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Twig
The year is 1921, and a little over a century has passed since a great mind unraveled the underpinnings of life itself. Every week, it seems, the papers announce great advances, solving the riddle of immortality, successfully reviving the dead, the cloning of living beings, or blending of two animals into one. For those on the ground, every week brings new mutterings of work taken by ‘stitched’ men of patchwork flesh that do not need to sleep, or more fearful glances as they have to step off the sidewalks to make room for great laboratory-grown beasts. Often felt but rarely voiced is the notion that events are already spiraling out of the control of the academies that teach these things.
It is only this generation, they say, that the youth and children are able to take the mad changes in stride, accepting it all as a part of day to day life. Of those children, a small group of strange youths from the Lambsbridge Orphanage stand out, taking a more direct hand in events.
Twig is Wildbow’s (J.C. McCrae’s) third web serial, following the underground hit Worm and the successful-enough Pact. As was the case for the prior two stories, Twig will be written on Mondays, some Wednesdays (see below), and Fridays, with chapters going live at midnight, Eastern Standard Time (thus being released very first thing on Tuesdays, some Thursdays, and Saturdays). Chapters are grouped into story arcs each about as long as a novella or short novel, listed in the table of contents and available on the sidebar.
Wildbow writes full-time and strives to maintain a professional schedule, with chapters released on time (barring very minor delays with internet issues or website malfunction) for three and a half years and counting. Donations via. Paypal and subscriptions via. Patreon are accepted and remain very much appreciated, as they allow the author to stay fed, stay sheltered, and keep writing. As thanks for this support, the author schedules added chapters to be released on a future Thursday when certain totals are reached.
Those on the lookout for trigger warnings should probably be warned, the author’s style leans toward the dark and violent. To clarify to those not familiar with the term: if a key word or storyline touching on a particular topic could ruin your day or induce panic attacks, you might want to steer clear of Twig, as it is likely to touch on many. Sex, however, will happen offscreen if it happens at all, and sex-related triggers are generally avoided, both due to authorial preference. Swearing and violence are likely to be present, if not outright common, so be warned. Use your own judgment to estimate your tolerances and decide if Twig is the sort of thing you’re comfortable reading.
If you decide you’re alright with that, you can start reading here.
J.C. McCrae can be contacted at [email protected] for the time being. He would prefer that fans use the comment section rather than email, if there’s any choice between the two. He gets a great many emails and his attempts to filter and sort things in the shuffle mean that emails can get lost by the wayside, while he does read every comment.
It is only this generation, they say, that the youth and children are able to take the mad changes in stride, accepting it all as a part of day to day life. Of those children, a small group of strange youths from the Lambsbridge Orphanage stand out, taking a more direct hand in events.
Twig is Wildbow’s (J.C. McCrae’s) third web serial, following the underground hit Worm and the successful-enough Pact. As was the case for the prior two stories, Twig will be written on Mondays, some Wednesdays (see below), and Fridays, with chapters going live at midnight, Eastern Standard Time (thus being released very first thing on Tuesdays, some Thursdays, and Saturdays). Chapters are grouped into story arcs each about as long as a novella or short novel, listed in the table of contents and available on the sidebar.
Wildbow writes full-time and strives to maintain a professional schedule, with chapters released on time (barring very minor delays with internet issues or website malfunction) for three and a half years and counting. Donations via. Paypal and subscriptions via. Patreon are accepted and remain very much appreciated, as they allow the author to stay fed, stay sheltered, and keep writing. As thanks for this support, the author schedules added chapters to be released on a future Thursday when certain totals are reached.
Those on the lookout for trigger warnings should probably be warned, the author’s style leans toward the dark and violent. To clarify to those not familiar with the term: if a key word or storyline touching on a particular topic could ruin your day or induce panic attacks, you might want to steer clear of Twig, as it is likely to touch on many. Sex, however, will happen offscreen if it happens at all, and sex-related triggers are generally avoided, both due to authorial preference. Swearing and violence are likely to be present, if not outright common, so be warned. Use your own judgment to estimate your tolerances and decide if Twig is the sort of thing you’re comfortable reading.
If you decide you’re alright with that, you can start reading here.
J.C. McCrae can be contacted at [email protected] for the time being. He would prefer that fans use the comment section rather than email, if there’s any choice between the two. He gets a great many emails and his attempts to filter and sort things in the shuffle mean that emails can get lost by the wayside, while he does read every comment.
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About the author
Wildbow
8 books862 followersWildbow (real name John C. McCrae, born in 1984), is a Canadian writer of Web Serial Novels.
His works include:
Worm
Pact
Twig
Ward (sequel to Worm)
(From http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php...)
His works include:
Worm
Pact
Twig
Ward (sequel to Worm)
(From http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php...)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
June 7, 2020
It's gonna be hard to speak about this one. I gave it 5 stars, and it deserves them, but it's far from perfect; it's far from consistent. This is gonna be a spoiler free review in terms of story but not in terms of structure.
Twig is a coming of age story set in a world were biology has been solved. Immortality, monsters, bioweapons... these things are the norm, Twig deals with them in depth and every threat that comes up pushes the limits of these aspects: how would the nobility behave if they were immortal and free to modify themselves at will? What schemes would villains come up with if they had power over life itself? How dangerous an organism could be if it could evolve at real time?
The protagonists: the Lambs, are a group of experimented/experiment children produced by the Academy, a leading faction in this world. They are resourceful, likeable, complex characters that are put in limit situations to evolve as a scientific project. Their growth and interactions are the focus of the story for most of the novel, and they are absolutely worth your time.
The other side of the novel is the worldbuilding, the big picture, the factions and politics, the biological arms race. This falters a tad more but has huge peaks overall.
My biggest gripe with Twig is: Not the same amount of care was put into all parts of the story. The structure is very polarized and is easily separated into groups of arcs:
- Arcs 1-5 follow a monster of the week format. New villain in each, some interesting, some not. Some plants seeds for the plot to develop in later arcs, some don't. Though the writing is great and characters truly shine, they are terrible at capturing the readers attention. Most people i know dropped Twig here. It doesn't help that barely any knowledge is given about the setting, factions, biology, etc of this world that makes you feel like starting medias res in a world that doesn't want you to understand it. I loved the feeling mistery, but my friends who dropped it hated being that lost in an episodic novel.
-Arcs 6-10 or "the good ones". These are amazing, specially 9. They are so good in fact it's a problem. Twig peaks so hard here it's impossible not to compare later arcs to these ones and for me it tarnished the experience. Emotional rollercoasters, character moments, plot reveals... though each of them have flaws they are insignificant and it was one of my best reading experiences ever. Up until now we've barely covered 40% of the novel.
