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 Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 12:36 pm
Well, I'm new here. -^^- And I was recommended to set up a thread with my work in it, plus I read in the La Revue thread that it's a good idea for people to rough out their reviews in a thread before submitting them. Fair enough! So this is where I'll house my stuff.
My first few reviews'll probably be just practicing. I really want to write a game review or two because there aren't many of those around, but I'll have to re-acquaint myself with the games first. For now, I'll bung the games in my 'to review' list.
I have ideas for just about every category, and some more besides. For the 'comics' category, does manga count? They're the only kind of comics I'm currently familiar with (though I can always branch out ^^). I reckon it'd also be possible to review cartoons, although maybe only ones with an ongoing plot. Like anime.
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Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 12:43 pm
So, here're my top-secret plans for stuff I want to review.
To Review
Books:
Crazy by Benjamin Lebert (I bet no-one's heard of it - it's translated from German for a start - but I found some particular flaws when I read it and so I want to air my opinion ^^ I'll be doing this one first as practice)
Ultraviolet by Lesley Howarth (the ending of this @_@ I was all: wtf?!)
Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean FINALLY!
Games:
Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly - Video Game (not the newest Spyro but I haven't got that one yet)
The Simpsons - Board Game (I reckon it'd be possible to review a board game! Don't you?)
I also have some veeeery oooold demos (I'm talking seven or eight years ago here people - I think the disc is entitled 'Winter releases '98') that I might play and review. I did love those when I was a kid. Anyone heard of Tombi?
Films:
Yu-gi-oh! the Movie (my brother and I laughed ourselves silly over that - I'm a die-hard Yu-gi-oh! fan but I still find many flaws in the anime and film.... can't fault the manga though)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (I finally got round to watching that a week and one day ago and as a HP book addict I have many, many bones to pick with the people that made it. But there are some things I like about it too)
Peter Pan 2: Return To Neverland (Just.... ugh mad )
Manga:
Liling Po by Ako Yutenji [volume 1 only]
Ali Chino by Kouyu Shurei [volumes 1+2 only]
.Hack//Legend of the Twilight by Rei Izumi (artwork)/Tatsuya Hamazaki (storyline) [all]
DOLL by Mitsukazu Mihara [volume 1 only]
Other:
Open Your Eyes by Goldfinger - Music
Fanstory - Website
The Doll Palace - Website
Pukka - Cartoon
Rice - Webcomic
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Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 1:59 pm
Well, after re-reading Crazy and making a few notes, I'm gonna have a go at reviewing it!
Book Review: Crazy
Written By Benjamin Lebert
Reviewed By enchantedsleeper
 Crazy was originally written in German (translated by Carol Brown Janeway) and is, as far as I know from the inside front cover, the only book Benjamin Lebert has written so far. It's a book about teens, for teens, and told from the point of view of a teen, no less.
Crazy follows the 'adventures' of sixteen year old Benjamin Lebert, who is partially paralyzed down his left side, throughout a year at Castle Neuseelen Boarding School. You might think that this would make for quite a long book (especially if Harry Potter is anything to go by!) but there are some fairly sizeable time skips between the two or three main events that the book focuses on. As a result of this, the characters aren't met or introduced gradually; the reader finds themself reading about a Benjamin who has no friends on one page, only to turn the page and find that he now has a whole gang of friends whom you have no idea how he met.
The characters themselves I can find little fault with. They are very realistic, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, strange habits, family backgrounds, et cetera. Most of the character backgrounds are dealt with during paragraphs of description rather than being revealed gradually.
My main 'nit' about this story and something which annoyed me more and more as the story progressed was how much time a group of teenage boys spent debating philosophical and ethical issues. Whilst going through and making notes on this bit, I stopped bothering to count the number of times the topic of their conversations turned to an in-depth discussion on the meaning of life, or the existence of God, or the possible future, or what life 'feels' like. Not only do I have trouble imagining teenage boys discussing these topics, but they interrupted the flow - the story seemed to stand still for three or four pages whilst they debated whether or not there was any point in doing anything if no-one was watching from 'up there'.
