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Thread: Web Serials

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    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Web Serials

    These are text based stories which update, sometimes frequently, sometimes not, one or two are finished now.
    The end of what Son? The story? There is no end. There's just the point where the storytellers stop talking.

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    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: Web Serials

    Got halfway through Worm and gave up, read about 30 chapters of Wandering Inn and gave up, read most of Intothemire and haven't got up to date yet.

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    Default Re: Web Serials

    Quote Originally Posted by halfeye View Post
    These are text based stories which update, sometimes frequently, sometimes not, one or two are finished now.
    Do you have one you recommend or are you just pointing out they exist?

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    Ettin in the Playground
     
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trafalgar View Post
    Do you have one you recommend or are you just pointing out they exist?
    I am reading a couple of dozen, I was about to recommend some, then I got started on a new one. It's difficult, they need long descriptions, but there's so much to read.

    A Practical Guide to Evil seems to be the only one that can sustain a thread here, and that's all full of spoiler tags, which may be the way to do it, but it's irritating to read.

    The Wandering Inn is a huge read, but at the moment it has an issue

    Spoiler
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    the protagonist is temporarily dead, they will almost certainly recover, which feels very weird to me

    They're mostly quite violent.

    The descriptions are typically unhelpful, there's one called a magic western, but it's mainly about magic powered mechs, sort of western is right in that it's in a desert, but the mech thing wants mentioning too, and most of the descriptions are missing aspects like that.

    The Gods are *******s seems sort of like a western too at the start, but again it's not exactly, and now it's on hiatus due to burnout while the author writes something else.

    There are a lot, if you're desperate for something to read they'll pass some time for you.
    Last edited by halfeye; 2021-06-06 at 12:26 PM.
    The end of what Son? The story? There is no end. There's just the point where the storytellers stop talking.

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    Default Re: Web Serials

    Quote Originally Posted by halfeye View Post

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    the protagonist is temporarily dead, they will almost certainly recover, which feels very weird to me
    Spoiler: MASSIVE Book 8 TWI spoilers
    Show
    I appreciate that the story has largely not tried to pretend the MC will stay dead forever and instead has focused more on the journey and growth various characters face going out on their own and trying to get her revived. A fair few attempts failing also helps it feel more real. As these things go I think it's probably the best execution of the concept I can think of/


    Anyways on the subject of recommendations TWI is amazing despite having a bit of a rough start, I recommend it to literally everyone. Gods are Bastards was never my thing though but I've heard it's ok.

    Practical Guide to Evil can be a rough read because it's most prominent characters are all rather awful people, with one of the most central characters the Black Knight being absolutely vile. It is however, very very well written and one of the few stories I've read that captures that military fiction feel in a fantasy medieval environment.

    Mother of Learning is super fun fantasy read with a good D&D feel, but I really don't want to talk about anything about it's larger premise for spoiler reasons other then to say it partially takes on the feel of a spy thriller story at points. Also it is done, and not terribly long.

    Wildbow's works, Worm and Ward, Twig, Pact, Etc... are all good but Wildbow doesn't do pacing well and I can't even really read his works as they come out. Of all of them Twig is the best all around and worth a read on it's own.

    Also anyone who likes super hero stories should look up the Justice Wing stuff, especially Interviewing Leather and it's related works.
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    ElfPirate

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    Default Re: Web Serials

    The Zombie Knight Saga - Hector is a teenager with massive social anxiety, and he just died. However, the grim reaper has a deal for him: return to life as his servant, and prevent the untimely deaths of others. In exchange, he never has to be alone again. This series is hard to talk about without spoilers, since the world is always expanding; two of the early and pretty important ones for explaining the serial properly are that Garovel isn't the grim reaper, he's one of thousands or more, and that their servants each develop a single 'super power' that follows one of six themes. These powers and their interactions are one of the main attractions of the story; they're very grounded in real-world science, and figuring them out and watching them interact is very interesting as a reader.