-Arcs 11-17 or the "big mediocrity". For reasons i will not dwell on (because of spoilers), character dynamics become stale, the plot and worldbuilding get thin, locations and new characters don't get developed like they used to. Some stilistic choices were made that can make it very very hard to read, specially for non-native readers such as myself. Still, chapters of utter brilliance are to be found here. The ending to arc 11, the quiet moments in 12, the chaos of 13, the sheer heart attack and ending of 14, the first half of 17... still mostly the spark has vanished and these arcs rarely play to the novel's strengths.
-Arcs 18-20 (and epilogues) the ending. Though 18 and most of 19 are very hard to read, the longest arcs up until now, and seem so rushed it gives you vertigo, arc 20 manages to capture the lighting in a bottle from the earlier arcs and deliver an ending up to snuff and that i won't be forgetting easily. I will leave it at that but i'll say that Twig is absolutely worth reading which i wouldn't have said with that much confidence if it had ended in the vein of arc 16 for example.
Twig is not flawless, but the good moments will always outshine the dull ones. Sylvester has become my favorite protagonist ever and through his relationships with others i've learnt things about myself. This world has made me daydream and obsess and fall in love, i cannot give it any other score than perfect, which i know it is not.
Twig is a coming of age story set in a world were biology has been solved. Immortality, monsters, bioweapons... these things are the norm, Twig deals with them in depth and every threat that comes up pushes the limits of these aspects: how would the nobility behave if they were immortal and free to modify themselves at will? What schemes would villains come up with if they had power over life itself? How dangerous an organism could be if it could evolve at real time?
The protagonists: the Lambs, are a group of experimented/experiment children produced by the Academy, a leading faction in this world. They are resourceful, likeable, complex characters that are put in limit situations to evolve as a scientific project. Their growth and interactions are the focus of the story for most of the novel, and they are absolutely worth your time.
The other side of the novel is the worldbuilding, the big picture, the factions and politics, the biological arms race. This falters a tad more but has huge peaks overall.
My biggest gripe with Twig is: Not the same amount of care was put into all parts of the story. The structure is very polarized and is easily separated into groups of arcs:
- Arcs 1-5 follow a monster of the week format. New villain in each, some interesting, some not. Some plants seeds for the plot to develop in later arcs, some don't. Though the writing is great and characters truly shine, they are terrible at capturing the readers attention. Most people i know dropped Twig here. It doesn't help that barely any knowledge is given about the setting, factions, biology, etc of this world that makes you feel like starting medias res in a world that doesn't want you to understand it. I loved the feeling mistery, but my friends who dropped it hated being that lost in an episodic novel.
-Arcs 6-10 or "the good ones". These are amazing, specially 9. They are so good in fact it's a problem. Twig peaks so hard here it's impossible not to compare later arcs to these ones and for me it tarnished the experience. Emotional rollercoasters, character moments, plot reveals... though each of them have flaws they are insignificant and it was one of my best reading experiences ever. Up until now we've barely covered 40% of the novel.
-Arcs 11-17 or the "big mediocrity". For reasons i will not dwell on (because of spoilers), character dynamics become stale, the plot and worldbuilding get thin, locations and new characters don't get developed like they used to. Some stilistic choices were made that can make it very very hard to read, specially for non-native readers such as myself. Still, chapters of utter brilliance are to be found here. The ending to arc 11, the quiet moments in 12, the chaos of 13, the sheer heart attack and ending of 14, the first half of 17... still mostly the spark has vanished and these arcs rarely play to the novel's strengths.
-Arcs 18-20 (and epilogues) the ending. Though 18 and most of 19 are very hard to read, the longest arcs up until now, and seem so rushed it gives you vertigo, arc 20 manages to capture the lighting in a bottle from the earlier arcs and deliver an ending up to snuff and that i won't be forgetting easily. I will leave it at that but i'll say that Twig is absolutely worth reading which i wouldn't have said with that much confidence if it had ended in the vein of arc 16 for example.
Twig is not flawless, but the good moments will always outshine the dull ones. Sylvester has become my favorite protagonist ever and through his relationships with others i've learnt things about myself. This world has made me daydream and obsess and fall in love, i cannot give it any other score than perfect, which i know it is not.
October 25, 2018
Set in an alternate 1920s North America in which instead of an Industrial Revolution, there was a Biological Revolution, Twig is a very personal, zoomed-in "bio punk" novel with well realized characters and extremely engaging relationship development between them.
It's an oppressive world. A broken world. A casually horrific world that is shockingly awful to its residents.
But it's often funny, quite light hearted at times, and deeply emotionally engaging -- likely because it highlights its core cast of characters so much.
The story's told from the perspective of a collection of kids who are either human experiments or humans in desperate situations, and they experience breakneck change while fighting to find love, community, and home. It felt at times like a coming-of-age novel, but since it was set in a horrific, amoral dystopia, you had to expect any one of them to die off at any time.
I expected a bit more coherence from parts of the ending, but it is satisfyingly tied up as a story, at least in my eyes. It's sort of... narratively closed into a ball, for sure. I don't like unnecessary open threads, haha.
Also, I read this as it was written -- the breaks were helpful! I was able to read readers' comments in between each chapter. I don't know how much better/worse continuous reading would be -- but try both approach, try spacing it out and also consolidating it as you would any regular novel-series.
It's an oppressive world. A broken world. A casually horrific world that is shockingly awful to its residents.
But it's often funny, quite light hearted at times, and deeply emotionally engaging -- likely because it highlights its core cast of characters so much.
The story's told from the perspective of a collection of kids who are either human experiments or humans in desperate situations, and they experience breakneck change while fighting to find love, community, and home. It felt at times like a coming-of-age novel, but since it was set in a horrific, amoral dystopia, you had to expect any one of them to die off at any time.
I expected a bit more coherence from parts of the ending, but it is satisfyingly tied up as a story, at least in my eyes. It's sort of... narratively closed into a ball, for sure. I don't like unnecessary open threads, haha.
Also, I read this as it was written -- the breaks were helpful! I was able to read readers' comments in between each chapter. I don't know how much better/worse continuous reading would be -- but try both approach, try spacing it out and also consolidating it as you would any regular novel-series.
December 18, 2017
I enjoyed this book, but it felt somewhat off. I liked how the scale of events grew up along with the characters, but that also meant giving less time to how the team plans and organizes their actions, which meant their grand schemes felt more and more like deus ex machina. This becomes particularly jarring when the viewpoint character becomes one of the main sources of the unknown in the story.
But in typical Wildbow fashion, there's a good amount of actions having consequences (even if lost eyes can be easily replaced), main characters having only the barest plot armor, if any, a setting that you've probably not seen much elsewhere and some sublime use of different narrator voices to convey different experiences.
But in typical Wildbow fashion, there's a good amount of actions having consequences (even if lost eyes can be easily replaced), main characters having only the barest plot armor, if any, a setting that you've probably not seen much elsewhere and some sublime use of different narrator voices to convey different experiences.
