Worm: A complete web serial

[Liffguard]

Worm: A complete web serial

I'm not usually one to read self-published work but this was recommended to me and I thought I'd pass that recommendation on. Worm is a serialised superhero story following the exploits of the teenage wannabe-hero Taylor Hebert. I'm about halfway through and really enjoying it at the moment. The writing starts off a little clunky but improves dramatically as things go on. It has a pretty dark atmosphere, really cool and inventive use of some weird powers and great character dynamics. Anyone who likes the Wild Cards stories will probably find something to enjoy here.

[Migey]

Jesus, when I finished this I meant to start a thread on it for ages, but never got round to it. Good thing someone else did. Incidentally, after clicking Liffguards link, go to 'table of contents' if you can't work out where to find the actual story. And, ah, don't scroll down. Trust me. Just start it first.

Just my imput on this; Worm is absolutely fantastic, and my favourite example of how amazing written superhero fiction can be. I tend never to search for or read this sort of thing, but I am a rabid HPMOR fan, and in one of his monthly progress updates Yudkowsky recommended this. It's long, though. Very long. It's split up into 30 seperate arcs which follow on from each other (and in most cases a single storyline consists of more then one arc), but it's a long project. To give some perspective, the entire thing is, if I remember correctly, about 50,000 words longer than the entire ASOIAF series up until now. But at least it's finished!

That said, it's worth it. The splitting of the story up into chapters and arcs makes it manageable, and there is a great story to be told. I found myself very impressed at what Wildbow (the author, don't know his real name) manages to do with the superhero genre, as he manages to create a variety of genuinely unique superpowers. The main character is the epitome of this, with a superpower which at first glance seems fairly limited in application or usefulness, and it's awesome to see all the crazy ways the author manages to twist and use the unique power for different situations. Some things don't make sense (there's a whole class of superpowers called 'Tinker' powers, which basically translate to people with technology based power, which never really made much sense to me) but Wildbow always makes it work.The world is well crafted in that you get the sense that the author has considered how the advent of superpowers entering the world would change thing, and the characters in general are well presented and interesting. In general, a very good balance is struck between the action, plot, character development and dynamics, and worldbuilding. It's all there, but never do we get too much of one at the expense of another.

I was going to continue telling you how great it is but I guess there's no point. I just think this thing deserves more attention. If you try this, I strongly suggest you get to the end of the first entire arc (which is relatively short) before deciding if it's worth continuing; that's roughly how far you need to get to get a sense of if the story might be going in a direction you like, to get a feel for the authors style (his writing does improve, but if you can't stand it by then, the difference probably won't be enough for it to be worth you continuing), and all of that.

Oh, and if you do get that far, and find yourself enjoying the one major action scene in the first arc at all, I promise you, that part improves a lot. And for those who can't stand the 'bullied girl becomes empowered' stereotype, this thing manages to neatly avoid it. No, Taylor does not turn into Carrie. The bullying is important to her character but you won't have to deal with 30 arcs of Mean Girls and adolescent angst. Just thought I'd throw that out there because I know at least one person who never bothered getting past the first few chapters due to them having 'seen it before'.

[Gertrude]

I gave it a try based off recs from HPMOR and this board. It wasn't for me. It's a shame, because there are many things in the story that were interesting to me and several mysteries I would like to know the end of, but the trade-off became not worth it for me. I was struggling to make myself push on. The writing was fine and there were several engaging elements, but I was not a fan of all the fight scenes ... and there are a lot. That's personal taste, obviously, so if you like that sort of thing, this is probably a win for you. I'd still recommend it based on a half done read.

[felice]

Some things don't make sense (there's a whole class of superpowers called 'Tinker' powers, which basically translate to people with technology based power, which never really made much sense to me)

Any particular reason? I thought that was explained quite adequately:

Tinkers are connected to shards that contain knowledge of advanced technology acquired from planets the Worms visited before coming to Earth, presumably along with a scan of relevant Earth tech (eg Bakuda would have gotten a thorough understanding of all Earth-made bombs as well as the alien knowledge to enhance them and understanding of other Earth tech needed to implement the alien designs), and extra processing power to supplement the limitations of the human brain.

The writing was fine and there were several engaging elements, but I was not a fan of all the fight scenes ... and there are a lot.

There are a lot, yes, but they're generally very well written fight scenes, which is something a lot of authors struggle to pull off. I guess the wide array of powers involved helps; it's easier to make that interesting than a couple of guys trying to hit each other with swords.

Wildbow's new story in progress Pact is also well worth checking out. This one's urban fantasy / horror rather than superhero, but don't let that put you off if you're not a fan of the genre; it's definitely nothing like Twilight! 8)

[Gertrude]

I'm not knocking it, just saying that it was the reason I didn't get into it. I don't like big battle scenes in my fantasy works either, but I know others love them to bits. Just comes down to taste and I thought I'd give my 2 cents.

[Serious Callers Only]

I'm not enticed by this. Disregarding the subgenre, that does not appeal, putting up '5 times larger than LotR' (or whatever) as a 'advertisement' is a major red flag to me. Nope, not going to go around the sunk cost alley. I've read some self-published good books (last was this, and it's a good-ish single volume fantasy), but i'm not willing to read something like this, especially if it is low words per chapter huge number of chapters in a blog of all things.

Besides, superhero books suck.

[felice]

I'm not knocking it, just saying that it was the reason I didn't get into it.

Oh yes, that's fine; "lots of fight scenes" wouldn't be a selling point for me either, usually, but I found they worked for me in Worm.