    RE A Practical Guide to Evil, the closest comparison is probably to The Black Company by Glen Cook. If you liked that series' gritty military action and immoral-but-entertaining characters, you'll probably also like PGtE.
    Last edited by PoeticallyPsyco; 2021-06-06 at 02:25 PM.
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    I enjoyed Fine Structure by Sam Hughes on qntm.org.

    I'm pretty sure I originally found out about it either here or on tvtropes. Probably here.

    It satisfied the part of me that enjoyed the novels Greg Egan published in the 90s.
    Quote Originally Posted by Harnel View Post
    where is the atropal? and does it have a listed LA?

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    Default Re: Web Serials

    Not sure this counts?, it has some mileage on it, but it has long been a favorite of mine:

    https://www.angelfire.com/trek/caver/index.html
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    Ettin in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Web Serials

    Quote Originally Posted by Imbalance View Post
    Not sure this counts?, it has some mileage on it, but it has long been a favorite of mine:

    https://www.angelfire.com/trek/caver/index.html
    That's ugly to the point of illegible on my screen, dark blue on black really isn't good, nor is full width text.
    The end of what Son? The story? There is no end. There's just the point where the storytellers stop talking.

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    Orc in the Playground
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    I'm gonna keep pushing this one that I don't see get enough love.

    Banter Latte is a superhero universe web serial that's a bit closer in style to older pulp serials - with relatively short storylines that weave in and out of each other. It is very heavily influenced by the comic book superhero aesthetic, with some in-universe references to overarching events like the Golden Age and Silver Age of comics and the rise of grimdark supervillains. It also has some of the most humanistic writing this side of Wildbow; if you thought of the Wildbow interludes, but less bleak, you'd not be extremely wrong.

    Updates sporadically, but there's a good backlog of short stories. I personally got started on Interviewing Leather. A music/culture magazine writer gets a gig to interview a B-List a "supervillain who looks and dresses like a alt-fetish model" (as described by his boss), and gets to see how the villainy happens. She, of course, is doing it for the publicity - but it's not hard to see that there's something more than that for her. And he's doing it for the job - but it's not hard to see that there's something more than that for him. And no, it's not romance. Or sex. 11-part series that connects up with others, but is a nice and short self-contained story that goes into the psychology of both heroes and villains of all tiers, as well as the public, and how they interact.

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    Quote Originally Posted by halfeye View Post
    That's ugly to the point of illegible on my screen, dark blue on black really isn't good, nor is full width text.
    I mean...20 years ago there weren't so many sidebar ads and stuff...simpler times. Oddly, it ends up being mobile friendly.
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    Default Re: Web Serials

    Quote Originally Posted by uncool View Post
    I'm gonna keep pushing this one that I don't see get enough love.

    Banter Latte is a superhero universe web serial that's a bit closer in style to older pulp serials - with relatively short storylines that weave in and out of each other. It is very heavily influenced by the comic book superhero aesthetic, with some in-universe references to overarching events like the Golden Age and Silver Age of comics and the rise of grimdark supervillains. It also has some of the most humanistic writing this side of Wildbow; if you thought of the Wildbow interludes, but less bleak, you'd not be extremely wrong.

    Updates sporadically, but there's a good backlog of short stories. I personally got started on Interviewing Leather. A music/culture magazine writer gets a gig to interview a B-List a "supervillain who looks and dresses like a alt-fetish model" (as described by his boss), and gets to see how the villainy happens. She, of course, is doing it for the publicity - but it's not hard to see that there's something more than that for her. And he's doing it for the job - but it's not hard to see that there's something more than that for him. And no, it's not romance. Or sex. 11-part series that connects up with others, but is a nice and short self-contained story that goes into the psychology of both heroes and villains of all tiers, as well as the public, and how they interact.
    It also just got a dead tree version with some nice extras, and makes such a great entry point into the setting.
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    Quick opinions on Web Serials I've read or am reading:

    Top Tier:

    The Wandering Inn: Great characters, great world, excellent mix of action and slice of life. Emphasis on character and consequence driven storytelling. Good isekai.