November 30, 2017
Its impossible to evaluate Wildbow's work without comparing it to Worm, and I'm happy to report Twig has surpassed it. Twig retains the pure adrenaline of its predecessors but also takes the time to become something more meangful along the way.
Unfortunately this made the limitations of the webserial format feel even more restricting. The introspective and character driven side of the story has a hard time slotting into regularly spaced chapters, and the plot wanted to be more connected than it was.
I'm left with mixed feelings, because Twig was so good that the contrast of its failures are all the more painful. Worm was within striking distance of being a great book, but Twig needs substantial changes to be the best it can be.
Unfortunately this made the limitations of the webserial format feel even more restricting. The introspective and character driven side of the story has a hard time slotting into regularly spaced chapters, and the plot wanted to be more connected than it was.
I'm left with mixed feelings, because Twig was so good that the contrast of its failures are all the more painful. Worm was within striking distance of being a great book, but Twig needs substantial changes to be the best it can be.
October 17, 2017
This story rivals everything that Wildbow has written so far. Worm is great, but could easily be far better. Twig is the result of 5 straight years of non-stop writing and it clearly shows in its quality.
Thanks for writing everything you do, I look forward to Worm 2.
Thanks for writing everything you do, I look forward to Worm 2.
February 25, 2018
"Do as you will."
Talk about a satisfying ending.
Talk about a satisfying ending.
December 11, 2021
I remember enjoying the first half more than worm, but had a hard time following all the characters in the second
December 10, 2020
Wow. I'm absolutely stunned. Wildbow has really hit it out of the ballpark with this one.
I just finished this masterpiece last night. As with Worm and Pact, Twig isn't without its issues, but I think what differentiates this as a legendary web serial in its own right is Wildbow's improvement. I'll touch upon this later in the review.
Summary: (I've taken the following summary from TvTropes and edited it accordingly.)
Set in the 19th century, a group of children with extraordinary abilities make their way from the Lambsbridge Orphanage through a darkly fantastical world loosely inspired by Frankenstein. Here, the Academy's bio-engineered monsters roam the streets, nobles horrifyingly modified beyond belief rule the Crown States, and each inhumane experiment brings immortality closer within reach.
Twig follows these unique children, as they struggle against the oppressive natures of the Academy and the Crown, and fight back against their creators in a monstrous, dystopian society.
What I Loved:
(1) Wildbow's Improvement: For me, the most gratifying thing about Twig was how greatly Wildbow's skills improved. Earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to get the chance to read Worm, Pact, and now Twig, back to back. Especially coming straight from Pact, I feel that Wildbow has taken into account various criticisms and flaws that were present in the past two serials.
For example, he has greatly progressed in displaying team dynamics, properly spacing out enemy arcs, balancing character introspection with external actions, and fleshing out enemy characters. That's why it's been immensely satisfying to read these three serials in a row and to see Wildbow's steady improvement as an author.
(2) Team Dynamics: The team dynamics displayed here in Twig were what made it so masterful.
In my reviews of Wildbow's serials, I don't really like drawing comparisons to Worm, but I feel that alluding to Worm is inevitable, mainly because Wildbow set the standard with his first piece. However, I will say that I think Pact and Twig deserve to be judged on their own rights and to stand on their own legs.
With that said, if you loved the team interactions in Worm, then Twig is definitely for you. I always go in with my eyes open when reading stories that include a main group of 3+ characters. I find that often, I am very disappointed, usually by how little each character is fleshed out, and that usually by the end of the story, I don't particularly care one way or another about certain characters.
Not every story about teams will have fully fleshed out characters that feel like humans with their very real motivations and intentions, but here, Twig comes close as it can possibly get. Wildbow masterfully struck a fine line in his composition of each character. It may have been the long nature of Twig (1.6 million words...), but at the end of it, I felt like I knew each main character like an old friend.
As picky as I am, of course I didn't like every character, but I could, at least, understand their personality, background, and motivations.
(3) The Lambs: Although clearly not without their flaws, I loved the characterization of each and every Lamb. I think Hellen was my favorite.
But I think what was especially masterful was Sylvester's progression () near the very end. I was on the edge of my seat, questioning every character () that he interacted with. No words, only appreciation for Wildbow's talent as an author.
(4) Better Arc Spacing: It was a pleasure to see that Wildbow worked on better spacing between enemy arcs. As in Worm and Pact, there were many times where the plotlines ran together, with no break, which made me (and many other readers) feel fatigued.
Here, in Twig, it is evident that Wildbow learned a lot from his mishaps with Pact, and wanted to do better. I felt that generally, there was enough downtime between fights, and there was enough room where I felt that I could breathe. However, I will say that near the end of the serial, things began running into each other, but that was understandable, as Wildbow must have wanted to wrap things up quickly and neatly. Overall, Twig is a massive improvement and step up from Pact.
What I Had Issues With:
Many of the issues I have with Twig are just problems with the actual plot itself.
(1) Arcs Dragging On: Because Wildbow is Wildbow, I'm very familiar with the fact that not every arc will be interesting. But I felt like some arcs could have been better condensed, or maybe certain parts (especially during chases) cut down.
(2) Ending: With every Wildbow work, I have always experienced some kind of dissatisfaction with the end. I think that this isn't to say that it is a mark of Wildbow's skill as an author. Instead, it shows how great an author Wildbow is, in that I can see many alternative endings shining through (as is not the case with boring, plain, cut and dry YA fiction).
I'm still trying to put how I feel about the ending into words, as I just finished it last night, but I think that the world building (a skill that Wildbow does not lack) could have been better, as to better prepare me for the ending ().
(3) Sy's Relationships: I understand that Sy is the manipulator of the group, but I felt that his romantic relationships could have been better handled in a way that would be more fitting to his character.
Conclusion:
Overall, I really think this is the best of Wildbow's works (that I've read so far). Everything about Twig really just checks everything off on my list (minus a few bumps here and there). Although I don't see myself re-reading Worm (and no offense, but definitely not Pact), I can definitely see myself re-reading Twig. If I had to re-evaluate Worm and Pact under the Wildbow standard, I would give Worm 4-stars, Pact 3-stars, and Twig 4.5-stars (but bordering on 5).
It's been really, really gratifying to see Wildbow's progression as an author, and I'm looking forward to Ward and Pale next.
I just finished this masterpiece last night. As with Worm and Pact, Twig isn't without its issues, but I think what differentiates this as a legendary web serial in its own right is Wildbow's improvement. I'll touch upon this later in the review.
Summary: (I've taken the following summary from TvTropes and edited it accordingly.)
Set in the 19th century, a group of children with extraordinary abilities make their way from the Lambsbridge Orphanage through a darkly fantastical world loosely inspired by Frankenstein. Here, the Academy's bio-engineered monsters roam the streets, nobles horrifyingly modified beyond belief rule the Crown States, and each inhumane experiment brings immortality closer within reach.
