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Worm
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Worm (Webserial, Audio, other) by Wildbow
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Also do not read comments in the web serial. The joy of discovery in this book is very high, spoilers will reduce it, and some comments have innocuous seeming content that can spoil sections of the story, especially if discovery as you read is important to you.
###About the Author
Wildbow, a penname, started writing publically in 2011 with this web serial (Worm). He quickly grew an audience, many of whom commented as he wrote to help with format and other sorts of editing mistakes. He finished the series in 2013, and started a new undertaking (Pact) with a completely different genre/premis, finished that and started another (Twig) also completely different.
He carved out a space for himself outside of normal publication channels through Patreon and member gifts as he writes, though in the last year he has started to talk online about publishing more formally - in large part because Worm has gained popularity steadily since 2013. It is just that good.
###About the story
"An introverted teenage girl with an unconventional superpower, Taylor goes out in costume to find escape from a deeply unhappy and frustrated civilian life. Her first attempt at taking down a supervillain sees her mistaken for one, thrusting her into the midst of the local ‘cape’ scene’s politics, unwritten rules, and ambiguous morals. As she risks life and limb, Taylor faces the dilemma of having to do the wrong things for the right reasons."
This story features outstanding world building, powers building, character building for all but the most cursory of characters; jaw dropping scenes, at least five major denouemonts, and a fantastic story with themes behind the story that are perfectly woven into the story itself.
Worm is a parahuman themed epic 1.7 million words in length, that is about:
*4.0x Lord of the Rings
* .9x the Dresden Files (15 books)
* .5x the Wheel of Time (14 books)
###Why you should not read it
* It is really long, if you don't like epics you won't like this.
* It is rough around the edges at times, the first page of this story is the first page the author ever published. If you are a critical reader you might have trouble getting through his learning curve (which to be honest is still good, but parts of it can feel amaturish at the start).
* Extremely violent, grey morals, viciousness abound.
* The story is complex, to the point where you will read something later and have vague remembrance of it from earlier. If that sort of thing annoys you, high complexity and story integration over an epic, this will be annoying.
* It has some very unique takes on supers (hero, villain, other), and the outcomes you hope for are often very different than the story's path as you read. If you like a story that doesn't shock you, anger you, make you frustrated as you read, avoid this.
###Why you should read it
* It gets better quickly, and continues to get better after the point where it starts to feel "wow".
* If you get emotionally invested in characters when you read, there are highly investable characters.
* Almost completely unique powers (almost, because some common themes are unavoidable), even the ones that match to common expectations come with twists that make sense.
* Highly detailed, complex world.
* You can handle extreme violence, grey morals, viciousness. It's not just gratuitous, though it might feel that way, it contributes to the story.
* There are underlying themes to the story that show up as the story progresses, it adds a level of depth that is unexpected in a parahuman/supers kind of story.
* If you have read other independently published supers stories since 2012, you will recognize homage/inspirations accreditable to this story. One blatant poorly written ripoff as well...
* When you are done, you will think about this story for a really, really long time.
###Where to get it
link to web serial
https://parahumans.wordpress.com/
audio version ("This is a fan-made work to increase exposure to the excellent story...")
http://audioworm.rein-online.org/
There is also a .mobi version you can find on github. The author is not for it, but said he understands that it will happen, but doesn't want it to be shared in that format because he intends to publish at some point. If you choose to use this version, either donate to the author, or intend to purchase the books when / if published. Use your own judgement, but whatever you choose do not publish/share his work.