    Practical Guide to Evil: Excellent worldbuilding and primary characters, solid action. People liken it to Black Company, but I disagree. Closer to Malazan in tone; semi-crapsack world but with a kind of levity to it that Black Company doesn't have as much. Metaplot commentary medeival fantasy.

    Twig: Easily Wildbow's best work. Focus on character, great aesthetic. "Biopunk" thriller is a less explored genre.

    Good Tier:

    Worm: Aged less well than others, but still quite solid. Helped popularize the medium. Mostly focus on power mechanics over plot or character, but not in the same way your average xianxia is. Dark superhero tale; Wildbow's first serial.

    Pale: Wildbow's most recent work, and a followup on Pact. Thankfully you don't need to actually read Pact to understand the plot, it just takes place in the same universe. Could well move up to top tier but it hasn't finished yet so I reserve judgment. Urban fantasy.

    Forge of Destiny/Threads of Destiny: The only good xianxia I've ever read.

    The Zombie Knight Saga: Weird pacing and power scaling, but solid character work and an interesting world. Hard to describe, semi-superhero-ish fantasy.

    Into the Mire: This is the most Black Company-ish series here, right down to the magic being potent, but visceral. Roughly 1600's-ish era fantasy.

    Mother of Learning: Timeloop fantasy. Power progression focus, but good characterization. Mystery based plot.

    Only Villains Do That: Interesting fantasy world by the author of The Gods Are Bastards (his "recharge fic" after he burned out on TGAB). First chapter is kind of cringey, but the main character is this author's now-signature special blend of 'intentionally unlikable" that gets quickly disabused of a lot of their preconceptions of their own worth. Very entertaining so far, but it's early days yet.

    Pith: Very interesting "transhumanist psychic dystopia". Characters are good, but plotting is a bit suspect. Worldbuilding helps buoy it.

    Okay Tier:
    The Gods are Bastards: "Fantasy western", sort of. Book 1 is hot trash because of the aforementioned "intentionally unlikable characters" taking a VERY long time to get to the "disabused of a lot of their preconceptions of their own worth" part. Push through it, and it's a series with great characters and solid plotting. Currently on indefinite hiatus at a very bad spot in the story, or it would be in Good tier.

    Salvos: Popcorn quality litrpg, but good for the genre. Updates like 5 times a week, which is its greatest strength.

    Pact: Easily Wildbow's weakest serial, but the world is interesting. Urban fantasy, gives a bit more insight into the interactions between characters in Pale which is the main reason to read this.

    Garbage Tier/Avoid:
    Metaworld Chronicles: "21st Century Jane Ayre with DnD Magic" is the official description. Writing is awful; repeated tense and perspective changes within the same paragraph makes reading a chore. Absolutely pointless plot point of the character being isekai'd to another world; she is completely integrated by the end of the first chapter and does not in any way act like a mature 30+ year old woman. Last straw for me was glorification of what was essentially extreme police violence, where a "Paladin" irreversibly mutilates a suspect before interrogation and the story treats this as a virtuous act, and that the MC is wrong for speaking out against it. She adopts the mindset that this acceptable from there out. Also blatant Mary Sue powers abound.

    Inexorable Chaos: Somehow #3 on Top Web Fiction. Steals a bunch of irrelevant details (like leveling system) from The Wandering inn, but has none of the redeeming qualities. Has never heard the idea of "show, don't tell". Read up to the first interlude. Every single chapter was tiresome, artless exposition and obnoxiously large and obtrusive textboxes with largely irrelevant mechanical details about characters and items. Bland, unlikable "seen it all before" Mary Sue protagonist. Terrible prose.
    Last edited by Rynjin; 2021-06-07 at 12:43 AM.

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    Default Re: Web Serials

    Quote Originally Posted by Imbalance View Post
    Not sure this counts?, it has some mileage on it, but it has long been a favorite of mine:

    https://www.angelfire.com/trek/caver/index.html
    Oh thanks, I didn't need to sleep tonight anyways.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rynjin View Post

    Pact: Wildbow's most recent work, and a followup on Pact. Thankfully you don't need to actually read Pact to understand the plot, it just takes place in the same universe. Could well move up to top tier but it hasn't finished yet so I reserve judgment. Urban fantasy.
    Um.....what?

