Red's Reviews: Childhood of a Modern Dynasty Altaverse Title: Childhood of a Modern Dynasty Author: Jim Lazar Status: Complete Rating: 7.5 This is the longest fanfic I've reviewed thus far, so I expect to have quite a bit to say. With that in mind, I once again prepare myself to flap my gums and (probably) piss people off. Childhood of a Modern Dynasty is a fairly good-sized epic continuation, with a sequel underway that promises to be just as immense as the first. The lack of side-stories to this work tells me that the author is concentrating on the main story, rather than get distracted by all the "what abouts" and "maybes" that might pop up. This can be a mixed blessing, but it works more in CMD's favor than not. CMD didn't fall into the kind of quagmire that Ranma 2096 did, with multitudes of side-stories dragging the story into the ground. On the other hand, a few more side-stories would be a benefit to CMD. I did have a number of "maybes" floating around in my noggin after finishing the story. Now, on to the meat of this review. Plot: A little shaky. I had a little trouble with the "why" of this story, in relation to the "what." No matter how I tried, I just couldn't get a precision fit between the actions of the story and the reasons behind them. It came close, but not exact. After a while, the story seemed to just plod along under its own weight in places. For example: Ranma gets split into two. Okay, I'm with you so far, still reading intently. I'm a little bothered by the quick acceptance of that development by most parties in question, but I can deal with it. After a while of nothing happening, Ranma gets split into three. Okay.. how many more people are you going to split the poor shmuck into? And why should I be interested? I understand that it was important to the later development of the story, but for a little while there in the earlier chapters I was so annoyed by such a cheesy plot twist that I read on with an expression of "Oh, give me a break" on my face. There was nothing really happening. The terrorist incident on the way back from Australia seemed a trifle...unimportant. Sure, it frightened one or two characters for a while, but they got over it soon enough. I got the same feeling from the "Kang" character. Sure he's there, and kind of interesting (a barbecue fork?! Oy!) but he didn't amount to much. Just a cheap throwaway to tie up a loose end, Kodachi. To be honest, I think that if the flashbacks had been shorter and the glimpses into the future of the Tendous and their world had been longer it would have been much better for the story. There were a lot of things that could have been left out of CMD without hurting it. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good surprises. Such as Sanma choosing Ukyou over Akane, the identity of James' mother, Ranko's pregnancy, and Shampoo's ultimate choice of a husband, but there could have been some constructive slice-outs. Characterization: This fanfic has some of the best characterizations of the Ranma cast that I've seen in any continuation fanfic. Their action, reactions and personalities were very close to what I'd always believed them to be in the original story. Modes of speech, quirks and individual idiosynchracies went smoothly along with those personalities. Being a fanfic, there were the natural deviations from the original depictions, but in this fanfic they're nothing that would cause a major case of "what the" in the reader's mind. Grammar and mechanics: CMD was released to the FFML in its draft and later its final forms. In between those releases, Jim Lazar must have had A) some kick-ass prereaders and C&Cers, B) one hell of a talent for revisions, or C) both of the above. I say this because the draft forms often contained so many grammatical "owwies" it made me flinch, yet the final forms had perhaps three or four minor gaffs, which were so minor and inoffensive that they were almost cute. Overall, the final form reads very easily. Overall: I liked CMD. I liked CMD a lot. It's entertaining, fun to read, often had me wondering "okay, what next?" and looking forward to the next chapter. The down points of a shaky plot were mostly made up for by skilled writing, good characterization and a lot of chuckles at some really bad jokes. CMD can get fairly dark (which I like), quite violent (which I also like) and in some places gets rather mature in subject matter (which I also like. you see a trend here?) so it's not for the overly sensitive reader. But if you want a nice long, fun, colorful tale, then Childhood of a Modern Dynasty is a very good choice.