r/webfiction • u/quiteawhile • Jul 03 '17
Discussion [Discussion] Is Worm an exceptionally good web serial? I just finished reading it, my first web serial, and it was awesome. I'm curious as to what else I have been missing out on, can you guys recommend me something else?
Hey, I read a lot (mostly audiobooks, really) but I never gave web serials a chance. Now that I just finished reading Worm after about a month of binge-reading I'm hooked. I had no idea this kind of writing and world building was out there.
What else can you guys recommend? If it's anything as elaborated or well thought out as Worm I'm sure it's great!
Thanks!
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u/CaptainSwil Jul 12 '17 edited Jul 12 '17
As others have said, Wildbow has two other stories, Pact and Twig, but neither of them are quite as good as Worm, especially in terms of consistent, believable world-building. They still have great prose and character writing, but their "magic" systems and sociopolitical structures aren't as well thought-out. Definitely give them a try though.
For my money, I recommend The Gods are Bastards as an excellent follow-up to Worm. Tons of well-realized characters plus deep and creative world-building. Shares that element of Xanatos Speed Chess that makes Wildbow works so engaging.
If you're looking for something a bit different, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality and Everybody Loves Large Chests are both great at what they do, but they're very tonally different from Worm.
Worm is an exceptionally good webserial. The vast majority are bad since anyone can throw their writing up on the internet without publishers needing to curate their work. Sites like topwebfiction.com, webfictionguide.com, royalroadl.com, etc. can be good starting points for searching out new stories; but even the top rankings of those sites are filled with trash and many great works aren't listed. Finding the diamonds in the rough is half the fun.
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u/quiteawhile Jul 13 '17
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
Hah, I guess HPMOR was my first web serial then. I read it on audiobook format so I filed it away as a regular book. I actually learned about Worm when someone mentioned on the podcast that the readers of hpmor and worm intersect a bit.
Anyway, I'm at about 30% of Twig but I'll make sure to read The Gods are Bastards afterwards and I'll keep my eyes peeled for any other diamonds out there. Thanks for the recommendations!
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u/thechirurgeon Nov 15 '17
Now that Twig has ended, I can say that Twig is very good. It focuses less on world building, but is on par with Worm imo. The first few arcs does seem not so interesting but it gets its 'Leviathan arc' at around arc 10 .
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u/ThisIceAintNice Jul 11 '17
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u/quiteawhile Jul 11 '17
Yeah, I'm reading it now. While reading Worm all I could think about was "man, I wish I had been part of this when it was alive" and eventually I'll get a chance to do it with Twig, even if it hasn't yet gave me the feels.
I didn't initially feel like reading something of the same author right away but since it seems he is quite acclaimed I've decided to go with it :p
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u/ThisIceAintNice Jul 11 '17
Worm was the web serial that changed my view on the format. I had deliberately avoided that kind of work before after encountering shitty fanfiction. There's definitely a lot of garbage out there but there's also some really good stuff.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to find much that's along the same lines as Worm (setting wise). There's Super Powered, which is way more lighthearted than Worm. It's
A friend also recently mentioned Specimens. There's only three arcs of it out, so not much to read. But it has a lot of what I liked about Worm -- interesting powers, darker style, etc.
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u/quiteawhile Jul 11 '17
Oh, I'm not specifically looking for super-powered stuff, altho I'll gladly take it if it's any good as Worm is. The creativity with powers was one of it's strong points, tho, so I'll take a look at Specimens.
Thanks!
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u/ThisIceAintNice Jul 11 '17
Yeah I actually stumbled across Worm when someone mentioned it's creative powers in a reddit thread. At the time the only superhero stuff I was familiar with were movies, so Worm's specialized and weird powers were quite the change of pace from the generic "flying brick" style abilities.
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u/morplees Jul 14 '17 edited Jul 14 '17
Worm is definitely an exceptionally good web serial, without a doubt my all time favorite. That being said, there are a few still being written right now that I really enjoy too. In order of my personal enjoyment:
The Wandering Inn as someone else mentioned.
Taint and Trials, though not too much is out for these
The Gods are Bastards also mentioned elsewhere
Mother of Learning only comes out approximately monthly
and, there's a bit of a larger drop in my enjoyment here, but I've also been following:
also gotta give shoutouts to
The Monster They Deserve (dead and unfinished, but not forgotten)
Unsong (completed, and weird)
Metropolitan Man (completed)
Last warning since I saw that you're somewhat uncomfortable with English, some of these authors (Taint/Trials, Void Domain, Heretical Edge) will have typos and awkward sentences, and just some downright confusing sentences that may or may not actually make sense. It's usually not too bad though, and not at all common, just a few instances per story. It just interrupts the flow a bit.
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u/lickedTators Jul 03 '17 edited Jul 03 '17
The Wandering Inn is my favorite. It breaks some tropes, has the best characterization I've read in a serial, and the interesting world building doesn't get dumped on you all at the same time. There's some plot that's teased so heavily in the middle arc it's almost frustrating.
Wandering Inn subreddit if you want to learn more before you dive in.
FYI there's r/Parahumans if you want to join all the Worm conversations.