Opinions on Greg Fashley's Writing.

[Cheesy Mac n Cheese]

I usually liked it, but there were a few elements I feel got repetitive. For example, there were 2 or 3 instances of: "The pain was intense. But once he realized the pain could not get any worse, he took comfort in this realization and fought back."

 

I liked the parts where he makes little in-jokes or fandom references. Like Takanuva's line about "this won't be some Kolhii match masquerading as a battle" being a reference to Mask of Light's climax not being so climactic.

 

EDIT: A couple things:

 

One, I've noticed a lot of people complaining about Greg's writing joined BZPower around 2010 or later, whereas the ones praising him were on BZPower during BIONICLE's original run. Biased old fans, new fans not willing to give him a chance, or coincidence?

 

Two, I've noticed a lot of complaining about the serials. I loved the serials because they were a way to fit in extra story, particularly after the amount of books published per year was reduced. However, the second half of the 2008 serials would have been a lot better if they didn't intertwine so much. You had to listen to a chapter of Destiny War, and then read a chapter of Dwellers in Darkness, because you couldn't understand one of them by only reading that one. Brothers in Arms, as I recall, didn't really connect to the other two, though.

Edited October 4, 2015 by Cheesy Mac n Cheese

[Wrinkledlion X]

 

 

The movie appearances of characters being considered canon, even though the toys are the primary media for Bionicle? The tubes on the Toa Mahri being organic gills, even though they're silver and attached to what pretty clearly looks like scuba gear? The Glatorian and Agori being fully organic beings in armour, even though they don't look at all like they are? The GSR being immeasurably, unrealistically gigantic?

 

Yeah, I'm not keen on a lot of Greg and the story team's decisions. Sure, they made Bionicle interesting, but they also made a lot of choices which just leave me thinking "What?". It didn't help when Greg was just canonising random titbits of headcanon here and there, even after G1's end.

 

I'm hoping this won't happen with G2.

Really? I thought the external gills were unique and interesting. I mean, I am not sure I would have ever come up with that, and I consider myself a creative person.

 

 

Not being able to come up with something doesn't mean it's a particularly useful use of creativity. I'm sure many people wouldn't come up with a story where the Earth turns into a cheese curd; that doesn't mean such a story is a good one.

 

That said, I think the "tubes=gills" thing was just an unfortunate incident where sets did one thing, and story needed something else. When the set designers were told to make underwater Toa, they thought "scuba gear" and designed them as such. However, when the story came to explaining how they stayed underwater without ever needing to surface, gills made more sense than scuba gear (which would need to be refilled, among other things), so what was clearly scuba gear was forced into being gills, even if it didn't really make much sense when all put together. Of the things I would blame solely on Greg, that would not be one of them.

 

 

I don't really understand the issue with the gill tubes. Seems to me that a biomechanical being would have mechanical-looking gills.

[Lyichir]

I only just realized that this topic title asks about Greg "Fashley", not Greg "Farshtey". Who knows how different the Bionicle story was in the Fashley universe?

Edited October 4, 2015 by Lyichir

[Irrie]

I only just realized that this topic title asks about Greg "Fashley", not Greg "Farshtey". Who knows how different the Bionicle story was in the Fashley universe?

If you excuse me, I have to go to my garden and plant some Greg Parsley. 

[Cheesy Mac n Cheese]

I only just realized that this topic title asks about Greg "Fashley", not Greg "Farshtey". Who knows how different the Bionicle story was in the Fashley universe?

 I Googled this name as an exact phrase, and actually found two totally different results with the same mistake...plus one unrelated result about Club Penguin.

 

We should get this to achieve memetic status!

Edited October 4, 2015 by Cheesy Mac n Cheese

[Master Inika]

 

I only just realized that this topic title asks about Greg "Fashley", not Greg "Farshtey". Who knows how different the Bionicle story was in the Fashley universe?

 I Googled this name as an exact phrase, and actually found two totally different results with the same mistake...plus one unrelated result about Club Penguin.

 

We should get this to achieve memetic status!

 

"Bonkle Chroniclers One: Tale of the Tao" by Gerg Fashley.

