Driver- Simply the Best?

[JamesSavik]

Driver- Simply the Best?

Perhaps. Top 5 for sure. His work is simply amazing.

Many readers become quite jaded about net fiction. The quality varies greatly and honestly, some of it is a waste of consciousness. Driver however sets the bar and sets it quite high.

Driver has a way of making the story, setting and characters into a living thing. Completely coordinated, quite deft with an economy of words and characterization that is so keen that it's scary. Driver is the complete package. If you are a regular at Barnes&IgNoble or Borders, you pay for the work of less capable authors all the time. Driver is the ultimate deal-- available free on the internet!

All of his stories rate a solid five stars from the wide eyed innocent fun of Falling Off a Log to the heart wrenching drama of Sudden Storm. Plans A, B, C and D [four stories], and A Horse Named Phil: you simply can not go wrong. They are all great.

However- the Quarry and spin off Quarry Tales deserve special mention. In my humble opinion, it is one of the very best stories of the genera. This is one story that you will not forget.

There is a sweetness and innocence about Driver's work that is difficult to describe. Many readers will see themself- a long time ago in a galaxy far away- unjaded, seeing the world for the first time again- young, new and golden.

You KNOW the characters. You have probably been one of the characters. If not, then you have at least met a few of them. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be amazed, inspired and hungry for more.

>>>

[Tanuki Racoon]

Driver- Simply the Best?

Perhaps. Top 5 for sure. His work is simply amazing.

>>>

Sir' date=' allow me to publicly disagree with you. In fact, I remove my glove and slap it across your face. I demand satisfaction, Sir!

Top 5 indeed. Hmph. I believe, sir, Driver belongs in the Top One, for I do not believe there is a better writer online. Driver is fantastic. I am madly in love with his posted stories as well as the long vanished [i']Everyday Love[/i].

Driver's writing is better not only than anything I read online it's better than much of the stuff I read from the bookstore. Driver is awesome. Really awesome. And, to top it all off, he's a damn fine individual too.

I will be the very first to admit that Driver's writing makes mine look like a rank amateur. (I refer to style and not punctuation).

Driver is awesome.

So there.

:)

[RPnSoCal]

Hmm - there may be a couple of contenders, but I think I would put Driver in the number 1 position as well. Perhaps not as confrontationally as WBMS though. :-)

I would rank his PLAN/Horse stories as his best though, IMHO. The characters of Evan! and Aaron are amazing. Yes, there is an exclamation point in the spelling of Evan, at least according to Aaron. :-)

[Tanuki Racoon]

Hmm - there may be a couple of contenders, but I think I would put Driver in the number 1 position as well. Perhaps not as confrontationally as WBMS though. :-)

I would rank his PLAN/Horse stories as his best though, IMHO. The characters of Evan! and Aaron are amazing. Yes, there is an exclamation point in the spelling of Evan, at least according to Aaron. :-)

I have been enjoying it thoroughly, and when #6 comes out shortly I believe you will enjoy it even more.

[Paul]

Thanks to all the previous posters who said everything I would have.

[Shawn]

I would have to put Driver in the #1 position too. I have never read anything better. I feel like I really do know Evan and Aaron. They live just down the road a piece. :)

Driver is simply the best.

[The Pecman]

I have to agree. Definitely very good stuff here. Driver is clearly a very talented guy.

I wouldn't necessarily say he's as good (or better) than mainstream authors, but I'd definitely put him very high on the list for Net fiction.

For the record, the best author I've read is here on Awesomedude, and that would be David Buffett. In particular, his story Alpha Male is light years ahead of anything I've ever read on Nifty.

[aj]

to finally have a chance to agree whole-heartedly and unreservedly with Pecman on anything! But what he has to say about David Buffet, I will second and support without reservation. When I grow up, I wanna be Mr. Buffet.

cheers!

aj

[Tanuki Racoon]

I wouldn't necessarily say he's as good (or better) than mainstream authors, but I'd definitely put him very high on the list for Net fiction.

He's better than many mainstream authors and better than anything I've read on the net. I realize it's my opinion* but I really would put him up against all net authors and many bookstore authors.

