I've been reading the series for the last few days and realised, I should have taken my time.
Scotland – Alternate Earth AE2005-0004-B (Pathfinder Index Code) – July 2005 I can see Willow starting to create her more scythes for her team with the assistance of the Devon Coven. Perhaps a telepathic call to more Slayers?
Alternate Earth AE2005-0098-A (Pathfinder Index Code) – November 2005
The new Earth seems to be very different to the original setting, would the Bringers have been able to kill all the potentials? After opening the Hellmouth, the First would have believed the Slayer to be a minor threat. Willow would be able to activate the rest with perhaps a telepathic call to come to the Hyperion.
Tara should definitely end up in a relationship with both Witches. I see a closer association with this Earth.
I hope they rescue Xander soon and he could be more willing to ensure the new Slayers know about firearms.
Good way to make Buffy more reliant on herself and start learning something. She seems to be reacting more than being proactive. After all the data from the future she still hesitates.
Hope she starts learning some lessons from her previous mistakes. She makes too many in Whedonverse, just too heroic and not enough strategy.
Review of chapter "Chapter Sixteen" from buffyrazz
Review:
had me a thought about the Dark Scythe, firsty used the Scourge guy to pluck it cause it needed to be a pure demon, no humanity - so no to bringers, no to vamps. What about a human shaped old one?
Scary thought - Berith gets his mitts on it.
Scariest thought 4 Firsty: Ilyria gets her hand on it.. ruh oh.. Momma and Spawn/daughter Slayer Scythe, Dark Scythe, Corporeal chunks of Firsty time!!
Love the series, the logical escalation in arms etc is brilliant. The humour and digs/nods to Canon are hilarious.
Hope to see an update in near future, as i've just re-read it all for bout the 6th time.
Review By [buffyrazz] • Date [21 Feb 10] • Rating [8 out of 10]
Any chance of a S8-esque Super!Buffy making a game saving (or breaking) appearance on the back 16 of this one? I think Illyria might get power-envy. :P
To consider soon as Ilyria's new diet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhut_Jolokia_pepper In 2005 (so during the current timeframe) measured as about twice as hot as Red Savina with 1 milion Scolvilles. In 2007 set as the current record.
Note the totally Ilyria line on Wiki: "In 2009, scientists (...) announced plans to use the chillies in hand grenades, as a less lethal way to control rioters." :D
Bad thing is in some countries you just can't get a decently hot pepper for your meals. I just laid my hands on some Jalapenos and it took me quite some time to actually locate them. To get something hotter I would have to order it abroad :( Oh, where is a chilli-lovin' God-King where you need one?
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Oh, and great story. Can't wait to see how it develops - there is still so much to say and hopefully it will be some hundreds of thousands of words before it ends (and don't even think of leaving it in the current unfinished form or I will track you down and personally feed you some hot habanero peppers (hopefully buy some for myself as well, seeing more civilization and pepper-shops your way)).
It would be somewhat fun to revisit the comic storyline at it's current events - either at the battle of Himalaya with gun-totting powerless slayers to recruit, or with SuperBuffy and her reaction to certain God-entities ;) Best with skipping the part with WHO the Twilight actually is to be (I can't stand the teaser cover for April's issue, maybe it's an April Fools practical joke?)
Oh, right, and the sub. Totally, slayer sub is a must-be. With Ilyria around I hope for those first nuclear weapons aboard ;)
Review By [betascud] • Date [8 Feb 10] • Rating [10 out of 10]
I normally dislike the military SF subgenre but military SF crossed with Buffy is very very compelling (sic!). I've spent the last three days reading the Compelled series and I'm utterly distraught that I've got to wait for you to update. The appearance of Enyo in the fourth story was a bit of a surprise but I for my part am not going to object - us Rebeccas have got to stick together ;) Glad Tara's back :) I don't suppose you'll get her together with Willow and Kennedy? Anyways, I eagerly look forward to the next update.
Review By [RebeccaAshling] • Date [30 Jan 10] • Rating [10 out of 10]
Review of chapter "Chapter Sixteen" from Frardowin
Review:
I hope you continue the story at some point.
Also I enjoy how you illustrate how fully automatic infantry weapons + fully automatic grenade launchers+ air support +artillery +Sniper support +functioning tactical plans = death to primitive demon screw head dumb asses.
Go force multipliers!!
Review By [Frardowin] • Date [7 Jan 10] • Rating [9 out of 10]
...Ok, so it was one hundred thousand, must have been all the comments about millions during the end of the chapter that threw me off...alright, I made a mistake about that, but the Cannae battle line is still my main argument that you're making unrealistic battles. It's cool when the Good Guys don't loose so many, but even the Heroes of Marvel and DC who could make Illyria their b1tch and blow up plants with a hic-up still get beat up even if they do win...well that is mostly because someone found a way to exploit a weakness they have or their enemy is as strong as them, but almost never do they make it look as easy as you do...as I said...bland. Anyway I won't start an argument with you, not my reason for writing these reviews, I just wanted to speak my thoughts and...well, sometimes you need someone to point out stuff like that, right?
*Sigh*...how...HOW?! Points for using Cannae as a tactic, the shotgun+shield trick was a nice touch, really original the grenade launcher's were nice as well...but you made two errors that to me and anyone who understands tactics probably think that it ruins the whole battle:
1) You used a Cannae battle tactic using 1000 or less Slayers facing 50 000 bugs with what...another 900,000 waiting behind? Because that were the numbers you gave weren't they? One Million bugs? So anyway, in the battle of Cannae, if you didn't notice, Hannibal had...wait for it...40,000 Infantry! 2) You forgot how big the bugs are! Or how do to their legs they could scrample on top of their own dead whose chitin would support their weight and allow them to actually advance faster when the first line was massacred. Also, the bugs aren't man sized, aren't they? No, they are bigger, which means that just after you have speared a couple, the next bug would be able to climb on top of the last one and land on top of your head.
