Are there any mirrors for this story? I'd like to read it in a nicer format if possible, and I don't trust reddit to keep posts around.

 

It was a good read. I enjoyed the storyline, character arcs, and the characters themselves. The author seems to have had a firm plot and character arc in mind and he kept to it. He didn't lose his way, or invest in irrelevant side stories, back stories, or world building. Every scene and character had a purpose in telling the tale. The conservation was refreshing compared to typical fanfiction.

I had a few problems with the science part of the scifi. Radio jamming, oxygen based atmosphere and hallways in a crewless AI vessel, hollowing out Mt Everest, the non-exponential growth, and a number of other small questionable pieces on the engineering and physics side of things. The author forgot that his protagonist was a robot at one point. "I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath."

The aliens fall into the Star Trek/Wars model of mostly being bipedal, communicating with sound waves, similar lifespans, and generally humanish on the outside. And internally and socially they're exactly like humans, being green skinned proxies for our own international/interracial relationships and politics. I understand why he didn't use truly alien lifeforms (sapient Silicon-based crystals who communicate with refracted sunlight aren't as easy for the reader to relate to or feel sympathy towards as the young, struggling diplomat, Daokat), but it would have been a great accomplishment if he'd pulled it off. I can't blame him for not going down that route; it would have made it more difficult to tell the story in an engaging way.

I do have a criticism about a plot point in the story (I'm avoiding spoilers here) that weakens the author's theme, and also about the protagonist's conclusion and how that didn't fit neatly next to his other realisation. A muddying of the waters. It forced a situation and mindset that would have made for a more powerful and compelling finale and character arc if it had occurred more naturally and gradually.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by Chrysalis. I didn't expect to enjoy a HFY story and feel that this barely qualifies as one. It isn't perfect and could do with a few changes and some polish, but it's almost there. 5/5

 

I devoured the whole thing today and... I could just end the review right here. It has been a while since I read the entirety of a particular work in one go. It's the best recommendation I can give.

But for reals now. I enjoyed this immensely, even despite having to read on Reddit on my phone. The premise hooked me right from the start, because it's so clear, so simple. It doesn't hide behind unnecessary subterfuge. "Aliens destroyed Earth. We're going to destroy the aliens. Revenge is best served nuclear. Humanity, Fuck Yeah." Brilliant in its simplicity.

Now, I enjoy a complex plot as much as the next guy, but the barebones plotline here combined with the relatively short wordcount that forced the author to have every scene advance the story (especially the First Terran's POV, which was just thundering along at a rapid pace), all of that makes for a great combination. This is a story that benefits from the lack of subplots and scarcity of characters.

I suspect a lot of my gushing here comes from the feeling of freshness I got from Chrysalis, due to my scarce experience with sci-fi, so it may not grip others like it did me, but I think anyone who's into sci-fi will find something to enjoy here.

The science aspect is toward the softer end of the scale (barring the author's dedication to keeping time distortion with FTL consistent in the narrative), but this isn't where this story shines. At the core, it's a typical revenge story with redemption, it could be inserted into any setting. Chrysalis really shines with the exploration of the themes the First Terran ponders. His insistence on calling himself (itself?) human, keeping only one "body", refusing to embrace the full extent of the digital nature until his low point forces him to reconsider and edge very much closer to becoming some kind of eldritch technological terror, getting irritated when Daokat calls him Terran instead of human...

It's just very well put together, what can I say?

The one harsh criticism I have is the "reboot sequence". A flashback chapter jumping out at me in the wake of a cliffhanger... All the gears spinning in my head ground to a stop so abruptly I swore out loud. I won't lie, I skimmed the first few paragraphs and then just skipped the rest of that chapter, so any nuance contained in there is lost on me. The author even says that it was supposed to be a few lines that ballooned into 5k words. Blergh.

Of course, it's not perfect, but with some polish I wouldn't blink if I saw it on a bookstore shelf. It's well worth a read, despite the roughness and that fucking flashback chapter. It came so out of left field that I can't rightly award full marks, so it stands at a very strong 4,5/5 with a personal seal of approval. If you have an afternoon that you would otherwise spend surfing the weird part of YT, read this instead.