I'm baaaaaaack! My sporking style has possibly chaaaaanged! Hopefully for the better... My deliberate focus from here on in is to challenge myself not just to recap the chapter's events and snark about it (although snarking is admittedly a lot of fun) but to properly highlight what doesn't work and why, regarding plot, character motivations and ( Read more... )

*claws her way out of the ground* I LIIIIIIIVE!

Yes, I’m aware of how late I am with this… Real Life has kind of been kicking my butt for the past month or so. Among other things, I got a job, and am still adjusting to both the time sink and the physical demands of retail. I only hope this sporking ends up being worth the wait.

( FEED ME RORAN'S TEARS! )

Hi everyone! It seems doomotter had some other things to do, so this chapter has fallen into my grabby little hands. And oh, boy, am I gonna have a fun time with this one ( Read more... )

Hello everyone! Bishop surrendered this chapter to Epistler, who then handed it off to me so that I can refresh my brain for Chapter 5 of Consequence (and perhaps get some spitefic fodder) by jumping aboard the Sporking Train. So here we are with “Four Strokes Upon the Drum”, a chapter title which doesn’t invoke a drumbeat so much as ring a bell.


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Hello! Sorry this took so long to get out, but here we are with Clanmeet, where the dwarven politics continue.

theepistler worked with me on this one just like last time, unlike last time, our comments have combined into a slightly odd hodgepodge.

With that in mind, here's the spork.

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Hello, I’m the Gharial Guy embarking on my first spork. And I got a real special one here today. Perhaps the shortest chapter Paolini has ever written. Normally brevity is something you’d pray for in Paolini’s work but even when I first read this one my reaction was “Seriously? What was that for?” It always struck me that the shortness of this ( Read more... )

For this chapter I was planning to give a quick rundown on what actually happens plotwise during Saphira's very first POV chapter in the series. This was for my own benefit, mostly! as otherwise I would probably be wrapped far too much up in ranting nonstop about just how awkward the prose is and forget to mention plot entirely. ( Read more... )

Normal: Me
Bold: theepistler
Italized: Brisingr quotes

Here we are with part 2, which only covers Eragon's fight with a bunch of assassins. It needed to be split because we have a lot to talk about here.

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Blood on the Rocks, the first dwarven politics chapter. The chapter title almost sounds like an alcoholic beverage for vampires or cannibals, but it's actually just completely literal. theepistler and I decided to work together on the dwarven politics chapters. So...

Normal: Me
Bold: theepistler
Italized: Brisingr quotes
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So, here's another chapter of Roran doing nothing relevant to the story or his character development, and also some very bad military fiction to boot. The raiding narrative is one that could have had some value if it advanced the plot (if they found Galbatorix's plans, for example) or forced Roran to undergo some character changes (horrors of war, ( Read more... )