chronicles Of Taras.
Literature Meh.
Going by the TV Tropes description, I thought The Chronicles Of Taras would be more interesting than it actually was. I don't want to spoil the details much, because I'm sure there are people who still want to read it, so I'll keep this review short.
The premise of the series was promising, but ultimately the whole thing ended up being pretty lame. Taras is a Mary Sue who slaughters anyone who crosses her path, and yet the author seems to be under the impression that this makes her appealing or likeable. Yes, Taras is also supposed to be reviled and you're supposed to cheer for Sandra; however, the author tries very hard to make Taras badass and intimidating — too hard. Taras is so over-the-top that her exploits become hilariously narmtastic. She's a cartoon character by this point in the series, a failed attempt to combine Angela with Alucard.
No one in the series is likeable. The author is obviously trying to make the reader like the characters, but fails. I ended up saying the Eight Deadly Words to myself early in the series, and I could only repeat it as it went on. There's nothing wrong with writing about a Crapsack World occupied by unlikeable characters, as long as the story itself is interesting — The Chronicles Of Taras is not an interesting story, so all the darker elements end up making it even more of a chore to read. To make matters worse, it's hard to tell if the author wants the reader to take the story seriously.
I'm not sure if The Chronicles Of Taras is supposed to be a horror story. I think that it was supposed to be at some point, but it's not scary. At all. The violence is over-the-top hilarity, the monsters are boring, the star of the series is a Mary Sue, and the whole thing alternates between taking itself deadly seriously and not seriously at all. It's just a jumbled mess, like the author wanted to write multiple stories but didn't have the time and so decided to throw all of his or her material into one work.
Final verdict: if The Chronicles Of Taras knew what it wanted to be, it would be a much better read. It had the potential to be a fun horror story, but decided not to be; it could have been a quirky horror comedy, but failed at that, too. What we're left with is... well, The Chronicles Of Taras.