Web Fiction: Winter Rain

Serial web fiction: Winter Rain.

As far as I'm concerned, Chris's choice of update length was golden. There is not a cliffhanger every chapter, there's a cliffhanger nearly every update (with roughly 10 updates per chapter).

The first few posts are amateurish and blocky, but the prose smooths out surprisingly quickly. Before the end of the first chapter, I stopped noticing any awkward construction, and by the end of the second, the prose becomes very smooth and very good.

The story is based on the Irish legends of wolves who are also men. This makes it a werewolf story - though it is devoid of most of the typical werewolf fare: full moons, silver bullets, monstrous wolf-men, etc.

Probably the most notable theme is the protagonist's anger issues. Tiergan's persistent anger is evident from very early, and the process is very well described. I say "process" because he is not an angry person - he does not walk around angry, rather, he becomes overwhelmed by emotion.

Whether or not that makes any sense, trust me that Chris writes Tiergan well, and the characterization and plotting more than make up for any early awkward prose.

In short, Winter Rain is recommended and engaging.

Interview With Gryfft

Robert Gryfft is the author of Thomas Bleakly, P. I. and a contributor to (and co-founder of) Air Theremin.

I mined his brain about writing, blogging, and the future of web fiction.

Here's the interview.

Oh, and I promise that Gryfft isn't interrupting me - we had some definite lag going on.

Josh and Imp: Starting in the Middle

Diana Nock has a short graphic work called Josh & Imp over at Jinxville.

It's a nice, surprisingly realistic slice of life from a superhero world. One of the best attributes of this graphic story is the framing. Nock avoided too much exposition by starting in the middle. This episode could easily be a slice from a novel-length work, but it is stronger alone than it would be as part of a larger work.

When authors trust their audience to have a certain level of intelligence, we all get a better paced story without dull exposition. We as people are accustomed to building background in our heads - how many times have you seen a movie from about 20 minutes in, but still understood the entire story line? Those first 20 minutes are often unnecessary, and Josh & Imp leaves them out to good effect.

Review: Mind and Body

Mind + Body, by Aaron Dunlap is a fast-paced scroller.

I'm currently reading a novel, some webfiction, and lots of nonfiction, but I tore through this novel. It's 400+ pages in PDF, but it sure didn't feel that long. It's a simple mystery/action plot - a high school senior tracking down all the weird shit that happens to him after his Marine Corps father dies.

At first it felt similar to Doctorow's Little Brother - the teenager thrust into a conspiracy too large for him to see its end, a fairly straight-forward love interest, etc. The more I read, however, the less alike they felt. Mind + Body is definitely has less to say, making it simultaneously shallower and less preachy. Mind + Body is not afraid of its simplicity - the work is less punctuated by action and fights than it is driven by them. And it works.

Unfortunately the final product reads like a draft. There are a solid handful of sentences that just aren't finished. They require 1-5 words to finish the thought, but they're just MIA. Our first person narrator definitely feels his age (though articulate), which is a plus (he says things like "the internet told me"). In the first third of the book phrases are often jarring. I'm not certain if I got used to the character or if Dunlap got used to him.

Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed this gripping, surprisingly real novel. It should be picked up by a publisher and marketed as a YA novel - it's good enough.

Books: A Game of Thrones

Cross posted at Air Theremin.

A friend of mine has been trying to get me to read A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin for years.

I just went ahead and borrowed it from him, and I have to say -- this is some of the best high fantasy I've read. An unjustly long book at over 800 pages, it is also surprisingly gripping.

Each chapter is written from a 3rd person limited point of view, but each also follows a different character. The story isn't told so much as it just coalesces. There are characters to love, characters to hate, and many characters to be mildly confused by.

At first, I was mildly put off by the feeling of omniscience you gain from seeing so much that other characters have no clue about, but that feeling gave way to a certain level of awe at the grandeur of the whole thing.