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Glyphstone View Post
    Um.....what?
    ...Sorry, that's supposed to read "Pale".

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rynjin View Post
    Quick opinions on Web Serials I've read or am reading:
    My thoughts on the same:

    Top Tier:

    The Wandering Inn:
    I Like it too.

    Practical Guide to Evil:
    It's okay, if you like big battles it's probably for you.

    Twig:
    Okay, I think I prefer Worm from Wildbow.

    Good Tier:

    Worm:
    As above.

    Pale:
    I just started this, seems good so far.

    Forge of Destiny/Threads of Destiny:
    I haven't read this.

    The Zombie Knight Saga:
    I've not read this either.

    Into the Mire:
    I was okay with this, but now it hasn't updated in something like two months or more.

    Mother of Learning:
    I found this okay, the end was a bit sudden, but okay.

    Only Villains Do That:
    I'd far rather have the Gods are Bastards, but it's okay.

    Pith:
    Body swapping all over the place, and a bit confusing on other grounds too.

    Okay Tier:
    The Gods are Bastards:
    The best of the lot, pity it's on hiatus.

    Salvos:
    This updates often but short. Light but okay

    Pact:
    I don't see a relation to Pale yet, this one was full of big demons, so far Pale isn't.

    Garbage Tier/Avoid:
    Metaworld Chronicles:
    There are some ethically dubious bits, but the "being an adult entreprenuer in a previous life" is a superpower in this, she is up to financial hi-jinks all over the place, she imports credit cards that she runs into a world that doesn't already have them... I like it, it updates only once or twice a week.

    Inexorable Chaos:
    A light hearted romp through a world with lots going on. There are two or more active pantheons which are at loggerheads and some non-aligned gods besides, one war has broken out and I think an Archangel just died. This is another one I like. The levelling up system is more or less from D&D, and a lot of these serials have one a lot like it, claiming it for any brand is not sensible.

    A few more in no order whatsoever:

    Wizard's tower: Updates ?daily? short updates but very frequent. About a wizard who moves to a tower in the country.

    Cinnamon Bun: Very lighthearted, one of four that the same author is producing in parallel, updates very frequently.

    The Houndsman: Updates quite frequently, about defending a fort? (not the first one).

    Beneath the Dragoneye moons: A refugee from Earth gets born elsewhere, then it's swords and sourcery all the way. Lot's of levelling up and statistics.

    Stray Cat Strut: Second of the four, not so light, future lesbian fights the Earth invading alien hordes.

    Tower of Somnus: cyberpunk meets DnD, sort of another future alien invasion.

    Wizard Tournament: Hi-jinks abound.

    Vigor Mortis: Orphans in a medieval slum, magic and hi-jinks.

    Azarinth Healer: Sort of like "Dragoneye Moons", but really not. Lots of stats, lots of levelling.

    The Primal Hunter: DnD takes over the earth, one guy does well.

    The Daily Grind: Geezer finds an office/dungeon at his work, explores.
    Last edited by halfeye; 2021-06-07 at 08:51 AM.
    The end of what Son? The story? There is no end. There's just the point where the storytellers stop talking.

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    The only "relation" between Pact and Pale is they take place in the same setting, with the same rules. This is intentional because Wildbow didn't actually want to write a sequel to Pact, just make a new story with a familiar "ruleset". An excellent choice IMO.

    Forgot to add Ward into Okay tier, bordering Trash. Worm's sequel. Reads like Wildbow hates both himself and his audience at many points. Ending comes off as though WB (understandably) resented being pestered for a Worm sequel so damn much for the entire runs of both Pact and Twig, so he decided to burn the whole setting to the ground for good this time.
    Last edited by Rynjin; 2021-06-07 at 07:15 AM.

