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A review by tundaria
Aeson: Blue by Vera Nazarian
2.0
[Spoiler notes: I am trying to avoid spoilers about this novella specifically, but I touch broadly on some parts of it—especially the framing device, which is the opening scene. Minor spoiler warning for the main series, in that basic facts about Aeson's future life may be mentioned.]
In a nutshell, this is this is generally in line with the full novels, quality-wise. (See my Survive review for (some of) my thoughts on that.) There are all the usual problems stemming from a lack of polish/etc, but there's a solid premise at the core and a few good moments here and there (Erita and Oalla are treasures). The info-dumping was actually a lot better than usual, probably due to the length constraint, and the easter-egg revelations were well done. That said, I had two main problems with this novella, neither of which were as big in the novels. I tried not to ramble, but things did get away from me a bit and this is actually the cut-down version.
Problem #1: The tenses at the beginning. There is not an entirely consistent "now" from the start of the flashback up through the first few scenes—past and present tenses are mixed together, and if there was a rhyme or reason to the usage, I wasn't able to find it. Fortunately it settles into something essentially consistent for the middle, and the transition from past to present at the end is pretty reasonable. But the start was very rough, to the point where I actually couldn't read that portion straight through. It felt very much like a writer trying to find her bearings, but I would expect that sort of thing to be smoothed out in a second pass. So either it's a deliberate choice that I happen to dislike (in which case your mileage may vary), or else somebody dropped the ball on editing the very beginning of the story.
Problem #2: This one gets split because there are distinct-but-related plot/narrative aspects involved.
• 2a: I was thinking of the Elikara thing as the B-plot (there's not enough time spent on/with her for it to be A-plot), but when I stopped and thought about it, I couldn't put my finger on what the A-plot was? There's not a clear throughline to this story, no overarching theme; it's a bunch of events (variably loosely- or closely-connected) throughout the years at school until Aeson catches back up with his present. The result is that, while it was nice to fill in the gaps and learn some of the things we learned, the story feels… aimless? Unfocused?
Whenever I try to pin down an A-plot, I end up talking myself in circles. Maybe I just need to reread it, but the fact that this is so muddy is not a point in the story's favor. Now, again, YMMV. But to be clear, I like many character-based stories; I don't need a Big Important Plot to enjoy a piece of media. But this novella isn't framed as slice-of-life or similar, which brings me to the second aspect of Problem #2…
• 2b: The framing device of "Aeson trying to distract himself while dying" implicitly sets up an expectation that we're going to be learning something important about how he got there. But we don't. The story fails to deliver on that basic premise. While the narration does end where it begins, the story in between those two points isn't about what happened to put Aeson in that position. The focus instead is on him navigating new and unfamiliar circumstances at the cadet academy—even the blurb highlights that. So why does Aeson’s mind turn to those events in particular, when neither his experiences at that time nor the relationships he built are closely linked to why he’s "currently" dying?
(As far as I can tell, the answer seems to be a combination of "Aeson's time as a cadet is interesting and currently-unexplored material" and "I really want to use this ending line, which works best thematically in this one specific context." Personally, that second one isn't enough of a reason to keep an out-of-place framing device in the story. Even if the line can't be tweaked to work in a different context where Aeson is still narrating, should one good line really be the priority?)
Overall, rating is 2.5/5, rounded down. A decent first draft, with the usual need for further development and revision. Storywise, it’s a good concept, but the execution falls flat for some key structural reasons. Note that despite the flaws, this is still an utterly average (i.e., not bad) rating from me.
In a nutshell, this is this is generally in line with the full novels, quality-wise. (See my Survive review for (some of) my thoughts on that.) There are all the usual problems stemming from a lack of polish/etc, but there's a solid premise at the core and a few good moments here and there (Erita and Oalla are treasures). The info-dumping was actually a lot better than usual, probably due to the length constraint, and the easter-egg revelations were well done. That said, I had two main problems with this novella, neither of which were as big in the novels. I tried not to ramble, but things did get away from me a bit and this is actually the cut-down version.
Problem #1: The tenses at the beginning. There is not an entirely consistent "now" from the start of the flashback up through the first few scenes—past and present tenses are mixed together, and if there was a rhyme or reason to the usage, I wasn't able to find it. Fortunately it settles into something essentially consistent for the middle, and the transition from past to present at the end is pretty reasonable. But the start was very rough, to the point where I actually couldn't read that portion straight through. It felt very much like a writer trying to find her bearings, but I would expect that sort of thing to be smoothed out in a second pass. So either it's a deliberate choice that I happen to dislike (in which case your mileage may vary), or else somebody dropped the ball on editing the very beginning of the story.
Problem #2: This one gets split because there are distinct-but-related plot/narrative aspects involved.
• 2a: I was thinking of the Elikara thing as the B-plot (there's not enough time spent on/with her for it to be A-plot), but when I stopped and thought about it, I couldn't put my finger on what the A-plot was? There's not a clear throughline to this story, no overarching theme; it's a bunch of events (variably loosely- or closely-connected) throughout the years at school until Aeson catches back up with his present. The result is that, while it was nice to fill in the gaps and learn some of the things we learned, the story feels… aimless? Unfocused?
Whenever I try to pin down an A-plot, I end up talking myself in circles. Maybe I just need to reread it, but the fact that this is so muddy is not a point in the story's favor. Now, again, YMMV. But to be clear, I like many character-based stories; I don't need a Big Important Plot to enjoy a piece of media. But this novella isn't framed as slice-of-life or similar, which brings me to the second aspect of Problem #2…
• 2b: The framing device of "Aeson trying to distract himself while dying" implicitly sets up an expectation that we're going to be learning something important about how he got there. But we don't. The story fails to deliver on that basic premise. While the narration does end where it begins, the story in between those two points isn't about what happened to put Aeson in that position. The focus instead is on him navigating new and unfamiliar circumstances at the cadet academy—even the blurb highlights that. So why does Aeson’s mind turn to those events in particular, when neither his experiences at that time nor the relationships he built are closely linked to why he’s "currently" dying?
(As far as I can tell, the answer seems to be a combination of "Aeson's time as a cadet is interesting and currently-unexplored material" and "I really want to use this ending line, which works best thematically in this one specific context." Personally, that second one isn't enough of a reason to keep an out-of-place framing device in the story. Even if the line can't be tweaked to work in a different context where Aeson is still narrating, should one good line really be the priority?)
Overall, rating is 2.5/5, rounded down. A decent first draft, with the usual need for further development and revision. Storywise, it’s a good concept, but the execution falls flat for some key structural reasons. Note that despite the flaws, this is still an utterly average (i.e., not bad) rating from me.