Twig follows these unique children, as they struggle against the oppressive natures of the Academy and the Crown, and fight back against their creators in a monstrous, dystopian society.
What I Loved:
(1) Wildbow's Improvement: For me, the most gratifying thing about Twig was how greatly Wildbow's skills improved. Earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to get the chance to read Worm, Pact, and now Twig, back to back. Especially coming straight from Pact, I feel that Wildbow has taken into account various criticisms and flaws that were present in the past two serials.
For example, he has greatly progressed in displaying team dynamics, properly spacing out enemy arcs, balancing character introspection with external actions, and fleshing out enemy characters. That's why it's been immensely satisfying to read these three serials in a row and to see Wildbow's steady improvement as an author.
(2) Team Dynamics: The team dynamics displayed here in Twig were what made it so masterful.
In my reviews of Wildbow's serials, I don't really like drawing comparisons to Worm, but I feel that alluding to Worm is inevitable, mainly because Wildbow set the standard with his first piece. However, I will say that I think Pact and Twig deserve to be judged on their own rights and to stand on their own legs.
With that said, if you loved the team interactions in Worm, then Twig is definitely for you. I always go in with my eyes open when reading stories that include a main group of 3+ characters. I find that often, I am very disappointed, usually by how little each character is fleshed out, and that usually by the end of the story, I don't particularly care one way or another about certain characters.
Not every story about teams will have fully fleshed out characters that feel like humans with their very real motivations and intentions, but here, Twig comes close as it can possibly get. Wildbow masterfully struck a fine line in his composition of each character. It may have been the long nature of Twig (1.6 million words...), but at the end of it, I felt like I knew each main character like an old friend.
As picky as I am, of course I didn't like every character, but I could, at least, understand their personality, background, and motivations.
(3) The Lambs: Although clearly not without their flaws, I loved the characterization of each and every Lamb. I think Hellen was my favorite.
But I think what was especially masterful was Sylvester's progression () near the very end. I was on the edge of my seat, questioning every character () that he interacted with. No words, only appreciation for Wildbow's talent as an author.
(4) Better Arc Spacing: It was a pleasure to see that Wildbow worked on better spacing between enemy arcs. As in Worm and Pact, there were many times where the plotlines ran together, with no break, which made me (and many other readers) feel fatigued.
Here, in Twig, it is evident that Wildbow learned a lot from his mishaps with Pact, and wanted to do better. I felt that generally, there was enough downtime between fights, and there was enough room where I felt that I could breathe. However, I will say that near the end of the serial, things began running into each other, but that was understandable, as Wildbow must have wanted to wrap things up quickly and neatly. Overall, Twig is a massive improvement and step up from Pact.
What I Had Issues With:
Many of the issues I have with Twig are just problems with the actual plot itself.
(1) Arcs Dragging On: Because Wildbow is Wildbow, I'm very familiar with the fact that not every arc will be interesting. But I felt like some arcs could have been better condensed, or maybe certain parts (especially during chases) cut down.
(2) Ending: With every Wildbow work, I have always experienced some kind of dissatisfaction with the end. I think that this isn't to say that it is a mark of Wildbow's skill as an author. Instead, it shows how great an author Wildbow is, in that I can see many alternative endings shining through (as is not the case with boring, plain, cut and dry YA fiction).
I'm still trying to put how I feel about the ending into words, as I just finished it last night, but I think that the world building (a skill that Wildbow does not lack) could have been better, as to better prepare me for the ending ().
(3) Sy's Relationships: I understand that Sy is the manipulator of the group, but I felt that his romantic relationships could have been better handled in a way that would be more fitting to his character.
Conclusion:
Overall, I really think this is the best of Wildbow's works (that I've read so far). Everything about Twig really just checks everything off on my list (minus a few bumps here and there). Although I don't see myself re-reading Worm (and no offense, but definitely not Pact), I can definitely see myself re-reading Twig. If I had to re-evaluate Worm and Pact under the Wildbow standard, I would give Worm 4-stars, Pact 3-stars, and Twig 4.5-stars (but bordering on 5).
It's been really, really gratifying to see Wildbow's progression as an author, and I'm looking forward to Ward and Pale next.
December 7, 2023
An absolutely fantastic story set in a stunningly original biopunk world of 1920s America that is still ruled by the British Crown. There was no industrial revolution, instead there was a biological revolution, and frankenstein soldiers and engineered monsters are parr for the course in matters of war and society.
This is a coming of age story following a group of experimental children into adulthood, as they work for the academies to destroy, undermine or subvert their enemies and prevent precious scientific secrets from escaping into the wider world. The main character is Sylvester, the endlessly adaptable social glue that helps hold the group together, with his incredibly malleable brain that lets him learn incredibly quickly at the cost of long-term retention and memory.
Sylvester is an absolute delight to read due to his wicked sense of humour, childish innocence contrasting with his enforced maturity due to trauma, while his nasty edge that even unnerves his friends clashes with his fierce loyalty to those he cares about. The entire main cast of the Lambs are fantastic, and the character dynamics are the best Wildbow has ever written.
It is tricky to compare them, but I would say that Sylvester is my absolute favourite Wildbow protagonist and Twig is even better written than Worm. That said, I think that Worm is still my favourite, but only just. It doesn't *quite* manage to stick the landing at the end as well as Worm did, but it is still an excellent ending, and as a whole Twig is more consistently excellent in how it is written. There are some uneven patches, like the early arcs stretching on for a bit too long, but nothing that takes away from it enough for me to give it anything other than five stars.
This is a coming of age story following a group of experimental children into adulthood, as they work for the academies to destroy, undermine or subvert their enemies and prevent precious scientific secrets from escaping into the wider world. The main character is Sylvester, the endlessly adaptable social glue that helps hold the group together, with his incredibly malleable brain that lets him learn incredibly quickly at the cost of long-term retention and memory.
Sylvester is an absolute delight to read due to his wicked sense of humour, childish innocence contrasting with his enforced maturity due to trauma, while his nasty edge that even unnerves his friends clashes with his fierce loyalty to those he cares about. The entire main cast of the Lambs are fantastic, and the character dynamics are the best Wildbow has ever written.
It is tricky to compare them, but I would say that Sylvester is my absolute favourite Wildbow protagonist and Twig is even better written than Worm. That said, I think that Worm is still my favourite, but only just. It doesn't *quite* manage to stick the landing at the end as well as Worm did, but it is still an excellent ending, and as a whole Twig is more consistently excellent in how it is written. There are some uneven patches, like the early arcs stretching on for a bit too long, but nothing that takes away from it enough for me to give it anything other than five stars.
August 14, 2024
Downsides:
* Twig is a very long series (20 books). And the quality does not decline.
* Very violent & gruesome. You'll see most parts of the body mutilated or abused in the most horrible ways. Definitely not for everyone.
* There was a point later on where it really did get too sad.