[Cheesy Mac n Cheese]

 

 

I only just realized that this topic title asks about Greg "Fashley", not Greg "Farshtey". Who knows how different the Bionicle story was in the Fashley universe?

 I Googled this name as an exact phrase, and actually found two totally different results with the same mistake...plus one unrelated result about Club Penguin.

 

We should get this to achieve memetic status!

 

"Bonkle Chroniclers One: Tale of the Tao" by Gerg Fashley.

 

 

The problem: he didn't write that book. C.A. Hapka did.

 

Though, I always noticed how close her last name was to Hapaka (the Rahi). So how about:

 

"Bonkle Chroniclers One: Tail of the Tao" by A.C. Hapaka

 

Changed "Tale" to "Tail."

 

This discussion belongs in a different topic though.

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

I don't really understand the issue with the gill tubes. Seems to me that a biomechanical being would have mechanical-looking gills.

 

In a surprising turn of events, i am here to say that the metal gill-tubes was like, one of the few greg things i don't outright object to,

 

gasp. O:

[toa kopaka4372]

I'll just copy-and-paste a post I made on this topic last year...

 

I think Greg's a fantastic writer and storyteller. I'm not sure why since classic BIONICLE ended it's become popular in  parts of the fandom to hate on him (and yes, I mean "hate," not "criticize"), but he really gets a lot of negativity for reasons with little validity. He wasn't perfect, of course, as when given complete creative freedom he sometimes let his stories get away from him and become a bit messy, and at times in the later years his writing erred on 'grimdark', but otherwise he was fabulous. I've reread many BIONICLE novels over the past few months, and not only do they hold up extremely well, in some cases they even came across better than when I read them when I was younger. I picked up on a lot of subtle characterization, clever foreshadowing, and some very interesting themes that remained consistent from novel to novel. 

 

Greg's on record on saying that he views BIONICLE as a character-driven story, and this is really evident in most of his work. A lot of people might wax poetic about how superior the early years were to the later ones, but the way I see it, the characters of BIONICLE's Mata Nui years were very archetypal and had a limited amount of development. It was in the later years, from Metru Nui onwards, that the characters really became fully-rounded, fleshed out, and very real, and this is almost entirely thanks to Greg's talent at writing them. I always felt that he understood his characters very well, understood what made them tick, how they thought, how they felt in different situations, etc. He's said over and over, in interviews or otherwise, that the most important part of writing is to properly understand your characters, because if you don't, the story will become unpredictable and messy, because you won't know how the characters would act in a given situation. I think Vakama's turn to evil in 2005 is one of the best examples how skilled Greg is at this. He said that he felt Vakama betraying his team made no sense and that it should have been Matau, and yet I have difficulty believing that when Vakama's betrayal came across as the most natural thing in the world in the novels.  Even minor or side characters got a decent amount of characterization, because Greg knew how to give them that with only a little space to work with.

 

Aside from all of that, Greg always wrote thematically consistent stories that were really about the minds of the people in them than whatever conflict there was. This is most evident in his bridge stories, like The Darkness Below and Voyage of Fear, and especially Maze of Shadows. In the plotline of each of these books, there are clear themes and ideas that drive the story and really make each a cohesive, compelling narrative with an actual greater purpose outside of 'adventure' or whatnot. Someone on LMB recently asked Greg why Matoro was the one that died. Greg's answer was something along the lines of "Matoro was always the one who thought least of himself and never viewed himself in a heroic light, so it made dramatic sense for him to be the greatest hero of all." Small things like that show Greg's understanding of the mechanics of telling a story. Also, I would like to point out that Greg was never the one who decided the story on his own; he was just one member of the story team, albeit with a little more freedom due to the serials.

 

Greg's received a lot of backlash since he revealed he doesn't like planning ahead exactly what he's going to write, and a lot of people use this to mock and degrade his storytelling. All I have to say is, people take this statement too literally. Rereading his bridge stories specifically, there's always a lot of foreshadowing to the end of the book, and the narrative is always very cohesive and consistent. I think it's plain Greg has a few ideas of what the story is going to be about, the themes, and writes with those as his guideline. There is more than enough evidence that it worked almost perfectly with the novels, but less so with the serials, where Greg went a bit haywire in the last years. 

