Something I enjoy doing a lot besides gaming is reading. As a former art major, I am very educated on the subject of the arts. I own books on art history, art philosophy, art psychology, and countless books about the great Vincent van Gogh. In addition to art education, I own stacks of comic books which I read with the utmost devotion. Then there’s fantasy. I love a good fantasy tale and own everything from animal fantasy to science fiction to Homer’s Odyssey. I finally got a chance to check out the short story Mothership, which takes place in the StarCraft universe. For those of you who are curious about the 6-page story which can be found on StarCraft II’s official website, I’ve decided to provide my thoughts in what we’ll call a mini-review of StarCraft: Mothership. Enjoy!
Mothership is, like any other bit of multipage fiction, a work that many people will enjoy while others will not. The short story is for all intents and purposes very well-written, and it has a lot to offer StarCraft fans looking for a quick read. Additionally, it would be very easy to recommend Mothership to any science fiction fans looking for a decent read.
The writing in Mothership is akin to that found in books such as Dune and The Nitrogen Fix. Granted those novels were on a much larger scale than this 6-page short story, but it would be easy to recommend this type of tale to fans who enjoyed those classics. Additionally, expanding Mothership and turning it into a full novel spanning hundreds of pages in length is something that doesn’t seem far-fetched at all, and with the right writing team behind it, this could easily become an engaging, thought-provoking tale.
Mothership features some very creative writing, and a lot of the text is very pleasing for the simple fact that it reads so gracefully. There is some carnage in the story, but none of it ever comes off as tasteless. Let it be known that the action-oriented sections of Mothership aren’t violent for the sake of violent. No, even the most gruesome of parts in the story is told with grace and good taste. It would be a shame to have tasteless violence included in a StarCraft product, so the story’s few instances of gore come off as good storytelling as opposed to mindless violence. A perfect example of this comes during one of the story’s fight scenes which reads, “As she flipped over its head, she plunged her blades down, splitting its skull in two. She landed gracefully behind the still-falling hydralisk – and collapsed.” There is a hint of bloody violence here, but it’s nowhere near the ridiculous showers of blood you’ll read about in other, less carefully-crafted works.
As for the overall feelings that Mothership evokes in the reader, that depends on your take. Many will feel frustration towards one or both of the main characters. Others may feel compassion. Others still will just feel a certain understanding for the characters while still questioning their decisions and motives.
The short story’s main flaws lie in the design. Mothership could have easily been posted on the StarCraft II website with no images and just text to go by, but the first few pages include some images and a gameplay video. These design choices are indeed questionable, and the inclusion of a gameplay video from StarCraft II is odd to say the least. Additionally, only the first two pages include such media, which makes one wonder why images and video were included in the first place. This is a minor gripe, however, and it in no way takes away from the actual story.
StarCraft: Mothership may not be the next award-winning story, but it does provide six pages of entertaining, engaging, and gripping text. While the story could have easily been longer, the writers were probably going for something quick for readers to pass the time with. People who don’t enjoy reading won’t sit through Mothership, but those who do—regardless of whether they are StarCraft fans or just science fiction fans—will find an enjoyable short story worth sitting at the desk for.
