Further installments of CAC will become erratic over the next
3-4 weeks due to travel plans to Baltimore and other places...
And hopefully, the visit to Otakon will get the writing juices
going again... On to the c&c!
[NGE] Ascent of the Fallen Parts 4-6
by Sparky Clarkson <sparkster@writeme.com>
http://members.tripod.com/Sage_Ohlmin/evafic.htm
Yes, yes, i know, Mr Clarkson released these yonks ago. But better
late than never, neh?
This is one of my favourite NGE series fics (other than CoaEG and GoE).
The writing balances dramatic tension, mystery to entice the reader,
great bits of humour, character development - all held together by a
strong plot structure that has been carefully thought out. IMNSHO lots
of series fics flatter or sputter out because authors didn't give
enough thought to how things will develop - they then run out of steam
or find that they've painted themselves into a corner. This definitely
does not apply to Sparky.
Notable features about AotF which cause it to stand out from other
NGE series fics (methinks economists call this 'product different-
iation') include the Shinji-Asuka-Kaoru tension. i also admire AotF
a lot for the way it uses Kaoru in an effective and non-grating
manner. Through Mr Clarkson's writing, Kaoru shines through as an
interesting character whose interaction with the rest of the cast
piques and holds my interest. Some fics go rather overboard with
Kaoru's friendship with Shinji or make him an annoying 'sore wa
himitsu desu' font of all knowledge and wisdom due to his origins
as an angel, Sparky's characterisation of Kaoru includes these but
as balanced elements.
Also good use of the Judo-Christian mythology elements such as the
arch-angels and their characteristics. Fics have EVA-R and Gospel
of Malachel have also used that successfully though none have yet
managed to match the erudition of Daniel Synder in these matters.
i could continue to gush about AotF for a couple of more kilobytes
but i guess i should save some material my SEELE review of AotF.
As you might have guessed, highly recommended. Must read. Though I
thought 'Ich bin ein Berliner' also translates as 'I am a bagel'?
Nice Njd reference though. Where is Part 5, btw, Andrew?
[NGE] Blue Rain Blue
by Jonathan Wang aka "Jon the mockingbird" <yaanathn@hotmail.com>
http://members.xoom.com/yaanathn
Interactions, recollections and reflections by the Children on a
rainy day. Hard to pigeonhole Jon's work into any particular genre -
I'd call this an 'atmospheric' fic. It's a short piece but it seems
to me that control of word choice and sentence construction has
improved from 'For I Have Seen You Smile' while combining the depth
of feeling from 'Scenes' that I enjoyed so much. As they say, brevity
is the soul of wit (sometimes) and definitely reflects the author's
allegiance as a fellow Reihead. This piece should be read several
times in order to tease out the layers of meaning planted there by
the author even in describing ordinary tasks like cleaning a classroom.
Also I concur with most of Chris Burke's earlier c&c - particularly
that the weird characters that are appearing the place of double
inverted commas should be replaced with conventional ASCII text.
Thoughtful, contemplative. Enjoyable like the breeze through bamboo
or a glass of fine Burgundy. Well done, Jon!
[NGE] A Shadow in Love
by Latin_D <latin_d@uol.com.ar>
A Fuyutsuki character study... i dunno. it's ok, readable but not
really memorable. If you're interested in other short Fuyutsuki
character studies, i'd recommend the pieces written by Joyce K
Wakabayashi and Lara Bartram. (Sorry, can't remember the titles off
the top of my head. Links to their archives are available at my
webpage - http://www.teloong.mcmail.com/)
A technical problem that bothered me a lot (but will seem petty
to others) is the lack of line wrap. i strongly believe in the
virtue of using the enter key to manually delineate lines of ASCII
text. Look, if John Biles and Rod M can do that for their 100 kb +/-
chapters of CoaEG, excuses for not doing so appear rather lame.
[El Hazard] Awakening of a Demon God
by Matthew Lewis <maybeso@home.com>
Matt proves that being an Admin doesn't mean that he no longer has
anytime to write - congrats on 'The World of Too Many Authors' as
well! Took me two days to repair the brain damage from reading that. ;)
Mr Lewis has carved a particular niche in writing about the
technology and history of El Hazard that will probably shape El
Hazard fanfic the way Stefan Gagne has had a huge influence on
Slayers fanfic. This piece, together with 'A Statue's Life' and
others, will flesh out a 'classic' El Hazard feel that future fics
can take note of.
