Worm

Thoughts on this? While the work is flawed in a few important ways, those flaws seem unimportant in light of the fact that it's one of the most viscerally entertaining works I'm currently aware of. In the four years or so since I finished reading it, I've essentially just been trying unsuccessfully to find something to fill the void it's left behind (I'll take recommendations if you have them). For the uninitiated, Worm is a popular web serial that constitutes a somewhat atypical example of superhero fiction. It's notable for its extensive worldbuilding, extraordinary length, lack of a strictly-maintained status quo, unusually developed side characters, and general bleakness. At times, the work crosses over into what may be described as horror territory, and it touches fairly extensively on themes of power, powerlessness, trauma, and the difficulties involved in ethical decision-making, although the author seems more interested in posing questions than in advocating for any particular conclusion. It should be noted that the author released Worm unedited as both his debut work and a massive writing exercise, so it's more than a bit rough around the edges.

I mostly know Worm from the fanfic crossovers, so I've seen how the protagonist fares with the powers of Son Goku or Tony Stark or The Transformers better than how things actually panned out. It'll be interesting reading the real thing, I guess. I was reminded pleasantly of Wildcards and Temps, but suffering from less of the all-over-the-place aspect of the multiple-authors/shared universe those books had. Not that the actual comics they reference don't usually suffer from that in years without strong editors.

Really loved Worm, its everything I wanted in a capeshit, definitely has its flaws but overall worth a read

>extraordinary length >touches fairly extensively on themes of power, powerlessness, trauma, and the difficulties involved in ethical decision-making >more interested in posing questions than in advocating for any particular conclusion Ugh... sounds incredibly tedious to be honest. I've had about as much as I can stand when it comes to endlessly philosophizing fiction that gets all gritty and grey-area about trauma and ethics and crap like that. Sounds like every single indie game on steam around 2015.

I read the first few chapters and didn't find it compelling. Reminded me of superhero roleplaying on the NationStates forums way back.

>>2908 I really enjoyed it. Rare to read a story where people face such devastating odds.

I love Worm. It took a second try before I really managed to hit my stride, the first few chapters gave me the mistaken impression that it would be too trope-y: >this poor nerdy high school girl is getting bullied but then she gets superpowers so she can fight crime but at a point early enough the story diverts away from that and stays away from that, much to its benefit. Some time after this tipping point, I reach Arc 8: Extermination and this is where it turned from a good story into crack cocaine. I could not stop reading any more, I read for several hours every day for weeks on end, and I have never had anything else turn me into as much of a shut-in as those weeks spent reading Worm. I have no regrets. It has been 7 years and I've kept reading the author's work on a weekly basis (the author has also kept writing uninterrupted on a weekly basis for the past 7 years, on different works). OP seems to have forgotten the link: https://parahumans.wordpress.com/ >>2908 >I've essentially just been trying unsuccessfully to find something to fill the void it's left behind (I'll take recommendations if you have them). Similar to Worm in attitude and having a main character that gets crowned Queen of Escalation, but very different in setting, there's A Practical Guide to Evil. I would also recommend essentially all other works by Worm's author Wildbow, perhaps with the exception of Pact (it's definitely his hardest work). In a gut-feeling descending order of quality: 1. Pale (ongoing, urban fantasy) 2. Twig (Victorian biopunk) 3. Ward (sequel to Worm) 4. Pact (urban fantasy) >>3582 The fanfic characters tend to be exaggerated compared to the canon characters, I'm curious what your experience reading canon will be like. >>4824 It's a great character piece more so than a philosophic work. The themes about gritty grey morality are present but I don't find that they get too in-your-face or preachy. There's less I can ameliorate about the length.