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    Default Re: Web Serials

    Quote Originally Posted by Rynjin View Post
    The only "relation" between Pact and Pale is they take place in the same setting, with the same rules. This is intentional because Wildbow didn't actually want to write a sequel to Pact, just make a new story with a familiar "ruleset". An excellent choice IMO.

    Forgot to add Ward into Okay tier, bordering Trash. Worm's sequel. Reads like Wildbow hates both himself and his audience at many points. Ending comes off as though WB (understandably) resented being pestered for a Worm sequel so damn much for the entire runs of both Pact and Twig, so he decided to burn the whole setting to the ground for good this time.
    Yea Ward is the reason I'm not reading Pale at the moment. I still have a patreon going his way cus I haven't found anything better to send it towards but I just won't ready any of his works till they are finished after that utter week to week slog of unpleasant tension and poor pacing.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dragonus45 View Post
    Yea Ward is the reason I'm not reading Pale at the moment. I still have a patreon going his way cus I haven't found anything better to send it towards but I just won't ready any of his works till they are finished after that utter week to week slog of unpleasant tension and poor pacing.
    There is a f***ton to read, depending on what you want. If you haven't read to the current Wandering Inn, that will take you six months pretty much full time. If you are up to date on the Wandering Inn, then I think I'd probably recommend Azarinth Healer, there's a lot of it already and it updates fairly frequently, there's a lot of upgrading by taking hits in it though, if you don't like that there are other stories.
    Last edited by halfeye; 2021-06-07 at 08:47 AM.
    The end of what Son? The story? There is no end. There's just the point where the storytellers stop talking.

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    Quote Originally Posted by halfeye View Post
    There is a f***ton to read, depending on what you want. If you haven't read to the current Wandering Inn, that will take you six months pretty much full time. If you are up to date on the Wandering Inn, then I think I'd probably recommend Azarinth Healer, there's a lot of it already and it updates fairly frequently, there's a lot of upgrading by taking hits in it though, if you don't like that there are other stories.

    Oh boy do I love wandering inn. It’s become my favorite story I’ve ever read. If you count listening to the audiobooks I’m on my fourth or so reread as well but I’m saving the latest one for a long drive cross country soon. Thanks to this thread I’m also checking out zombie knight saga as my latest poison and I’ll check out Azarinth next.
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    I forget the titles, but there's two I got recommended to me
    • One is something like "The Death" or "The Tale" of "Doctor" Something. It's about a super named Flicker who has superspeed, with real-life physics. Like, at some point she runs so fast she causes nuclear explosions with every step from compressing the atoms. Or her emotions dull because she's running faster than the neutral paths can follow; she can think, but not have emotions, in that state.
    • Another was a cool setting, basically if the Celestial Spheres theory of creation were true and, when the first space shuttle launched, it hit the crystal sphere around earth and cracked it, leading to a lot of stuff going wrong and magic becoming real. Novel starts a few years (decades?) after the initial wave of changes. Most magic is done by saying particular phrases, and it's hard to find new ones; the main character has a job of sitting in an office reciting magical gibberish so the company can get a copywrite on new magic phrases. The setting sounds really interesting, but I couldn't quite get into the book. (Apparently Hell invaded earth at some point.)
    • I wish I could recall the third one. It had a hard magic system, which I liked, but I didn't actually like the story.


