THE STORIES OF RENOWN LONG LIST

July/August 2010


Salutations!

Here you will find the judges’ nominations for the People’s Democratic Republic of SoR. All are excellent stories, and to be commended. Bravo!


What comes next?

All forumites may now vote for their favourite story, on this thread. Voting closes at 00:00 on Sunday 22nd August, after which the winner and runner up will be declared. Begin!


The stories:


Valerion by Tyrant.

Maugan Ra: It is a truly excellent story, taking a good look at an aspect of Chaos that isn't normally used - the way that it turns the men of the Imperium against each other. There is horror and mystery in equal abundance, and all of it done to a high quality.


Childhood's End, by Pyroriffic.

Maugan Ra: Why? Well.... if I need to explain it, then you clearly haven't read it. Action, character development, an excellent take on the Astartes... this has it all.


Plaything, by Mossy Toes

Pip: Startlingly unique and wildly refreshing compared with the majority of 40k fiction, Plaything is excellently written, has great style, and a well-thought-out plot. Most of all though, it features the relationship of two brilliantly developed and intriguing characters, whilst still staying (just about) in the realms of 40k. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and its hefty length is also very satisfying.

Twist, by Grenadier the 2nd

Pip: This fast paced thriller is engaging and tense, with a simple, enjoyable plot and some rip-roaring action and chase sequences. The characters are realistic and original (of special note are the protagonist and nasty Inquisitor), and the prose is clear and not overly purple. I read the entire 35k word story in two sittings, and as a visceral tale that isn't hard to get into and will keep you on the edge of your seat, I can think of no fanfic that equals it.

Glory, by JDD

Erunanion: It is magnificently written, the concept is outstanding, and generally deserves recognition for its awesomeness.

Eternal Outcast , by Green River

Eremite: It can veer towards excessively purple prose at times, but it's certainly a pleasingly alien take on the eldar mindset and worthy of wider recognition.

Golem, by Gundi da Grot

Eremite: Far shorter than the majority of other nominations, but excellently written; evocative, subtle and effective, Gundi is a writer in real need of recognition and encouragement.

Anarchy's Child, by LordLucan

Mossy Toes: A Silver Skulls story with Randall Flagg! I mean, LL's favorite, many-named Malalite/Malicite: Caleb Daark, Sparrod, etc. Anarchy's Child conveys chaos at its back-biting, brutal, uncaring, gleeful best. Mr. Daark stands in the eye of a hurricane of destruction, and glorifies in it.

A Human Moment, by Pyroriffic

Mossy Toes: A Human Moment is a nicely, well, humanized touch on the Astartes. The descriptions are excellent, the little girl's dialog very, very realistic, and the whole story a rousing success. I prefer my Marines as cold, inhuman machines, but this story wholly justifies an Astartes's pathos.

Well, I’m very flattered that my Eternal Outcast story made it onto this long list, however I would have requested that it be removed from voting consideration had I not known such a thing would effectively ‘waste’ a judge nomination. To me the piece is too flippant, is massively self-indulgent and altogether not worthy of being grouped with the rest.

I would certainly not like to be remembered here solely for penning the undrafted stream of consciousness pile of grandiloquent drivel that is Eternal Outcast, nor would I like to be known for thinking a lack of grammar is any decent replacement for true character development or plot. May as well have a moustache. (Level of sincerity variable ;))

Anyway, would I be right in thinking that all pieces on the long list should be read before voting? In that case, it seems like this competition might take a helluva long time. I’m inclined to just say A Human Moment since it’s one of the only ones I’ve read, is this allowed?

GR: as long as the vote is reasonably (to what degree I leave up to you) informed, then I don't mind how you allocate it. You do not have to give reasons for your vote.

Also forgot to mention, the winner gets this awesome* medal for their story!





(*disclaimer: may not actually be awesome)

Oh, cool. I'll still try to read them all to be fair though. Still, that's 247,195 words to get through (including reviews)...

If I were a servant of the dark gods, would my only option be to wear that medal ironically?

Hiya :)

Sorry to be a pain, but Valerion is by me, not "The Tyrant". Different bloke entirely.

Again I regret not having picked a more original user name when I joined the old forum.....

DONE

So, get to voting, you lot! Whilst you do not have to read them all, at least a few would be nice. And I believe I am correct in saying that you may vote for one story, and one story alone. None of this compromise business here!

