R4 (Reactions, Reviews, Reference, Redirection) #0158 · 5:21pm May 12th, 2015
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Here are five slightly edited old reviews:
Tainted Reflection by Imperaxum
Ascension by BlazzingInferno
The Shaman by Skyguy7_13
Our Shining Light by Cobalt Coda
Red Tornado by Alaborn
Tainted Reflection by Imperaxum
[story link] [my original review]
Interesting story. Certainly worth a read. Touches on what exactly makes a pony a person, what self-determination means and all that fun high-concept stuff. A few pacing troubles, but the start is good and the second half rolls along effectively. It also has a really good exploration of what exactly the element of laughter is right near the end. Hey, and while posting this I found out that it wasn’t finished when I read it. So hopefully the last two chapters won’t completely ruin all these good feelings I have for the story.
I remember liking this even after reading the last part.
Ascension by BlazzingInferno
[story link] [my original review]
A different look at alicorn ascension. I liked this, but I’m a sucker for alicorn worldbuiding. It could have used a little more polish, but I didn’t notice any editing errors or anything like some of the contest entries. This had good worldbuilding bits and I liked the main character quite a bit. Would have loved this to have been even longer. Want to spend more time with the main character and this world both before and after she becomes an alicorn.
The Shaman by Skyguy7_13
[story link] [my original review]
And right back to the not-so-good end of the pool. This is basically a textbook case of why telling instead of showing is bad. Not to mention a tad incoherent. Celestia is protrayed as kind of stupid here. Taking her faithful student to visit a creature that can possibly control minds, but waiting until they are in the room with it before telling Twilight this, and only then instructing her on the complicated series of spells needed for protection. Also, it apparently killed and ate one of the royal guards. Which it explains that the guard was a changeling. Twilight accepts this with only a minimum amount of evidence (remember it can manipulate minds and she doesn’t have protective spells up) and completely forgets that the creature apparently ate the changeling. With a bit better writing this might have been a interesting fairly dark story, but as it is, I’d recommend avoiding it.
Our Shining Light by Cobalt Coda
[story has been removed from Fimfiction] [my original review]
Well, that was something of a trainwreck. Princess Cadance having the temprament flighty schoolgirl and Shining Armor as a cliche inattentive husband only two years into the marriage. Plus the writing is bland and not very good. This is quite possibly the worst Princess Cadance and Shining Armor story I’ve read. Which is a bit harsh, I know. Mostly I haven’t read all that many of them. Still, would not recommend this
Red Tornado by Alaborn
[story link] [my original review]
Yay, another really good one. This is probably one of my top five from the contest. A few odd word choices, but a great story. Low-key but still having great impact. Is another story that just fits into my head nearly perfectly.
As always, The Big Master Review List is here: { THE MASTER LIST }
If you know of a text-format reviewer I'm not keeping track of, please let me know and I'll see if they meet the criteria to be assimilated into the list.
If you are an author who wants a more detailed review of a story I've covered feel free to message me. My reviews tend to be fairly light, mostly just reactions to a story right after reading it. I am happy to give a more careful read and reply to anyone who wants more precision and/or feedback.
