I recently reviewed the short story StarCraft: Broken Wide. In my review I mentioned what made the science fiction such a remarkable read and pointed out its few flaws. The concept was strong, but it seemed to drag on for much longer than necessary, seemingly overstaying its welcome in the process. Back in February, I reviewed another short story set in the StarCraft universe, Mothership. That story was for all intents and purposes a very strong piece of sci-fi literature, and I honestly believe it could have been expanded on and turned into a novel. In this post I will compare the two short stories, and give my thoughts on which of the two is the better and why.
The first thing to point out about both stories is their length. Both Mothership and Broken Wide are six pages in length, but upon reading Mothership, you get the feeling that the story could have easily been a full-fledged novel. Reading through these six pages is easy thanks to the story’s detailed action sequences and slight bit of gore which will definitely enthrall the hardcore. Unfortunately, Broken Wide doesn’t have the same effect. Yes, it is six pages in length just like Mothership, but it’s a bit harder to get through these six pages without wanting to take a quick break halfway through the story. This is mainly due to the fact that Broken Wide is more of an interview between two characters that delves deep into the destructive evolution of the zerg. I don’t think I need to express how awesome this concept is, because it really is a great storyline. Unfortunately, the fact that the entire thing is formatted like an interview takes away from it drastically. Perhaps less interview narrative and some more storytelling would have helped.
In terms of emotion, both tales feature deep emotional writing. And while the writing in Mothership is as excellent as it is, it pales in comparison in terms of emotion when compared to Broken Wide. This is where the interview format of Broken Wide comes into play, and it is what makes it the more emotional, gripping story of the two. You actually read what the protagonist has to say, what she has experienced during the Baneling incident, and the traumatic and emotional effects it had on her. As easy as it is to sympathize with the characters in Mothership, it is a lot easier to sympathize with the main character in Broken Wide.
Something minor worth noting about both stories is that they both feature one image and one gameplay video from StarCraft II. The gameplay clip is featured on the first page of both short stories, and its presence is obviously geared towards painting a picture for the readers by showing combat in the game. This is somewhat unnecessary, as the words in the stories themselves paint enough of a vivid picture, but it’s interesting to see Blizzard plugging in gameplay from their upcoming title. On the second pages of both stories lies some concept art. These images are good in terms of style, but again, their presence isn’t required to visualize any of the action that’s going on within the text of either story.
In the end, Mothership is the better of the two stories. It grips the reader to the point where he or she may want to read more. Broken Wide is a strong effort, and it is no way a bad story, but its interview setup makes it hard to endure for its entirety. This story could have easily been condensed to three pages, and it would have been a lot better for it. StarCraft fans will find some enjoyable reading material with both of these short stories, but Mothership is the better of the two, and it would be easy to recommend this tale to fans of StarCraft or most other science fiction fans for that matter.
