I think it’s about time for this! :)
In case you’re unaware, Chandler Groover is the author of the following Exceptional Stories:
I would also like to point y’all to the interactive fiction on his website. Some curious little nuggets among them.
edited by phryne on 1/11/2021
Foxes?
My favorite Exceptional Stories are Lost in Reflections, Cricket Anyone? and Por Una Cabeza. That already speaks to Groover’s genius.
Weasels. And add one to the appreciation choir.
The stories were fantastic in terms of writing, evocative, non-confusing and gave you the opportunity for a non-distressing ending. Plus they actually allowed you to use your items, qualities and reputation. I was enchanted every time.
Hope it’s not bad form to revive an old thread, but I’ve been catching up with ES during quarantine and after playing a lot (like, a lot a lot), finally saw the author list and discovered all my faves are by the same author. (Cricket is my ultimate fave but I LOVED Kingdom for a Pig and I just finished Rat-Catcher and god that bad idea ending, chefs kiss.) Just wanted to take a moment to express my appreciation and satisfaction for such well-written, intricate stories with so many moving parts and deep lore and very real choices and changes.
I’m planning to go buy their Choice of Games game and the one on Steam now, if anyone knows any other ways to monetarily support them and their career (Chandler Groover seems like a pseud, there’s not much social media out there) please PM me!
[quote=snape]Hope it’s not bad form to revive an old thread, but I’ve been catching up with ES during quarantine and after playing a lot (like, a lot a lot), finally saw the author list and discovered all my faves are by the same author. (Cricket is my ultimate fave but I LOVED Kingdom for a Pig and I just finished Rat-Catcher and god that bad idea ending, chefs kiss.) Just wanted to take a moment to express my appreciation and satisfaction for such well-written, intricate stories with so many moving parts and deep lore and very real choices and changes.
I’m planning to go buy their Choice of Games game and the one on Steam now, if anyone knows any other ways to monetarily support them and their career (Chandler Groover seems like a pseud, there’s not much social media out there) please PM me![/quote]
Not sure if it’s been linked before, but check out http://www.castleprincessdragon.com/ for his stuff. He has traditional fiction, free pieces of interactive fiction and a link to the game on Steam. The stuff I’ve gotten around to checking out is quite neat.
[quote=phryne]I think it’s about time for this! :)
In case you’re unaware, Chandler Groover is the author of the following Exceptional Stories:
… i. e. the four most fascinating Exceptional Stories ever, give or take a few. ;)
Currently, the most pressing question is, of course: after rats, bats, cricket(s), pigs and slugs, which animal will take center-stage in his next story?
I would also like to point y’all to the interactive fiction on his website. Some curious little nuggets among them.[/quote]
Snakes. My money’s on snakes, it’s high time the lore revisit that Hound of Heaven you can make for the Bishop through unspeakable acts of animal husbandry.
Cricket and pig stories were great, but I did not like the slug lady, and I did not like being railroaded into helping her win.
Well,
She already had won by the time the story started. You did not help or hinder her in any way.
edited by NotaWalrus on 6/3/2020
Yeah, that one definitely gave the feeling of “if everything you do is irrelevant, why are we even playing this”. It ends with us alone on a boat, I should be able to kill her and destroy the body so she can’t return, my character has got the skills for that :)
His interactive fiction (linked on the website above) is really great. Toby’s Nose was one of my favorites before I even started to play Fallen London, and then he turned up here too.
Thank you for the site! I think I will spent hours on that. And let me check the Steam game too…
[quote=phryne]Currently, the most pressing question is, of course: after rats, bats, cricket(s), pigs and slugs, which animal will take center-stage in his next story?[/quote]And the answer is… clothes! :D
Groover you absolute madlad. You did it. I hate the liberation of night and you guided me to a choice that advances it and I’M NOT MAD. I’m delighted at this. The Paisley lives on in London and advances the thing I hate and yet I’m glad that it does. Its very presence makes the city more marvelous and I’m happy for it to make its own choices.
