Bladeraver (pt15) (291 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.55 on 11 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Tactile Ire (View user info) at 2007-02-21 16:18:33 EST
(today's episode inspired by Rob Berg's first hate post...)
FLASHBACK: MOONS EARLIER. AS A BOY.
Hunter sat with his father during a rare break for them both. The evening mist was dropping as
they sat outside the workshop, looking across the glade and into the thick underbrush opposite.
Above the layer of green, slowly vanishing in the occluding vapour, they could see the mammoth
gigatrees and the vaulted halls of space formed by their boles and boughs. The Dreamingveldt held
its breath. There was a magical stillness in the air - an abiding peacefulness in the very
atmosphere that can only be found in the deep heart of an ancient forest. The two of them sat,
enjoying the quiet dying of the day.
Finally his father spoke. "I'll not warn you about much that life will bring you. Your books can
instruct far more deeply than I. And there is a certain uselessness to most instructions about
life. A man can hear another's warnings and wisdom but then, invariably, must make his own
mistakes to learn the lesson. Many times I have been told a thing, thought I had listened, and
understood, and then discovered the real truth of it through my own folly. It is so with all men."
"But there is one thing that caught me truly by surprise and I will tell you of this. Who knows,
maybe the telling will help you absorb the lesson later."
"Men despise greatness in others. They don't know they do, but it is so. Watch carefully over the
moons. If a man is attempting to do something new, to change life for the better, to bring a new
truth of science or society, or even to build something strong for the future, other smaller and
more venal men attempt to hamstring his efforts at every turn. I don't know why men are like this,
but it is so."
"If a thing is different. If it is a display of ability beyond their own. If it does not conform
to their expectations of how the Dreamingveldt and the people in it should work, they will fight
against it - with anger and petty politics and power-plays and deception."
"Truth does not save the great work. The lies of the small men will be impervious to all displays
of truth. Beware the small man with his petty hatred, my boy. He can bring you down."
User Reviews
Submitted by AshK (user info) at 2007-04-02 16:24:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I've been plodding my way through theese. I can see that if I were waiting for the next installment, a short chapter like this would be a let down. However, I have the luxury of reading them one after the other (between doing my actual job, hence the "plodding") and so can really appreciate the atmosphere and background that the flashbacks provide.
I haven't commented on each one, I am truly enjoying this series and I look forward to getting a few more chapters under my belt each day. This is, no question, some of the good stuff.
Submitted by genericIntent (user info) at 2007-02-22 11:15:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by Snare (user info) at 2007-02-21 17:52:12 (#)
Ranking: 0
The internet reduces everybody's attention spans down to about 90seconds, tops. [...] ADD becomes normality.
[...]
And keep me honest, like today, if you think I'm letting the pace flag too much.
_________________________________
No offense. The +1 is due to generosity and anticipation. This chapter is well written, but I feel you're over-using the flashbacks. If this whole story were written in a book and I could read at my leisure, then a short, slow chapter wouldn't matter.
Submitted by orph (user info) at 2007-02-22 09:04:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I just printed all these out and read them on the loo at work. This is really a fantastic story! Please keep it up.
Submitted by rob_berg (user info) at 2007-02-21 22:27:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Love it.
I'm flattered and delighted that I was somehow a small smidgen of an inspiration for you.
Your words are beautifully crafted, and that lesson is a great one indeed.
Imbuing that kind of real world wisdom into your tale is just another reason why this is one of the only fiction series I have intently followed.
Great work!
oh, and don't mind JonnyX - you lost a point just for mentioning my name without pairing it with sort of derogatory comment.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2007-02-21 21:27:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 just for all this effort. The story's not really my thing, but someone's gotta fucking try around here.
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2007-02-21 21:25:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
What makes you think Bickerstaff is an alter?
Submitted by odin (user info) at 2007-02-21 19:24:44 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by Snare (user info) at 2007-02-21 17:52:12 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2007-02-21 16:34:12 (#)
Ranking: 1
I woulda skipped this chapter.
__________________________________________________________
I'm trying for the kind of yarn you get from the better Vertigo series'
Books like Sandman, Fables, 100 Bullets, Lucifer and Transmetropolitan.
Books where there is a definite over-arching storyline, with a planned resolution/ending, but where the writer also has the space and time to let his characters wander off into little asides, to grow and to push against the world around them. To explore other ideas as they come up.
It's not something that has been tried on Ubersite before. The internet reduces everybody's attention spans down to about 90seconds, tops. This leads to little blasts of brilliance. Vignettes rise to the fore. ADD becomes normality.
And Ubersite itself is pretty hostile turf, primarily a place for school-yard level name-calling, juvenile attention-seeking and sissyfighting.
But there are some good writers, artists and thinkers here, in amongst the tweekers, tweenies and l33tdrones.
And the Bickerstaff alter pulled off a smaller but similar project. (albeit with a stinker of a final episode and no ending - you hear me Bickerstaff? Man up and finish it.)
So stick with me. Please. And in return I'll do my best to make the ride worth your while, even if that 'while' is a bit longer than anyone here originally planned.
And keep me honest, like today, if you think I'm letting the pace flag too much.
Submitted by whiskey_jack (user info) at 2007-02-21 17:29:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by DesolateMisanthrope (user info) at 2007-02-21 17:15:22 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2007-02-21 16:34:12 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
I woulda skipped this chapter.