If "grand" and "sweeping" and "epic" are what you are looking for, this book has them -- and promises more for later in the series. Ah, yes, like all fantasy books, it seems, this is but one novel in a series. I've just picked up the second, A Clash of Kings, and it is longer than the first. Regardless, I started today, and am about 160 pages in - around classes and work.

All-in-all, a great fantasy book. If you like the genre, you need to read this book - it avoids many of the clichés that riddle fantasy fiction. If you don't like the genre, well, unless your dislike is founded on the clichés... you might want to pass.

The Only Difference Between Men and Boys

Cross-posted on Air Theremin

For your edification, Nicholas Ozment explains.

This work of short fiction is one of many posted on Every Day Fiction: "Short fiction in your inbox, daily!"

It's a cool concept, and I think I'm going to sign up. Who knows how many good stories I could discover that way?

Lies That are True

Whatever happened to Jeffery Harrell?

He used to have a great page of stories online and a blog, both of which appear to be AWOL.

His book is here - and I may buy it, because the stories are wonderful.

This appears to be his twitter - which offers no clues to his site's disappearance.

If I can't get some information on the site, I'll have to take it off of my blogroll. Sad face.

Women From Words

I don't know what to call this - flash fiction perhaps?

Regardless, I was fairly disinterested to start, but found myself drawn in by c.vance's personification of each author's prose.

There were definitely bits that didn't fit, but overall I was impressed - or at least impressed enough to go back and browse the fare at Word Riot.

-S

Little Brother Update

I'm well into Little Brother now (I don't know exactly how far), and I admit to being somewhat underwhelmed at first. Hype can do that. The introduction is definitely not the strongest feature of the story, and I have some critiques about everything I've read so far, but...

Well, let me give you some background.
If you speak to me while I am reading, I may be grumpy. The grumpier I am when I respond to you, the more engaging the novel you've distracted me from.

I was pretty grumpy when my Little Brother reading session was interrupted.

So. When I put out a review griping about all the things wrong with the book (which I probably will), remember that I quite enjoyed reading it.

Doctorow, Finally

I'm finally reading one of Cory Doctorow's novels, Little Brother. Anyone who has been paying attention to web fiction knows of Doctorow, and I'll soon be joining those of you who have read his work.

State of Hypocrisy

I have long condemned Crichton's novel State of Fear as a long, drawn out anti-environmentalist rant poorly disguised as a novel. "Paugh!" I said, (that's to be pronounced phonetically, with the 'augh' involving a stereotypically German level of phlegm.) "Doesn't he have the creativity to write a real work of fiction, instead of a redundant neocon editorial disguised as a thriller?"

Recently, a friend of mine has been actively pursuing my recommendations on novels, particularly the serious reading, as opposed to the fluff. For this reason, I've been confronted with my taste for Dystopian novels, cautionary tales, and social commentary. (Feed, The Handmaid's Tale, and, of course, Fahrenheit 451 number amongst my favorites, in case you were interested).

Pause.

Yes. While more sophisticated than Crichton's lambast of the environmental movement, each of these novels is, essentially, a rant (or social commentary, if you prefer) delivered via fiction. That is, the novel is a platform for these authors to express their political views. Now, this is somewhat less obvious in my favorite novels, since the politics espoused tend to be somewhat more transcendent than Crichton's 600 page jab. However, literary merit and staying power aside, Crichton and Bradbury appear to be utilizing their fiction in a similar manner - as a platform for their soapbox preachings about social ills.

Can then, the difference between my feelings toward Atwood and Crichton be reduced to mere political differences? My goodness, that makes my earlier criticisms somewhat hypocritical, does it not?

Well, yes and no.

My earlier criticisms are certainly less valid in light of my own literary preferences, but, the more I consider it, the less I think that hypocrisy was my problem (sheesh, rationalize much?). Instead, I appear to have misunderstood exactly what it was about the novel that raised my ire. Obviously it wasn't the politicization of fiction, since that's exactly what some of my favorite novels do. Instead, I'm becoming more convinced that I'm offended by the co-opting of science.