And after that? If you hadn't exaggerated about the One Million bugs, which you didn't, how could the Slayers have killed the other 900,000 bugs? Did they run away? Really? Sorry...you created an exiting continuity with lots of action and fun and humor and possibility's and you used minor characters beautifully...but part four and now five...they are simply...I can't find a word that will...allow me to express my opinion without cussing you so I will not say anything...I loved parts 1 to 3 but 4 and now 5...action wise they are good, but do they meet the standards and heights of the previous 3? No, in my opinion part four was a disappointment do to Enyos arrival and this whole Dimensional war and now part 5 completely ruined the series...as a whole while chapter 4 complicated things and gave it a new perspective, chapter five left too much to be desired, I think you bit off more then you can chew here. Better luck next time...
Comments from author:
It wasn't a million bugs I don't know where you got that figure from. You need to re-read a tad more carefully I'm afraid.
Review By [Dusel] • Date [2 Jan 10] • Rating [1 out of 10]
Ok I decided to start reviewing from here, read your story for the last week strait and I can't deny that you made a great story, more like an Epic but...well...from here on these are my thoughts on your story...
... ...
You really kept bashing to a minimum here and it was rather subtle, but it is not something hard to notice and I'm sure that a lot of what you used was needed for the progression of the plot. But I can't help but notice the Wuss thing...let me put it this way...Buffy and the crew from the cannon didn't know EVERYDAMNTHING or could have foreseen it, so stop using the Wuss reference please, it makes me think that you're an a$$hole because...well read the end of the review.
The same could be said about the fighting but...here it is...you can't go on with having the Gunslayers(which I don't really like, too much like US marines serving in Vietnam displayed in some cheese second rate movie which just makes me hate them) win every fight, this isn't some skirmish in which you have equal numbers of vampires and slayers, this is full out war and although yes firing a horde of charging demons will not be able to reach the slayers in mass.
Less powerful charges have broken lines during World War One then some several hundred soldiers firing with weapons that hold 30 or was it 39 bullets per clip when it takes down several bullets to take down a single demon, if they were humans they would have won hands down, but on account that some demons need a dozen bullets so that they could be taken down makes it physically impossible for the PDF to have killed demons fast enough for what you described. The same goes for the bugs, I've seen Starship Troopers one AND two which was even more bloody and gross the first and I'm sure you can remember how the bugs overran that fortress they were simply too many, too hard to kill for such a small number of soldiers to beat back, same was for the slayers - how can...one hundred was it? One hundred slayers move for five miles leaving a trail of corpses without a single casualty? Even with the amount of bullets they're firing, it's still not possible, I would have believed it more if it was a hundred slayers armed with scythes that did it...but not the having zero casualties part...The numbers in the future war was also wrong in my opinion...8000+ slayers only? Dude so small numbers would have been massacred in the first major engagement and now you made it worse! Now the First Evil mobilized and will most likely either have more dark scythes or have legions of Turok-Han's with firearms AND nukes, this is Latin - The poor cannot contend with the wealthy, the few cannot contend with the many, the weak cannot contend with the strong...so no I will read chapter two...later and I will stop reading your fic entirely if the Gunslayers actually win...Gods or no, you just sent a million super bugs against what...several hundred slayers? Unless you nuke it...they ain't gonna win.
And finally...overall although it is an interesting story and was wort readying based only on the conversations the charachters had, it's too one way, too effortless on the part of the Protagonists so to put in simply...while it was all action packed, flying by the seat of your pants action...now it's bland...yeah, I think that was it...it feels bland.
So anyway, as some final parting words I'd like to say that I'm happy you stuck with Buffy being well...moral, it's all nice and good to throw the nukes...but...Illyria doesn't have a conscience to begin with and you have to wonder...how long will it be after she takes on control after Buffy dies that she unleashes the Gunslayers on her former demon allies and uses Pro-human propaganda to rid herself of the Demon filth while increasing her popularity or when will she unleash her slayer legions to kill off those unfit to serve her properly - the sick and crippled? It's interesting how you've twisted circumstances so that Illyria is in the right, when in reality she is just leading them down when in reality she is deceiving them - if they simply started recruiting an army of humans from Earth, brake the secret and reveal the truth, they wouldn't need nukes because I'm guessing that's what happened last time - too few slayers to handle the millions of enemies, because let me say it, for a tactical genius Illyria sure was dumb to only use several thousand troops at best when she could have been commanding millions of her own...
Comments from author:
Okay, regarding the lines being broken you're not using valid comparisons. A much better one would be to look at the Battle of Omdurman to see what happens when a force with repeating firearms clashes with one that relies on melee combat. At Omdurman the British and Egyptian Army killed 9,700 Sudanese (and wounded another 13,000) by simply shooting them to bits at long range, they lost a mere 47 men doing it (many of them during an ill-timed cavalry charge).
Most of the troops at Omdurman were using bolt-action rifles with some artillery and a few Maxims. If they'd had assault rifles it would have been even more of a one-sided slaughter.
In Enyo's future the First did not have the Dark Scythe, and his forces never adopted firearms (Berith did that). Oh and during the dimension wars they did use nukes, plus pylean regiments, artillery support etc. etc.
