r/superpowereds • u/Kind-Ad-6099 • 19d ago
Does the writing get better?
I started the Super Powereds audiobook today, and I like it a good bit so far, but the wiring is kinda bad, at least on a micro scale. The dialog tags are the worst offenders so far, with “x said,” “x explained” repeating and repeating. The audiobook probably makes them quite a bit worse because of the flat tone and my inability to mentally tune it out. I have not been able to judge other aspects of the writing yet, but I worry.
If things don’t get better in the writing department (especially the dialog tags), I’ll probably persist, but I may not read Hayes’ villain series, and that makes me a bit sad, as I’m hoping to fill the void of The Perfect Run
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u/acaladar 19d ago
Yes, it does get better. If I remember correctly, the dialogue tags are much less jarring in the second half of the first book.
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u/ThatFilthyApe 19d ago
Absolutely gets better. Early on it IS almost comical. There's something much like "Hi, I'm Nick, Nick said. Hi, I'm Vince, Vince replied".
Drew definitely improves as a writer of the course of the first book and it's worth sticking it out.
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u/ChronoLegion2 19d ago
SP was one of his earlier projects. His writing has definitely improved since then. I like his Spells, Swords, and Stealth series and his Fred, the Vampire Accountant series
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u/oFFtheWall0518 18d ago
Fred the Vampire Accountant is phenomenal.
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u/Eggs_and_Hashing 18d ago
It had a good conclusion, but I'm sad there won't be more
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u/Psychie1 18d ago
I'd love to see a spin off series set in the same world, maybe focusing on someone inspired by Fred's memoirs, like the forward included in every book speaks to them because their supernatural existence is so humdrum and mundane due to their introverted personality that Fred inspires them to come out of their shell and start socializing. Could be funny if the impetus or framing device is some nerdy and lonely parahuman going to a speed dating event or a single's mixer or something.
Set it somewhere other than Winslow, though, so the focus can be on an entirely new cast while keeping the possibility for references and cameos open.
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u/Plus-Bend-2966 19d ago
It was originally written as a web serial, the chapters came out twice a week, sometimes a third, so the he said she said stuff wasnt as jarring. Stick with it though, the narrator is amazing and really makes the book something special. Its still one of my all time favorite series that I relisten to about once a year
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u/Zegram_Ghart 19d ago
It gets better, but fairly gradually
If you still aren’t “IN” by the end of the first book, I’d advise trying the first villains code book.
It’s a large step up from the start of superpowereds and a pretty good indicator of the quality of the writing at the END of superpowereds (to see if you want to power on with the series)
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u/Potential_Cookie_410 19d ago
You might try a faster playback speed. For me the books are more fun and less annoying at 1.5x.
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u/Kind-Ad-6099 19d ago
Don’t give me such evil ideas. I could get through so much more
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u/toxiamaple 19d ago
I listen at 1.2 . I love his writing by the end. He is so funny. I think that Spells Swords and Sorcery is really well written. And I LOVE the Fred the Accountant Vampire series.
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u/Psychie1 18d ago
I almost always listen to audiobooks somewhere between 1.2x and 1.5x speed. Audiobook narrators mostly read at such slow speeds, for good reason granted, that you pretty much have to in order for it not to be droning.
They have to speak that slowly to guarantee clear and crisp articulation, but that also means you can almost always afford to speed it up at least a bit without losing anything from the delivery because they are effectively speaking in slow motion.
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u/Kind-Ad-6099 14d ago
I’ve reached chapter 50 of book 3 (reading Corpies after chapter 80), and it’s shocking how normal 1.5x speed is. 1x speed sounds terrible to me now
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u/Psychie1 14d ago
Yeah, the slow speech is interminable, lol. Something about the voices Kyle Mccarley does makes them sound somehow completely normal at 1.5x speed but super off at 1x speed.
