Along with probably half the other people on this forum, but!
LET’S READ EXALTED 3
The book stands at 659 pages; there are no bookmarks, etc. yet, which is as expected.
The cover is, as was foretold, a placeholder. It’s definitely not the finished cover in general – it has a big, flat “EX3” to one side and no other text. Hopefully this applies to the art as well, because, ugh – giant closed-eyed generic wuxia lady is, uh, not really setting the tone or giving me any idea what to expect. There’s also an ugly seam running down her arm where it overlaps the “EX3 thing,” so, yeah, hoping this is very temporary - it's an ugly piece.
First inside page is exactly one sentence. Well, all right.
We launch into an old-school WW fiction intro. True confessions: I never liked those. They were almost always long-winded and borderline incomprehensible if you didn’t already know the universe – or were to me, anyway; I know a lot of people have great affection for them. This one is a bit of Borgstromantic fiction, from what’s been said. There’s some weird kerning and seemingly missing spaces right out of the gate – like, literally first paragraph – which is a bit odd. Things seem to smooth out after that, and it’s a pretty serviceable fic…
… leading right into the two page spread of Wu Jian. Which is, all misgivings about two page spreads aside, absolutely gorgeous. Well done.
The rest of the fic is a mixed bag: it does this grand, sweeping legendary-sounding text, and then switches to almost Whedonesque banter. I don’t picture Exalted characters saying, “… OK?” and yet here we are. But it does convey the grandeur and possibility of the Solar Exalted, without making the Dragon-Blooded look lesser for it, and that’s an accomplishment. It’s also absolutely chock full of supernatural things happening as commonplace, probably-in-the-house-next-door events, and that’s an interesting tonal shift, as well.
Next page has some anime-ish page featuring a mix of signature characters old and new. Hello, old friends. I've missed you.
Table of contents! Chapter 6 entry is, uh, bad: it’s missing a bunch of Abilities (Archery, say) and including a bunch of things that aren’t Abilities (unless “Sex” has been added to the sheet this edition). Several page numbers are also obviously wrong. Ch. 7 is missing a space in “Snake Style” and has an extra 4 in “Sorcerous Workings.” Most of the rest seems workable.
Next up: Introduction!
LET’S READ EXALTED 3
The book stands at 659 pages; there are no bookmarks, etc. yet, which is as expected.
The cover is, as was foretold, a placeholder. It’s definitely not the finished cover in general – it has a big, flat “EX3” to one side and no other text. Hopefully this applies to the art as well, because, ugh – giant closed-eyed generic wuxia lady is, uh, not really setting the tone or giving me any idea what to expect. There’s also an ugly seam running down her arm where it overlaps the “EX3 thing,” so, yeah, hoping this is very temporary - it's an ugly piece.
First inside page is exactly one sentence. Well, all right.
We launch into an old-school WW fiction intro. True confessions: I never liked those. They were almost always long-winded and borderline incomprehensible if you didn’t already know the universe – or were to me, anyway; I know a lot of people have great affection for them. This one is a bit of Borgstromantic fiction, from what’s been said. There’s some weird kerning and seemingly missing spaces right out of the gate – like, literally first paragraph – which is a bit odd. Things seem to smooth out after that, and it’s a pretty serviceable fic…
… leading right into the two page spread of Wu Jian. Which is, all misgivings about two page spreads aside, absolutely gorgeous. Well done.
The rest of the fic is a mixed bag: it does this grand, sweeping legendary-sounding text, and then switches to almost Whedonesque banter. I don’t picture Exalted characters saying, “… OK?” and yet here we are. But it does convey the grandeur and possibility of the Solar Exalted, without making the Dragon-Blooded look lesser for it, and that’s an accomplishment. It’s also absolutely chock full of supernatural things happening as commonplace, probably-in-the-house-next-door events, and that’s an interesting tonal shift, as well.
Next page has some anime-ish page featuring a mix of signature characters old and new. Hello, old friends. I've missed you.
Table of contents! Chapter 6 entry is, uh, bad: it’s missing a bunch of Abilities (Archery, say) and including a bunch of things that aren’t Abilities (unless “Sex” has been added to the sheet this edition). Several page numbers are also obviously wrong. Ch. 7 is missing a space in “Snake Style” and has an extra 4 in “Sorcerous Workings.” Most of the rest seems workable.
Next up: Introduction!
Comment