Upsides:
* There are a lot of action thrillers where characters try to outsmart each other, but this one is on another level. It treads new ground in how characters with superhuman intelligence might interact, but also presents these highly abstract ideas via very grounded, sensory-focused action scenes. The characters boil chaos down to strategies that can recontextualize how you look at ALL fictional conflicts (eg, bug in a box, the ally/enemy/hostage trichotomy, the disguise + sniper strategy, exotic bioweapon strategies...).
* After taking a break from Stormlight, i thought i wasn't in the mood for long series. But Twig really was worth the word count for me. Sometimes reading an action series is like watching sports, but better. This is the coolest steampunk story that i have ever heard of.
* Watching the Lambs take over & run an organization is just awesome.
* Twig is a very long series (20 books). And the quality does not decline.
* Very violent & gruesome. You'll see most parts of the body mutilated or abused in the most horrible ways. Definitely not for everyone.
* There was a point later on where it really did get too sad.
Upsides:
* There are a lot of action thrillers where characters try to outsmart each other, but this one is on another level. It treads new ground in how characters with superhuman intelligence might interact, but also presents these highly abstract ideas via very grounded, sensory-focused action scenes. The characters boil chaos down to strategies that can recontextualize how you look at ALL fictional conflicts (eg, bug in a box, the ally/enemy/hostage trichotomy, the disguise + sniper strategy, exotic bioweapon strategies...).
* After taking a break from Stormlight, i thought i wasn't in the mood for long series. But Twig really was worth the word count for me. Sometimes reading an action series is like watching sports, but better. This is the coolest steampunk story that i have ever heard of.
* Watching the Lambs take over & run an organization is just awesome.
March 20, 2018
Twig is a coming-of-age story that follows Sylvester and the Lambsbridge Orphans as they make their way through a dystopian world where biology was mastered and human rights fell somewhere by the wayside. Since it is a Wildbow story, there are the expected protagonist suffering, moral quandaries, body horror, and heartrending moments.
Twig is a story that is all about it’s characters and how they grow or regress. It’s not about the huge scale and intricate worldbuilding seen in Wildbow’s other stories, it’s all about the character arcs. The amount of character beats that occur every chapter is astounding. Each arc is self-contained and has its own establishing chapter, escalation, climax, falling action and resolution, while the characters progress over the course of the entire story.
While worldbuilding is not the primary focus, the setting of Twig is very interesting. While I will try to avoid spoilers, you may not want to read this paragraph if you’re planning on reading this book. Twig set in the 1920’s in the Crown States of America. The Crown, with it’s biological prowess, had successfully crushed the revolution. The world in Twig reminds of Westerfeld's Leviathan series, but if the increases in technology are followed to their logical conclusions. A society of mad scientists with minimal regard for ethics can do lot of messed up things. Reanimated dead used for servants, who may have some brain function and limited sentience left, but have no rights. Children and people in general are experimented on against their will. Organ and limb harvesting from the dead or alive. Sapient non-human beings. Widespread use of poisons, parasites and plague. And since it’s Wildbow, you can expect some really, really messed up stuff. I personally found the setting to be fascinating, and a welcome break from the modern settings of Worm and Pact.
Twig is also something of an experiment for Wildbow to try out more humor and romance. He does this very well, with a lot of banter between the characters, as well as an absurd amount of unique dick jokes. The characters play off each other so well, and it always gets a laugh out of me.
The pacing of Twig is quite good as well. Gut punches and horror are well balanced by moments of levity and relaxed dialogue between the characters. I found that this balance helped make the emotional scenes of this story hit harder than a story like Pact, where it is non-stop escalation and suffering. I would put the pacing of Twig just slightly slower than Worm.
My one complaint about Twig is sometimes facts are hidden from the reader when the POV character knows. This was jarring a few times in the earlier arcs, but I found that they became less common and could be taken in stride as the story progressed.
If Twig was rated as a novel, the editing issues would knock off a star. However, as a web serial that is updated 2-3 times a week, Twig is absolutely fantastic and the writing quality is great. Wildbow has clearly improved since writing Worm and Pact, and his improvement is clear when you read Twig. The quality of his writing is very consistent.
5/5 Great story
Twig is a story that is all about it’s characters and how they grow or regress. It’s not about the huge scale and intricate worldbuilding seen in Wildbow’s other stories, it’s all about the character arcs. The amount of character beats that occur every chapter is astounding. Each arc is self-contained and has its own establishing chapter, escalation, climax, falling action and resolution, while the characters progress over the course of the entire story.
While worldbuilding is not the primary focus, the setting of Twig is very interesting. While I will try to avoid spoilers, you may not want to read this paragraph if you’re planning on reading this book. Twig set in the 1920’s in the Crown States of America. The Crown, with it’s biological prowess, had successfully crushed the revolution. The world in Twig reminds of Westerfeld's Leviathan series, but if the increases in technology are followed to their logical conclusions. A society of mad scientists with minimal regard for ethics can do lot of messed up things. Reanimated dead used for servants, who may have some brain function and limited sentience left, but have no rights. Children and people in general are experimented on against their will. Organ and limb harvesting from the dead or alive. Sapient non-human beings. Widespread use of poisons, parasites and plague. And since it’s Wildbow, you can expect some really, really messed up stuff. I personally found the setting to be fascinating, and a welcome break from the modern settings of Worm and Pact.
Twig is also something of an experiment for Wildbow to try out more humor and romance. He does this very well, with a lot of banter between the characters, as well as an absurd amount of unique dick jokes. The characters play off each other so well, and it always gets a laugh out of me.
The pacing of Twig is quite good as well. Gut punches and horror are well balanced by moments of levity and relaxed dialogue between the characters. I found that this balance helped make the emotional scenes of this story hit harder than a story like Pact, where it is non-stop escalation and suffering. I would put the pacing of Twig just slightly slower than Worm.
My one complaint about Twig is sometimes facts are hidden from the reader when the POV character knows. This was jarring a few times in the earlier arcs, but I found that they became less common and could be taken in stride as the story progressed.
If Twig was rated as a novel, the editing issues would knock off a star. However, as a web serial that is updated 2-3 times a week, Twig is absolutely fantastic and the writing quality is great. Wildbow has clearly improved since writing Worm and Pact, and his improvement is clear when you read Twig. The quality of his writing is very consistent.
5/5 Great story
January 27, 2022
Twig is an astonishingly vast and complex story following the adventures of a team of children in a gray-and-grey dystopian world. The settings is a unique combination of Nineteen Eighty-Four, Brave New World, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein never seen before. Three times as large as War and Peace, Twig is a truly moving and thought-provoking story that explores lots of broad topics no other environment would be able to unveil.
The colossal amount of work put into character development, world-building, and plot progression is astounding. This shows from the first chapter, when the work starts in medias res and things slowly start making sense, and to the epilogue, parts of which have been foreshadowed from the first arc.