The plot of the story wasn't particularly extensive or in-depth, and there weren't any sub-plots of any kind. It can be summed up in a few main points: Benjamin arrives at the school, has a few lessons, goes with his friends one night to visit the girls, has sex for the first time, runs away with his friends; they go to a strip club and then get taken back to school.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to people but nor would I warn them away from it. Maybe the regular philosophical insights would appeal to some people.
4 - ninja ninja ninja ninja - for Characters
3 - ninja ninja ninja - for Storyline
3 - ninja ninja ninja - for Style
2 - ninja ninja - for Substance
3 - ninja ninja ninja - Overall
Criticism and helpful comments on this review would be greatly appreciated!
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Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 5:53 pm
Hey, this is great! I would have used your review this month, except I'm running short on time (we're already publishing two days late) and there are a few more formatting things that need to be done to it. Then, after that's finished, you can post it in the La Revue thread. If you have a picture of the book by any chance, that would be great. If not, we could find one quite easily, I bet. Otherwise, just a few nit picks on how the title and disclaimer and your credits are written. If you look, you'll see the format in the other reviews. Quote: Book/Movie/Game/Whatever Review: TitleWritten/Directed By [Insert Creator's/Director's Name] Reviewed By [Reviewer's Name] Or use this: [b] Review: [/b]
Written/Directed By
[i]Reviewed By enchantedsleeper[/i] Then down here is the image to the left, and then the text of the review, and the ninja code following. Here's the format for the ninja code. Just replace the # signs with the right number and put in the right amount of ninjas! [size=10][b]# - :ninja: - for Characters
# - :ninja: - for Storyline
# - :ninja: - for Style
# - :ninja: - for Substance
# - :ninja: - Overall[/b][/size] Then you can add whatever note you like at the end, which you already have. 3nodding I think I'm going to add this to the La Revue thread, so others will know too. Thanks for coming!
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 4:54 am
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 11:53 am
Review Number Two! n_n Heehee, that rhymes! This one's mainly just for practice, since anyone who doesn't know Yu-gi-oh! will no doubt be totally baffled by this, although I've done my best to help you out.
Movie Review: Yu-gi-oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light
Directed By Ryosuke Takahashi
Reviewed By enchantedsleeper
 Yu-gi-oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light is known in Britain and the USA as just Yu-gi-oh! The Movie, but run a search on that title and you'll find several other Yu-gi-oh! films and products, so be sure to specify.
It's clear from the start of the film that it aims to please both old veteran fans and newcomers to the anime. The film starts off with a recap of how Yugi, the hero, completed the mystical Millennium Puzzle, which was said to be 'unsolveable' - but with a new twist. At the same time as the puzzle was completed, archaeologists found a new artefact known as the 'Pyramid of Light' - before the tomb collapsed around them.
I do think they might have been more creative with the Pyramid's appearance; it looks exactly the same as Yugi's Millennium Puzzle except that it's upside-down and bright blue. Perhaps the Pyramid was supposed to be the antithesis of the Puzzle - but that much was never actually said.
After the introduction, the film cuts to present-day America where Yugi and his friends reside. Here a panning shot of the streets of Domino City (where they all live) shows several old faces from previous series of Yu-gi-oh! including Mai Valentine, Rex Raptor, and Weevil Underwood. What all these duelists were doing in the same place is unknown, since none of them actually feature in the film, but it's obvious that the film is aiming to please old fans as it then shows a part of Yugi's duel with the evil Marik (series two) on a TV screen in a shopping centre or somewhere.
Although those old faces aren't part of the movie, several others are; as well as Yugi's three best friends and his grandfather, Seto Kaiba, his brother Mokuba and Maximilian Pegasus, the creator of duel monsters all reappear. I have to say that Pegasus' sarcastic and dry humour is as funny as ever (and I'm being sincere; I love Pegasus). Seto Kaiba, although for most of the time being a cold, victory-obsessed jerk like in the anime, also has what is in my opinion the funniest line of the whole movie, although I won’t spoil things for you by revealing what it is.
As you might have guessed, there are some old faces as far as the duel monsters and cards are concerned as well. The Blue Eyes White Dragon, Kaiba's favourite card, naturally makes a re-appearance, as does the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, a combination of three Blue Eyes. Baby Dragon, a favourite of Joey Wheeler's, and Magnet Warrior are also glimpsed.