    I might real Pale. I really loved the setting and story of Pact (even if pacing issues), so something unrelated but in the same setting sounds good.
    Loved Worm, except for the mid-book timeskip.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JeenLeen View Post
    I forget the titles, but there's two I got recommended to me
    • Another was a cool setting, basically if the Celestial Spheres theory of creation were true and, when the first space shuttle launched, it hit the crystal sphere around earth and cracked it, leading to a lot of stuff going wrong and magic becoming real. Novel starts a few years (decades?) after the initial wave of changes. Most magic is done by saying particular phrases, and it's hard to find new ones; the main character has a job of sitting in an office reciting magical gibberish so the company can get a copywrite on new magic phrases. The setting sounds really interesting, but I couldn't quite get into the book. (Apparently Hell invaded earth at some point.)
    Unsong! Which is quite the exceptional story but I tend to think of it as being a bit niche and also hard to really talk about in detail enough to recommend here since it goes so deeply into real life religious concepts in Judaism and Kabbalah.
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    Quote Originally Posted by JeenLeen View Post
    I forget the titles, but there's two I got recommended to me
    One is something like "The Death" or "The Tale" of "Doctor" Something. It's about a super named Flicker who has superspeed, with real-life physics. Like, at some point she runs so fast she causes nuclear explosions with every step from compressing the atoms. Or her emotions dull because she's running faster than the neutral paths can follow; she can think, but not have emotions, in that state.
    "Doc Future"; you may be thinking of the first book, which is "The Fall of Doc Future". On Tumblr.

    I found the first book reasonably good, but I honestly found the protagonists pretty overpowered, with this only getting worse as time went on. It's a hard-ish scifi type of overpowered, with reasonable-sounding explanations for the powers, but...not enough to ever really say "No, Flicker can't do X."
    Another was a cool setting, basically if the Celestial Spheres theory of creation were true and, when the first space shuttle launched, it hit the crystal sphere around earth and cracked it, leading to a lot of stuff going wrong and magic becoming real. Novel starts a few years (decades?) after the initial wave of changes. Most magic is done by saying particular phrases, and it's hard to find new ones; the main character has a job of sitting in an office reciting magical gibberish so the company can get a copywrite on new magic phrases. The setting sounds really interesting, but I couldn't quite get into the book. (Apparently Hell invaded earth at some point.)
    As Dragonus said, Unsong. Online for free. The same writer has several short stories on his blog (interspersed with a lot of other stuff); link. They're often deconstructions of memes in various subjects, e.g. the blue-eyed islander riddle or the "If these pills gave you powers, which would you take" quiz.
    Last edited by uncool; 2021-06-07 at 12:00 PM.

  25. - Top - End - #25
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    Default Re: Web Serials

    I assume fanfic and quests are not included in this topic; Bruce Quest (Battletech/Spacebattles) has been around for about 6 years and is a lot of fun if you like Battletech. Everything by Cannonshop, Drakensis, or JA Baker is worth a read on the CBT forums too.


    Currently reading (binging every couple of months):
    -The Wandering Inn
    -Practical Guide to Evil
    -Worth a Candle (teenage DM/worldbuilder with some personal issues ends up inserting into a world based on his worldbuilding, but a dead friend of his was there first and there are complications; not for everyone).
    -The Last Angel/Sequel I can't remember the name of/The Hungry Stars. Fiction hosted on Spacebattles. Updates once per month. Earth is dead. Humanity is reduced to a single subservient planet thousands of light years away, saved and under the benevolent guidance and rule of the Compact of Species, which will totally uplift them to being a full partner with a say in governance after just a few Millenia. One AI-driven kaiju-class warship made by humanity survived, complete with unshackled programming, the ability to upgrade herself, and a very versatile C-fractional guided meteor cannon, and 2 millenia of battle damage. "The Compact will burn with me." Also, the Blue Hand rises. The initial sections of exploring a ghost ship and having people slowly die off aren't for those who hate space horror... although the similarly themed "All the little lost children" is apparently still around if you DO like that.
    TLA and sequels is my favorite out of all the current ones I'm reading. I've always favored science fiction over fantasy, but S-F has gone off the rails over the last 20-30 years into gonzoland.
    -The Adventurers. Over 1,000 episodes long. Started as a D&D campaign log from AD&D and the early '90s. The campaign ended, but some of the characters went on. They are now level 14-18 in AD&D and have hit level caps. Update pace has understandably slowed over the last decade.