Twig has the exact right mix of desperation, loneliness, gore and insanity on the one side and wit, friendly banter, hope and belief on the other side to deliver the message it aims to while not pushing the readers away, although it is hard to get through mentally at times. The emotions feel raw and natural all the time, and that says something for a setting so bleak.
The novel raises multiple questions a lifetime is not enough for. In a world where oh too many people barely get by and the whole system is built on lies and deception, there is no right and wrong answer. Good and evil are not so dissimilar when the world is tumbling head over heels into the valley of despair. Universal truths don't apply when a corpse is oft worth more than a living being. When multiple characters give a take on designing their utopia, their twisted views strike you as odd, right until you realize that, in fact, little better is possible in a dark world like Twig's.
When doing the right thing leads to crises, when you work hard to take the situation in your heads only to realize that getting control of the steering wheel of a nation does not help change the world for the better, it is only natural that people start breaking down. Just like Worm, an earlier Wildbow's work, Twig explores the aftermath of this wreckage and the herculean effort to stop Atlas from falling to his knees. An unnerving plot line, vast character interactions and their warped perspectives help sell the picture.
When nothing awaits ninety percent of the population in the future, most people give up trying. Some learn the bitter truth and drive themselves mad, others appeal to the belief in the humanity and nature, and others still have faith in God. Twig is about how to get past the point of no return and keep going, never quite reaching the goal. It's about how to lose everything dear to you and keep trying as you might, working for the better future for you and yours, even if the "you" is not the person you were at the beginning of the road.
The colossal amount of work put into character development, world-building, and plot progression is astounding. This shows from the first chapter, when the work starts in medias res and things slowly start making sense, and to the epilogue, parts of which have been foreshadowed from the first arc.
Twig has the exact right mix of desperation, loneliness, gore and insanity on the one side and wit, friendly banter, hope and belief on the other side to deliver the message it aims to while not pushing the readers away, although it is hard to get through mentally at times. The emotions feel raw and natural all the time, and that says something for a setting so bleak.
The novel raises multiple questions a lifetime is not enough for. In a world where oh too many people barely get by and the whole system is built on lies and deception, there is no right and wrong answer. Good and evil are not so dissimilar when the world is tumbling head over heels into the valley of despair. Universal truths don't apply when a corpse is oft worth more than a living being. When multiple characters give a take on designing their utopia, their twisted views strike you as odd, right until you realize that, in fact, little better is possible in a dark world like Twig's.
When doing the right thing leads to crises, when you work hard to take the situation in your heads only to realize that getting control of the steering wheel of a nation does not help change the world for the better, it is only natural that people start breaking down. Just like Worm, an earlier Wildbow's work, Twig explores the aftermath of this wreckage and the herculean effort to stop Atlas from falling to his knees. An unnerving plot line, vast character interactions and their warped perspectives help sell the picture.
When nothing awaits ninety percent of the population in the future, most people give up trying. Some learn the bitter truth and drive themselves mad, others appeal to the belief in the humanity and nature, and others still have faith in God. Twig is about how to get past the point of no return and keep going, never quite reaching the goal. It's about how to lose everything dear to you and keep trying as you might, working for the better future for you and yours, even if the "you" is not the person you were at the beginning of the road.
June 3, 2021
Fantastic world-building. Interesting characters. Great plotline. The writing is compelling. It's just... it's just too long, as a novel. There's too much. The most interesting ideas are dropped, while the Big Reveal is somewhat underwhelming (and then goes on to be the central focus of the book).
With some solid editing this could be simmered and reduced into one of the best novels of all time. As a series of short stories, it's fantastic - the main character's poor memory gives the author a chance to remind you of things that happened in a way that feels natural. This works great if you have a poor memory (like myself), or if you're reading this over the course of months or years (as you would with a web serial).
I'd recommend reading this one arc at a time, and treating them as somewhat independent short stories. The arcs themselves are fantastically structured, but they lose a bit of their luster when stitched together into a novel.
With some solid editing this could be simmered and reduced into one of the best novels of all time. As a series of short stories, it's fantastic - the main character's poor memory gives the author a chance to remind you of things that happened in a way that feels natural. This works great if you have a poor memory (like myself), or if you're reading this over the course of months or years (as you would with a web serial).
I'd recommend reading this one arc at a time, and treating them as somewhat independent short stories. The arcs themselves are fantastically structured, but they lose a bit of their luster when stitched together into a novel.
August 7, 2018
By far the best of Wildbows stuff. It manages to straddle the line between romance, horror, comedy, and so many other genres.
Sylvester is an incredibly deep protagonist, and sinking into his twisted psyche is both challenging and gratifying. The interactions between the main cast are fantastic, and the way they develop over the course of the book is intense and incredible. Certain characters change in merely superficial ways, while others undergo deep, fundamental shifts.
This is really the best book to demonstrate Wildbow's prowess as an author. His characters in this work are by far his best, and this shows in their interactions. Setting, tone, and plot are excellent. The only point that could be worked on is pacing, as the style and pacing shift several times throughout the story.
Sylvester is an incredibly deep protagonist, and sinking into his twisted psyche is both challenging and gratifying. The interactions between the main cast are fantastic, and the way they develop over the course of the book is intense and incredible. Certain characters change in merely superficial ways, while others undergo deep, fundamental shifts.
This is really the best book to demonstrate Wildbow's prowess as an author. His characters in this work are by far his best, and this shows in their interactions. Setting, tone, and plot are excellent. The only point that could be worked on is pacing, as the style and pacing shift several times throughout the story.
February 21, 2018
The only other books I can compare this are his previous two - "Worm" and "Pact". It's deeper than "Worm", and not as forced as "Pact", doesn't let you stop reading, and is full of interesting and horrifying moments.
It's worth the time spent reading.
It's worth the time spent reading.
February 21, 2020
I love the heck out of this book. The serial format is addictive, the character building is fantastic, and the plot and premise is creative.
February 15, 2025
I have been reading Twig for a long time. And now it is over. Dang. This is how I always feel at the end of Wildbow's stories. Just a little disoriented, but not unpleasantly.
Overall, amazingly evocative storytelling. The scene at the beginning with the endless rain of Radham, of small children outsmarting a man who has illegally made a monster, and how they are covered in wax that cracks as they smile and frown will live rent-free in my brain. And the expiration dates. What a soul-crushing discovery.
The most interesting thing is the relationships of the Lambs as a group, and the premise of the main character, a young man who can adapt himself to nearly any situation. A manipulator who cares deeply about his friends, and will fight with every dirty trick in the book to get what he wants. His hands are slippery, and he struggles to keep hold on what he wants: purpose, the Lambs, sanity, and himself. Sy's greatest strength: the ability to mold himself with a poisonous drug called Wyvern, is also his greatest weakness.
