Figured this would already be in the Library. The writing is rather slow paced but the its so satisfying. The build up and just overall experience of this fic is entirely unique to the worm fandom. 5/5

 

Ugh. Well, here goes:

Grammar: 2/5- Missing words, punctuation, and a solid helping of misspelled words. It's usually clear enough what's missing from context, but it is a glaring problem. It does get a little better towards the end.

Prose: 2/5- It reads a lot like a textbook. Definitely below par. Also, interludes aren't labeled, which can be a bit confusing. it does improve as it goes on, but the dialogue is always a weakness.

Characterization: 3/5 It's a pretty generic tinker!Taylor. On top of that, it can be a bit difficult to differentiate the characters who end up narrating. It gets much better, but the early chapters are tough to slog through. It would be fairer to say that the first 10 chapters are 2/5, and the ones after trend toward 3.5/5. There's a frustrating tendency for some pretty silly moralizing from some of the later introductions, like Dragon. On the plus side though, I quite like most of the OCs.

Plot: 2/5- It's a clear curbstomp fic. Taylor gets up to all sorts of bullshit without anyone even noticing, she uses her powers to become Bruce Wayne-level rich, and then she's practically unstoppable. Structurally, what I like the most about it is that the Author is completely willing to change stuff and let Taylor's actions have consequences. The problem lies in the fact that Taylor is always able to steamroll these complications. Like most tinker!Taylor stories, Seed suffers from an arc centered around her tech. You don't actually need to read it to make sense of the story, though. The rating I give it is a little misleading, though. There's a lot of interesting analysis of why the PRT and Protectorate are failing so badly, there's some really neat character arcs, particularly of Phoenix. Taylor's character arc is very cathartic, especially in the most recent chapters. Despite all this, the fundamental problems in how this story is set up drag everything else very far down indeed. It also suffers from the usual flaw, inherited from the source material, of suspension of disbelief breaking pacing. In two months, Taylor is able take over part of a Brockton Bay that is not only much larger, but much more important to the nation, while also becoming incredibly wealthy, working out an End of Civilization model, recruit a super team, figure out how Shards work, work out a way to prevent the collapse of Civlization, and somehow still having time to butt into Danny's budding romance with Ms. Millitia. All of this, in two months.

Overall: 9/20, averaged to 2.25/5. I'll drop it to 2/5, though, because this sucker needs a rewrite or two.

 

I can't get past the changes in tense that occasionally pop up. They totally throw me for a loop every time and take me out of the story. The grammar and spelling also leave much to be desired.

I think it's interesting when

Spoiler

Taylor starts messing with butcher clones

but otherwise the start of the fic is boring. It's just Taylor building up power before curbstomping the competition. It's satisfying the first couple of times she wins a fight, but it gets old quick.

I was also pretty bothered by

Spoiler

everyone just accepting Taylor's body modifications without a fuss. It takes Taylor all of five minutes to convince someone to replace their natural skin, muscles and bones with tech only she understands and can maintain. Not to mention a brain implant that for all the recipient knows could give her unfettered access to your mind. It really stretches my belief that nobody ever seems to raise an issue with the implants.

It's also a major plus for me that the story isn't afraid to abandon canon. It's not just that Taylor got a different power and took a different path than in canon, it's all the stuff going on in the background that I really appreciate. There are different heroes and villains in the world, and different teams as well.


The story can be entertaining, and I love the story behind Phoenix and Epcoh (two new heroes that the story introduces) but its more of a guilty pleasure for me.

2/5