 

And even if you dislike Greg's writing, give the man a little credit for devoting so much of his time to BIONICLE fans, even when he didn't need to. He has an obvious love for the series, and it's sad to see how dismissive some fans have become of him. 

 

 

Also, it seems he's been reading the posts in this topic, because he posted about it over in the LMB. Just quoting him here:

 I noticed on one of the fan sites that there was a topic relating to my writing of BIONICLE, and it's fine (not everyone is going to like what I did, it's cool, and some people will. But there were a LOT of misconceptions in the topic, and since I cannot post there, I am posting here --)

 

1) I am responsible for the line losing its "mystical tone" after 2003.

FALSE. The Metru Nui storyline came from Bob Thompson and the story team, not me. In fact, there is not a single year of main story that was created solely by me -- it all came from the story team as a whole. So if you love some part of main story, credit the story team, and if you don't, that's the story team too.

 

The notion that I had some ability to unilaterally change the story is just not accurate. EVERY word I wrote had to be approved in Billund before it went out. If the BIONICLE team had disapproved of something I was doing, they would have said so. I may have been the public face of the story because of being on fan sites, but I was part of a team, and proud of it. There is no LEGO line where the story comes from just one person.

 

2) There was something wrong with my not outlining my stories.

FALSE. A lot of writers, all of whom are better than me, do not outline. NY Book Editors recently published an article advising that writers not outline. To quote from it,  "When you head into a piece of writing without the planning, the job of the writer is to create. Your writing can exist in a mutable state for a very long time. The best writing happens when the writer is discovering what happens as he or she is creating."

 

3) Some of the serials did not work.

TRUE. The serials, especially in 2010, were an attempt to do a favor for fans upset over the line ending and to hold on to the trademarks. In retrospect, it was probably a mistake, for a lot of reasons. I felt bad about the line ending, I felt others did too, and I wanted to make it easier. Didn't happen.

 

[Aanchir]

Also, it seems he's been reading the posts in this topic, because he posted about it over in the LMB. Just quoting him here:

 I noticed on one of the fan sites that there was a topic relating to my writing of BIONICLE, and it's fine (not everyone is going to like what I did, it's cool, and some people will. But there were a LOT of misconceptions in the topic, and since I cannot post there, I am posting here --)

 

1) I am responsible for the line losing its "mystical tone" after 2003.

FALSE. The Metru Nui storyline came from Bob Thompson and the story team, not me. In fact, there is not a single year of main story that was created solely by me -- it all came from the story team as a whole. So if you love some part of main story, credit the story team, and if you don't, that's the story team too.

 

The notion that I had some ability to unilaterally change the story is just not accurate. EVERY word I wrote had to be approved in Billund before it went out. If the BIONICLE team had disapproved of something I was doing, they would have said so. I may have been the public face of the story because of being on fan sites, but I was part of a team, and proud of it. There is no LEGO line where the story comes from just one person.

 

2) There was something wrong with my not outlining my stories.

FALSE. A lot of writers, all of whom are better than me, do not outline. NY Book Editors recently published an article advising that writers not outline. To quote from it,  "When you head into a piece of writing without the planning, the job of the writer is to create. Your writing can exist in a mutable state for a very long time. The best writing happens when the writer is discovering what happens as he or she is creating."

 

3) Some of the serials did not work.

TRUE. The serials, especially in 2010, were an attempt to do a favor for fans upset over the line ending and to hold on to the trademarks. In retrospect, it was probably a mistake, for a lot of reasons. I felt bad about the line ending, I felt others did too, and I wanted to make it easier. Didn't happen.

 

Yeah, a lot of these things are things I often try to remind people of. There's a widespread perception that Greg started "taking over" the story direction in the later years, but it just doesn't align with the facts. Greg did become a lot more involved in the story at two points: 2003, when he started writing the books as well as the comics, and 2007, when he started writing the serials and other online side-stories. But neither case really involved him taking creative power away from the rest of the story team, since Cathy Hapka was never on the story team, and the serials didn't really take the place of any other type of story media — except, perhaps, the books Greg was already writing, since those were gradually reduced from year to year.

