Main Reviews #18: The Evolution of Harmony (spoiler warning) · 7:10am Jul 2nd, 2015
A bit of a shorter main review today, only because the story itself is relatively short and I don’t have much more to say about it besides that I enjoyed it.
Today’s story: The Evolution of Harmony.
Author: Thornwing
Synopsis:
Far in the West, beyond the borders of the kingdom, an old evil has awoken. With the fate of Equestria hanging in the balance, Twilight must unlock the secrets of the past in order to preserve what remains of her future.
Length: 41,914 words over 12 chapters, averaging 3,493 words per chapter
Status: Complete
Review: This had a great hook, grabbing me instantly with its mysterious opening that led right into some action. And it never really let up there. At 41k words, the story feels paced at about what you’d expect a double-episode or even a short movie like EqG. This added to the feel that I was reading an episode of the show. I love it. We get intrigue, some fun Mane Six interactions, great characterisation, and very few noticeable technical writing flaws. So much is packed into this short but fun romp, and it’s definitely worth checking out.
As a new reader I never saw the original version of the story, but apparently I should be very glad for the current incarnation. Everything about the characters and how they handle their situations just feels so incredibly pony. My favourite moment is when Pinkie reveals what she’s been carrying across Equestria in her heavy, overflowing saddlebags and uses it to “defeat” a rampaging enemy (hint: it’s not the Party Cannon). Definitely glad I read this. Chapter four in particular made me smile. Lots of cool ideas at work in here, none of which feel particularly forced like the author insisting his headcanon is true and correct. It’s all very showlike and nice.
Its only major downside is its tendency to ramble on between characters, which feels like too much padding just for the sake of giving every character a chance to speak every time rather than to make any plot advancement. This was particularly noticeable in what should have been a relatively quick battle and climax but felt drawn out as everypony insisted on saying their piece. That’s really my only gripe though, and the ending tied everything up nicely. I shall be checking out the rest of the series sometime in the future.
Just one thing went unresolved, but I won't gripe about it because I suspect it might be touched upon by the immediate sequel.
A short but fun adventure with lots of fresh and cool ideas mixed in with olden G1 lore. A lot of imagination went into this, and it shows.
8/10
Weird as this may sound, I was immensely relieved when I clicked the story link and discovered that it was already on my Read It Later list. One day I fear I'm going to cause some cataclysmic server crash from that list getting too darned long