Review #106 - The Luna Cypher · 5:21am May 19th, 2017
Before you ask, yes. Yes I have been neglecting my pre-reader obligations in favor of life. But I will get those done in not too long of a time.
Anyway, review:
The Luna Cypher by iisaw
This is a sequel to The Celestia Code, which I reviewed here.
(Sex, Adventure, Dark, Romance)
When the monsters created by the dark crystal engine escape their prison, it's up to Princess Twilight Sparkle to deal with them. She gets help and advice from Princess Luna, but things don't go as planned. In fact, when a pony who relies on logic and rationality tries to navigate the stormy seas of emotional entanglement while simultaneously saving Equestria from a horde of evil creatures intent on destroying everything they encounter, nothing goes as planned.
Review
So, The Luna Cypher. This is a dark adventure, where unlike the prequel, it is centered around romance. And it suffers quite a bit because of it. To be more specific, the first 15-ish chapters suffer. Twilight, eh? Well, once again, kind of a static character. She does have some changes, but they relate to romantic interests and knowledge. And extreme situations, but who doesn't change a bit in times such as those? Anyway, she's unsure of her romantic feelings, I'd have to say scared, even. Also, she's not the greatest military pony, but she does pull through with her refined ability to strategize. I wonder where that came from. However, she also gets the pleasure of going through enough emotions in the first half to call it a drama. And now for Luna. Luna is smart, subtle, and caring... pretty much one of my favorite Lunas. Doesn't quite compare with CoffeeBean's Luna, but it comes close. The reason for not being my favorite Luna is how manipulative she is. Like, holy carp. I don't approve. I'll leave the rest of her to you, though. Celestia and Cadance? They are just brief antagonists and plot-complicators. The rest of the main six? Practically nonexistent. The world-building in this story is excellent, though. Like, I would never have thought of some of these ideas... ever. Now that it's out there, I plan to exploit it... someday.
This one's greatest weakness would have to be conflicting genres. It's tagged for a romance adventure, but then it's a romance drama until around chapter 14. Then it switches to the romance adventure you expected, but the story overall is tainted by the failure of the first half. Now, I typically forgive the first two chapters of these issues, but when it's half the story, serious points docked. Prepare for a long recommendation...
Recommendation: Recommended if you like the series because it's important to the overall arc, but otherwise: "meh, it was okay." (Read the review if you want to know why).
Thanks for the review!
*My typo in the recommendation has been corrected.*
I think I was a little kinder than you were, but I also found the romance drama stuff the least enjoyable part of the story. Thankfully, part three in the series was fantastic.