I'm not enticed by this. Disregarding the subgenre, that does not appeal, putting up '5 times larger than LotR' (or whatever) as a 'advertisement' is a major red flag to me... i'm not willing to read something like this, especially if it is low words per chapter huge number of chapters in a blog of all things.

The length thing is more a warning than an advertisement! I'd say about six thousand words per chapter on average, at a very rough estimate (the earliest chapters are shorter).

[Tehol]

How do you read this behemoth? On your laptop or smart phone? Hope some kind of epub or mobi format coming soon.

[Migey]

If you have internet, you can read it. It's just there on Wordpress.

[Tehol]

If you have internet, you can read it. It's just there on Wordpress.

Online DRM.

:)

[AverageGuy]

Online DRM.

:)

From a comment I saw in Pact, the author is apparently working on an actual ebook version. But since they're writing a new serial at the same time, progress is slow.

I'll admit that the wordpress/blog format is not always ideal for reading. If it were me doing something like this, I'd probably spend a month or three making a simple reader before doing anything else, but then I'm a programmer, not a writer. That said, you get used to it pretty quickly. Web serial authors are independent and don't all have that experience or the time to figure out how to implement something like that. Further, said independence is the cause of a few more pitfalls to web serials, one being that they're working the same way as magazine serials, which leads to the classic problem of bloat but without the Dickensian editor saying it's time to wrap it up, another being that even when they have a good grasp of spelling/grammar there's still a lack of copyeditors (though many encourage typo threads for any readers who want to point things out), and yet another being the lack of gatekeepers: it may be harder to get published, but at least the individual reader doesn't have to go through a slush pile to find the good stuff.

All that said, Worm is one of the better web serials out there. It's a superhero story; if you don't like superheroes, it probably won't convert you. It's depressing at times; I personally feel the author can go too far in how much the hero loses-- the Red Wedding should shock you, not make you think business as usual. And IMO the transition to the endgame was kind of abrupt, while the endgame itself was a little long. All that said, if you think you can get past the web serial format, and if you like superheroes, I would recommend it.

[Sci-2]

All that said, Worm is one of the better web serials out there. It's a superhero story; if you don't like superheroes, it probably won't convert you. It's depressing at times; I personally feel the author can go too far in how much the hero loses-- the Red Wedding should shock you, not make you think business as usual.

This made me shy away from the story though I should probably go back to it at some point.

Especially since I don't think I got to the major losses yet...

[felice]

How far did you get?

[Migey]

There's nothing really at 'Red Wedding' levels. There's a lot of gut punches, but none of them ever feel cheap to me, because well, this lady and her friends are constantly in conflict with various parties or people. People do get hurt, and while there are rarely major deaths (minus one or two massive events which kill off about 500 minor characters and a few major ones, in a good way, because it's the sort of event where it would make no fucking sense for nobody to die), most conflicts do hurt people and have an effect on them. I quite like it in that the author kind of realises that this isn't going to be a story where shock value is gained from killing off major players in every fight, so instead he works around it by having the conflicts drive character development and have other effects. At one point, a character is tortured almost to death and the resolution of the scene is an almost deus-ex-machina level escape against the odds. But that scene and its ramifications actually make a massive difference to many of the character dynamics, with the result that it feels meaningful and important instead of cheap and 'oh here we go again'.

Point is, it never goes overboard with life being meaningless, but people do die, and they should, because it would be far far more stupid in some of the events that happen in Worm for large numbers of people not to die.

[Wicked Woodpecker of West]

I feel appealed by premise of the story. Lenght is sufficent, and it's finished, which is great. Good for me.
Also I rather hate HPMOR. Hope that doesn't mean I would not like this one.

[Migey]

Certainly not. This has nothing about the whole rationalism, scientific aspect which is constantly shoved in your face, much as I love that. What appealed to the author of HPMOR about this story was the inventive use of a wide range of imaginative powers, and in his words, the fact that all the characters who we're told are really smart, act intelligently and don't do really stupid things, and so on. It also extends to other things, the author has thought how the advent of superpowers would make a difference to the wider world, and stuff like that. It's not always as in-depth as I'd like, but it's just well thought out. I think the statement that it appeals to people who like HPMOR refers to the fact that that sort of reader is often the sort who likes attention to detail, things to be consistent and make sense, and is jolted out of the read easily by those things.

[john]

Started reading this basically because of this thread, although I had heard the name bandied around before.

Impressive stuff. I've read about a third of it and the last chapter i read (one character revealing the full villainous extent of his powers) is genuinely one of the creepiest things I've ever read.

I'm having a lot of trouble sympathising with the main protagonist though. Genuinely horrible things happen to her but her own choices and motivations are decidedly questionable too. It's always a hard line to walk making a villain likable but she just seems like a total scumbag.

[felice]

Questionable, yes, but "total scumbag" seems a bit harsh! What particularly bothers you?

[john]

Well, the way she treated her father when she leaves home in particular pissed me off. Yes he was out of line but her reaction indicates a weird sense of entitlement for a seventeen year old to have, which is also evident in how she behaves elsewhere. Like she's happy to work for a supervillian but thinks she can hold him to some kind of standard of morality.

But the total scumbag thing is because she was party to Regent's crime against Sophia. That makes her worse than a rapist surely.

[felice]

But the total scumbag thing is because she was party to Regent's crime against Sophia. That makes her worse than a rapist surely.

Well, Sophia was trying to

kill her immediately beforehand, and had done some pretty awful stuff before that, so Taylor has good reason to be less than entirely sympathetic. I'd say the infiltration mission is closer to using someone as a human shield than rape, and Taylor isn't aware of the worst stuff Regent does.