Well that was unpleasant. It's very well written technically, the wordings, the dialogues, the changes of point of view, it was all very well done. But it's the concept of the story that although interesting, made it impossible for me to enjoy.

We're following a story from the bad guys point of view. To accommodate for that, the story needs to be an "everything is shades of grey, there is equal fault on each side" tale, which feels very distorted.
Not that one side is perfect and above reproach, but between a side that travels the stars to pillage and one that just wants to be left alone on their planet.. In trying to justify sticking to the human point of view, things feel very stretched.

Spoiler Alter, many characters end up distorted in this process. Main obvious ones, Parker is much better. Maybe he had qualities we didn't see in the movie, fine. But we saw a lot of Jake Sully. When he was already adjusting to a different culture and learning much from it. Yet he is completely different. When you pick up new values, you change, but you don't lose yourself. Letting your friends die because you don't want them to build a wall?

The scientist team being stuck like that made no sense. They knew from the start the situation. Either they stay because they get the right to stay with the tribes, or because they ensures their survival before sending the vanquished 1st Expedition home, or they go home with the rest.
But we need them to be in this shit, because it reinforces the negative light in which the Na'vi need to be portrayed for this style of storytelling.

In the same vein, we're told the Na'vi are the intolerant ones who never understood humans, while the humans tried... despite the fact that only a handful of them did. The rest, 2nd time fighting Eywa, they still don't know she exists. On the other hand, the Na'vi learned english, sent their kids to a human school, and put a former human as their chief, but now they need to be portrayed as going nuts at the idea of a wooden wall.

But for the humans, well it's just the way it is, they really need the stuff. If you really need something, then the fault is on both side, one for having to take it, the other for not letting them have it at the cost of their lifestyle. Why not be more understanding and letting them, what could go wrong, they're just coming from another solar system to steal your stuff, what's the harm if they get a foothold on your soil, it's unlikely they would find something else they might want next...

I don't get how humanity could be wiped out without unobtanium. At worst, major population decline, but at some point things would get sustainable. But not getting the stuff could be disastrous, definitely. If they're desperate, humanity should win logically. And they should send nukes. A proper force. That much at stake, you're not putting all your eggs into one basket. And if it's really your only hope, you don't pull punches for the sake of public opinion.
It's not convenient for suspense, or the pro-human plot, but as it is... It just doesn't make sense.

If they go all out they should win. The attempt is half-arsed, they should lose. A similar but better organized force shouldn't stand a chance against Eywa. The battle is interesting and nicely narrated, but poorly thought out, with an utterly ridiculous outcome.

No more air force, no more powered suits, defenses in shamble, not enough manpower left to man them anyway... Even with a na'vi retreat, they can't recover without pulling manpower away from defending. No reinforcement possible for years. Even just low intensity harassment or Eywa alone should win at this point. But Darth Vader is very scary and Eywa is disheartened. Okay.

Oh that, and the humans have a lot of endurance too. So they win. Really? If they were fighting on earth, sure. But the na'vi are human-oids! They share many of the benefits... except they actually evolved for this environment. Humans can't even breathe the air properly. Endurance is only our strong-point for many environments on earth, not in all circumstances.

In the end it was disappointing. I was still curious, I liked the narration style, and the plot was elaborate despite the many plot-holes, I wanted to stick to the end and see where that plot went. But it all felt too one-sided due to the premise of adopting this "human point of view", and the original material felt very distorted for that purpose, that was what felt unpleasant for me.

They might be able to see the braking burns of the ISV fleet from Pandora...

I'm also interested in how exactly the ISVs inbound to Pandora in the immediate aftermath of Avatar are going to get home. Do the fuel bunkers in Polyphemus orbit still work?

As I recall, the main applications of the room-temperature superconductor were in maglev trains and presumably fusion reactors, as well as antimatter starship engines.

Antimatter does not occur naturally, and cannot be an energy source (unless you're mining the thin gruel from magnetic fields or something, which is believed to have captured quite a few antiparticles). But that's nowhere near what we would need for it to be a viable energy source. Basically you need to create antimatter using energy from other sources (solar is pretty viable if your factory is in space), a process which is limited to fifty percent efficiency by the laws of physics and currently has efficiencies waaay below one percent (0.0001% kinda thing) (future tech can improve that somewhat).

nice

I just finsihed the series and I was more than slightly disappointed that it never had an ending writen. Got me wondering what happened to the characters you so beautifully built over 3 stories. Im not sure that you still look at thses reviews, and it seems that you have moved on to other stories. But if you ever have time and are board maybe you could finish the series out? Or at least post what was going to happen in an update. Thanks, again your work was amazing and really had me.

One thing I've always wondered, reading this story for the millionth time, is that in the earliest chapters when they're preparing and planning Weigand and the other military had taken the data from SEC-OP and run all sorts of tests and simulations and were 100% certain that they'd be alright no matter what the Na'vi threw at them...yet here we've pretty much got an Alamo situation going on. Were they just stupid and assumed the Na'vi wouldn't do anything at all? Or that by the time the Na'vi did try to attack that they'd have had time to completely set up everything they want and have maximum troops/equipment? I know no plan survives contact with the enemy, but then so should competent military strategists and tacticians. I mean they don't seem to be holding onto the idiot ball firm and fast like Quaritch was in the movie but still a bit of disconnect from earlier chapters.

"I read it, it was ok"... p Well you did ask. Probably the millionth time I've read this story and still enjoying it. I know you've moved on to other franchises, other stories, but still this and it's sequel are just damn good reading so many thanks.

Also still the best representation of 'Humanity goes back to Pandora, reality ensues'. Even without the knowledge from the extended cut version of the movie it never sat well with me how humanity was the bad guy and the Na'vi were the good guys in the movie. Nevermind how humanity was handed the villain ball and the idiot ball several times and just ran with it.

Well I could rant forever on the subject, just both when first released and now years later this story has the best depiction IMO of how things should go. Also, Reach and Styx? I mean given the names chosen in universe that might be a coincidence, but also has me thinking this is set in the past of the Halo universe ( which is set in the late 26th century, so Avatar in the late 22nd could potentially be related )

You're writing is just so darn good! The more I read, I am siding more with the humans.

I wanted to basically get through the whole first act before review to see how it would go. And I have to say, that so far, this is the most interesting and amazing fanfiction about this story. I'm actually convinced that your a pro writer and have published something before with how you write.

I'm and so hooked into this now and just love how your expanding on the narrative that we obviously did not see in the film. All the political hoops and the time it took for the people on Earth to basically restart was great.

Very excited to continue to reach this! And I even already know there's a sequel!

I like the idea of seeing a battle from the perspective of a civilian, that's an interesting change.

I like how you are painting both sides of the story.

Xeno lover. Never trust a traitor

Treachery is in their nature. Fear the Xenos. Hate the Xenos. Purge the Xenos

I'm reading this and it’s been OK so far. Perhaps chapters could longer (and less of them), but that's just a convenience issue for me.