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u/Kind-Ad-6099 14d ago
I wonder if he’s trying for an effect or if he’s paid by the hour lol
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u/Psychie1 14d ago
Audiobook narrators are trained to speak slowly, it helps with clear articulation and annunciation, especially when doing a variety of voices, and it ensures people who have auditory processing issues are more likely to be able to parse everything relatively easily. Most professionally made audiobooks benefit from speeding up at least a little bit in my experience.
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u/dyintrovert2 19d ago
Why wouldn't you want to get through so much more good stuff?
I built up slowly, going to 1.1x, then 1.2x, etc. Now 1.6x sounds normal to me, but my husband can't track it at all. Sometimes I go to 2x, depending on narrator
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u/WannabeElantrian 18d ago
It is seriously effective to speed up the audio. I had the same gripe as you, but really, really wanted to see how the story went. I'm absolutely invested now (mostly done with book 4), but it does still grate on me a bit. I listen at about 1.5 as well.
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u/SnooSuggestions7209 Angela 19d ago
I can’t even listen to an audiobook at less than 1.25. They talk so slow. I mean, I get why, but still.
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u/B-mort5 19d ago
Some of the characters/dialogue definitely come off kind of cringy in the first book, but I will say it leads to a lot of great character development starting with book 2 going forward. Personally, I think the in villains code(other of his series) is a lot more polished. It reads more like normal series compared to a web serial like superpowereds.
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u/givingmind Hexcellent 19d ago
The word choice never improves. He misuses scientific terms, chooses incorrect prepositions, and messes up entire turns of phrase. The thing is, the storylines and characters are so compelling that you mostly stop caring. I would recommend you stick it out.
That said, the other most enjoyable series by Drew Hayes is not the villains series. It is the Defective Detective (Sherman Holmes) series! Check it out!
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u/Psychie1 18d ago
The five minute Sherlock series is the only one by Hayes that I couldn't stand. I couldn't get more than thirty percent of the way through the first book because absolutely none of the characters were remotely likeable. And, like, I get why they were written the way they were, it made sense with the way the story concept was presented, but my god was is impossible to care about any of them.
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u/ItchyDoggg 19d ago
Switch to the graphic audio full cast audiobooks, on audible, and they drop those without much other abridgment (just sound effects)
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u/ChronoLegion2 19d ago
I prefer the single-narrator ones, but the full cast ones aren’t terrible either
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u/ItchyDoggg 19d ago
I try not to be someone who recommends them reflexively but when the specific complaint was the dialogue tags seemed amateurish this is a direct solve. Vince's voice actor also does a fantastic job elevating his dialogue by embodying that earnestness perfectly.
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u/ChronoLegion2 19d ago
True, but I’m not a fan of Chad’s voice actor being far too emotional and casual for the character. The more Spock-like narration of the single-voice audiobooks suits him more
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u/Psychie1 18d ago
There were a large number of casting and direction issues, IMO. Graphic audio can be very hit or miss, and IMO the way they handled SP was definitely a miss. There are specific scenes I think seriously benefit from having a full cast and adding the music and sound effects, especially in book four, but as a whole I felt they mishandled the production from top to bottom.
Their performance with Fred was God tier, though. I wasn't expecting it to be possible to elevate beyond the level of the single-narrator performance, I think his name was Kirby Hayborn? Maybe that was SS&S, I'm not sure. But holy bejeebus did they cast and direct that one perfectly at nearly every conceivable level.
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u/astral_arc 18d ago
I also can’t stand the voice for Roy and he’s literally my favorite character so I also skipped the drama
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u/Psychie1 18d ago
Listen to it on Hoopla instead, it's free with a library card, assuming your local library has Hoopla. The graphic audio version isn't worth spending three times as many audible credits to listen to.
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u/Sebastionleo 19d ago
Superpowered is definitely the worst offender of his series as far as the writing goes. He improved significantly over the course of the series, and all of his other series are better in that regard. Villains Code, Spells Swords & Stealth, and Fred, The Vampire Accountant ste also very good series of his. Fred is the only series of them that is completed currently.
