METraylor's Profile
Lovely Approach, Endless Verbiage
A review of The Ghosts of Earth
Almost any story that that begins with the birth of the universe is going to interest me. I love it when people give that kind of context to their stories, and I enjoy different people’s takes on the various theories of creation, how they occurred and physicality and/or spirituality of it...
Solid Premise and Style, Too Much Angst, and Currently Not Updating
A review of Winter Rain
One of the biggest things I appreciated about Winter Rain was Chris’ pace during the early installments. He gave details as they would occur to the point-of-view character, allowing them to unfold as the reader went on, as opposed to explaining everything for the benefit of the reader...
Worth Checking Out But Not Grabbing Me Enough to Keep Reading
A review of Tales of MU
Tales of MU definitely started out as entertaining, and I appreciate how Alexandra Erin brings non-mainstream sexualities and genders to the forefront through her main characters rather than through supporting characters or cameos...
Intriguing Enough to Merit Trying the Revised Print Edition
A review of An Intimate History of the Greater Kingdom - The Tale of Two Kingdoms
I started reading An Intimate History of the Greater Kingdom out of curiosity and not expecting much, but I found myself pleasantly surprised for a time.
Like Tales of MU, I appreciate how Mei Lin openly discusses non-mainstream sexualities in the story, though I have misgivings about how they are portrayed...
Clunky and Not Very Squirrel-Like
A review of Beasts of New York
I thought this story looked really compelling. I liked the premise, and the catchy title. Also, I’ve had the opportunity to watch the bizarre behavior of squirrels in New York (and in D.C. Ohmygod)...
Cinderella Punches You in the Gut
A review of Ember
I love the violent, anti-romance twist of this retelling. It was not as violent and dark as I expected from the description, but quite compellingly realistic.
I love the contrasts to the Disney-fied version of Cinderella...
Show Don't Tell
A review of City of Roses
I nearly didn’t read this story the first time I came across it, because I read the first two scenes, and foresaw angst of an unpalatable nature. Then I came across it again through an ad, and kept reading...
Beautifully Paced, Characterized, and Described
A review of Tapestry
This is the first piece of webfiction that really wowed me. Wysteria handles all elements of the story incredibly deftly. I love the everyday but uncluttered pace, the realistic character portrayals and interactions, and the touch of physical description that gives the surroundings life without pointing to any one Asian (perhaps my own assumption) culture...
Not My Cup of Tea Despite Everything
A review of The God Eaters
I had seen this one floating around WFG for a while, but I never went to read it until I realized the author was also the co-author of the very awesome Metanoia webcomic (on frequent hiatus, alas), and I got pretty excited...
Ungrounded but Compelling and Beautiful
A review of The Aphorisms of Kherishdar
I was extremely intrigued (and excited) about the premise of these stories: A culture where prescribed social interactions and a caste system are healthy social dynamics. I’ve always been fascinated by caste worlds in fiction, from the Dragonriders of Pern to the Black Jewels Trilogy, where everyone has an intrinsic place in the social order and a sense of belonging there, and the complex and fascinating social interactions that ensue...
Murky and Ungrounded
A review of The Admonishments of Kherishdar
These stories are not nearly as strong as Aphorisms of Kherishdar, and for me suffer both from stylistic and intellectual approach.
Each piece in this collection is told by a different narrator, so the sparse description and brevity doesn’t have the benefit of building on itself over time...
Fabulous At Being Itself
A review of Captive Prince
Captive Prince is one of the best executions of the royal-warrior-becomes-sex-slave trope I have ever encountered. It’s good at what it does, and it doesn’t try to be anything it’s not: It’s really, really well-done homoerotic slavefic...