There are plenty of new monsters, however, one of which was the 'XYZ Dragon Cannon' ( rolleyes ), a combination of three dragon monsters. Personally I found this quite unimaginative, and although it has a role in the plot, it seems obvious to me that the writers just thought it up off the tops of their heads for that purpose alone. A new version of the Blue Eyes, the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon, is also seen, and the mighty Egyptian God Cards are found to have a new ability: when all three combine, they gain infinite attack power. In my opinion, this is rather excessive – the Egyptian God cards are powerful enough as it is – and given the number of times Yugi does manage to assemble all three, it's not as hard as you might think. Once you do have them all on the field you're laughing, since the Polymerisation Card seems to have been done away with at some point, and monsters can now fuse indiscriminately, as long as you have the right ones. Still, that doesn't go very far towards explaining how sometimes sacrifices of weaker monsters need to be made to summon stronger monsters, and sometimes they don’t. Very strange - the rules of the game seem to be ignored when it suits the storywriters and then suddenly obeyed at random moments. The same often goes for the anime, actually.
Another thing that was annoyingly consistent was the over-dramatic-ness (if that's a word ^^; ) of the movie. Lots of bright light, sparkles and foreboding Egyptain words spoken in a very deep voice (and always the same phrase - it sounded something like "Hetem.... Nerru.... Ner em seshem") I think that Yugi and his friends getting chased by mummies is a little over the top as well. But the funniest bit that makes me collapse in fits of laughter every time is when Yami Yugi (the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle who duels in Yugi's place, but since they look very similar, people never seem to notice) catches a card in a manner that is supposed to look dramatic and graceful, but instead just looks hilariously ridiculous. Here's a visual: [x]
As far as the plot goes, the main storyline is an old cliché with an Egyptian spin. The big bad guy is out to destroy the world - where have we heard that one before? And of course, there's the traditional prophecy too - only in this case the bad guy is the Egyptian Lord of the Dead, Anubis, who has a large amount of power and reams of shadow creatures at his command. And the annoying thing about him is, he keeps bouncing back! Every time he seems to have been defeated, he finds another way to make a comeback, so that in the end you’re just basically waiting for him to be done trying to destroy the world. And of course the film ends with the mandatory friendship moral. I suppose it wouldn’t be Yu-gi-oh! without it.
If you're still reading at this point, you deserve applause! I'll sum up, for the benefit of both those who have faithfully read all the way down and those who have scrolled down to see just how long it takes for me to shut up. The movie isn't terrible - in places it's quite funny, whether or not it's intentional. If you're into sappy friendship mottos and overdrama then this is the movie for you. If you're a dedicated Yu-gi-oh! fan you'll have likely seen this already; however if not, you won't miss much if you don't see it. Thanks for reading heart
Code of the Ninja
5 - ninja ninja ninja ninja ninja - for Characters
3 - ninja ninja ninja - for Storyline
2 - ninja ninja - for Style
2 - ninja ninja - for Substance
3 - ninja ninja ninja - Overall
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Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:35 pm
Okay! Yesterday I dug my old Winter Releases '98 disc out and had a play, made some notes, and now I'm reviewing four of the games on there. There are others, but these were ones I figured you guys wouldn't have heard of. So, without further ado....
N.B. The following reviews are of products that were in development at the time, and as such do not represent the content and quality of the final product.
(I figured I should say that to be safe; I adapted it from the notice that precedes the games on my disc. But I looked all the games up on Wikipedia and with the exception of one which wasn't featured, I think they're all pretty accurate).
Video Game Review: Kula World
Console: Playstation
Developed by Game Design Sweden AB
Published by SCEE
Reviewed By enchantedsleeper
 Kula world is a game that's totally different to any other video game I've played, Playstation or otherwise. It's not an adventure role-playing game for a start; it's a puzzle game where the player controls a beach ball and rolls around a platform suspended in midair. Players collect gold coins and fruit for points (the fruit also unlock a bonus level if you get all of them) and try to work out how to get to the key(s) that will take you to the next level.