It's good to see that in retrospect Greg does recognize that continuing the serials after the theme ended didn't work. I'm sure if he had known that at the time he probably would only continued them long enough to wrap up the loose ends the 2009 serials had left behind. But it was a decision made with the best of intentions, and one that involved a lot of personal sacrifice (since after the theme ended he was no longer being paid for continuing the story).

[Cheesy Mac n Cheese]

But it was a decision made with the best of intentions, and one that involved a lot of personal sacrifice (since after the theme ended he was no longer being paid for continuing the story).

 

It's also worth noting that he wasn't paid for the serials at all, whether they were 2007, 2008, 2009, or 2010. He was paid for the comics, books, and the screenwriting for the fourth movie, but the serials and other web content were done completely on his own time.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I would like to point out that just because "Every word had to be approved" doesn't mean it was given much inspection before receiving said approval.

 

Regarding Greg's writing, he seems to have difficulty writing anything that isn't cloak-and-dagger, he tends to have conflicts between morally-ambiguous-but-allegedly-on-the-right-side characters and his evil characters sidelining the more solidly good characters in importance when not constrained from doing so, and he also has something of a hard time writing characters really, truly getting along except in the form of banter.

 

I personally didn't witness the online blow-up over "Teridax", so I don't know how badly the fandom behaved there. But his refusing to reveal The Shadowed One's name in response to said blow-up still comes off as a bit bratty, and it feels like it doesn't account for the reason why the "Teridax" reveal upset people (which is that it was an obnoxious retcon of the mythos, one of multiple annoying retcons served up post-2005).

[TheSkeletonMan939]

Farshtey was a fine writer.

 

The books were not meant to be works of great literature, they were supposed to be fun reading. Beach books.

 

Even if you argue that he wasn't a very talented writer, you have to concede that at least he's an inventive and clever storyteller.

 

I think we really lucked out in getting a man like him to write for us. He clearly loved the line. He's spent years answering whiny fan questions on multiple mediums. He wrote extra material for not a penny more than he was already being paid - even after the line ended.

 

How many other authors go to such lengths to entertain their fans?

Edited October 9, 2015 by TheSkeletonMan939

[kathy]

Better than Hapka, but his obsession with Vezon was a bit strange.

[Kopekemaster]

I like both the books and serials he wrote. I find his style to be highly readable, and explored the various aspects of Bionicle that we didn't get to see otherwise quite well. That being said, I think he fits much better as the kind of writer he was in G1, then being on the planning/etc. side of things that he is for G2; he's more of an as-he-goes kind of writer.

[Aanchir]

I like both the books and serials he wrote. I find his style to be highly readable, and explored the various aspects of Bionicle that we didn't get to see otherwise quite well. That being said, I think he fits much better as the kind of writer he was in G1, then being on the planning/etc. side of things that he is for G2; he's more of an as-he-goes kind of writer.

He isn't really on the planning side of things in G2 at all. He was merely a consultant. So he's not really writing the G2 story in any capacity, just providing feedback and guidance to the new writers. Writing skills aside, he's probably one of the LEGO Group's top experts on the Bionicle fan community and what they liked or disliked about the story, so I'm sure he had plenty of insights to contribute in this role.

[Kopekemaster]

 

I like both the books and serials he wrote. I find his style to be highly readable, and explored the various aspects of Bionicle that we didn't get to see otherwise quite well. That being said, I think he fits much better as the kind of writer he was in G1, then being on the planning/etc. side of things that he is for G2; he's more of an as-he-goes kind of writer.

He isn't really on the planning side of things in G2 at all. He was merely a consultant. So he's not really writing the G2 story in any capacity, just providing feedback and guidance to the new writers. Writing skills aside, he's probably one of the LEGO Group's top experts on the Bionicle fan community and what they liked or disliked about the story, so I'm sure he had plenty of insights to contribute in this role.

 

Ah, okay, that seems good then.