Part of why State of Fear is such a long novel is Crichton's extensive use of footnotes, charts, graphs, etc. They make the novel feel less like a novel, and more like a patronizing speech - thus my original complaint. However, I think my real problem is Crichton's pretension of scientific expertise. I don't think I need to really delve into why such a delusion is foolish as well as pretentious, but there's one part of his novel that really sums it up.

He finishes State of Fear with an afterward. In the afterward Crichton explains to us why the book's heavy-handed message is, in fact, true. So here Crichton is frankly and openly admitting that he believes the thematic basis of his book, a theme that he supports with what is essentially fake evidence.

In fact, Scientist Peter Doran wrote "... our results have been misused as “evidence” against global warming by Michael Crichton in his novel “State of Fear."



Hopefully this prolonged rationalization session has been successful. Perhaps I've convinced you, along with myself, that not only am I not hypocritical, but I'm also justified in my righteous indignation.

Take that, Crichton!

Collective Editing?

Some good conversation going on here.

Basically, my take is that the "collective filter" idea as proposed by Lexy is spot on. However, it could be of great benefit to many individual writers (and therefore the web fiction community as a whole) for an editing process to be developed for writers of web fiction.

Yes, there is a certain level of community editing that occurs in the comments of the more successful serials, but small time authors never see it. And, anyway, those comments basically amount to copy editing, and what I'm suggesting is something different.

A good editor helps to fine tune and shape up writing in a multitude of non-grammatical ways. Editing can help an author recognize the relative strengths of his or her work, and how to push those, while minimizing the weaker parts of the manuscript.

Certainly, there are some examples of web fiction readership aiding an author in this way, but in my experience, this isn't the norm. Generally, the author gets some good copy editing alongside some crummy copy editing, and has to sort out the conflicting advice for themselves.

So, what am I suggesting?

I think an editorship collective could be an invaluable tool for web fiction authors. Perhaps the participants could be restricted to authors, or to writers, or other folks who put their words on the web, or perhaps anyone could participate. I certainly have neither the time nor expertise to coordinate something like this, but I would happily support any of you who chose to do so.

CatchMe Drafts

Somebody shot this link my way. The author only has one story up so far, called "Off Guard," but it's a fairly intriguing entry. It's awfully short for a short story, but a bit long for microfiction (about 600 words). Regardless, it's an odd little tale, and I can't quite remember what it reminds me of.

I'm really not certain I agree with the point it makes about love and relationships, but, then again, I'm not certain the author does either, just the protagonist (antagonist? Like I said, it's a confusing little story).


Off Guard

Winnie and Walter

Warily we wondered what worth was wrapped within "Winnie and Walter."

The entire story is like that. It doesn't seem very impressive until you read all 450 words of it. It's wearying.

Much credit to the unknown 19th century author who generated this gimmicky gem.

Check Out My Body

No-no-no-no-no... THIS body, by Shelly Jackson.

It's a great example of a non-gimmicky utilization of the unique capabilities of the web for fiction. What's really amazing is that it's done in basic HTML - the same stuff that could have been used to design the site back in the dark (preferable?) ages before CSS and Flash took over everything. Come to think of it, The text of My Body is copyrighted 1997, so maybe the site is quite old.

Dunno. I do know that you should check it out.

Zombie Love

Maintaining the morbid theme developed in my last entry, I present to you some good ol' zombie lovin' by Isaac Marion

I find it difficult to admit that I liked reading a touching story about zombies, but I did. I'm not really sure why the author chose the subject, but he made it work - and I do mean made it work. It almost feels as though the topic was a creative writing prompt, and Marion just ran with it.

Perhaps I will continue this theme by reviewing Thirteen Bullets in my next post - or maybe I'll review The Prestige. We shall see.

Cthulhu and Gaiman, sitting in a tree

Arr apostraphe ell why eee aych.... yeah...

So Neil Gaiman has posted some Lovecraftian fiction here.

Or, at least, I wanted to call it "lovecraftian" at first. Unfortunately, the more I think about it, the less I am able to differentiate between what Gaiman has done and fanfiction. Perhaps that's why it is posted on his blog?