Often you have to jump from one platform to another, which carries the added risk of falling off. Other hazards include being spiked or melted, which will lose you lives and points for your overall total if you succeed next time. If you roll over an hourglass, which is sometimes inevitable to get to a key, it will start a countdown; running out of time has the same result as falling off or getting spiked, but if there's a second hourglass around you can roll over it and the countdown will stop.
One of the most interesting things about Kula world is how 3D it is; you can often roll over the edge of a platform and find yourself upside-down. (That can be a bit disconcerting ^^). Another interesting thing in my limited experience of the game (I can't get past level three! *wail*) is that sometimes there will be a pair of sunglasses that reveal a sparkling new platform made of ice, available only for a limited amount of time (so jump onto it quickly!)
If I've piqued your interest, go here for a more in-depth review of the final game product: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kula_World I believe there is also a sequel.
Since the game has no apparent storyline and I couldn't rate graphics to save my life, I will just give an overall game rating.
5 - ninja ninja ninja ninja ninja for Overall
Video Game Review: Medievil
Console: Playstation
Developed by SCE Studios Cambridge
Published by SCE
Reviewed By enchantedsleeper
 I played Medievil the other day for the first time ever; it wasn't one of the games I used to play when I was little. I must say I wasn't convinced, but I didn't play it for very long, so don't take my word entirely.
This is a gothic horror adventure roleplay game in which the player controls a skeleton guy wearing armour with a big sword (that's my description; Wikipedia tells that he is in fact a knight brought back from the dead). The sword can also be exchanged for throwing daggers if you fancy a change.
The one thing that really annoyed me about this game was how blastedly SLOW the guy moved! I'm quite a patient person generally, but I'm used to characters who can run and jump and kick, whereas this guy does neither. Fortunately there were Frankenstein-style zombies with green skin popping out of coffins at frequent intervals that served to keep my attention for a while. Defeating the zombies gains you gold, and you pick up items such as 'life bottle' or 'earth rune' as you go on. (The rune I believe opens a door, since my gameplay stopped when I encountered a door which required the 'chaos rune' to open, and I really couldn't be bothered to go and get it).
The game appears to be set, at least at the start, in a graveyard, where the local scenery features creepy tombstones and crawling bodiless hands as well as the zombies and their coffins. There is very dramatic spooky background music with howling wind noises that set the scene nicely.
Overall I'd have to conclude that this isn't my type of game, and the slowness of the character really puts me off; however Wikipedia is pretty complimentary about it, and there is a sequel, so if you want a second opinion, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medievil
3 - ninja ninja ninja for Overall
Video Game Review: Blitter Boy
Console: Playstation
Created by Chris Chadwick
Reviewed By enchantedsleeper
 Now, when I looked on Wikipedia for this there was nothing; nor was there anything on Amazon, so I had to look on Google for the image, which I found along with a couple of other screenshots of gameplay - not much. My guess is that it was never actually brought out after that demo, which is a shame, because I really liked this one.
It's another game I'd class as unusual as far as video games go: the player controls a helmeted 'babysitter' in a room surrounded by crawling babies and infested by translucent green (and in higher levels, orange) ghosts. The ghosts I think are really cute but unfortunately you have to destroy them. The object of each level is to get all of the babies to crawl into the transporter in the middle of the room and be transported away; I think you also have to destroy all of the ghosts before you too can be transported to the next level. The baby thing can be achieved by simply walking near the babies; they will go "Woohoo! Da da heart ," and follow you around everywhere. It's possible to have any number of babies following you around in a line, but while more efficient that carries risks, as if a baby encounters a ghost on its crawls it will immediately stop and start crying instead.
Littered around the room are various interesting items, and I'm not sure what all of them do. Some will provide you with different ammunition for your blaster; the 'Fruit Drops' package will cause large pieces of fruit to drop down on the ghosts' heads, whilst 'Rainbow Death' will send streams of rainbows at the ghosts, causing them to evaporate in a colourful mist. (I love that one, it's so pretty). There's also a ring of green dots, which when walked over creates a ring of the dots around you; any ghost that floats into one will explode on impact and so will the dot. Oh, and there's a device that creates a hologram of you in order to distract the ghosts, and the battery will increase your weapon range. You also get gold, silver and bronze coins for defeating the ghosts.
