Subject: Pondering ponderances.
Author:
Posted on: 2013-12-16 20:37:00 UTC
Well, I like the plot, and the... intrigue, I guess, that's building up in it. The mystery, maybe. And I like the idea of the MEW (have to ask - did you get the notion from my Pistons of the Plot Continuum, which also featured clips of music, though admittedly not embedded?).
What didn't particularly grab me was some of the implementation. Now, partly that's the lack of paragraph breaks (you know what I mean) throwing me off, and partly I think it's a 'this isn't the writing style I usually read' thing - but it's also linked to some specific things. Things like your characters leaping to conclusions - such as that Nanoha will be next - and they just... happen to be right. It takes a Sherlock Holmes to get that much information from a sample size of two - and the only reason he can do it (as Sam Vimes would tell you) is that he has the writer on his side.
Another thing that doesn't work for me is lines like 'either Nanoha accidentally blasted up something in Germany and the GSG9 anti-terrorist unit is after her'. Er... say what? Is this something from the canon, or something from another canon that just features submachine guns, or what? I'm guessing there is a logic to it - but it's a reference to something I have no connection to. In fact, there's nothing fandom-y in there for me to latch on to. That's not really a criticism, of course - but it's a reason I can't get into it.
I'm also wondering whether you've recently read Jasper Fforde. The line about 'Besides, isn’t this truck too... definite?' doesn't seem to follow from the 'they're Defectives' discussion. It would, however, fit nicely with Fforde's generics. Alternately, I guess you could be going for 'Suvians don't plan that well', but the word 'definite' throws me off.
While I'm talking (and will I ever stop?) you also have a small amount of repetition. Things like Sergio explaining why he doesn't like the Codec, only for Anne to respond with, 'You aren’t a fan of it, am I right?'. Well, no, he's not a fan - it gives him headaches, for one thing.
But as I said at the beginning, I do like the plot. I kind of hope that you'll drive the writing style a little further into action-military, actually; at the moment it reads as a cross between that and a mission, which isn't a comfortable hybrid. Once they're off-mission, the style can really come out (though of course keeping the PPC humour in place).
Anyway, good luck! Big stories are always hard, I know.
hS