    Used to read, or completed:
    -I got bored with the Zombie Knight about 8 years ago. Glad it's still around.
    -Ended up bouncing off of TGAB around book 4 or 5 due to social commentary. I did like what the author did with the gnomes.
    -Read Worm. Read Pact, wish I hadn't. Bounced off Twig a couple of months in. I came back to read Ward, but didn't enjoy it much. Currently not keeping up with Wildbow stuff as I don't go for despair, body horror, or mental illness.
    -Legion of Nothing. Grandchildren of WWII-ish era superheroes. Was fun, just kind of got bored.
    -Symbiote. Pretty sure this one finished. Surprise, there's an AI living in your bones, but it's got a computer virus that may turn you into a crazy murder-bot if things mess up too much. It's been a while. Power scaling went all the way up to "only 2 fork mega AIs per solar system, please."
    -Stone Burners. I need to go back to this one, it's been a while. An amnesiac half-dragon girl wakes up in a gutter (or something) and falls in with a group of grey-area mercs, in a world where a lot of the old legends and powers are still around and active; Mexico is partly run by a semi-Aztec Nahuatl deity, there's a 7,000 year old Sumerian demigod of whirlwinds running around, and some other stuff. I liked it, but it didn't update very often.
    -Starwalker. I think it went on Hiatus. Ship AI in experimental ship, more aware than she should be. The same author also wrote a post-zombie-apocalypse fiction set in Australia that finished...oh, maybe 10 years ago? Stay out of the rain, it's bad for you.
    -The Tales of Paul Twister: Finished(?). Real life guy ends up in fantasy world. His special talent is reliably making magic malfunction. He goes around using aliases like Peter Parker and Tony Stark for some of his initiatives, hoping that any other Earthers who end up there will recognize them and find him.
    -Curveball: A superhero comic-fiction. Titular character manipulates entropy to be lucky via enemies messing up. Very slow update and moving.
    Things published on DM's Guild
    Campaign Logs:
    Baldur's Gate 2 (ongoing)
    Castle Dracula (Castlevania)
    Against the Idol of the Sun (high level hexcrawl)

  26. - Top - End - #26
    Bugbear in the Playground
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    Default Re: Web Serials

    Quote Originally Posted by J-H View Post
    -The Last Angel/Sequel I can't remember the name of/The Hungry Stars. Fiction hosted on Spacebattles. Updates once per month. Earth is dead. Humanity is reduced to a single subservient planet thousands of light years away, saved and under the benevolent guidance and rule of the Compact of Species, which will totally uplift them to being a full partner with a say in governance after just a few Millenia. One AI-driven kaiju-class warship made by humanity survived, complete with unshackled programming, the ability to upgrade herself, and a very versatile C-fractional guided meteor cannon, and 2 millenia of battle damage. "The Compact will burn with me." Also, the Blue Hand rises. The initial sections of exploring a ghost ship and having people slowly die off aren't for those who hate space horror... although the similarly themed "All the little lost children" is apparently still around if you DO like that.
    TLA and sequels is my favorite out of all the current ones I'm reading. I've always favored science fiction over fantasy, but S-F has gone off the rails over the last 20-30 years into gonzoland.
    Seconding TLA. The second installment is The Last Angel: Ascension.
    Excellent fiction, very well written, to the point where each of the monthly chapters is a joyous occasion. Excellent characters, both human, AI, and alien, wonderful if rather bleak (in the sense of being slowly steamrolled by the aforementioned Compact, of which humans are only the latest victims) universe, and plenty of different kinds of action.


    Adding one I don't think was mentioned so far, I'd like to point out First Contact, a recent(ish) favorite on the HFY subreddit. The name is... generic, but the fiction is anything but.
    The story starts out describing an incredibly advanced Humanity that leads the Terran Confederacy comprised of several alien species and even more different kinds of humans and human creations, having their First Contact encounter with the Unified Council of Systems, a conglomeration of alien member states summarily ruled by a civilization that had gone unchallenged for the last 100 million years. The events of the story spiral out of proportion rather rapidly, with humanity constantly revealing their hidden depths, and the hidden depths of the hardships they had endured at the mercy of the malevolent universe, as threats new and old keep arising, leading to tragedy, war, and all manner of perseverance and defiance in the face of adversity that carry the Terran Descent Humanity and all their allies and companions through to victory and survival. Most of the time.