In my opinion, this is a really cool and fun game, only made slightly irritating by the constant wailing of babies ^^ Once again there's no storyline, but it's a good game nonetheless.
4 - ninja ninja ninja ninja for Overall
Video Game Review: Tombi/Tomba!
Console: Playstation
Developed and Published by Whoopee Camp
Reviewed By enchantedsleeper
 Last but not least, there's the game known in Japan as Tomba! and in Europe as Tombi. (No idea why). Once again we return to the roleplay adventure genre as the player controls Tomba, a pink-haired boy who grew up in the wild and is on a mission to fight off the evil Koma Pigs that have taken over his homeland, and retrieve his grandpa's bracelet.
Upon starting the game, Tomba is equipped with only two items; a green pair of shorts and a machete, or 'Blackjack' (use the circle button to use it, and you can also combine that with the directional arrows to swing it in different directions). The Blackjack only works to temporarily stun enemies, though; use the X button to jump on top of them and again to spin them over and away. The same method works for items you wish to 'acquire' and use at a later date. Those items can be accessed using the triangle button; further along the game, you will find more advanced weapons and special pairs of shorts that you can swap for the ordinary ones.
Along the way, aside from fighting pitchfork-wielding Koma pigs and giant red birds whose chicks you have to try and steal, there are also tasks which appear on the screen in white letters on orange blocks. An example of one is 'Clear the Fog' which will gain you 1000 points and access to the next land (which, unfortunately, is infested with white eggshells that will snap closed on you like a trap and which I have yet to get past). There are also apples which will gain you back some health you have no doubt lost when trying to fight the Koma pigs.
I really enjoy playing this when I'm not losing lives from the eggs or patience as I fail to jump on top of something (it just doesn't work sometimes! I don't know why! TT^TT), and out of all the games I used to play on this disc, it stuck in my memory the most. (Kula World and Blitter Boy were also memorable, hence me reviewing them).
There is a storyline for this one but since I only know about it from Wikipedia and since I'd just give everything five ninjas anyway (I love the graphics as well - Tomba is so cute! Ignore the cover art; he definitely doesn't have eyelashes like that), I'll just do an overall rating again.
5 - ninja ninja ninja ninja ninja for Overall
Oh, and there's a Wikipedia article for this one too if you want to read about it in more depth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomba There's also a sequel named Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return
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Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 8:47 pm
Good reviews so far! I haven't read all of them yet, but I have a few little comments. Overall, well written, informative reviews. You work your opinion in, but still allow for the reader's own views. The only advice I can give is to cut back on giving away so much of the plot. For instance, with Crazy, you end up kind of taking the mystery of the book away by breaking the plot down through the climax. I know your point was to show how ineventful the book was, but you might want to be less specific. The same applies to the Yu-gi-o review. I think giving the specific lines away kinda takes their punch away. Other than that, no problems, and I'm glad you're having so much fun, and getting so much done! Keep up the good work!
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Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 5:35 pm
I haven't thought of MediEvil in a looong time. I have this childhood friend who's a game addict, and he had a demo of this game. We played it when we were little. It was one of my favorites, before I got my own playstation and played Final Fantasy VII.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:43 pm
Thanks for commenting, both of you ^_^ I did think that I was putting in too much plot, and also in the game reviews that I might've been putting in too much step-by-step gameplay rather than analaysing the graphics, etc. Though I have to say you don't have to worry about Crazy -- there is no mystery to the plot anyway xD
Anyway, question: how is someone supposed to know if a review is good enough to go in the La Revue section?
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:56 pm
When you're done editing and are satisfied with the review, you can put it in the La Revue thread.
Really, the La Revue thread is supposed to be a storehouse for reviews, but I usually end up using 1-2 reviews every month, so there are no extras to pick and choose from. But that's okay.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 3:16 pm
Wow, you wrote back quickly! And, okay ^^ Thanks for explaining.
Hmmm, I gotta get down to a couple more reviews before the Christmas holidays are over...
