Review Roundup: October 17th - November 11th · 5:49pm Nov 13th, 2016
For your (future) consideration, I recently figured out what I need to do to improve a Hearth's Warming story I wrote last year enough to post it (or rather, how to accomplish the thing I already knew I needed to improve), so I'm going to start in on that soon. But not too soon, because pre-Thanksgiving is too early to be writing Christmas(-expy) fiction. Expect a new short, seasonal story from me sometime around the start of December!
And, if you haven't been keeping up with my posts at One Man's Pony Ramblings, here's a roundup of what you've missed in the last few weeks:
Monday, October 17, 2016: Mini-Reviews Round 156
Short reviews of Delayed Reaction, by Masterweaver; Canterlot Seven, by LightOfTriumph; and Temporary Hiatus, by TheMessenger.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016: Fandom Classics Part 183: Applejack's Bar
My review of Alaborn's tale of malice and misspellings, and how bureaucracy brings them together in a marriage of marginal inconvenience.
Friday, October 21, 2016: OMPR Turns Five
My five-year anniversary of doing this! It's been a trip, lemme tell you, and this collection of quotes over the years shows that it's been sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating, often edifying, and occasionally totally incomprehensible.
Monday, October 24, 2016: Episode Talk: S6E25-26, To Where and Back Again
A few thoughts on the S6 finale.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016: Fandom Classics Part 184: The Ballad of Echo the Diamond Dog
My review of Rust's novel about going to an unusually bloodthirsty version of Equestria in an uncommonly powerful body.
Friday, October 28, 2016: Mini-Reviews Round 157
Short reviews of It Was Me, by BlndDog; Cursed Be He That Moves My Bones, by Lucky Dreams; The Lies We Make, by volrathxp; and The Last Days of Parrsboro, by Eakin.
Monday, October 31, 2016: Fandom Classics Part 185: A FLEet|ng LIght |n thE DArknEsS
My review of Flashgen's journal-format fic about the last days of Ponyville.
Wednesday, November 2, 2016: First Sentences In (Fan)Fiction the 15th
A look at some of the first lines from fanfics I've read, and how effective, elegant, quotable, and memorable they are.
Friday, November 4, 2016: Mini-Reviews Round 158
Short reviews of Undeliverable, by ocalhoun; Promised Land, by Obselescence; and Fly Hard, by Aragon.
Monday, November 7, 2016: Fandom Classics Part 186: Couchtavia
My review of shortskirtsandexplosions' story about Octavia spending all day hauling a couch across Ponyville.
Friday, November 11, 2016: Mini-Reviews Round 159
Short reviews of The Corner of (Our) Eyes, by Daemon McRae; Wonder-Breezies, by Metool Bard; and Hero of the Day, by Gravekeeper.
Congratulations on five years of rambling about ponies! I've been following regularly since you started your review roundups, and as far as I'm concerned you're pretty much THE preeminent reader-oriented reviewer in this fandom. Bravo!
That being said, I wonder if I could recommend a story myself? Specifically Black Angel by Zobeid.
I know it probably doesn't fit what I assume to be your usual criteria, since it's neither conveniently short nor already famous. I also know that you've said in the past that you most hate those stories that feature both great and terrible elements, since you can neither fully enjoy nor just easily ignore such stories, a sentiment which I share fully.
But that's why I would absolutely love to see an analysis of Black Angel by you, if you can ever spare the time for it. I've been considering for months how to best explain to the author the things that I think were wonderfully right about this story (and the things that I think went terribly wrong...), and it would be a lot of fun to contrast your conclusions with my own. Plus, despite my own incredibly mixed feelings about it, I still think it deserves far more attention than it's gotten. The worldbuilding is unlike anything else that I've seen in the fandom; the "questions" that the plot asks are varied and gripping; and as someone who has plumbed even the deepest, darkest depths of fimfiction for Nightmare Moon protagonist stories, Black Angel features one of my favorite interpretations of her that I've ever seen... that is, at least until its later chapters.
Anyway. Regardless, congrats, and I look forward to reading more of your recommendations and analyses in the future!
4301543
Thanks for the kind words! Also, thanks for the story rec; I sometimes review longer works outside of Fandom Classics (I've reviewed Subjunctive and Blackacre, for example), so it's not like I never get to stories like it. That said, I'll admit that it's just easier to find time for short stories in my day-to-day life. Still, I've put it on my list, and I'll definitely probably get to it someday!