Good Reads: More Somber Works

Using my all powerful magic skills of, I dunno, being female, I transformed my boyfriend into a brony. And not just a brony, but a brony who read a TON of fanfiction. And doesn't like being called brony because he thinks its a silly word. ANYWAY.
Seeing as he reads fanfiction like a bandit, he's been linking me to some of the best reads. Also, he found out that Somber, the chick who wrote Simply Rarity, writes a lot. So I'm reading more. And opinion-ing on it.

Somber's writing is definitly above average. She comes very close to melodrama, or rather, most authors would become really melodramatic approaching these topics. But she never quite falls into it. Its Drama. Its not overdone or silly, its actually affecting.
However, Somber's skill almost seems to go up and down in different areas. She knows how to construct a scene. She can construct a character, and let them flow properly. She's not forcing things to happen, or it doesnt seem like she is. If I can point out a small flaw, she doesnt quite grasp what makes a writing style interesting to read. Her stories are great, but her style is lacking something more... a bit of flourish, or something special that marks her style as her own. But that's nothing she cant eventually grow into. With more practice, maybe some proper training, I can see this gal becoming a professional and respected author.



I read three stories which I base this opinion, and the first I want to talk about is Blood Sweat and Tears. It starts a little rough, and the jumps in time arent really marked well. But once Somber gets rolling, it really carries you away. Not as much as Simply Rarity, but its still a very solid, well thought out story, and a good read.

Rarity's Rodeo is... funny. Not drop dead and laugh your butt off funny, but with just enough humor to spice things up and throw curveballs where you dont expect them. Somber's writing almost feels more natural this way. With a serious story, things need to happen and flow very carefully, as to not break the illusion. With a funny story, hell, something is happening and its funny, so who cares if theres some pacing problems and wierd happenstances. Barring some scenes that would work better in animated form, Rarity's Rodeo is much better written than Blood Sweat and Tears.

The story Whats Eating Rainbow Dash, her most recent one-shot, was certainly the worst example of her writing yet. It's rushed. Preachy. The side characters are cardboard cutouts and the flow is all wrong. She became obsessed with the message, and it interfered with the story. But I still give him a pass on this one. Everyone has thier bad stories, and his failure was still better than some author's best efforts.

I havnt read her longer stories yet, but I really look forward to them. Having read her short stories, I wonder how she handles characters and emotions over a longer spread.
Hell, maybe they suck.
But I bet they dont.

Score: Somber deserves the respect she gets and you should read her right now.