So I've had a thought about posting something on web serials for awhile, but didn't have a proper platform to post it. Currently there's quite a few web serials that you can read for free online. This trend started way back, but with the advent of Patreon and whatnot, has become a more viable model for amateur or self-publishing authors to provide an on-going web series for an audience. It shares a lot of similarities with the old serial novels like Dickens, where the author's success and patronage depends on how well they can keep an audience engaged. You also see, much like with Dickens, that since these serials largely update weekly and have dedicated fan-bases, that the works are influenced by the constant stream of feedback from the readers. Sometimes this is big changes like an entire chapter being removed, e.g. Worm, or small changes like in-jokes that hint at the audience, e.g. Practical Guide.
There's a whole lot of literary analysis that could go into examining the effects of this model on the works published under it and what it means for both literature and for self employment as a whole, as part of a larger trend, but I'll save that for another post. Here I want to review some of the major works of modern web fiction.
Worm & Ward by Wildbow
Worm, a finished story sitting at 1.7 million words, and its currently on-going sequel Ward are one of the most successful web serials in existence. Pulling in a solid 6k per month on Patreon and spawning thousands of fanfics with a die-hard fanbase, it's close to being your golden child for success among the genre of web fiction. It updates twice weekly on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Worm and Ward, also known as the Parahumans Series, are a set of stories about a world of superheroes and supervillains with more than a few twists. Not a proper deconstruction of superheroes, the works still examine some of the major trends of the superhero genre and subvert them to good effect. It starts by following Taylor Hebert, a bullied teenage girl who gets the seemingly underwhelming power to control insects, in a city that has some of the worst parahuman crime in America. It's a richly built world where the author has designed an entire power system from scratch that's internally consistent and then examines how that would play out. The series is known for being dark, as the realities of super-powered conflicts portrayed by the author are far from being over once the villain is defeated and heroes are farm from perfect. Ultimately the work isn't just being dark to be edgy, but is a story of how people face hardship and the effects of those approaches. Worm can be themed as a story of escalation, escalating the stakes, the pacing, the consequences, and the brutality of the characters. Ward is themed as a story of compromise and healing, resolving trauma, overcoming one's past, and learning how to cope. The two works together work much like the original 6 Star Wars movies. Where the prequels show the Hero's Journey where the Hero fails, the original trilogy shows the Hero's Journey where the hero succeeds. The same story, mirrored, to contrast the differences. Worm and Ward are much the same in that while individually great, the true effect of the stories is only able to be appreciated by reading them both. It's clear a lot of thought, planning, and labor went into these works with fantastic twists and even some meta-elements that give you a surprise. If you want something thought out, deep and thoughtful, and often dark for extended periods, this is for you. If you want a light easy read with fun superheroes and not a lot of difficult moral dilemmas, probably a pass.
Overall, I'd give these an 8.5/10
The Wandering Inn by pirateaba
The Wandering Inn is an on-going story over 3.4 million words in length that is probably the most profitable web serial currently around. It pulls in a solid 8.8k per month via Patreon and has a substantial readerbase with a strong core and casual following. It updates twice weekly on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
The Wandering Inn is a massive, sprawling set of interconnected stories told from the viewpoints of various characters. The premise is normal, modern people being dropped in a fantasy world where they have classes and skills and so on. Your standard Isekai, if you know the term, story essentially. While Isekai is primarily an anime term for 'modern person thrown into fantasy/game world' the story idea itself goes back way further, arguably to Mark Twain with a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The Wandering Inn has a main character, Erin, and a wide, wide host of side characters who come and go. Overall the plot moves very little despite the length, with a focus on the daily lives and struggles of the various characters rather than large world shaking plots. Some large world shaking plots do occur, especially later, but it's not as much of the focus. In fact, most of the larger overarching plots feel retroactively added, as after a time the author decided to move on from daily slice of life and progress the world. I say the work sprawls because it's definitely an organic creature that grew from a small and fun original idea (Normal human managing an Inn in a fantasy world) into a massive world with a huge cast and a lot of moving pieces. It suffers from its own size frequently, flat out side-lining characters for literal years worth of updates, latching onto new characters to move the plot at the expense of others, and justifying previously established things to make them fit into the new larger framework. If you want a story that's updated frequently, easily digestible, and relatively fun, this is certainly a contender. If you get annoyed by problems with pacing, lack of planning, and frequent perspective shifts, you may want to pass.