 

 

 

Biased old fans, new fans not willing to give him a chance, or coincidence?

Probably coincidence a lot of the time. Joining this site is not the same thing as being a Bionicle fan (though most members of this site are fans.)

Edited October 16, 2015 by Kopekemaster

[Erasmus Graves]

Mr Farshtey was a pretty good writer. Even though he didn't always make the very best decisions when it came to the story, he kept up a high standard, did a great job at world-building, and gave (most) characters plenty of depth and nuance. His style was simple, yet strong (Raid on Vulcanus was a crowning achievement stylistically) and his action sequences pretty great. He remembered the important maxim 'good guys aren't always perfect', and there was always an undercurrent of darkness to even the most light-hearted of his works. I remember 9-12 year old me always enjoyed the intrigue and treachery, as well as the frequent ironic humour.

And just what is wrong with Vezon? I like Vezon, he's a great character. Completely off his rocker and powerless once he lost the Ignika, he still rubs  shoulders, gets beaten up by, and smartmouths some of the most powerful beings in the universe on a daily universe. He's a giant of literature, almost as sublime (though nowhere near as terrifying) as Judge Holden, as classic as Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, but as nuanced as Steerpike, and a load of other characters. But he's not all comical; he was extremely dangerous and capable of volatile bursts of vicious temper when fused to the Ignika. He appears non-threatening post-Voya Nui, though I reckon he's secretly too smart to threaten those more powerful than he. 

I have to admit, I was surprised at how different movie Sidorak was from in the novels. I enjoyed the serials and podcasts a lot, though some of the podcasts (like Sahmad's Tale) work better as audio rather than transcripts.

This man kept BIONICLE great, and he deserves a lot of praise for that. Especially for the fact that he kept the story running for a year after the toyline ended.

Edited November 15, 2015 by Erasmus Graves

[Chip Wiseman]

I have nothing but respect for the man, pouring so much time into serials, Q&As and other unpaid work to flesh out the story and satisfy fans. True, his writing isn't perfect, but given the constraints he was put under by the sets and the rest of the story team, I think he did a fantastic job.

 

 

 

[...] and he also has something of a hard time writing characters really, truly getting along except in the form of banter. [...]

 

[...] But his refusing to reveal The Shadowed One's name in response to said blow-up still comes off as a bit bratty [...]

 

1. I always thought it was a product of the world the characters lived in, that they appeared so jaded and cynical. Although, I really think stories that took place before the Great Cataclysm could've done with a bit more friendliness between Toa.

 

2. This one can't really be pinned on Greg. TSO's name doesn't exist, one was never approved from LEGO if memory serves. Besides, unused character names are carried over into the next toyline. I'm pretty sure all the names we have so far are all he's allowed to use in regards to G1.

[LewaLew]

If you're referring to his storytelling and writing abilities, I would say it was appropriate to the target audience.

 

If you're referring to his choices with plot, that's another issue. I believe that Greg Farshtey was at his best and his worst when he was free of LEGO's overall story. Time Trap is still my favorite of all the BIONICLE books, and it's one of the few that was unconnected to the broader story of that year. On the other hand, his serials often rambled and some were uninteresting. Many people also criticize his focus on his favorite characters, but I don't see that as a problem. BIONICLE has a huge number of characters and everybody has his own favorites. I don't blame GregF for focusing on Vezon so often--if left to his own devices, it only follows that he would write the characters that he knows best. And for side stories like the serials, why not? He'd always been restricted to whatever characters were in the sets for a given year before, no matter how much he hated writing them (such as the emotionless Vahki, who I can agree would be a real bore to write).

 

However, I do think that he needed someone to advise him on some things. I do believe that the books and comics were a far better quality than the serials, primarily because they had to go through approvers. The serials underwent far less scrutiny, and suffered for it. Furthermore, as GregF became less connected to BIONICLE, his writing and his canonization decisions became poor, which makes sense since that wasn't what he was being paid for anymore.

 

As a professional writing major, I've heard my teachers tell me repeatedly that rewriting is the most important part of writing. In those latter years, I believe that GregF became less involved in scrutinizing his serials for poor plots and characterization. Therefore, even though he was off the leash, we didn't get more stories like Time Trap.