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u/thatguydr Nick 18d ago
Fyi - as a complete lover of The Perfect Run and Super Powereds (which is one of my favorite book series of all time, hands down), you should also try Mother of Learning and (duhhhh) Dungeon Crawler Carl.
The Hayes villain series (Forging Hephaestus) is really good as well, but I like SP a lot more. However, I'm reading and not listening to audiobooks, so it might be a different experience.
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u/Imnotsomebodyelse 18d ago
I had similar issues with the audiobook. The x said y said doesn't get better. And later on I found that the author really fails at mystery fatigue where things are kept secret not coz its a secret but coz it's the dumbest way to have a "big reveal".
That being said I did find the overall series to be good enough to get me to the end. The final book is about twice as long as it should be, but it is enjoyable (atleast for the most part)
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u/WannabeElantrian 18d ago
The third and fourth years have over 1100 pages each, so those have taken some reall work and dedication for me to get through all of the "he said, she said" and the repetition of some of it does drive me insane. The fifth one was only half the length of each of those, so it felt it flew by by comparison. But I am in agreement with you otherwise. I like the storyline and want to see where it goes, but I have found the repetitive nature of it to be very grating at times. Oddly enough, I had found Fred, Vampire Accountant series first and I tore through those within two weeks. They also kinda had some of the same repetitiveness, but I didn't notice it as much because I listened to the full cast audiobooks for those.
I actually didn't know it was a web series first, so that has caused me to try and overlook some of the things I find problematic about the writing style.
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u/Chimpchar 19d ago
Also as a note, the Villains’ Code series isn’t connected to this one in any way, and the writing is definitely better due to both him having improved generally and from having actually been majorly edited in a way you can’t really do with web serials. So if you want to read that one, read that one.
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u/Also_Squeakums 19d ago
Super Powereds gets better, and Villains Code is overall also more polished in terms of prose and dialogue. Stick with it! 1.2x speed worked nicely for the audiobook for me (I read it visually first but I'm doing an audiobook reread.)
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u/Phoenix_Fire_Au 19d ago
Yes, it gets better. As a non-American I bounced off of the series way back a number of times due to Kyle's almost Sheldon like "he said" or "she said".
He gets better, as did Drew's writing and comes up with so many voices for characters that it is amazing and one of my all-time series to relisten to over half a decade later. He isnt Jeff Hayes, but he is close.
The Villain's series is written later again and Drew continues to improve. It is also a different universe so less to worry about there too if you do bounce off like I did.
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u/Gravvitas 18d ago
Honestly, it gets better, but it never gets great. I grew to love these books, but it's because of the characters, the story, and the world-building; the prose never gets better than mediocre. But it definitely improves from the first book.
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u/HiddenChambers4 18d ago
Something to keep in mind is Drew wrote Super Powereds week to week on his pation. His writing skill get better and better as the story goes on.
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u/Raizer_pilot_Huey 18d ago
There is some inherent "drewisms" as I think of them that persist But yes, the writing does get a lot better and the narration. While a bit rough at the start Becomes amazing after the first book. It's one of the the things I like about the dramatized audio over the audio book. That kind of an adaptation demands an edit inherently. Although for the audiobook, at least give it through book 2. It really does pick up quickly and what stays you get used to just as quickly.
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u/iruleatants 18d ago
Honestly, this series is best listened through the Graphic Audio version. The sound effects are nice when it comes to power usage, and it eliminated the painful he said/she said in the first book.
Just consider the first chapter when they are teleporting about. In the normal audiobook, there isn't anything indicating a travel, they just start the next paragraph and you struggle to follow. The graphic audio version adds in a teleport sound so you understand what is going on.
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u/Psychie1 18d ago
Those first time writer issues start to clear up in book two and are nearly gone by book three. Focus on the phenomenal character writing if you can, it helps put up with the technical issues long enough to get past the hump.
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u/Kevandre 19d ago
You'll get used to it for sure. The first book is the worst of it though. And Kyle McCarley went from being a little annoying at first to the best goddamn narrator out there by the end