I won't go into details, but I enjoyed the emotional closeness of the Lambs. Also the emotional closeness and emotional intimacy Sy had with others. I wasn't such a fan of the adult situations, they were a bit explicit and toxic, which sort of makes sense for the "broken people" line Lillian gives at one point, but still. That keeps me from giving it 5 stars, along with some moments that went a bit far. The ending left something to be desired, but the author note explains why, which makes sense. Burnout is no joke, but I'm still impressed what Wildbow could do while dealing with burnout.
I'd recommend "Worm" or "Pact" over this one for first-time readers of Wildbow's work, this one is pretty grotesque at points, with the bio-engineered creatures and gore. Maybe not for everyone in that regard.
*Spoiler*
We hear so much about "Good Simon" from Ashton that we don't realize until the end how we were reading the story of "Bad Simon" haha
Overall, amazingly evocative storytelling. The scene at the beginning with the endless rain of Radham, of small children outsmarting a man who has illegally made a monster, and how they are covered in wax that cracks as they smile and frown will live rent-free in my brain. And the expiration dates. What a soul-crushing discovery.
The most interesting thing is the relationships of the Lambs as a group, and the premise of the main character, a young man who can adapt himself to nearly any situation. A manipulator who cares deeply about his friends, and will fight with every dirty trick in the book to get what he wants. His hands are slippery, and he struggles to keep hold on what he wants: purpose, the Lambs, sanity, and himself. Sy's greatest strength: the ability to mold himself with a poisonous drug called Wyvern, is also his greatest weakness.
I won't go into details, but I enjoyed the emotional closeness of the Lambs. Also the emotional closeness and emotional intimacy Sy had with others. I wasn't such a fan of the adult situations, they were a bit explicit and toxic, which sort of makes sense for the "broken people" line Lillian gives at one point, but still. That keeps me from giving it 5 stars, along with some moments that went a bit far. The ending left something to be desired, but the author note explains why, which makes sense. Burnout is no joke, but I'm still impressed what Wildbow could do while dealing with burnout.
I'd recommend "Worm" or "Pact" over this one for first-time readers of Wildbow's work, this one is pretty grotesque at points, with the bio-engineered creatures and gore. Maybe not for everyone in that regard.
*Spoiler*
We hear so much about "Good Simon" from Ashton that we don't realize until the end how we were reading the story of "Bad Simon" haha
November 25, 2024
4 / 5
Hoo boy, what a journey. Kinda hard to give an overall rating on this, since my feelings super varied over the arcs, especially at the end. Gonna give it a slightly higher rating since I overall enjoyed it more, up until the end.
Arcs 1-6 were 4.75/5, unquestionably. I really really vibed with the monster of the week format, and I adored the whole gang and getting to know them and their dynamic. I loved every single one of the Lambs, and the interplay of the relationships to eachother as a team and family. I especially liked Sy, the sh** stirrer who treasured his family of Lambs so deeply, and cautious sweet bookworm Jamie. Like, absolutely adored Jamie beyond all reason, and especially loved the best-friendship between Jamie and Sy. I found the introduction to the world fascinating, and was supremely intrigued by Sy's whole deal with mental fluidity, manipulation, and reading of others/prediction, especially paired with his absolute uselessness in physical combat.
Arcs 7-10: 4 / 5. Still good and compelling, High score for how compelling that heartbreak was, and the continued developments, but lower score because it was not as fun as the earlier arcs because, again, heartbreaking, spontaneous crying at 3am etc etc
Arcs 11 - 14: 4.25 / 5. Enjoyed these a lot, entirely due to the focus on developing the relationship
Arcs 15-17: 4 / 5. I adored , 4 stars for her and her dynamic with Sy alone, loved her, loved their banter, loved loved loved. Would have liked more scenes with her taking more agency and them discussing their long term plans, since the perspective we get is more of her - as she puts it - "keeping up" with Sy and going along with him in the moment, while we know from Sy's reflections that he sees them as equal peers and partners who equally collaborate in their planning; would've loved to see that more in action than what we got. Subtracting a star because I did not care about the rest of the plot at all with the building of the rebellion and felt neutral at best about the new replacement characters to fill in for the other Lambs, and the growing bleakness was definitely getting to me.
Arcs 18-20 + epilogue: 2 / 5, and it would've been lower without the earlier arcs and my preestablished love for the cast. Still not a fan of the rebellion plot, and the further dive bomb into bleakness made this a struggle to get through. I very strongly considered stopping at the end of arc 19, since I wasn't convinced that the ending was gonna be one that was happy enough for me. I did end up finishing, and have definitely mixed feelings on the overall ending, as someone who's not a fan of bittersweet endings.
Overall - wholeheartedly loved the beginning, hurt a bit in the next quarter but was still very much on the ride, and was back to having a good enough time in the 3rd act based solely on the two leadmost characters, but all that high rising left me in free fall for the ending quarterish, at an uneasy ending that I'm choosing to interpret in the most positive way possible to keep it from wrecking me.
In the end, I'd say I enjoyed it, but would only probably reread the beginning and the middle arcs , and would skip the end entirely without hesitation. Which is a shame, because based on the beginning and moments in the middle, there's absolutely a world where this could have been an unquestionable 5 stars and earned a place in my all time favorites re-readables roster.
Gonna be stewing on this one for awhile, I think, much like with Worm.
Hoo boy, what a journey. Kinda hard to give an overall rating on this, since my feelings super varied over the arcs, especially at the end. Gonna give it a slightly higher rating since I overall enjoyed it more, up until the end.
Arcs 1-6 were 4.75/5, unquestionably. I really really vibed with the monster of the week format, and I adored the whole gang and getting to know them and their dynamic. I loved every single one of the Lambs, and the interplay of the relationships to eachother as a team and family. I especially liked Sy, the sh** stirrer who treasured his family of Lambs so deeply, and cautious sweet bookworm Jamie. Like, absolutely adored Jamie beyond all reason, and especially loved the best-friendship between Jamie and Sy. I found the introduction to the world fascinating, and was supremely intrigued by Sy's whole deal with mental fluidity, manipulation, and reading of others/prediction, especially paired with his absolute uselessness in physical combat.
Arcs 7-10: 4 / 5. Still good and compelling, High score for how compelling that heartbreak was, and the continued developments, but lower score because it was not as fun as the earlier arcs because, again, heartbreaking, spontaneous crying at 3am etc etc
Arcs 11 - 14: 4.25 / 5. Enjoyed these a lot, entirely due to the focus on developing the relationship
Arcs 15-17: 4 / 5. I adored , 4 stars for her and her dynamic with Sy alone, loved her, loved their banter, loved loved loved. Would have liked more scenes with her taking more agency and them discussing their long term plans, since the perspective we get is more of her - as she puts it - "keeping up" with Sy and going along with him in the moment, while we know from Sy's reflections that he sees them as equal peers and partners who equally collaborate in their planning; would've loved to see that more in action than what we got. Subtracting a star because I did not care about the rest of the plot at all with the building of the rebellion and felt neutral at best about the new replacement characters to fill in for the other Lambs, and the growing bleakness was definitely getting to me.
