Miss Powers is fifteen years old. Dr. Danny Markem is one of the richest and most powerful men in the country. He will grant an interview to a news service only if an intern, specifically Miss Powers, does the interviewing. What does he want with her?
Size: 536 KB (102,896 words)
Genre: Drama
Sex Contents: No Sex
Tags: Teenagers, Fiction, School
Review by Ivan_Ronical [other reviews by Ivan_Ronical]
Reviewed:
I typically avoid reviewing stories I read which already have reviews; there are so many gems out there which have not yet been reviewed that it seems wasteful to continue reviewing something when others have previously done so. There are exceptions to this, however.
Lazlo Zalezac is probably the most well-liked author on the site. I say this as a fan, but looking at the volume of work that this author has produced on SOL and the almost uniformly high ratings for it should be enough to convince anyone not familiar. I've read a number these pieces with high expectations, and none of them have disappointed me in the slightest--this despite my not having posted reviews for any besides 'Magic'.
Having mentioned 'Magic', I feel that my review for that story is relevant to this one in a certain aspect: 'The Future of Miss Powers' is jaw-droppingly funny, as many of Lazlo's works tend to be. The unrelenting assault of comedy in the prose was such that I had to pause my reading late at night in order to avoid waking others up. That's not to say that this story is all laughs and no substance, however.
'The Future of Miss Powers' (hereafter 'Powers') is a story about many things: it is certainly allegorical in its conveyance of certain ideals and advice, it relies upon the Socratic method to display the shortcomings of certain personality traits, and there is a general feeling that the author is directly speaking to the reader at times through the main character. Looking at it in a more clinical perspective this is a simple coming of age story, but I feel like such a view is too simplistic to fully grasp the essence of 'Powers'.
Having previously referenced Lazlo Zalezac's high ratings and my high expectations, I'll say now that this piece completely blew me away. Few stories can prompt true introspection, and even fewer still can be found on SOL. This is one such story, and it's short enough that I think everyone should read it.
If I could change one thing about this story, I would make it available in physical copies to buy so that I could give it to friends or family as a gift, and to keep it on my bookshelf.
Lazlo, if you're reading this review, you've really outdone yourself with 'Powers'. Please keep writing.
Review by bill9900 [other reviews by bill9900]
Reviewed:
I had planned to write a longer review of Lazlo Zalzac's story, "The Future of Miss Powers", but a little procrastination helped me realize that I didn't need to after all.
I really liked this story, though my first impression on starting was "Where the hell is this going?"
The answer is, you have to read the whole story and see how all the hints and pieces fit together.
Suffice it to say, the story has a great appeal, at least to me, and I don't really need to write a longer review because Lazlo has written a very long post on his blog dated 11/15/2016 with a wonderful explanation of how the story was composed. Great job, Lazlo!
While publishing this story, Lazlo published another Jade Force story in parallel on his usual Sunday schedule. It, too, is another example of his writing skill, and very enjoyable to read.
Review by Steve Ogden [other reviews by Steve Ogden]
Reviewed:
I'll start with the one downer. This is being published at one chapter a week. On the plus side that is one thing you can be certain of, come Monday morning you will have a chapter to read. The downside is that you will want to read the next chapter straight away. It's not going to happen so we just have to live with the suspense.
The story itself? From the Prologue we know how some issues come out. You could regard it as a spoiler but the journey is a wondrous thing. This review is after 22 chapters and it has already taken me to places I never expected. Of the biggest question "The Future of Miss Powers" there is nary a hint.
It is clean copy. TeNderLoin is a very good editor and LZ appears to take direction well. There may be technical errors but I didn't notice them and they don't impinge. What is good is that the characters are consistent to themselves, they don't suddenly go off in an unexpected direction, and what they do makes sense.
The story works on many levels. Yes LZ has his own ideas and agenda which come through here as in many of his other stories but it works on a narrative level.
I'm not going to precis the story, I don't know where it's going so it would be pointless and, also, it's one you should read for yourself and make up your own mind about.
Overall it is of the standard I have come to expect from one of a small circle of authors here to whom I would pay money to read their stories.
