Mini-Reviews: Christmas Edition, Part Three of Five!

In defiance of my predictions of "maybe this will get better, but at least it probably won't get worse," things have gotten much, much worse.  I'm still on track for getting out this week's reviews, though, so that's something.  Small successes?

We have to find the good bits where we can.  Holiday-themed fic review, below.




Luna Just Learned About The Play "A Hearth's Warming Carol", by Singularity Dream

Zero-ish spoiler summary:  The titular event having occurred, Luna decided to prank her sister by re-enacting the ghosts' visits Celestia is visited by three spirits who are definitely legit and have nothing to do with a prank being played by Luna, who would even think such a thing, that's just ridiculous.

A few thoughts:  There's basically one joke here: that the "prank" is really half-baked and half-hearted, but that the narration (Luna's PoV from an omniscient perspective) refuses to acknowledge it.  It's not a bad joke... but personally, I thought that 3500 words stretched it thinner than it needed to be.  That's just barely enough time for all the necessary setpieces of an A Christmas Carol parody, it's true, but without more variations in the humor or presentation, it still did start to feel repetitive before the end.  On the other hand, there's an aggressive dedication to having things go wrong in mundane, predictable ways (as opposed to via ridiculous setpieces, say) which I appreciated, and the consistency of its silly-sweet mood is a definite plus.

Recommendation:  If you're looking for something faux-serious, with a heaping dose of light goofiness and a little bit of sisterly banter, this is a short but pleasant read.  It might put off those who are sensitive to overplayed jokes, though.