By Any Other Name · 11:33pm Oct 1st, 2021
The author of my favourite non-pony novel just published a sequel to said novel, so I thought I'd shill them both.
The Sapphire Shadow is a cyberpunk novel written by James Wake, who used to be in the pony fandom. It shows in his work, as this story mixes daring cyberpunk heists with a cast of characters that feel both familiar and yet unique, who are incredibly well-fleshed out and have dynamics that captivated me from start to finish. The author also gives the characters time to breathe, something I find lacking in many stories, which means the relationships develop organically and richly, something that fanfic has spoiled me on.
As for the characters themselves, I was going to write a whole essay analyzing them, but real life has been busy at the moment. Suffice to say, the beautiful, classy, fashionable, jewelry-loving rogue and the obsessed tech-geek hacker are very reminiscent of two of my favourite characters, and the witty, bantering dynamic they have that's still full of heart is a masterclass on how to write a certain ship I'm fond of.
In short: if you like RariTwi, you have to read this. If you enjoy good, character-driven cyberpunk, or just want to read a story with good characters having good character dynamics (especially if you're the type who has been spoiled by fanfic when it comes to romantic subplots), then you also owe it to yourself to check out these books. Also, if you're hankering for more gay stuff outside of fanfic.
The books can be read for free on Offprint, or you can purchase the books on Amazon to support the author, and I would heavily encourage doing so.
The Sapphire Shadow:
https://offprint.net/prose/k681hsimp/the-sapphire-shadow
https://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Shadow-James-Wake-ebook/dp/B088QMZC4R
The Emerald Haven (Sequel):
https://offprint.net/prose/zDvo3yIl9GAGsfQZyHU5y/the-emerald-haven
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09H22KWVK
Oh! :O Is this anyone we know?
5590326
The omission of a fimfic profile might be intentional for the sake of privacy.
Thank you so much for this blog post, I absolutely would've missed the sequel.