 

In summary, I don't think Greg is a bad writer. I believe he simply did not have time or incentive to produce better work when it wasn't really what put bread on the table.

 

 

EDIT: I forgot another issue I wanted to address. Some people seem to take issue with his problem with redemption stories. That's more of a philosophical difference, but I don't think it's a black mark on his writing skills. Krika is one of the most interesting characters of the later years because he applies that philosophy to himself. It's similar to Darth Vader's philosophy after his defeat by Obi-Wan. He submitted himself to the Dark Side, and there's no turning back for him. Granted, Vader did eventually redeem himself, but it was in death. Krika came a step short. He tried to convince Gali to leave, due to his fatalistic philosophy, but didn't die then. Only later, when he tried to convince the other Makuta to escape.

 

Besides, Greg showed he could write a redemption story in BIONICLE 3. Granted, he wanted Matau to turn instead of Vakama, but I've always liked that bit of character development for Matau. It's just unfortunate that Vakama had to have a hordika-induced character derailment to make it happen. Still, at least there was the venom to explain Vakama's change.

Edited October 21, 2015 by Lon'qu

[Cheesy Mac n Cheese]

TSO's name doesn't exist, one was never approved from LEGO if memory serves.

 

This one is incorrect. He's repeatedly acknowledged that he picked a name for the Shadowed One, and all the names he assigned were chosen off a list of legally approved names.

 

While it does seem ridiculous he refuses to reveal something so trivial, he has also pointed out that the name may now be trademarked by somebody else, and thus wouldn't be cleared if it were submitted to legal today. Though, I fail to see how that affects a long-cancelled toy line.

 

Somebody should ask him to Google the name just to see what comes up.

[TheSkeletonMan939]

Somebody should ask him to Google the name just to see what comes up.

 

Last I heard he's forgotten what it was entirely.

 

I guess all the negativity he associated it with has suppressed his memory. 

[Master Inika]

 

Somebody should ask him to Google the name just to see what comes up.

 

Last I heard he's forgotten what it was entirely.

 

I guess all the negativity he associated it with has suppressed his memory. 

 

I'm still calling him Krakalin.

[CyclonatorZ]

He's a decent children's book writer who is a bit too much a fan of modern comic books (by which I mean the terrible ones with endless alternate dimensions and pointless deaths galore), who doesn't understand physics but does understand how to entertain children and make them think they're reading one of the best stories ever. Frankly, when you consider how shamelessly awful the "storytelling" of other popular toylines was in their first generations (coughtransformerscough), the Bionicle fan base had it pretty good. And while its perfectly arguable that he and by extension his loyal fans had way too much control over the canon by the end, he was also the biggest reason those first ten years of Bionicle were a blast for me and so many other kids and teenagers.

[Xboxtravis]

I kinda want to chase down some old Greg books now. Sure he wasn't perfect, I've read better books from authors to tie into a "product" ( Greg Bear's Halo Books and Kevin J. Anderson's Star Wars Books and his Rush book: for example).

 

But Greg really did work at making a good story that was accessible to children and respected by Sci-Fi fans. Just compare Greg's execution of the story to the film crews who made the four Bionicle movies. It seems the film crews thought "we are just making a children's product;" while Greg thought a little more on the impact Bionicle could have.

 

Case in point: I once read a review written on Amazon for "Makuta's Guide to the Universe" which was written by a parent who was raising a Bonkle Boy. This parent showed great respect for the book, saying it was well done and comparable to the Sci-Fi/Fantasy stuff aimed towards adults.

[UnderscoreChronix]

 

 

I only just realized that this topic title asks about Greg "Fashley", not Greg "Farshtey". Who knows how different the Bionicle story was in the Fashley universe?

 I Googled this name as an exact phrase, and actually found two totally different results with the same mistake...plus one unrelated result about Club Penguin.

 

We should get this to achieve memetic status!

 

"Bonkle Chroniclers One: Tale of the Tao" by Gerg Fashley.

 

i wurk alnoe