Worm (http://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-1-gestation/1-01/) is an awesome web serial novel I read a couple months back and am still enamored of.
The first thing I tell people about it is that it does for superhero stories what A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) did for fantasy.
It's 1.7 million words so, in print, it'd be quite the doorstopper (more like a series of novels than a single novel).
I earnestly recommend it.
PLEASE KEEP THIS THREAD SPOILER-SAFE
Please mark your spoiler tags with how far you've read / how far the comment within might spoil someone.
The technical quality of Wildbow's writing actually improves over the course of the serial, but this first chapter did manage to hook me in. At first, I didn't really get what was going on, but when Taylor revealed her superpowers... I knew things were going places.
While most people will loudly repeat IT GETS WORSE regarding any nasty goings-on in Worm, for this chapter it's actually safe to say it gets better :)
So yeah, I read this and I was all HOLY SHIT. The protagonist is struggling against terrible odds but is so amazingly resourceful. This world is suffused with realism: bad things exist and happen but it's not unrealistically awful. The heroes appear to be facing realistic problems and part of a real organization.
Also, thinking about it, I was thinking "oh yes, this really is what a world with superpowers would be like, basically, thank god I'm not living in a world like that".
So.... Arc 8: Extermination was appropriately titled, was it not?
Has it gotten real for you yet?
Holy shit! I can't believe Jack fucking got away! That was like edge of your seat reading for sure! The total disregard Piggot had for the safety of villains made my blood boil.
“I’m not sure I understand. Does this have something to do with,” Annette waggled her fingers, “Powers?”
“No. It’s about regret, and coming to terms with it all.”
OMG! I can't even sum up my thoughts yet. I will post a more meaningful expression here when such comes to me. Just OMG!
edit: I still can't sum up all the awesome of this story. An amazing read that will make every other series about superheroes attempt to live up to its glory.
“I’m not sure I understand. Does this have something to do with,” Annette waggled her fingers, “Powers?”
“No. It’s about regret, and coming to terms with it all.”
OMG! I can't even sum up my thoughts yet. I will post a more meaningful expression here when such comes to me. Just OMG!
Yes!!
I loved that epilogue, too :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrHfu-HT2lM
His weapon was mechanical, long and toothed.
Weaponized birthing saw, I thought.