As a cranky aside, hopefully, Matt will embark on a new El Hazard
series. i really like EH stuff. Alan Harnum's Mortal Engines appears
to be on hiatus due to Utena work... oh well, you can't have every-
thing... On the bright side, it seems that a story is forthcoming
from Emily Siazon. Yatta!!!
[NGE] Acceptance
by Cory Holmes <drgn.fire@home.com>
Seems to be a short Shinji x Asuka piece to me... Due to my own
personal preferences about NGE pairings (or threesomes), i'd say
that it was well-written but i really couldn't connect with the
work. That's not to say that i'm totally incapable of enjoying
Shinji x Asuka pieces - the moments b/w them in CoaEG are very,
very nice but that's set in a larger context. Much (well-deserved)
acclaim has been given to Andrew Huang's Njd but methinks that his
'The Heart, the Soul' series deserves more praise and attention
that what it already receives. That is THE definitive Shinji x
Asuka work, IMNSHO.
[Slayers] The Fifth Staff: Prologue
by Kyle Emmerson <kyle_emmerson@yahoo.com>
http://www.nabiki.com/tydi-oh-ki
>From the author of 'Converging Fates', another world-crossing story
this time involving Lina and Gourry travelling to Vancouver. Mr.
Emmerson's background is in Ranma and mega-x-overs but from this
prologue, methinks this will go on to a very fine Slayers fic indeed,
there's a good mix of fun, humour and epic elements that characterises
the anime as well as the work of Twoflower, Todd Harper and some of
the Improfanfic crowd. All we need now is some farcial/satirical
elements.
This prologue is mainly teaser material but i can say that i'm
hooked already. Looking forward to more!
[NGE] Gone Drinkin'
by Alex Gordon <crow_t_robot69@hotmail.com>
http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/stories/index.html
i'm sorry but as harsh as it sounds, i agree completely with Kevin
Callahan's assessment of this - the problem of script vs. narrative
aside, this is really typical of the adolescent wish fulfillment that
consigns lots of lemons straight into the trashcan.
Lemons usually fail due to the lack of plot or sufficient context.
The 'Misato-gets-drunk-Shinji-gets-laid' idea is a really really
old cliche. Even if one overlooks that, the writing is hardly erotic
or sensual, basically a sequence of events - Misato did this, Shinji
did that - that was poorly described and therefore compounding the
problem of script not working too well for this and the subject
matter requiring that it be taken with more than a pinch of salt.
[NGE] The Perfect Pilot
by Lara Bartram <lara@emunix.emich.edu>
http://www.thekeep.org/~lara/
What can I say? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
The uber-pilot Author-Created-Character/Self-Insert gets his
comeuppance! Another short hilarous piece from Lara!
Particular cute reference to how Asuka's name is misspelled as
'Langely' - a problem that, thankfully, CoaEG has managed to
rid itself of.
[NGE/Ranma] A Couple of Angels
by Corwin <ely7@inter.net.il>
http://lavender.fortunecity.com/friday/573/anime.html
This piece is almost completely free of all of those itty-bitty
problems of misspelling, bad grammar and lack of line wrap. It's
a first chapter as well, so i'll have to reserve my comments as
to plot construction and development.
i just have this nagging feeling about this piece that prevents
me from being able to really enjoy it... Ranma has been inserted
into the NGE world and Ch.1 seems to set up the possibility of
him as an EVA pilot and a pairing with Rei. Doesn't this sound
familiar? Why do I get that skeptical 'It's Been Done' feeling?
On a separate but related note, Ranma inserts into the NGE world
also have this tendency to turn into a Ranma as uber-pilot-that-
saves-the-world-and-hijacks-the-story much in the vein of what
Lara is making fun of/venting spleen against in 'The Perfect Pilot'.
Of course, these comments may be premature and Corwin may be able
to pull off something interesting and balanced. but caveat emptor.
that's all for now, folks!
see ya at Otakon.
EeL