A long time fan-favorite and among the first of 100k+ word MLP fanfics, Antipodes (that's pronounced an-ti-poe-dees for those of you who are like me and thought it was pronounced phonetically) gives a fresh take on the post-apocalypse Equestria.
Author: PK
Set in the far future after Celestia and Luna mysteriously vanished and the sun and moon froze in the sky, Antipodes is the story of two ponies thrust out into the harsh new world on an adventure to uncover what happened to the world so long ago.
I've had this story recommended and lauded to me by more bronies than I can count. So does it measure up to all that the masses say about it? Find out after the break!
Antipodes (Word Count 122,115)
When I first started reading fan-fiction, I had no idea how it worked. I had no knowledge of the genres and categories, the cliches and no-no's, and if someone had explained clop to me, I probably would have lost it. So I was looking for story recommendations, hoping that someone with more experience would direct me toward something good to read. Among those first few stories, my friends just raved about Antipodes. They told me about how it had an epic storyline, enough of a length to be a long read, and characters to enjoy. For whatever reason, I put it off until I'd become well-versed in pony fiction. Had I not, I might have actually enjoyed it.
The fundamental premise of Antipodes is really quite clever. A world devastated by the sun in the moon halting in the sky; half the earth frozen and half burnt to a crisp. Those who are still alive live in the narrow habitable band between the day and night zones, or in sealed domes of cities. Oh, and there are those ponies who now live in cave systems deep within the earth.
That last group is where we meet our protagonists, Jigsaw and Tiptoe. They are cave ponies, and they are tasked with running the water distribution and purification system for the cave. I got just enough time to learn their names, where they live, and learn that there were monsters in the--SEA MONSTER ATTACK. It takes almost as long for the next major plot point to happen, and pretty soon I'm following the characters as they are running through unknown lands, fighting demonic forces, making deals with powerful rulers, and fighting for their lives. The plot moves along so fast that I'm pretty sure it was fed a few energy drinks, injected with adrenaline, and tied to a rocket before being shot off. It moves at such a breakneck pace that I think I got whiplash just from trying to read it.
So, considering the world that the characters have to face, they must be pretty incredible. Jigsaw as best as I can tell is the single most talented engineer and technician that Equestria has ever seen. Running into a subway car that is both thousands of years old and in very poor condition, he runs a few tendrils of magic into it, and gets the whole thing running on his own. Skipping over the pesky fact that most subway cars are powered on high voltage rails (duplicating which could possibly exhaust a pony) and are highly engineered devices with a great deal of electronics (which might be hard to completely understand in the space of a few minutes), Jigsaw manages to run it just fine. Tiptoe is even more aggravating. The fact that her special talent is never used (though Jigsaw is always using his) save for two occasions where anyone without her talent could get by leads me to assume that her character was introduced solely as a love interest for Jigsaw. And then there is Incendia. The red and black (excuse me, dark gray) unicorn fire mage that creates a love triangle centered around Tiptoe. Oh, and of course Jigsaw and Incendia have tragic back-stories.
The story-arc was pretty good, and the drive toward finding a means to replace/recreate Celestia and Luna really was an interesting read. That being said, the ending in which the author kills off characters more or less because he can really pisses me off. For such a fast moving plot, such an abrupt ending should have been easy to predict, but honestly I just kept waiting for it to slow down. Somebody who loves it is going to whine to me 'But Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaage, it isn't the author's fault, it was one of the first stories of it's kind!' To which I would like to note I'm reviewing it now, not in the dawn of ponyfiction.
Likes: Dislikes:
Original Fantasy World Accelerated Plot Pacing
Cliched Characters
Overall Rating: 5/10
It wasn't terrible, but it really wasn't all that good either. It's no bigger of a waste of your time than watching TV, but not all that much better either.
This is 'red Sage, hailing from the Colorado Bronies meetup at the Running of the Leaves Convention (ROTLCON). Semper Filly, and goodnight!