Also, might I humbly suggest to the leaders of the grand Democratic Republic of SoR (meaning Firefox) that nominated stories also get a little badge? Perhaps the Horus part of that same image - making it all the way to the final showdown, and being pipped at the post.

We the people of the shoutbox would like to petition for an extension to the time allowed for voting (and therefore SoR's frequency). Quarterly was suggested as a good length of time.

Indeed - I think it'd be a shame it was more a popularity contest than story - not many people will have time to read all the stories, so the most popular one that's been read the most has the greatest chance.

Having it quarterly would also make it more prestigious, and we wouldn't run out of stories.

Bi-monthly it will remain, otherwise too many stories will slip through the cracks. However, I am happy to extend the voting deadline until the 22nd August (I'm going on holiday not long after that). Is that an acceptable compromise?

It'd give us time to read 'em all FF. Sorry to be a pain but if I don't read them all I won't vote. I speak only for myself in this regard though, so feel free not to be too bothered :P

Yep you're right, one week was asking a lot. New deadline is 22nd August - I'll change the OP.

My vote goes for 'Plaything' by Mossy Toes. The beginning showcases the usual 40K themes - battlefields and the Guard (With a few interesting bits) - but then it diverges into this weird, acid-induced realm where it reads more like fantasy than 40K. Being a sci-fi fan and not a fantasy dude, I really wasn't too blown away by that aspect but the writing was still quite good and it continued to push boundaries and normal 40K styles. No matter my feelings on fantasy, 'Plaything' is still a great piece of writing and Mossy should be proud of it.

Some very strong nominations there. My comments on each can be found in their respective threads. My actual nomination is Eternal Outcast - for sheer originality it beggars parallel in the 40k universe.

Just over a week to go!

Only five days to go, folks!

My vote goes to Glory, by J D Dunsany. For characterisation and consistent quality of writing he can't be beaten!

I hereby petition the great and mighty Firefox to extend the "vote by" date on this competition to the end of the month. That would make sense because this is the July/August competition after all.

Also, just this morning some forumites have said that they weren't even aware of the Stories of Renown, so the extension would benefit them. The more votes we can get, the more representative it is.

I'll just leave this offering burning on the altar and be on my way.

Is there any restriction on Judges being able to take part in the actual voting? I've been assuming that we were not allowed, but upon reflection realised that it was a bad idea to assume things when dealing with Firefox...

EDIT:
I VOTE FOR A HUMAN MOMENT
got confused there

I remember this when it went up on the BL forum, to little/no immediate interest.
It was excellent then, and its excellent now.

Tyrant, it's not until the end of the month because I'm going on holiday. I will extend it until 11:59pm Thursday 26th, and no later, but please bear in mind the stories have been up for nearly three weeks. If no one knows about it then feel free to advertise it. I agree the more votes the better but short of creating spam threads in all the forums I can't do much to advertise it save bump this one and rely on word of mouth spread.

Maugan Ra, as per the original thread: Once the long list has been published, the denizens of the forum will then vote on their favourite stories. Judges are presumed to allocate their vote to the story they have selected.. If you'd read it, you would know.

I don't want to come off as short but I'm having a really bad day.

Valerion and Tyrant. out of the long list, it was the one that truely catched my eyes, but that was a close run and it really pained me to pick only one.

Voting for this closes tomorrow, folks!

Vote on this one:
Eternal Outcast , by Green River

After much deliberation (really a lot), I'm voting for Glory by JDD Dunsany.

Valerion.

A three-way tie (each with two votes)? Oh, dear...

Well, I can't contribute, myself. "Judges are presumed to allocate their vote to the story they have selected..."

I missed that. Though... We selected two each, so that doesn't make sense.

I know, I know. Plus the fact that, what if another judge selected the story we wanted to vote for? We can't...

So perhaps we need to appeal this to a higher authority: FF.

Who will probably be adding an 'S' on to the end of his acronym when he realises...

lol.


We live and learn. I've not been too on the ball with this, I'll admit; probably because it's not garnered the success I'd hoped for.

Well... I don't know what to say. I'm halfway between laughing at how absurdly badly this has gone (mainly to my own ineptitude) and... actually that's about it. I'll sort through this mess later.

You know why it has failed?

Too much subforums. Really, I lost this thread even if it was in the comp subforum.

I dunno, And already other competitions running. I think these have to be ran after each other and not at the same time.

Alas, I read some cool stories through this. :)