All Comments on 'F5: Empires of the Stars'

Usually I find funny meta-plot stories to be half as funny as intended on half as much plot as needed. That's what I thought about this one until the strands started to braid together in the later plot iterations and I got to see more cleverness than genre mimicry. Made me laugh out loud towards the end.

I could almost see the brightly-colored cover of a sci fi pulp from the 1940s or 1950s as I started to read it. I kinda wish the author had kept just with this parody-narrative, but....I did think the way this one went was actually pretty funny. I was smiling and giggling a bit at times. Another winner for me that I'm rating very highly. Nice way to start the day. I wish the author would at some point take on a longer parody-narrative with more explicit sex scenes.

This was genuinely clever, while managing to, as the best comedy often does, show solid glimpses of the intelligence and writing ability that allows one to be really funny with words. I thought it was a great take on the theme, even on contests as a whole. A welcome change of pace that I found delightful, innovating, and refreshing amid a scattering of more serious stories.

So This is what you write when you can't make up your mind what to write to specifications on a time deadline? It was fun and a good reflection of a writer's dilemma.

It was quirky and funny. I loved the backwards names in the first "story." I just wishe that the overall story ended with a little more drama.

This made me smile, thanks for teh light entertainment between so many dark and tragic stories :)

Fun and creative. Can't decide on one plot bunny? Use them all!

I can't exactly say I loved this story. Is it a story? Stories? I'm kinda reeling right now.

And that's a good thing.

I saw a LOT here. More than just comedy (which was well done and gave me some needed relief today). You started like what, five stories? Yes they were almost done in jest, but here's the thing: Even past the comical sort of satire it was, you covered a multitude of different categories and writing styles that all rang true to each of their niches. You were able to change your voice from fantasy to sci fi, to mystery, to flat out satire and back again. So yes I saw how funny it all was... but I saw you too. To be able to bounce back and forth and speak to the reader in those "languages" is a testament to your skill and versatility with the written word.

Yeah I saw comedy too. This story caught me off guard because the writing started off so tight and believable. I did wonder where it was going and then came the author's little monologue. Very clever. Very relatable too. I know you couldn't have been the only one headbutting their computer and chugging wine trying to find direction for a story. You illustrated perfectly a writer's daily struggles. Wierd ass names just for the sake of wierd ass names. Storylines that head in one direction to slam into a wall. Crazy outlandish forced sex scenes where it seems ridiculous to have them (crime scene? Hee, hee). The utter absurdity hit its mark.

And I think you've achieved what you were aiming for (at least for me you did.) You took the contest, the opening line, the process and the struggle to make it work and you made a story from that. This isnt a story about characters. It's your story. It's all of our story. I don't think this could work more than once, but it worked here very well. I'd high five you if we weren't separated by this screen... and if I knew who you were... or... whatever you get it.

That's not to say it wasn't without fault. For me, its success was too a shortcoming. As a jumbled collection, it works as a whole and entertained well, but a few times here I glimpsed your talent, and I wanted one of those segments to take off. I kinda craved to see you weave a sex scene, or to build me some sci fi characters. So... yes in an odd way I was a bit disappointed. Or maybe it just wasn't what I was expecting.

Nevertheless, this story was very cool. Funny, creative, clever, relatable, and a breath of fresh hair in a swarm of other stories. Not only did you show us where the opening line took you, you showed us EVERYWHERE the line took you. Great job and good luck.

Like being at a really excellent and expensive buffet, where you don't know where to start, writing can present so many options, but who knows which one to take? You expressed this in a very irreverent and cheeky manner.

My eyes started to glaze over and then you did the switcheroo...good! Though after a few reboots I found myself skimming a bit. Humorous and a good ending!

I loved this. Funny and creative and beneath the humor, really well written. By the end the names had me laughing out loud. I've experienced a bit of this more than once in my life. Hilarious.