Just finished the Unsong edit: it’s good! I agree with your review of the original: it felt like an excellent first draft badly in need of revision, lots of good material but structurally a bit of a hot mess. The edit isn’t perfect and doesn’t fix everything, but it feels noticeably tighter. All my favorite moments from the original made it in, no baby was thrown out with bathwater. I’d have to re-read the original, which I don’t feel like doing, to establish exactly how sharp the red pen was, but nothing felt especially filler-y or slow to me on this read.
That said, it’s still the same story, and it still has the two weakest plot threads that annoyed me on my original read:
* Sarah, who after a lot of buildup ends up being totally inconsequential to the plot, with no real payoff, and more annoying than funny — this is basically un-changed
* BOOJUM vs Unsong: entertaining but no motivation, stakes, or payoff — this was improved by giving a better / deeper backstory to the head of Unsong (renamed from the original), which makes it somewhat less anticlimactic, but still anticlimactic
Nevertheless, would strongly recommend the edit, certainly to anyone who liked and is willing to re-read the original
I read 5 works here (playing one, also watched one) this week thanks to your recommendations, thank you from bottom of the heart <<3. I assume we are on a similar wavelength regarding certain properties of thought and weaving methods of certain tropes, not so in others but its ok. See you.
I think they're examining it with the wrong lens. Once you accept comedy with a side of mystery is the goal, many of those criticisms just go away. Additionally, the reviewer seems to think Harry and Sirius are meant to be heroes who share the author's values, but I don't see it that way at all, they're meant to be offensive dirtbags. Some of the comments seem to agree with this.
If we are supposed to view this as primarily a comedy, wouldn’t the criticism about the humour (the isms and phobias) be more relevant? I suppose not all humour is for everyone, but does the author signpost it in any way?
Also, if we are supposed to see Harry and Sirius as dirtbags to laugh at and not author avatars, then are their views challenged in any way, or are they simply taken as fact?
I think the criticism is mostly true, but as you say I don't think it's at all relevant to *my* enjoyment of the story, or even most people's. For myself, I'm a big believer in the "anything goes" approach to fiction. Even if the author really was a sexist I don't think it would make the story less funny for me, just like how God Shaped Hole is still a banger regardless of its author being the Worst Human Ever.
You know, I didn't realize that I am one of the select few (70) who subscribe to record crash. I am going to assume that a great number of people read your blog unsubscribed (6000+). My favorite reading was that one UK psychopass show that went on for so many seasons.
I have a friend who hates "Project Hail Mary" saying it feels very white and fanfic-y, so I haven't read anything from Andy Weir. I liked Seveneves and I like fanfiction, do you think I'll like "Project Hail Mary"?
Yeah, I don't think I would call it fanfic-y at all. Weir just has a very "harmless" sense of humor and style of writing that I can see why people would call white, but it's more likely what you develop after spending 20 years on Reddit as your main platform.
The hard sci-fi is legitimately amazing, and there is some emotional stuff that got to me. It's definitely worth reading even if the style turns you off.
Can confirm I currently read it unsubscribed, though it'll probably go into my RSS list soon.
Honestly, I find that very often makin and I disagree, both in terms of general taste and specific thoughts on the stuff I have read, but reading these reviews is a very entertaining delve into a slice of Internet fiction I'm only modestly familiar with, and other reflections on stuff like Worm or Homestuck or Lost can raise insightful and interesting points that are fascinating to read.
I'll probably never get the shill completionist badge though, since so many of the descriptions clearly indicate that it's not for me. Others have already proven to be great discoveries though, and after reading this I now have a bunch more to go through.
Just finished the Unsong edit: it’s good! I agree with your review of the original: it felt like an excellent first draft badly in need of revision, lots of good material but structurally a bit of a hot mess. The edit isn’t perfect and doesn’t fix everything, but it feels noticeably tighter. All my favorite moments from the original made it in, no baby was thrown out with bathwater. I’d have to re-read the original, which I don’t feel like doing, to establish exactly how sharp the red pen was, but nothing felt especially filler-y or slow to me on this read.
That said, it’s still the same story, and it still has the two weakest plot threads that annoyed me on my original read:
* Sarah, who after a lot of buildup ends up being totally inconsequential to the plot, with no real payoff, and more annoying than funny — this is basically un-changed
* BOOJUM vs Unsong: entertaining but no motivation, stakes, or payoff — this was improved by giving a better / deeper backstory to the head of Unsong (renamed from the original), which makes it somewhat less anticlimactic, but still anticlimactic
Nevertheless, would strongly recommend the edit, certainly to anyone who liked and is willing to re-read the original
I read 5 works here (playing one, also watched one) this week thanks to your recommendations, thank you from bottom of the heart <<3. I assume we are on a similar wavelength regarding certain properties of thought and weaving methods of certain tropes, not so in others but its ok. See you.
I saw that A Black Comedy was on your shills list, and was wondering if you were aware of this review of it: https://www.reddit.com/r/HPfanfiction/s/lhmFDH8HpG
If so, what do you think of their conclusions?
I think they're examining it with the wrong lens. Once you accept comedy with a side of mystery is the goal, many of those criticisms just go away. Additionally, the reviewer seems to think Harry and Sirius are meant to be heroes who share the author's values, but I don't see it that way at all, they're meant to be offensive dirtbags. Some of the comments seem to agree with this.
If we are supposed to view this as primarily a comedy, wouldn’t the criticism about the humour (the isms and phobias) be more relevant? I suppose not all humour is for everyone, but does the author signpost it in any way?
Also, if we are supposed to see Harry and Sirius as dirtbags to laugh at and not author avatars, then are their views challenged in any way, or are they simply taken as fact?
I think the criticism is mostly true, but as you say I don't think it's at all relevant to *my* enjoyment of the story, or even most people's. For myself, I'm a big believer in the "anything goes" approach to fiction. Even if the author really was a sexist I don't think it would make the story less funny for me, just like how God Shaped Hole is still a banger regardless of its author being the Worst Human Ever.
You know, I didn't realize that I am one of the select few (70) who subscribe to record crash. I am going to assume that a great number of people read your blog unsubscribed (6000+). My favorite reading was that one UK psychopass show that went on for so many seasons.
I have a friend who hates "Project Hail Mary" saying it feels very white and fanfic-y, so I haven't read anything from Andy Weir. I liked Seveneves and I like fanfiction, do you think I'll like "Project Hail Mary"?
Yeah, I don't think I would call it fanfic-y at all. Weir just has a very "harmless" sense of humor and style of writing that I can see why people would call white, but it's more likely what you develop after spending 20 years on Reddit as your main platform.
The hard sci-fi is legitimately amazing, and there is some emotional stuff that got to me. It's definitely worth reading even if the style turns you off.
Can confirm I currently read it unsubscribed, though it'll probably go into my RSS list soon.
Honestly, I find that very often makin and I disagree, both in terms of general taste and specific thoughts on the stuff I have read, but reading these reviews is a very entertaining delve into a slice of Internet fiction I'm only modestly familiar with, and other reflections on stuff like Worm or Homestuck or Lost can raise insightful and interesting points that are fascinating to read.
I'll probably never get the shill completionist badge though, since so many of the descriptions clearly indicate that it's not for me. Others have already proven to be great discoveries though, and after reading this I now have a bunch more to go through.