[Guest]

I heartedly believe that Driver is among the best authors there are in the net. He is among the few like: The Journeyman "Journey of Love", The Eggman, Dewey "For the love of Pete", Comsie in "http://comicality.gayauthors.org/ " and some other authors whom are starting to bloom. I can not make judgement if who's the best among these authors, because each author is unique on their own style of writing and each brings forth the best. They all touched the heart of their readers and awaken some pleasures in their life that could only be uncovered by their own imagenation. As a reader among the shadows of many others, I am touched to the core by the treasures these authors have shared. The treasures of innocence that we dreamt and hope to be ours. The treasures that we all know we can never have, except in our dreams of altered reality. These authors are the best on their own class and each is too unique for comparison. Driver is among the best, and I hope he will spread his wings once more and fly freely as high as he can be.

A good reader,

Aries

[Paul]

For the record, the best author I've read is here on Awesomedude, and that would be David Buffett. In particular, his story Alpha Male is light years ahead of anything I've ever read on Nifty.

Would you like to expand on that? What it is you like about this story?

[The Pecman]

Would you like to expand on that? What it is you like about this story?

I think the quality of Buffet's writing is head and shoulders above almost anything I've ever seen in amateur online fiction. He's one of the few guys I know who I feel has actually achieved a real "literary" quality in his work, without any of the affectations or attitude.

I also think Buffet has exactly the right balance in juggling all the elements that make up a good story: terrific description (the prose), cutting-edge dialog, and the ability to make each character distinct and different. I also think he does a great job in balancing the erotic content with the actual plot, where neither overshadows the other.

Buffet also fulfills the #1 rule I stress all the time around here: his work is never boring, and he always makes you want to read more. His characters and plotlines are constantly surprising, and provide a lot of complex, subtle nuances that blow me away every time I read them. Alpha Male moves along at a fairly brisk pace, and every chapter adds more pieces to the puzzle, and also reveals many details about the characters, some of whom change very much by the time the story ends.

Read Alpha Male yourself and see if you agree. You'll find it on Nifty:

http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/college/alpha-male/

Buffet's follow-up, "Master Beta," wasn't quite as good, and I think even he agreed and threw in the towel on it. I think there's still a good sequel that could be written, but it'll be up to him to finish it.

To me, Buffet is one of the few Net writers I've read whose work could do well if published commercially. I've encouraged him in emails to get his work out to agents and the various publishing houses, but as far as I know, it hasn't happened yet. And that's a pity, because I think his work is on a level with many other "name" writers in gay fiction, ranging from John Rechy to Patricia Warren to Armistead Maupin.

[Paul]

I think the quality of Buffet's writing is head and shoulders above almost anything I've ever seen in amateur online fiction. He's one of the few guys I know who I feel has actually achieved a real "literary" quality in his work, without any of the affectations or attitude.

I wonder if you'd care to expand a bit on what makes for "literary" quality in general, and also how it applies specifically to Buffet's work, "Alpha Male" in particular. I admit to having a problem separating my reacation to the thematic content of the story from its writing style. Perhaps you could address this in another one of the forums, if this isn't the appropriate one. Still feeling my way around here. Thanks.

[The Pecman]

I wonder if you'd care to expand a bit on what makes for "literary" quality in general, and also how it applies specifically to Buffet's work, "Alpha Male" in particular.

Well, to me, what you're asking for is kind of like saying:

"I understand that chocolate ice cream is your favorite. What is it about chocolate ice cream specifically that you like? How does it differ from other ice creams? Is there something they lack that chocolate has? Is there something that makes you more compatible with chocolate ice cream, and vice-versa?"

It kinda turns into a Monty Python sketch at some point.

I don't have the time to sit down and write a 2000-word essay (especially for free) on why I liked the story. I can simply say, as I finished reading each chapter, I thought, "jesus, this guy blows me away at how good his stuff is!", and I couldn't wait to jump in and read more. His writing was visual enough that I could easily imagine this as a film -- though, because of the subject matter, it would be nearly impossible to do commercially -- and I thought the characters were striking, memorable, and lacked a lot of the cliches I see in similar work.

I thought Buffet's ability to describe complex moods, multi-level emotional exchanges, and yet constantly push the story forward was something I found compelling and engaging. If you read my Gay Writing Tips piece, I'd go a step further and say Buffet did everything right, down the line. I'm not even into the kind of sex (the dominant/submissive role-playing thing) Buffet writes about, but all of the surrounding story made reading the story an exceptional experience for me. I've read it two or three times, which is something I rarely do, particularly with Net fiction.

So I'd just leave it at that. (And for the record, I actually prefer chocolate-chip to chocolate.)