Arcs 18-20 + epilogue: 2 / 5, and it would've been lower without the earlier arcs and my preestablished love for the cast. Still not a fan of the rebellion plot, and the further dive bomb into bleakness made this a struggle to get through. I very strongly considered stopping at the end of arc 19, since I wasn't convinced that the ending was gonna be one that was happy enough for me. I did end up finishing, and have definitely mixed feelings on the overall ending, as someone who's not a fan of bittersweet endings.
Overall - wholeheartedly loved the beginning, hurt a bit in the next quarter but was still very much on the ride, and was back to having a good enough time in the 3rd act based solely on the two leadmost characters, but all that high rising left me in free fall for the ending quarterish, at an uneasy ending that I'm choosing to interpret in the most positive way possible to keep it from wrecking me.
In the end, I'd say I enjoyed it, but would only probably reread the beginning and the middle arcs , and would skip the end entirely without hesitation. Which is a shame, because based on the beginning and moments in the middle, there's absolutely a world where this could have been an unquestionable 5 stars and earned a place in my all time favorites re-readables roster.
Gonna be stewing on this one for awhile, I think, much like with Worm.
November 11, 2017
Un setting muy original e interesante. Para mí, el "biopunk" y sus distintas facetas son lo mejor de esta novela, aunque no siempre sean consistentes. Los primordiales son un concepto particularmente entretenido, una versión biológica más acotada del concepto de riesgo de AI takeoff.
Personajes bastante variados sobre diversas dimensiones y con considerable desarrollo a lo largo de la novela.
Me pareció demasiado larga. Se me hizo particularmente difícil de leer por la simpatía moral de los protagonistas: en general faltante, defectuosa, o enfocada solo a ciertos grupos. Varias veces, el protagonista sobrevive o tiene éxito en sus planes solo porque sus enemigos parecen tener mucha menos disposición a causar daño que la que él muestra repetidamente; en casos donde se sabe que estos enemigos no tienen muchos escrúpulos, este tipo de comportamiento hace parecer que llevan la Idiot ball.
Personajes bastante variados sobre diversas dimensiones y con considerable desarrollo a lo largo de la novela.
Me pareció demasiado larga. Se me hizo particularmente difícil de leer por la simpatía moral de los protagonistas: en general faltante, defectuosa, o enfocada solo a ciertos grupos. Varias veces, el protagonista sobrevive o tiene éxito en sus planes solo porque sus enemigos parecen tener mucha menos disposición a causar daño que la que él muestra repetidamente; en casos donde se sabe que estos enemigos no tienen muchos escrúpulos, este tipo de comportamiento hace parecer que llevan la Idiot ball.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 18, 2022
angst. angst angst angst angst angst body horror angst.
i love slowburn agonizing character change and interpersonal dynamics and this is a deadly deadly webnovel. the usual wildbow doom spiral hurts; this one seems to SAVOR crushing our protagonist into barely-recognizable pieces of his former self especially.
honestly there are some pacing things and a few weirdly explained bits but there's no way i can stomach anything but a full 5 stars. the beginning's kind of rough but the characters come into depth, as usual, and i'll probably enjoy the earlier chapters on reread because of that.
also the existence of jessie is a big plus . i love that she gets to have blanket cocoons, specifically.
i love slowburn agonizing character change and interpersonal dynamics and this is a deadly deadly webnovel. the usual wildbow doom spiral hurts; this one seems to SAVOR crushing our protagonist into barely-recognizable pieces of his former self especially.
honestly there are some pacing things and a few weirdly explained bits but there's no way i can stomach anything but a full 5 stars. the beginning's kind of rough but the characters come into depth, as usual, and i'll probably enjoy the earlier chapters on reread because of that.
also the existence of jessie is a big plus . i love that she gets to have blanket cocoons, specifically.
October 18, 2017
A small team of "experiments", the Lambsbridge orphans, are tasked as trouble shooters to solve tricky problems for the local Academy. Victorian era biopunk.
Gets pretty dark in places, as the stakes keep getting bigger, and the inventiveness of Academy science knows few bounds. Wildbow does like to torture his protagonists.
The main protagonist is given sub-lethal doses of a brain plasticity drug, so is supposed to be very flexible, and as a side effect, quite unreliable. The occasional interludes from the perspective of enemies and other team members are particularly wonderful.
A 1.6 million word free online story, told in serial form over the last few years.
Gets pretty dark in places, as the stakes keep getting bigger, and the inventiveness of Academy science knows few bounds. Wildbow does like to torture his protagonists.
The main protagonist is given sub-lethal doses of a brain plasticity drug, so is supposed to be very flexible, and as a side effect, quite unreliable. The occasional interludes from the perspective of enemies and other team members are particularly wonderful.
A 1.6 million word free online story, told in serial form over the last few years.
August 16, 2020
A bio-punk epic about a coming of age story. The unreliable narrator at times gives you a sense of unease. Not the strongest start of Wildbows works and has a bit of a monster of the week vibe a first, but grows over time. The characters a wonderful and fleshed out. This is a dark story that will suck you in.
January 10, 2022
The best biopunk on the market. The book has some of the best characterisations of any work; the author is very good with tone and atmosphere; Wildbow is the best modern author that uses unreliable narrator technique extensively — I believe it helps characterisation significantly. I did not particularly enjoy the final plot twist, but the book is still worth reading.
August 10, 2023
7.5/10 I yet again like the web serial format and read this one fast. Wasn't as good as worm and was pretty repetitive for how long it was, especially the first 6 arcs and arcs 12-17ish. Relationships were written really well actually which is surprising and brings the rating up quite a bit. Pretty good last few arcs and alright ending
June 26, 2021
Just great. Very strong writing that evokes strong, specific emotions that you almost never feel from reading books or consuming media. If the author managed to publish an edited version of this, I wouldn't be surprised if it is considered a modern masterpiece by many.
dropped
October 13, 2021As far as i remember i liked it (after getting used to the characters i enjoyed it a lot!) but it was very long, and at the end (of where i stopped reading) the development of the main character was just not something i could stand
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 29, 2025
Solid read again. Tookme a while to get trough it but it's worth it. Especially the last third. I don't even know where to start with what would and would not spoil. But if you liked Worm then yes this one
January 19, 2018
Super good! Wildbow continues to grow as an author, and the interpersonal stuff written in Twig is just fantastic. Looking forward to seeing all this growth applied in Ward.
September 4, 2018
Plausibly better than Worm, which is saying a lot
August 20, 2019
I loved this book. The characters and world were so interesting, and the humor was great. It never felt like it was stretching on too long either, it was a good length.
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