Overall, I give TWI a 6.5/10
A Practical Guide to Evil by ErraticErrata
A Practical Guide to Evil is an on-going story at approximately 1.5 million words with a small, but dedicated readership. The serial pulls in 1.8k per month via Patreon with a strong core following and updates thrice weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
A Practical Guide to Evil is a story that follows the journey of a girl named Catherine in a world where Stories and Tropes have real, physical power. Fulfilling a narrative trope that always ends with you alive can ensure your survival in an otherwise deadly scenario, plot armor is a very real thing and the people in this world are aware of that and willing to use it. It's a clever twist on the fantasy genre that uses all of the most well known stereotypes for fantasy races and conflicts and then turns them on their head by cranking it up to 11. Drow aren't just backstabbers, they are so known for backstabbing that it becomes all they do until their entire civilization collapses, for example. APGtE has a fantastic sense of witty and snarky humor, a solid cast of core characters who each bring something unique to the table and develop in fulfilling ways, and an incredibly well planned and detailed plot. Almost the opposite of TWI in terms of planning, small details from the first book can be relevant all the way to current updates in ways that clearly were planned from the start. The work is meticulously planned out and that makes every twist and surprise incredibly fulfilling, as the stage is always set properly beforehand. It doesn't suffer from the predictability that a lot of rationalist literature suffers from, using its creative world and power system to subvert and surprise in ways that always make sense. It's a story that goes beyond just being fun and examines the nature of good and evil, of trying to do your best in a situation where nothing is good, and of growing as a person inside all that. If you want funny and thoughtful, incredibly well planned, and highly self aware then this is for you. I honestly can't think of why you wouldn't like this story except if fantasy isn't your thing.
I give aPGtE a 10/10.
The Gods are Bastards by D.D. Webb
The Gods are Bastards is an on-going story of approximately 15 books in length, with a medium readership. It pulls in $900 per month via patreon and updates once or twice weekly, depending on bonus chapter funding.
The Gods are Bastards is a story that exists in a swords and sorcery fantasy world following the newly appointed Paladin of one of the gods as she attends a magical university with other, equally unique, students. There they learn how to be adventurers, handle conflicts, and cause a whole load of trouble. Not exactly Hogwarts, this magical university acknowledges just insane this all is and is more than happy to prepare its students to deal with that insanity. The story is quite long, having run for the better part of a decade now, and follows a number of characters, primarily the year's class of our paladin character. Starting out as fantasy, it evolves over time into branching into other genres like a bit of detective novel tropes and sci-fi elements. It has a significant number of mysteries that the characters investigate and so far, most of them have been answered satisfyingly. The big main mystery of the series is naturally unanswered, as it's still on-going, but given the author's reliability so far I am optimistic for a solid conclusion. The work's strong points are its extensive world-building and lore, cast of colorful characters, and ability to resolve mysteries reliably. Where the work runs into trouble is at points with the pacing and with the author's strong opinions heavily influencing the story progression. The story is themed around de-escalation and talking things out triumphing over violence and greed, but the author sometimes forces this as a resolution where it feels ham-fisted and unrealistic. It can get a bit ridiculous just how patient every character is and how much they'll put up with. Additionally the author has a strong progressive agenda that he likes to push, which I personally have no issue with, but may feel over-bearing and a bit inelegant. Lastly the work has issues with a lot of telling and not so much showing, which can make the reader feel a bit at odds with the story saying one thing and doing another. If you like swords and sorcery with some twists that dips into other genres and a fairly reliable ability to conclude arcs, this is for you. If you find pacing, authorial agendas, and staunch anti-violence to be annoying, then maybe pass.
Overall I give tGaB a 7/10
Mother of Learning by nobody103
Mother of Learning is an on-going web serial that pulls in about 1.7k per chapter, using a funding per chapter model instead of per week. I haven't interacted with the community much, so I can't comment on it.
