Contest October-November Short Story Contest Voting Thread (Votes Close December 7th)

As promised, early reviews!

Spoiler: Story One, "A Critique"

Oh my, this was a real surprise.

I think i've guessed the author, but to avoid any possible debate and negations, i will keep the guess for myself.

What can i say? it's undoubtely the less classic story of the bunch, we have not the typical narrative structure, but this one wins by a large margin the award for sheer originality of the idea. And brilliantly executed, moreover... the satire is perfectly on spot, the style appears truer than the source of inspiration.

Usually i keep my vote secret, at least 'til the last days, but this round i can say that this piece took my vote. I could just not resist.

Spoiler: Story Two, "The Warrior's Art

Not gonna lie, at first i was taken aback... when i saw the first rudimental tries of Xi-Boc to explore art, i was expecting the story of a saurus with a weird sensibility, a sort of artist against all odds.

No wonder that after a while i was wondering if the theme was left abandoned behind by the plot. Then i slowly realized what was happening, and yes, no one can say that this piece was not covering in an excellent way the idea of "art". Not a case that the most famous work of Sun Tzu, general and philosopher, is called "the art of war".

Maybe the piece drags itself for a little too long? maybe not, after all we were witnessing a whole existence dedicated to the aim of perfection.

A pity the only internal struggle of our protagonist was shown at the beginning and when he was forced to fight in a civil war, as if his strife for excellence was due more to basic instinct, rather than active personal research.

Solid piece, anyway. Also in this case, i think i've guessed the author's identity.

Spoiler: Story Three, "The Never-Histories"

Oh, really interesting piece, a whole subterranean filled with paintings and mosaics that tell different stories of an uncertain past.

The already interesting premise is suddenly and furtherly increased by the fact that i'm sure the author cleverly introduces subjects from older stories appeared in Lustria contests... (the nippon sauri, the relationship between the child and the kroxigor, and so on).

Is this place a depiction of the stories on LO, a place that is ever growing and that, if properly explored, will reveal yet-to-come worlds and narrations?

The Old World (WHFB) and the new one (AoS) are both fictional universes, that live only in our imaginations, so why there shouldn't be a connection, somewhere, between all the fluffs are written and the "official" lore? That would be a deeper level of consciousness, and the concept is intriguing, to say the least... this is probably my second fav. piece and again, i think i know who the mysterious writer is.

Spoiler: Story Four, "Like Father Like Son"

Ah, and when no one was expecting them, here they come the Chaos Dwarfs!

Was it a dirty trick to grab an easy vote? As noted by other forumeers, after the reading i would say no, not at all. The story is solid by itself and, even if i don't know that much about the lore of CDs, it seems clear that this one is rooted in it, and (more or less) I've managed to understand things i wasn't aware of.

Thew art is there and in this case it's a classic expression of it, a construct of war built with "love", dedication, faith and true passion. The dialogue between father and son at the very beginning reminded me about the dialogue between the Pope and Michelangelo in the old movie "The agony and the Ecstasy", and if not... that would be a very strange coincidence.

The presence of the lizardmen in this story was a late one (when i was really asking to myself what could have been the connection), but man, what a presence! A Dread K'daii should be a terrifying sight to behold.

Also in this case, and reasoning by exclusions, i'm positive i've guessed the author.

 

That will be for a later time

Back in time it was not a so uncommon tactic, no stern words ever

 

Well, to be fair that was not sure. In case of 2 o 3 stories involving chaos dwarfs, the quality would triumph, so you cannot know beforehand!

 

@pyro-dragon
Sorry, i have deleted your post... the temporary result shouldn't be "viewed" without voting so i don't think it's a good idea, so early in this phase, to announce who's ahead (even if by a single vote).

Of course, if @Scalenex (the final judge for this competition) believes it is ok, he can restore your post.

 

what a competition!

 

No idea, i'm not there

 

All i can safely say is that i'm truly happy for the solid amont of voters.