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Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 1:17 am
enchantedsleeper Thanks for commenting, both of you ^_^ I did think that I was putting in too much plot, and also in the game reviews that I might've been putting in too much step-by-step gameplay rather than analaysing the graphics, etc. Though I have to say you don't have to worry about Crazy -- there is no mystery to the plot anyway xD
Anyway, question: how is someone supposed to know if a review is good enough to go in the La Revue section? I store my reviews in my main thread, until usually a few days (sometimes hours) before we 'go to press'. Basically, once you've edited a review to your liking, or had all the comments you want on one, and have it all formated up, you can post it in La Revue. It's just easier for us to get them from there instead of hunting them down in personal threads. Feel free to post them as soon as you're done with them. If you want comments before you add a review, just post it here, and maybe drop us a line in The HQ so we know to check out your updates. Happy reviewing!
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Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 3:00 pm
*sigh* I'm not really in the mood for doing this right now - and I should be doing homework really - but when I was in the mood a few days ago and managed to write half of the review, my pissy AOL server logged me off and ******** lost it all. So there we go.
Book Review: Peter Pan in Scarlet
Written By Geraldine McCaughrean
Reviewed By enchantedsleeper
 In 2004, Great Ormon Street Hospital held a competition to find a suitable author or authoress to write the first ever official sequel to J.M. Barrie's much-loved Peter Pan. The winner of the competition was children's writer Geraldine McCaughrean, and in my opinion she has written the ideal sequel. Anyone who even vaguely knows the story of Peter Pan - they don't need to have read the book (I'm not even sure I have) - should read this book, as I'm sure they'll enjoy it.
Peter Pan in Scarlet begins some time after the original Peter Pan, and Wendy and the Lost Boys have all now grown up, and all but Slightly are married with children. However, their Neverland days are by no means behind them. Lately, they have all been having very realistic dreams about Neverland which result in the materialisation of Neverland objects - a tomahawk here, an alarm clock there, a sword over there... Eventually a meeting is held, and it is decided that something must be very wrong, and therefore an excursion to Neverland is needed to set things right. However, when Wendy, John and the Lost Boys finally manage to get to Neverland, they find it a very different place to the one they left.
One of my favourite things about this book has to be the writing style. It's difficult to describe, but it's definitely very fitting to Peter Pan; it's likely that Geraldine McCaughrean modelled this style on J.M. Barrie's. If you want an idea of what this writing style is like, have a read through this fic, which is written in a very similar style. (It's also a great read wink )
The personalities of the characters in this novel are all spot on, and the return of a great deal of old faces from the previous book is bound to please all the fans. Unfortunately, there are next to no new characters, an aspect which some people might like and some might not; in total, I think there is only one major new character who isn't in the first book. However, during their quest to 'fix' Neverland, Peter Pan and company travel to the very edges of the map, and here some wonderful new material comes to life, with brilliant and imaginative descriptions of the furthest corners of this strange world. The reader learns to expect the unexpected - or better yet, to expect nothing at all, for a pleasant surprise is guaranteed.
As well as a wonderful writing style and a plot with plenty of twists to keep the reader guessing, Peter Pan in Scarlet has two big bonuses that are sure to make you buy the book. The first is the gorgeous cover art of the hardback edition. I have spent a lot of time just staring at the cover; even if I hadn't already been a Peter Pan fan, I think the cover art alone would have enticed me to read the book.
The second is that proceeds from every copy of Peter Pan in Scarlet sold will go to J.M. Barrie's favourite charity, Great Ormond Street Hospital. So if you don't want to read the book yourself, buy it as a gift for someone else! It's for a great cause.
4 - ninja ninja ninja ninja - for Characters
5 - ninja ninja ninja ninja ninja - for Storyline
5 - ninja ninja ninja ninja ninja - for Style
5 - ninja ninja ninja ninja ninja - for Substance
5 - ninja ninja ninja ninja ninja - Overall
Well, there. It's written. And copied into Notepad so that I can't lose it unless my entire computer crashes this time. If it does, I will take it as a sign and give the book back anyway, review or no review.
So, how did I do in my first attempt at writing a book review without giving away too much of the plot? ^^ After all that procrastination, this wasn't too hard. Maybe I can squeeze in a couple more sometime soon.
