Fandom Classics Part 34: Spitfire's Day Off

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I'm officially going to be at MLP-MSP!  I don't actually know if I'll be able to be there on Friday the 6th (it'll depend on work), but I decided that I might as well get a badge now while the early-bird special is still going.  Hopefully I'll get to see a couple of you there.

Click down below the break to read my review of Artimae's Spitfire's Day Off.

Fandom Classics Part 33: A Novel Tale

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For those of you who aren't active on FiMFiction, they've got a new project: The Royal Guard.  If you've got any interest in trying your hand at this reviewing thing, this looks like a good place to give it a go in a structured environment.  And if you've got a story you think is up to snuff, they've opened up submissions, so go give it a shot!

Below the break, my review of Blissey1's A Novel Tale.

Episode Talk: S4E11, Three's a Crowd

Wanna talk about something that's not pony fanfiction?  How about ponies themselves!  Every now and then I have a fair bit to say about an episode, and this is one of those times.  My thoughts on the latest episode are all below the break; go ahead and dive on in.

Fandom Classics Part 32: Princess Celestia Gets Mugged

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If my posts are too widely spaced for your tastes, you might want to check out the Links page, on the bar up above--I've recently added a few new reviewers to the list.  So, go give John Perry, Soge, and Jade Singer some attention, if you can't get enough review-y goodness!  And, of course, go pay attention to all the other reviews I've listed and, while you're at it, let me know if there's anyone I should have on that page but don't.  I am but one man, and a distressingly forgetful one at that, so the odds are that if you don't see a name up there, it's because I either haven't heard it or have, but it slipped my mind.

For now though, we have some genuine Chris reviewsmanship.  Check out my thoughts on BronyWriter's Princess Celestia Gets Mugged, below the break.

Mini-Reviews Round 27

Just a few pony things I've read recently, and have decided to comment on.  Click down below the break to see what I've been reading, what I thought of it, and what today's word (for deftfunk) and silly typo (for the rest of you--I do hate to disappoint) proves to be.

Pony Enough for Ya?

Today's half-coherent blatherings deal with the always-thorny issue of how far one can stray from the source material in one's fanfiction before it stops being fanfiction at all, and becomes an original story which happens to have ponies (or whatever).  Well, mostly; laser-like focus isn't really something I'm known for when it comes to these posts.  Anyway, click down below the break for my thoughts.

Fandom Classics Part 31: Wingmares

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Every now and then, I'll think of something clever to put up here above the review.  And without fail, when I actually sit down to type it out... it's gone.

Oh well.  Click down below for my thoughts on CouchCrusader's Wingmares, unalloyed with any pith.

Mini-Reviews Round 26

I've never been to a pony-themed convention, and have never seriously considered going to one--mostly because there's never been one anywhere near where I live.  But now, one's gearing up that's not 10+ hours or an airplane ride away: MLP-MSP, which is going to be in Minnesota, on the first weekend in June.  I haven't decided if I'm going to go yet, but I figured I'd ask: are any of you authors and commenters who read this blog going or considering going?  I'm pretty sure this sort of thing is a lot more fun if you "know" some of the people in attendance, and it would be kind of nice to put a face or two to some of the names around here.

But wherever you live, feel free to click down below the break for some short and (hopefully) sweet commentary on my casual fanfic reading.

Fandom Classics Part 30: As Celestia Is My Witness

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It's kind of neat to see that, more than a year after I first posted it, my review of Eternal can still inspire passionate opinions and even outright ranting.  Though not necessarily for the reasons you might suspect; check out the bottom comment here.  And congrats to Bulbasaur for finally working it out; it almost makes me wish the payoff was in any way worth the wait.

So, no convoluted, half-formed puns this time; click below the break for my review of Adcoon's As Celestia Is My Witness.

Fandom Classics Part 29: The Games We Play

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I suppose, now that it's the middle of January and all, I ought to start putting away the Christmas decorations.  But then again, I like having the Christmas stuff up, and putting it away is work, and who's going to judge me if I chose to celebrate MLK day with nativity scenes and tinsel?  A true friend doesn't ride you about seasonally inappropriate interior decorating, that's what I say.

Speaking of true friends and what they do and don't do, click down below the break for my review of AbsoluteAnonymous' The Games We Play.

A Reading Thing and a Writing Thing

...Neither of which are a review.  But, they're the two things that have been distracting me from finishing The Games We Play (along with the whole weekend-full-of-symposiums thing), which I tentatively hope to have ready by Friday.

The first distraction has been Steven R. Donaldson's The Last Dark, the fourth and final book in The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.  I love the Thomas Covenant books, and it caused me almost physical pain to not go buy a copy as soon as it went on sale, but I knew I was getting a copy for Christmas and have been sitting on my hands.  I'm nearly finished with the book, and it's completely exceeded my expectations.  Donaldson has an undeniably turgid style, and The Last Chronicles have been particularly dense, both in terms of prose and event; there were times during book three where I began to bog down, despite my inherent interest in the series.

But The Last Dark has been utterly amazing, piling on climax after climax to the point where I can hardly bear to put the book down.  Unless the last few chapters are a complete throwaway, I am totally satisfied with the way this saga is concluding.  Anyone who enjoyed the first two Chronicles but found the more recent books less gripping, take heart: it pays off.

On the writing front, my time's been eaten up trying to put something together for AugieDog's Luna story contest, which I was going blow off just like 90% of the contests I hear about, but then I got an idea, and now I want to write it, and... pegh.  It may come to nothing, and it may not be ready by the end of the month regardless, but at least I'm trying.  And in any event, I figured a little more exposure for the event would be a good thing.  Go give it a shot, people who are more prolific than I am!

Encouraging Writers: the Double-Edged Sword of Quality

I just got back from a musical conference that I attended over the weekend, which was tiring but tremendously fun.  I learned a lot--and at least one thing that I think applies to fanfiction.  Click on down below the break to see what dots I've been connecting.

Mini-Reviews Round 25

Now that we're officially into January, I'm officially sick of snow; any transient appeal it may have had based on aesthetics and/or novelty have been well and truly outweighed by its shoveling requirements and association with a level of cold which was never welcome in the first place.  I'm not sick of pony stories yet, though; and if you're not sick of reading my reviews of them, I've got three short ones below the break.

Fandom Classics Part 28: How to Preen Your Chicken

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Happy new year, everyone!  Good luck with your resolutions and/or hangovers, and I hope the former last longer than the latter.

Click on down below the break for my review of Drakkith's How to Preen Your Chicken.