    It's great, entertaining, engaging, and occasionally horrifying fiction that gets you to experience everything from unfathomable mirth to crushing existential despair, depending on which chapter you're reading. I quite recommend it.
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    Quote Originally Posted by halfeye View Post
    [Re: Inexorable Chaos] A light hearted romp through a world with lots going on. There are two or more active pantheons which are at loggerheads and some non-aligned gods besides, one war has broken out and I think an Archangel just died. This is another one I like. The levelling up system is more or less from D&D, and a lot of these serials have one a lot like it, claiming it for any brand is not sensible.
    I also missed this. The reason I say this is because the author himself mentions that The Wandering Inn is one of his favorite novels (in the comments to chapter 3) and that he cribbed bits from it and The New World (which I haven't read). Given he didn't take anything ELSE...he definitely just took the basic chassis of the leveling system and slapped 900 extra levels on it. What kind of game needs a level cap in the hundreds? It makes no sense!

    I don't necessarily mind authors sharing ideas (no new idea under the sun, yadda yadda, use what works); hell, the author of Salvos also straight up says they cribbed a big portion of the leveling system from TWI, and I quite like that story (even more astounding because I'm not a big fan of pure litrpg/power progression stories, typically). It's that combined with everything else that leads me to believe the creator is pretty much creatively bankrupt, because there's absolutely nothing unique or interesting about the world or characters presented.

  28. - Top - End - #28
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    Griffon

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    Default Re: Web Serials

    Quote Originally Posted by Rynjin View Post
    I also missed this. The reason I say this is because the author himself mentions that The Wandering Inn is one of his favorite novels (in the comments to chapter 3) and that he cribbed bits from it and The New World (which I haven't read). Given he didn't take anything ELSE...he definitely just took the basic chassis of the leveling system and slapped 900 extra levels on it. What kind of game needs a level cap in the hundreds? It makes no sense!

    I don't necessarily mind authors sharing ideas (no new idea under the sun, yadda yadda, use what works); hell, the author of Salvos also straight up says they cribbed a big portion of the leveling system from TWI, and I quite like that story (even more astounding because I'm not a big fan of pure litrpg/power progression stories, typically). It's that combined with everything else that leads me to believe the creator is pretty much creatively bankrupt, because there's absolutely nothing unique or interesting about the world or characters presented.
    Different people like different things, and that's good. I think this story is more like the Adam West batman than anything serious. There are a lot of stories that feature levelling up, and I don't in general like it, TWI is a lot lighter on that than most other stories that feature it.
    The end of what Son? The story? There is no end. There's just the point where the storytellers stop talking.

  29. - Top - End - #29
    Bugbear in the Playground
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    Default Re: Web Serials

    Reading The Last Angel now after the recs and it is good, though I wish the author would jump between story threads less often. I like multi pov stories but let scenes play out until they are finished unless there is a need to tell both alternatingly.

  30. - Top - End - #30
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    Griffon

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    Default Re: Web Serials

    Quote Originally Posted by Imbalance View Post
    I mean...20 years ago there weren't so many sidebar ads and stuff...simpler times. Oddly, it ends up being mobile friendly.
    Maybe so, but it seems pretty hostile on the desktop. It's probably more the blue on black than the width exactly, my eyes seem to be failing and it's no fun, and blue on black just isn't enough contrast for me to read it.

    Want to mention one other, Katalepsis, it's sort of more like Pale than The Wandering Inn, but then it's not really like Pale either, it's set in Sharrowford, which is maybe Bradford set very small, it's a town with a university, but seems to be smaller than most towns, one mall, some shops. It only updates on Saturdays, but it is quite good when it does, the protagonist is a lesbian, and it seems most of her friends are going to be lesbians soon, nothing very graphic yet. Sort of an almost Lovecraftian vibe, except no religious motifs.
    The end of what Son? The story? There is no end. There's just the point where the storytellers stop talking.

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