2017 Book of the Year Read

[Jim, The Ulti-Moderator]

Allan has suggested we read Worm as a group. The premise sounds interesting, but it is far, far too long for a book of the month! So I've created this folder for anyone that wants to read this and discuss it.

You should be able to find it by following the Goodreads link above to a link to the blog it's on.

Allan - do you want to kick this off?

[Allan]

Sure. I'll start with a "tldr;". Worm is a web serial, in 2011 John McCrae penname Wildbow started it on this site, he wrote roughly the equivalent of 20 novels worth of content before completing the story in 2013. The story is broken in to "arcs", each with chapters; the first chapter of arc 1 is the first thing he ever wrote publicly - it starts out okay but improves dramatically over time.

It is a dark story, mostly written in first person from a variety of characters perspectives over time, it starts from the point of view of one newly empowered parahuman named Taylor. The characters are vibrant, realistic, the writing is mostly excellent with some chapters and arcs bordering on brilliant. It is one of the most compelling reads I have encountered in my life, not just in this genre.

Please avoid it if you are a sensitive reader, if violence and grey morals disturb you - you will not enjoy this story.

If you do decide to read this - for your own sake do not read comments in the serial, don't look at the wiki(s) related to it, don't search for it on reddit, you will find spoilers and it will detract from the experience.

I'd like to suggest 3 arcs a month, that will get it to completion by end of year (there are 30 arcs, so January 2018 really). Plan to finish arc 1-3 first week of May and discuss maybe?

[Allan]

An excellent review is here, they are also doing a weekly arc podcast as one of the members of their group reads worm for the first time.

[Allan]

Worm Arc 1 Podcast

Worm Arc 2 Podcast

Worm Arc 3 Podcast

Anyone reading and getting in to the story, a couple of people at DalyPlanet are doing a weekly podcast as one of their members reads it for the first time. As a fan of the book it's fun to listen to, and I think it might be enjoyable as you read it for the first time to listen - lots of discussion about the characters, story elements, technical aspects of the writing and the like.

[Allan]

Arc 4 - Arc 8 are shorter than later sections of the story, and complete the introduction. Plan to finish arc 4-8 in June.

Arc 8 is also an excellent decision point, if you are enjoying the story by the end of this arc you will probably love the rest. If the style, content, are not hitting the mark for you by then you probably won't.

[Allan]

Worm Arc 4-8 Podcasts are all complete (the reviewers are up to about 13 now). If you are reading and enjoying the book, the podcasts make an excellent companion.

Arc 9-11 to complete in July if you are reading.

[Allan]

Reddit /r/fantasy: "What books do you always reccoment to people" Link

Reddit /r/fantasy: "2016 - all time favorite fantasy novels poll" Link

An excellent review: Link

If this is the kind of genre you love, Worm is quite good. I hope this group gets to enjoy it.

Podcast where one host read the book already, the other is reading for the first time and they break the story down one arc at a time. It's a great companion to the story, both hosts are writers and experienced critics.

Link to a fan-made unabridged audiobook of the story, it took dozens of fans two years to make this. If you try this - Most readers range between good and excellent, a small number are not very good - when you come across those you might want to either read that chapter or read along with the audiobook.

[Allan]

Worm links:

Link to Worm:
https://parahumans.wordpress.com/

Goodreads reviews (be careful - if you read reviews there are spoilers)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Excellent app to use as a reader:
https://getpocket.com/

fifty+ volunteer readers spent over two years made an unabridged audiobook version (it is not professionally made, but it's mostly good. there are a few rough audio chapters):
http://audioworm.rein-online.org/

Podcast from two author/critics reading, reviewing, analyzing the story and writing (can find on any podcast platform):
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-...

About the author:
https://www.patreon.com/Wildbow

Worm is broken up into 30 sections called Arcs, after ~arc4 each one is similar to a season of a show on Netflix. The first four arcs are relatively short, it was the first thing the author ever published, he was working through how to publish a serial and how to write it effectively. By the end of arc 4 the writing and story are good, and improve from that point forward. It is such a great read.

[Stephan]

And - Worm 2 has started.

There's a few issues in Worm that Wildbow has admitted (the author) - specifically the time skip and the curve of the first few arcs.

I don't know when or if Wildbow will actually move to publish his books. A lot of people pester him about it (me included) but so far...

[Allan]

For anyone reading, the podcast linked above (We've got Worm) is finishing tomorrow Wednesday the 20th. It's a fantastic listen beginning to end, both for anyone reading the book for the first time, or for fans of the book who already finished. I can't suggest it highly enough as a companion to Worm.

[Jim, The Ulti-Moderator]

I have to be honest - I haven't gotten into this one yet, though it's on my to-do list. It does seem a bit daunting, as interesting as it sounds.

[Allan]

It isn't daunting - and I'll give a little advice on it. don't read if you don't want even the slightest of spoilers

***SLIGHTEST OF SPOILERS***

short version -- if you end arc 5 (very very short arcs 1-5) you will either be enjoying it or not, if not then stop, if you are you are probably going to love this story.

long version -- It's the author's first serial, the first 7 arcs are pretty short, he gets a handle on the style of how to write a serial and introduces the world during this time. Arc 8 - he starts the story "for real", the stakes are introduced and arcs get a bit longer. It's really well written,

HOWEVER --->

If you get to arc 5, there is a particular chapter where you will say to yourself "wait what just happened?". You will almost certainly go back, reread it. If your gut reaction is "wow that's pretty clever" continue reading. If your gut reaction is negative, stop reading. You will end up mistakenly thinking words like "plot armor" even though the author rolls dice during any life threatening situation to see who lives and dies (you will know them when you get there) and has no intention of forcing any survivors. You might even start to think things like "mary sue" even though Taylor is technically the opposite of the definition of a mary sue, it's because you don't like the story and didn't gain trust of the author. Don't torture yourself by reading it all the way just to finish it if you don't enjoy it right around that part in Arc 5 - it's pretty telling if you are enjoying or not by then, if you are you'll probably love this book, if you aren't you probably won't.



***/SLIGHTEST OF SPOILERS***