Mother of Learning is a story about a typical guy at a fantasy magical school who gets caught in a time loop. At the end of the loop or when he dies, it resets but he keeps all the skills and knowledge he gained during it. Predictably, he abuses this to get ridiculously well trained in everything he can. There's some additional mystery as to why the time loop started and how to resolve it, but the bulk of the work occurs within this loop. Like all time-loop fiction, it gets boring rather fast. There's only so much power-wanking that you can do before it gets repetitive and MoL basically goes down the checklist until it runs out. For a few loops the main protag will talk to some new side characters he had never bothered with before, learn everything about them, learn some new tricks, and then move on to the next group. Rinse, repeat. There's very little going on here beyond the basic time-loop power shenanigans and then trying to have your cake and eat it too. I personally stopped following this a few months ago because it just never got interesting. I read the entire thing in a week and was left with "is that it?" It's very cookie-cutter fantasy with an unremarkable protagonist that readers can identify with who through no fault of his own becomes super competent, as a rather generic power fantasy. If you enjoy simple power fantasies, go on through. If you want something with twists, significant plot, or character development that doesn't take literally 30 years of time loops to achieve, maybe pass.
Overall, I give MoL a 4/10.
Unsong by Scott Alexander
Unsong is a finished web serial that ended in 2017, which was published for free if I recall correctly (no patreon is currently up) and can still be read for free.
Unsong is a story about the names of God and what would happen if they started to be discovered in the late 20th century. Well, what happens is most of them are copyrighted and the magic they provide is under strict control of corporations while people plug away at trying to reveal the remaining ones either for fortune or to change the world. Unsong is an ambitious, complex story that involves a lot of fairly obscure knowledge of the Bible, the Torah, and the Talmud. It uses this knowledge on a story level and a meta-story level, with everything from funny puns and wordplay between characters to the titles of every chapter containing references to various Judaic texts and themes. The story is a masterpiece of its chosen niche, diving deep into kabbalah to tell a story that ranges from witty jokes (Shabbat-al Nose Dolphins anyone?) to redemption and facing one's fear. If you enjoy a bit of religious studies and have a firm background in Abrahamic religions, this is a masterpiece blending wit and knowledge into a fun and complex journey. If you don't have any background in these religions and little interest in religious jokes, most of this will fall flat to you. It's certainly not for everyone, but it knows its niche extremely well.
Overall, I give Unsong a 10/10.
The Deathworlders by Hambone
The Deathworlders is an on-going webserial that updates at the end of each month with giant chapters. It pulls in 4k per chapter, using the per chapter funding approach and has a fairly dedicated community, being one of the largest HFY works.
Deathworlders is one of the largest stories of a particular sub-genre of Sci-Fi known as Humanity Fuck Yeah (HFY), which are stories where Humans are the big scary super strong aliens for once. Deathworlders uses this premise, where humanity is launched onto the galactic scene after a few ET events hit Earth and quickly rise to dominance for their sheer hardiness and versatility. The story starts following a few characters and over time switches to new rising stars from time to time, mostly keeping a few core characters present even if they're not the main point of view. This story features warfare, galactic politics, and existential crises, but make no mistake it is first and foremost a character study. The author himself has said that the focus of this story is the struggles of the characters, not the galactic turmoil they are surrounded by. It shows too, because the characters get the bulk of the focus and the pacing can feel very slow at times in order to examine a character in detail. The story has its ups and downs, though it tends to have its fair share of both funny and tearful moments. My major complaint is that the author has a very hard time separating his biases from the story. The story starts off profoundly anti-religious, which calms down after awhile, but later becomes profoundly pro-meathead. Every single character is either a hulking slab of muscle or dating one. The muscle worship slowly overcomes each and every character until it eerily exists everywhere, with even aliens bulking up in order to be better. What started as a slow, if fun at times, character study devolved into a weird cult of muscle worship that I can't be convinced is for any story purpose other than that the author really developed a fondness for working out.
Overall, I give Deathworlders a 5.5/10
Now I know that's not every major piece of web fiction out there, I've missed a few like Metaworld Chronicles, but I wanted to get this out there before a few more years passed. If I read enough more in the future I may post a second review series. I also want to do an analysis of how web fiction is evolving, but that'll take some time. That's it for now!