Chorrol TES Fanfiction Competition Results Options

[Burnt Sierra]

Righto, the results of the first Chorrol TES Fanfiction Competition.

First let me give you some understanding of how it's been scored. The public vote counted for 50% and the judges votes counted for 50%. Obviously with only three judges, I had to find a way of balancing out the scoring. I don't want to post specific scores up here, as I'm not sure that every author will neccessarily want that information being made public. Obviously some were very close, and some not so close. If an author wants to know how I decided the scoring system, and how their piece specifically scored that's absolutely fine. Send me a pm and I'll give you that information.

It's been a difficult competition to judge to be honest. Even amongst the judges, we had very different opinions. Resulting in none of us choosing the same story in first place. Which just goes to show that there were some really good stories entered biggrin.gif

Secondly comments. All three of judges have written some comments on the stories, which I'll post up on a story by story basis after the results.

[Burnt Sierra]

Wow, you guys are quick, I haven't finished posting everything up yet

Now, the judges comments, and we start with:

Treydog


This Mind: Now Under New Management

Highly creative. Carries the feel of stream-of-consciousness without being so obscure as to be unreadable. The material glides effortlessly, as the Mad God seeks reinvention, reincarnation, rebirth… Better still, the linkage of Sheogorath with the Joker is a nice touch, a nod to the universality of myth.

Reunion

This piece brings to Oblivion one of the things most lacking in the game play- emotion. The player character goes from task to task mechanically, with no sense of how his/her actions affect the world. The writer here corrects that omission with a powerful tale of loss and consequences. That said, a bit of proofreading would have caught some jarring errors- e.g. “though” for “through” in a couple of places, “torn” windows(?) The conclusion, that impossible choices can break even the strongest champion, adds dimension.


In the Heart of the Alik’r

This is a story that starts well and then fails to completely deliver on its promise. I think this is another victim of the word count. However, in this case it could perhaps have been fixed by cutting some of the earlier material and giving more attention to the fight. Some things don’t quite scan- “rebel and king faced each other….” When did Desalius become a king? But the overall feel is literate, well-crafted, a fine piece of writing.

Butterfly

Certainly the most experimental and imaginative piece. There are some real gems here- the story of the cats- and the moral of the story of the cats. While it can be read as being so obsessed with another person that we fail to recognize some third person’s feelings, it can also be read as a comment of self-absorption to the exclusion of letting anyone else in….

The Mistake

Creative, literate, and generally well-rendered. Anything that varies from the usual “I am the hero” perspective is worthwhile. The moments of lucidity when the narrator can recognize that something has gone terribly wrong are nicely done.

Lady of the Night

In the end, I come away feeling as if this is a good outline for a longer story. There are so many factions and plots that the 2000 word limit is a real handicap. The ideas are imaginative and intriguing- there just isn’t enough time to realize their full potential. Some phrasing and word choice were awkward… I think as an extended story, with more time to develop the plot, this will be quite good.

Fateful Night

The idea is a good one- not everyone is a noble, an adventurer, or a soldier. Events that affect the world also affect “ordinary” people. Therefore, what might those events look like from such a perspective. So far, so good. However, I would have preferred to see more of Cidius as a person, someone with a family. Instead, we get a long discussion of his discontent with his position- and that does not really make him a sympathetic character….

A Knife in the Dark

A solid story, although the ending did not come as a surprise. There are good descriptive details and a fine sense of characterization. It might have been useful to go deeper into the fears/loathing of the Council- e.g., "Skingrad has had to struggle against the legacy of Janus; we cannot afford to have another monster on the throne. This isn't personal- it's just business. And having a vampire as Count is bad for business." The writing shows definite promise, and I hope the author will continue to polish his/her craft.


Conclusion

This was difficult, and I wavered on my choices. The stories are an impressive tribute to the skill of the writers. There is a lot of imagination here and a wonderful diversity of styles and techniques. I don’t expect everyone (or maybe anyone) to agree with my order; reading is often a matter of taste and your mileage may vary. What I do hope to see is all of these writers continuing to hone their considerable talents. I will be glad to discuss specifics in more detail with the writers- feel free to PM me.