Adventure Fic Review #2 - Wayfarer

Finally, another review blog. I love when I read a story and can't help but think, "I have to write about this when I'm finished." Reading such a story fills you with a nervous sort of energy that spurs you on to read at the cost of any other whimsical plans you may have otherwise had. And perhaps knowing that it was written over NaNoWriMo only adds to that excitement and appreciation. Here's one such story that I just finished reading this afternoon and I highly recommend. As with any review I shall not spoil the story, but address what makes it worthwhile to read.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and each word is but a single stroke of the brush upon the canvass of a scene. But have you ever tried to describe a picture in a thousand words? What does a picture say when you look at it? When you see beauty what does it mean to you? How do you experience it?

I'm certain there's a difference in our answers. Everybody sees things differently. It's about perspective. And this story, Wayfarer by: Plebeian, presents us viewers with a unique experience and perspective. Each chapter is a thousand words. A thousand strokes of paint upon the canvass. Each canvass follows another and we are led on an adventure, painted vividly upon our minds. These characters grow through the context of each picture as you watch them, search, struggle, and discover the beauty of a world. We are drawn in to experience the moments that define a life, and there is beauty expressed in what others dismiss or overlook. In sharing these moments, you live beside these characters and realize who they are. You come to know them, and perhaps come to know yourself better for it.

There's a wonderful, bittersweet romance story here; I had tears in my eyes while reading certain chapters, and breath-taken smiles at others. The characters are solid and realized throughout the story, and the tone is one of whimsically musing, yet it works so well together and presents a very formidable theme for the entirety of the story. And the adventure tag is earned—not through the sword and sorcery fantasy elements that I so adore—through the fact that the story is an adventure for the characters as well as the reader in equal parts. It has world-building, but that is not one of the primary focuses of the story; it has just enough to make the character-building shine through, like an unobtrusive, slightly blurred background that serves to accentuate the focus of the piece. The story becomes very meaningful and dear to the reader as they progress. And it's all through the descriptive prose—thick and beautiful prose.

Without a doubt, this story is one of the most vivid and memorable pieces I have ever read. Yet it is so very different from anything else that I have ever read. The poetic nature with which the scenes are described had my inner poet mesmerized and drinking the words slowly, like a golden glass of honey.

I wholeheartedly recommend this fic for two extremely well-presented reasons. One reason is that Wayfarer shows us just how effective a theme and overall structure can be in crafting a cohesive and beautiful story. It's a structure that is pursued and explored fully in every chapter and certainly unlike any fic I've read on this site. That originality and integrity in the pursuit of both structure and theme comes as a veritable breath of fresh air.

The other reason you might want to give this story your readership is: If as a writer you have struggled with considering how you could describe a scene with more poetic flair, or you are worried your words are coming across as too bland, then reading this story will help you realize what might be missing in your writing. You might find in this story's prose the missing ingredient to your very own story.

This story is golden, and so very rich. But like honey or pure maple syrup, it is very tough to move through. Reading the prose is not easy, it's tiring—but in a good way. You pay attention to each word, and the purpose behind each word, and you visualize it. You bring the scene to life in your head, and that takes effort. But like any adventure, the experience is what is really important and what really had me gawking. Reading each chapter brings one beautiful image to your mind and it lasts. It bears a sense of accomplishment. And by creating these images in your mind, you'll come to experience a story that you will find nowhere else.

Rarely have I stumbled across literature that so successfully manages to impart unto me a feeling of accomplishment that I've only ever experienced through doing stuff: The moment when I reached a mountain summit after six hours of climbing, and I gazed down through sun-cloaked clouds, breath taken away at the sight; that time when at my best friend's wedding, when I read them a poem that brought tears to my eyes and to the crowd; The time when I finished writing Scion of Chaos and read through the comments, knowing that I had managed to actually finish writing a novel-length story.

And Wayfarer has offered a reading experience that, in my mind, mimics that sense of accomplishment—that satisfaction. I see reading it as a personal treasure. A memory I'll always hold dear and look back to with fondness.

Perhaps this amber ambrosia will appeal to you as well, and you'll feel similarly at the experience. I don't know if you will. And I am certain that many people will not be up to reading this story. But I do know that I found it fascinating, even if it took me a long while to read through it.

Thanks for reading,

~SilentBelle