Short Story - In the Blood

[Hawki]

http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/863...Blood-2_7_2013

Links are iffy right now, but the first HotS short story has been posted. Seems that we're getting both the promised HotS blog through Project Blackstone and the short stories.

[Kimera757]

A lot of that story was confusing. Was the main character psychic?

[Visions of Khas]

I haven't read the whole thing but the writing seems reminiscent of new wave sci fi, evoking the styles of William Gibson and Peter Watts. I like it so far, I just don't have time to read the whole thing. I like a story that takes a couple times to read to understand.

[Turalyon]

A lot of that story was confusing. Was the main character psychic?

Psychic? Where did it give that impression?

The story was just about (without being too spoilerish) your typical low level dude gaining a level (or two) in badass. I guess it's supposed to parallel the hidden but inherent potential of the Zerg larvae gaining such levels when they morph into highly capable and dangerous monsters.

[TcheQuevara]

This story is awesome. And it isn't about a guy taking a level in badass. It is SPOILER SPOILERS SPOILERS

Hidden Content:

about why taking a level in badass isn't worth it.

No doubt the best SC short story I read so far. Also, if anyone wants to discuss: I think it is a fine example of Starcraft's atmosphere regarding humanity. The bittersweet cross between the worthlesness of human life and the resilience of human spirit.

[Turalyon]

And it isn't about a guy taking a level in badass.

I only meant that at a cursory/superficial level about how the trope about "how a guy went up a gear" is invoked in the story.

What you're referring to in your spoiler tag (all that Aesop fable stuff at the end), although a legitimate summary of why the story was written, was not what I was going on about.

[Hawki]

Oh, so now you guys start discussing it. Just leave my first post out in the cold why don't you?

For what it's worth, I thought it was well done. The events felt a bit hazy towards the end, sort of lacking the 'intensity' of the earlier sections, but overall, I enjoyed it. Not my favourite short story on the site, but still an enjoyable one.

Something I also noticed that I feel inclined to mention is the 'feel' of it. Could just be me, but it had a very SC1-era 'feel' to it IMO. As much as I like WoL (yeah, flame me), I'll admit that the original games had a more gritty feel to them. The story felt like something belonging to that era more than the SC2 one.

Not that this is necessarily a pro or con, but it was an interesting 'old school' experience for me.

[Telenil]

I found the new story, A War On, awesome. I didn't like the ending, but aside from that it is exactly what the spirit of WoL should have been. No evil Dominion killing his own soldiers, no stupid scientist kidnapping experts that would have worked for him willingly, but a war with actual people in them.

[Kimera757]

Psychic? Where did it give that impression?

The story was confusing. It almost seemed like he was controlling the larva.

[Hawki]

I've created another thread so the stories can be discussed seperately.