With Caveat Emptor, which I consider a masterpice of gothic writing and brilliant handling of atmosphere, we can add ticks, leeches and other bloodsuckers.
Another home run, I’d say!
Cricket and Pig definitely number among my top 10 favourite Exceptional Stories ever, if not my top 5. Personally I’d love it if Chandler revisits pigs again, we’ve dealt with a domesticated pig but we still have yet to go on an adventure with a proper wild boar!
While I agree and I believe I made the same choice, I must say that it REALLY helps thanks to advanced Railway content there is a repeatable means to lower down my Advancing the Liberation of Night until I’m once again delaying it.
Well, I loved Caveat, so I may have to check out his other work.
Chandler receives a lot of praise on here, which is thoroughly earned in every category. His impeccable prose that could carry stories on its own. His incredible grasp of Fallen London’s tone, everything that makes the game so appealing. His penchant for working in often-obscure items and qualities, tying each story to the larger world. His creative story ideas, merging low-stakes whimsy with central themes and lore. Right now, though, I’d like to touch on what makes Chandler’s work stand out most for me: an innovative use of Fallen London’s mechanics that make his work both story and game.
So many exceptional stories are like reading a book. A choose-your-own-adventure book, granted, but a book nonetheless. Start with the introduction and read until the end, deciding whether to read page 118 or 119. Decide how the story ends and flip to the appropriate epilogue. The writing is often excellent, the fiction is still interactive, but tacked-on item rewards does not a game make. The story occurs across time; we just choose whichever next scene appeals.
Chandler’s stories occur across both space and time. A storylet is not always a discrete point in time, but a location with depth beyond what the current scene requires, something that can change or be revisited with new context. The final area of The Rat-Catcher, descending and ascending through the same rooms; Cricket’s University campus to explore and solve; Kingdom alternating of location until we transcend the need for it; Por una Cabenza’s villa, ever-present as our understanding of the race changes; Paisley’s many settings with changing room; now Caveat Emptor’s foundation, if you will, in lodgings. Certainly we don’t watch our characters travel to Veilgarden to spend two actions, and if we need to build up progress, the journey matters just as much as the destination. We explore space alongside our characters.
(Admittedly, a few other ESes do use space to similar degrees, creating elaborate settings where we must take certain actions in order to progress. Unfortunately those tend to neglect time instead, creating static environments home to a glorified button puzzle. It’s an escape room where the reward of freedom is the next scene.)
Goodness, if only i had the time to discuss my other observations in such detail! So, some other decisions that stood out to me in brief. Cricket and Por una Cabenza’s approaches to a central mystery, allowing it to be unraveled from multiple angles. Kingdom’s method of choice by whittling down possibilities, and its expansion of story into QLDs, returning in Caveat Emptor. Por una Cabena playing with Fallen London’s reliance on luck-based challenge. Paisley giving narrative weight to the act of outfit selection, something normally treated as an extension of a character’s stats. Caveat Emptor hijacking the Lodgings system for narrative. And when I find time to replay all these, I expect to find even more!
It’s been a pleasure, Chandler, and I can’t wait for the next experience.
Well, it is my understanding that Groover had some input in the writing of the Hurlers, and I think I can see where the fingerprints are. I will not delve into spoilers, but I will say this: When the Discordance was first introduced, I was very skeptical about it. It seemed like a flaccid attempt at recreating the magic of the Correspondence back when its true nature was deep lore. Just a chillier flavor of the same magic system. The new content has thoroughly changed my mind, to the point where I consider the Discordance the best addition to the lore we’ve had in years. The content in the Hurlers has subverted my expectations in the best of ways and genuinely feels like I’m delving into forbidden knowledge with its obscure yet fair mechanics and it’s evocative, self-contradictory writing.
I do not know how much of the credit for this achievement is due to the Groover and how much is other writers, but this is the Chandler Groover appreciation thread, so I will appreciate.