So tell me - is this truly fanfic, or is my head unable to catch something that my gut does? Perhaps it is merely that I generally dislike the fanfic I come across and tend to think of it as intellectually lazy that I fail to acknowledge the potential for genuinely innovative, clever, and appealing fiction within the... genre?

Go read the story and tell me what you think.

Ten Car Train: E. B. Satt

Update: Perhaps as a result of my good-natured (I hope) needling, "E. B. Satt" has abandoned said pseudonym in favor of good old Jason, over on Ten Car Train. I'm going to let the title of this post stand, but I figured I'd clear up any potential confusion now.



If you head over to Ten Car Train, you'll find some pretty cool stuff. You'll also find E. B. Satt - or Jason Sattler, or whatever else he's calling himself. I can't figure it out, but hey, I go by a handle too, so who am I to talk.

Anyway, Satt's stuff isn't just cool - it's excellent. OK, I lied, it's actually somewhat hit-or-miss, but some of it is really excellent.

Like his story A Single Drop of Water Helps to Swell the Ocean, or How I Need a Hand in Mine to Feel, which may be his best piece on the site (I'm not 100%, because I'm not entirely certain that I've read every one of them).

The stories are somewhat reminiscent of Jeffery Harrell's - over at Lies that are true (He's currently selling his book, so buy it, but he says the stories will be back up for free sometime at the start of 08).
The prose is soft, and somewhat conversational. That's not to say that it feels like dialogue, but neither does it feel like a diary. Still, you get the feeling that the narrator is talking to you, and that they're real.

I know I'm not the only person to be uncertain whether these were stories, or real life tales like those of Sedaris.

That's what they're like.
I'm not doing a good job articulating this, and I haven't even mentioned the tragic-but-commonplace themes of the stories. You should go read the stories and come back to me with your thoughts.


Oh, and if you like them, you might also check out A Softer World.

Webcomics: Zebra Girl

If you want amazing art, an intriguing story, and worthwhile characters, Zebra Girl is for you.

If' you're impatient with sporadic updates and infrequent newsposts, then not so much.

Starting off as a gag-a-day strip, but quickly transforming into a character driven story with a plot and everything that entails, Joe England's comic is definitely worth a read. At this point there are fairly extensive archives, as he's been at this since May 2000.

The art is black and white, with a high-contrast approach that I find myself partial to (If you like the art at Zebra Girl, Shades of Grey might be worth checking out - the art is less clean, but still very good). The art starts off better than that of most webcomics, but by the time you reach the most recent pages, it's clearly of professional caliber.

One thing that does bug me somewhat is Joe's insistence on representing himself as a rabbit; he also has a side story with more furry characters, most of which I skimmed over. This is just a matter of personal preference, but I do feel that it mars an otherwise excellent comic.


Overall, an excellent comic. Read it.

Pages Unbound

Pages Unbound intends to be a central hub for readers of online serial fiction.

And it's well on its way, as far as I'm concerned.

Lexy says that a user rating system is in the works. Good. That's the one thing it needs but still lacks. I fully expect Pages Unbound to become the buzzComix of the web fiction world.

It seems, however, that I hold the minority opinion.

There has been lots of criticism leveled at PU (Isn't that a horrible acronym? Too bad - I'm using it anyhow) lately.

Essentially, the complaint is that PU, by allowing anybody to submit a story, forces the potential readers to wade through a bunch of drivel in order to even have a chance at finding something worthwhile. Therefore, PU should have an editorial process (which, incidentally, would just make it more closely resemble the traditional publishing industry, rather than the blogs from which this new medium has drawn its inspiration). Such an editorial process would help readers find the "good stuff," amongst the flak.

Hearing this made me very happy. Because that is the function this blog serves. One of them, anyway. I wade through the piles of amateurish, lowercase "i" prose, find the gems hiding inside, and present them to you, my loyal readers.

I even said as much here.



Oh, and a side note. I have changed my handle here to Sebatinsky. My linked comment above is written under the same name.