Read It Now Reviews #19 – The Iridescent Iron Rat, Wizards, Foals, and Fools, Schrödinger's Pony, A Silly Comparison, and A Taxing Situation · 1:21pm Feb 20th, 2015
A bunch of new, interesting stories came out this week, and for some reason, it feels like things are on the upswing again. The last write-off competition produced a lot of very strong entries, and two more of them have been posted to FIMFiction and have earned a recommendation from me. My own write-off story is presently being revised and will be up on the site within the next few days; after that, getting chapter 4 of Mistletrapped out will be my top priority.
The stories I read today:
The Iridescent Iron Rat by Horizon
Wizards, Foals, and Fools by FanOfMostEverything
Schrödinger's Pony by DemonBrightSpirit
A Silly Comparison by monokeras
A Taxing Situation by AdmiralBiscuit
The Iridescent Iron Rat
by Horizon
Crossover, Adventure, Sci-FiCrime was easy in the days before Princess Twilight and the First Five ushered in a golden age of Harmony. Back then, any idiot could plan a robbery, just like any rat could sneak through the cracks in wooden granary walls. But now that everything is cloudstone and clearsteel, with magical countermeasures over the few remaining holes, it takes a different breed of rat to survive.
"Slippery" Jimmy the Grey is one of the rare few ponies who can still slip through the cracks — even with the legendary Rainbow Corps on his tail. Now he's got a billion-bit heist planned in the gleaming skyscrapers of Cloudsdale. If only he hadn't made the mistake of stealing from a dragon …
This is a crossover with Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat novels, but it assumes no knowledge of the series.
Why I added it: It won the last writeoff, Horizon is a good writer, and I helped edit it.
Review
Our protagonist, “Slippery” Jimmy the Grey, is one of the last rogues in Equestria. A man who commits crime as much for the thrill as the profit, he uses various magitech devices in his adventurous capers as he uses a combination of guile, skill, and the tools of the trade – introduced in the first half of the story while fleeing from Spike, then used in the second half of the story in a heist – to make his way through the world.
Set a long time into the future, after ridiculous future inflation has taken over and devalued the bit to the point where most common items cost thousands of bits, this story may be a crossover, but you don’t need to have read the Stainless Steel Rat novels to enjoy it at all. The whole story is a fun sci-fi/fantasy romp, and it is fun to watch our “hero” do his best to earn a (dishonest) living via his magictechnological shenanigans.
This story doesn’t have any greater or deeper meaning; it is a fun adventure story, and at that, it succeeds marvelously. If you have a hankering for a fun little heist story, you’ll likely enjoy this, and clocking in at a bit under 10,000 words, it has enough space to do it justice without belaboring the point. The pacing is excellent, and this won the last write-off competition for a reason.
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Wizards, Foals, and Fools
by FanOfMostEverything
GenreSome ponies seem to be born knowing what they are meant to do. Some discover it. A few need to be shown. Star Swirl the Bearded was in this latter group. This entry of his journal recounts the encounter that turned an apprentice lens grinder into the greatest wizard of all time.
Why I added it: It was one of the best stories from the last write-off competition.
Review
This story consists of two parts – a journal entry, written in the first person by Star Swirl the Bearded himself, describing a chance encounter with a wizard in his youth which inspired him to become the mage he is today, and a second bit set in the “present” (more than a thousand years ago) about Star Swirl interacting with Luna. Both halves of the story are very good, and they flow together marvelously; Star Swirl is wonderfully cantankerous, and his interactions with Luna are amusing. Meanwhile, the first half of the story is intriguing in its own right, and the style of Star Swirl’s writing certainly fits the character well.
All in all, this is a tight little tale which clocks in at around 2,500 words; it is well worth your time reading, both for the excellent characterization of Star Swirl and the story that he resides in.
Recommendation: Recommended
Schrödinger's Pony
by DemonBrightSpirit
RandomI reckon Pinkie Pie has to be in that barrel. I saw her go in myself. But I just can't shake the feeling that if I go and open that lid, she won't be in there.
Why I added it: I follow DemonBrightSpirit
Review
The summary of this story quite accurately encapsulates the story therein – Applejack sees Pinkie Pie hide inside a barrel, but is afraid to open it because she fears that Pinkie Pie may not really be inside it, despite escape from it being an impossibility.
Unfortunately, while a clever premise, there isn’t much more to it than that, and the story feels like it was a bit longer than it needed to be for the depth presented; it might have been better with more of a reaction from Applejack, or less belaboring, but as-is, it feels like it falls into an uncomfortable middle ground.
Still, at 1,300 words, it is quite short.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
A Silly Comparison
by monokeras
Slice of LifeLuna transformed into Nightmare Moon because she grew fed up of ponies shunning her nights, didn’t she?
Well, that’s the official version. But as usual, it’s only part of the truth.
Why I added it: monokeras wrote it in response to some cross-talk in the Writeoff Association.
Review
In this story, we discover the true reason for Nightmare Moon’s rebellion – and, more importantly, her different visual appearance, as well as Twilight’s naiveté about such things.
This is a very short story with a silly premise, but it didn’t really end up being very funny, despite the idea of the real reason behind Nightmare Moon being even more petty. It is very short, but because the audience is likely to figure out what is going on far before Twilight, it ends up feeling like it is longer than it is while we wait for the other shoe to drop.
Recommendation: Not Recommended
A Taxing Evening
by Admiral Biscuit
Slice of LifeMost of the year, Written Script enjoys his job as town treasurer--but not when tax time rolls around, and everypony thinks they're paying too much. Then he becomes the most disliked stallion in all of Ponyville.
Why I added it: Ghost of Heraclitus recommended it, and it was featured, and the topic interested me.
Review
This is very much a slice of life story, showing a day in the life of Written Script during tax season. He has to spend all day listening to ponies complain about and pay their taxes, and there’s a good chance he won’t get to see his girlfriend at all, not even in the evening, due to his late hours.
This is one of those slice-of-life stories which is very literally a slice of life; it is a day in the life of a pony who is responsible for signing off on ponies taxes. It is reasonably well-written, but I wasn’t really blown out of the water by it in any way; it was quite plain and didn’t really do anything that grabbed me. At 2,700 words long, it isn’t a terribly long read, but you don’t really need to go out of your way to experience this, either; you aren’t missing anything. Still, if that sort of thing appeals to you, you might enjoy it. I felt a bit let down, though, as there wasn’t anything more, and as a relative of a state employee, Written Script’s day, while perhaps accurate, wasn’t particularly interesting.
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Summary
The Iridescent Iron Rat by Horizon
Highly Recommended
Wizards, Foals, and Fools by FanOfMostEverything
Recommended
Schrödinger's Pony by DemonBrightSpirit
Not Recommended
A Silly Comparison by monokeras
Not Recommended
A Taxing Situation by AdmiralBiscuit
Not Recommended
Either I’m getting soft or people are really writing some great stories recently; I’ve been finding a lot of stories which really appealed to me of late.
Number of stories still listed as "Read It Later – High Priority": 229
Number of stories listed as “Read It Later”: 1543
With the majority not recommended, I wouldn't say you're going soft. Still, I'm glad to see mine in the minority.
2814242 You could say he is going Titanium soft.
New formula for winning Titanium Dragon's approval: appeal to his instincts as a fellow gold-hoarding metallic creature.