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 12:29 pm
All right! I'm in the mood for doing a review, so I figured I'd push the boat out and do a website review. I've invented some new criteria to rate it by, and I hope it's okay.
Website Review: Fanstory.com
Reviewed By enchantedsleeper
 Fanstory.com is one of my favourite websites ever, second only to our beloved Gaia; it's a must-visit for all writers as far as I'm concerned. Still, I did my best to write an un-biased review and find a few criticisms even though in my humble opinion it's not only one of the best things since sliced bread, it beats sliced bread into the ground. C:<
So, anyway. Fanstory is a writing website where, providing they have a subscription, users can post their writing - poetry, stories, essays, fanfiction, whatever - and have it reviewed by other users on the site. A Premier membership (i.e. a subscription) also allows you to enter competitions where the prizes are sometimes real money and items, sometimes the site currency of member dollars. After you post two works of the same type you get ranked accordingly, and good or bad reviews can move you up or down this ranking.
If you don't have a Premier membership, your options are a bit more limited, but you can still read and review to your heart's content (and believe me, there's a lot of stuff to read) and be ranked as a reviewer. Reviewing earns you the aforementioned member dollars, which can be used to buy certificates. If you use certificates on your work, they will reward people reviewing your work with more member dollars, meaning a greater incentive to review. There's different types of certificates with different uses, pros and cons, but I could write a whole essay on those so I won't go there.
If this is starting to sound complicated, never fear! Fanstory.com has the best help and support system I've ever seen on a website. Any question you ask will be answered in a matter of minutes (normally 10-15 on average) by a person who calls himself 'Tom'. Since it's physically impossible for one person to be managing all the queries that might come in 24:7, there is some debate as to who or what 'Tom' really is. That aside, there is also a long list of Frequently Asked Questions users can browse for an immediate response to their questions.
It's true that the Certificate system can seem a bit confusing and daunting to new users; it takes some figuring out and getting used to. There are also aspects like the Workshop Preview Mode (where you can get comprehensive critiques as opposed to just general reviews before releasing your work to the 'general public' of Fanstory) and Member Contests, that take some figuring out. Unfortunately, Fanstory doesn't seem to have a walk-through guide or introductory tutorial that can clear these things up. Even so, like I said before, you can get answers to just about any and all questions through 'Tom' or through the FAQs.
Whilst Fanstory doesn't have a new aspect every other day (as it seems Gaia does), updates are released pretty regularly and there's nothing there that seems to be completely broken. Some issues have been found with the Advanced Editor (which is like a word processor type thing you use to add different colours, fonts and stuff to your work) including mysterious symbols and spacing issues, but Fanstory has done a lot to try and fix those problems, so they don't cause too much trouble.
Fanstory has so many features that I can never hope to cover them all in one review. I believe it's possible to sell your work through Fanstory once it's at a certain standard (you can apply for a Seal of Quality which certifies that something's at a high standard), whether for member dollars or regular money. I think there are also forums on Fanstory, but I'm afraid I've never been to them. (Doesn't seem to affect my enjoyment of the site!)
Fanstory has a great community of (mostly) friendly users, and I've made some great friends on there. I'd say that about three-quarters of Fanstory are adults, but there are also quite a few teens and young people on there, more than it would seem. Writers are guaranteed helpful support for their ambitions and critique on their writing, and if you're looking to publish a work, it's invaluable to run it through Fanstory first and get errors, inconsistencies and typos picked up as well as some general impressions about your work.
4 - ninja ninja ninja ninja - for Appearance
5 - ninja ninja ninja ninja ninja - for Layout
4 - ninja ninja ninja ninja - for Accessibility to new members
5 - ninja ninja ninja ninja ninja - for Help/Support
5 - ninja ninja ninja ninja ninja - for Maintenance
5 - ninja ninja ninja ninja ninja - Overall
NB: If anyone does feel inspired to join this amazing site because of my review, please give 91168 as the referral ID xd
I hope this wasn't too long! I tried to go through and delete unnecessary stuff, but I still ended up saying a lot. Also if my criteria for rating needs clarification, I'll put a little explanation by each one.
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