My feelings, as I worked my way through all the available installments of "One Last Autumn," kept changing as I went. When I started, I was fairly apathetic, in that the first installment didn’t make me an instant fan. However, it did nothing to dissuade me from continuing to read, and that’s mostly all I need out of beginnings, whether they’re books or online fiction or what-have-you. Unless something actually stops me reading, I’ll keep going.

I was mildly irritated with the way that all of the dialogue was done in a different color than the body of the text. Not badly, but it was distracting, because it was constantly noticeable. However, I went from irritated to very-much-in-favor-of later, as the story advanced and the use of color got extremely clever. It works really brilliantly and after awhile, you don’t stop noticing the colors but you start associating them with different parts of the story. The colors, all by themselves, add to the mood and bring underlying tones into your mind, and it’s dead clever. It’s like an internet fiction version of deep shadows, or looming music that gives you that sense of forboding.

The writing is strong, I thought. It never gets terribly in-depth and grandiose, but the author has a fine handle on dialogue, and keeps everything clear. At no point did I get the dialogue between two characters confused. Realistic dialogue you can keep straight is a terrific skill.

One way I know I’m starting to really get into a piece of fiction—starting to pay close mental attention to it, rather than just reading, if you follow me—is that I start wondering about the writer’s sources. Where did he come from? What’s dancing in his mind when he writes? The guessing game is fun. For this, if I had to make wild guesses, I would include things like the Twilight Zone, and Babylon 5 (I got a lot of B5 vibes, and I think that’s a good compliment) and I do detect a bit of Philip K. Dick in there. And if I were to make a guess a little further out on a limb, I’d say "The Prisoner."

There are eleven installments at the time of this review. None of them are terribly long. I do wish that they were longer, especially as the story begins to tighten and intensify. The installments end and I go "but, but . . . " because I’ve gotten into it.

My advice is: read the first five or six installments and see what you think. It won’t take you very long, and if you enjoy SF then I think you’ll enjoy it. It’s a clever piece of work, sharp and cool and enjoyable. I’m looking forward to following it and see all the questions unravel (probably into more questions!)

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