Today’s story will shake things up… perhaps even more than it intended.

Eclipse
[Adventure] • 64,552 words

A recurring nightmare convinces Luna that, since her return, she has never regained her sister’s complete trust. And at the forthcoming Festival of the Eclipse, she decides to make amends with a bold gesture.

But Luna’s solution causes consequences she never anticipated. Consequences the whole world will feel. Now, Celestia and Luna must set forth on an adventure that will take them even into Tartarus itself, and set everything right before it’s too late.

And if they’re lucky, they’ll rediscover the trust they once had a thousand years ago.

FROM THE CURATORS: Often, there’s one particular aspect of a story which catches the eye of all the RCL curators.  Unusually, all of us seemed to find something different to love about Eclipse.  Chris highlighted the worldbuilding that went into the story, saying it “offers an excellently conceived picture of Tartarus which draws upon both Greek mythology and modern theology, and does some simply excellent stuff with dragons, including race relations and general worldview.”  John Perry agreed that the worldbuilding was good, but went on to add, “But more important is the handling of the plot, and that is where this story shines.”  Present Perfect went a third direction, focusing on the characters: “Everything about the dragons was handled superbly,” he said, “from their society to their individual viewpoints, and Valkyrie’s character arc ended up being well wrought.”

But even though we all had different “favorite” story elements, one thing we agreed on was that they all came together beautifully.  “This guy may be one of those writers who’s equally good at everything, as adept at writing Pinkie and comedy as he is action and adventure,” mused Present Perfect, and he wasn’t alone in the sentiment.  “Every chapter left me wanting more,” as John Perry put it.  At one point while reading, Present Perfect even paused to declare, “this is one of the greatest scenes I have ever had the honor and pleasure to read.”

Read on for our author interview, in which 8686 discusses royal readers, the difference between cruelty and indifference, and Alpha and Beta scenes.

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