FimFiction Link - Short ID: 507663/there-is-nothing-new-under-the-sun
Published: Nov '21
Clocking in at 3200 words in a single chapter, "There is Nothing New Under the Sun" comes from the mind of our own resident Reviewfilly, featuring Celestia revealing the dark history of Equestria to Twilight over a cup of tea.
Nothing New is what I would call a "headcanon delivery fic", utilizing the format of a Slice-of-Life character piece as a vehicle for exploring a lore theory. The great strength of this approach is the ability to stimulate the reader's imagination, starting them down a trail of ideas without needing to invest in a hundred thousand-word novel to fully explore it.
On the other hand, the weakness of this approach is that since the fic itself is secondary to the theory, there is very little of substance to review outside of engaging in a headcanon debate. It's sort of like going to a funeral and critiquing the hearse: unless something is very clearly wrong with the vehicle, the cargo is the important part. Nothing New has its moments where its prose rubs me the wrong way, but ultimately I am not certain if these are proper flaws or merely a conflict of personal approaches between myself and the author. Nigh-omnipotent should be spelled with a hyphen, though. Fortunately, most of these issues are front-loaded, and the story hits a comfortable stride right as it gets into the meat of its proposition, which in turn is delivered with a deft mix of details and dangling threads, giving the reader a solid grasp of the notion while also leaves myriad doors open for speculation.
Overall, There is Nothing New Under the Sun is a commendable early showing from a reviewer that nutted up and put his own work on the line. Number/Bigger Number, worth a ponder.