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Homestuck (Rerelease) #3
Homestuck: Book 3: Act 4
A full-color, hardcover collector’s edition of the landmark webcomic.
Years in the past, but not many, a webcomic launched that would captivate legions of devoted fans around the world and take them on a mind-bending, genre-defying epic journey that would forever change the way they look at stairs. And buckets. And possibly horses. Now this sprawling saga has been immortalized on dead trees with notes from author Andrew Hussie explaining what the hell he was thinking as he brought this monster to life. A must-have for Homestuck fans who want to re-experience the saga or for new readers looking for a gateway to enter this rich universe.
Four kids start playing a game. Along the way they’re bound to encounter sprites, exiles, guardians, consorts, time-hopping future selves, mystical dream oracle doppelgangers, paradox clones, a Secret Wizard, too many Daves, incompetent trolling, and the human emotion called friendship.
Years in the past, but not many, a webcomic launched that would captivate legions of devoted fans around the world and take them on a mind-bending, genre-defying epic journey that would forever change the way they look at stairs. And buckets. And possibly horses. Now this sprawling saga has been immortalized on dead trees with notes from author Andrew Hussie explaining what the hell he was thinking as he brought this monster to life. A must-have for Homestuck fans who want to re-experience the saga or for new readers looking for a gateway to enter this rich universe.
Four kids start playing a game. Along the way they’re bound to encounter sprites, exiles, guardians, consorts, time-hopping future selves, mystical dream oracle doppelgangers, paradox clones, a Secret Wizard, too many Daves, incompetent trolling, and the human emotion called friendship.
472 pages, Hardcover
First published October 23, 2018
About the author
Andrew Hussie
94 books436 followersAndrew Hussie is the creator of MS Paint Adventures, a collection of webcomics that includes Homestuck, as well as of several other webcomics, books, and videos.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 8, 2019
I'm not going to attempt to summarize the story mainly because this is one of those books that you read to experience it. No, I don't pretend to thoroughly understand it, but I’m not certain that even Andrew Hussie completely understands it. It's that sort of a story ...
As always, Homestuck is in a class by itself. It makes use of comics, prose, cartoons, and video games, but I think it would be a mistake to say that it “is” any of those things. In my review of Book 2, I likened it to a work of modern art: Marcel Duchamp’s “The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even” (aka “The Large Glass”.) Both are singular works that resist easy categorization, and both feature incredible and endlessly fascinating layers of detail that are not readily apparent from a casual glance.
Yes, this all originally appeared online, so a book is not necessarily the optimal way to experience it. You don't get any of the animations or music or interactive minigames. But you do get footnotes on every page--I presume they're not available online, but I haven't checked--from Hussie himself pointing out many of the details and inspirations that the casual reader may have missed. I choose to read this version because, well, I like big books (and I cannot lie.) I do think that this is the best book version possible of this material.
Assuming Hussie isn't exaggerating about Homestuck running to 10000 panels, extrapolating from the first three volumes leads me to believe that there will be at least fifteen of these by the time it's done. Assuming the quality doesn't take a nosedive, I’m in for the long haul.
Would I say I understand it? Hell no. Would I say I enjoy it? Oh yeah. Would I recommend it? Most definitely.
As always, Homestuck is in a class by itself. It makes use of comics, prose, cartoons, and video games, but I think it would be a mistake to say that it “is” any of those things. In my review of Book 2, I likened it to a work of modern art: Marcel Duchamp’s “The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even” (aka “The Large Glass”.) Both are singular works that resist easy categorization, and both feature incredible and endlessly fascinating layers of detail that are not readily apparent from a casual glance.
Yes, this all originally appeared online, so a book is not necessarily the optimal way to experience it. You don't get any of the animations or music or interactive minigames. But you do get footnotes on every page--I presume they're not available online, but I haven't checked--from Hussie himself pointing out many of the details and inspirations that the casual reader may have missed. I choose to read this version because, well, I like big books (and I cannot lie.) I do think that this is the best book version possible of this material.
Assuming Hussie isn't exaggerating about Homestuck running to 10000 panels, extrapolating from the first three volumes leads me to believe that there will be at least fifteen of these by the time it's done. Assuming the quality doesn't take a nosedive, I’m in for the long haul.
Would I say I understand it? Hell no. Would I say I enjoy it? Oh yeah. Would I recommend it? Most definitely.
March 5, 2019
Act 4 is so weird, cause the real themes of homestuck are starting to show, but all the protagonists are all 13 year olds with superiority complexes. Like, Dave, you're not okay, throwing a dead version of yourself out a window and then doing nothing else but stare at your bloodied hands for ten minutes and not talking to anyone about this trauma is not healthy! And John, please I love you, but stop bottling up your feelings about everything/being deliberately oblivious about stuff. Doing a Con Air sketch will not help. Rose, stop being a grimdark (lol) teen who thinks the world is out to get you and that everything is your fault! (it's not, in fact it doesn't care about you at all, the only way to find real meaning is through personal relationships and constant growth. And last but not least, poor Jade, who has been trying her entire life to bond with others, but consistently left out because it's the most efficient way to get things done. It feels so sad reading act 4 again, especially when you know both the hardships they will all go through, as well as all the growth and love and happiness they will eventually receive.
I read Homestuck first when I was 13, and dang 13 year olds are optimistic about the world. Though , like our protagonists, I know how much pain there is in life, I am also doing much better than I ever was doing then.
Things are going to get better both for them and for me. But first we must learn how to grieve.
I read Homestuck first when I was 13, and dang 13 year olds are optimistic about the world. Though , like our protagonists, I know how much pain there is in life, I am also doing much better than I ever was doing then.
Things are going to get better both for them and for me. But first we must learn how to grieve.
April 14, 2021
"Welcome to Book 3, which obviously starts with Act 4, which obviously starts with Gate 1."
Today was 413! And since I had a free evening, I decided to finally read Book 3 that had been sitting on my shelf for like half a year. I did a pseudo-liveblog of my reading on tumblr, but here are the edited highlights (aka without the majority wordcount that was just me talking about how nostalgic I felt):
- Book 3 was shockingly comprehensible and actually reads like a story. I forgot how much of the kids' situation was more or less explained in Act 4 (and I can’t wait to find out how wrong I am about this later). In comparison reading Book 2 was a ludicrous experience. It might be because the time between me reading these books was shorter (about 8 months instead of 2 years, but also in my defense I’ve read Act 1 way more times than I care to admit and thought I’d remember it better heading into Book 2) or it might be mostly Hussie’s decision (that he brings up in the footnotes) to actually move along with the content.
- As always, the best part of reading these books are Hussie’s footnotes. They're super funny and I legit laughed out loud multiple times. Here's a direct quote: "Never stop thinking about this story. I won't allow it." It's also both absolutely insane reading about how he pieces parts of the story together and so, so useful to actually understanding what’s happening and what will happen in his own words. Authorial intent!
- I'm having an odd realization that Homestuck was never as good as I once thought it was but also maybe that it was every bit as good as I thought it was (which is, once again, insane, actually) because I just have a very different way of understanding media now. I also have a very different understanding of teenagers and fictional teenagers in general, and it's a humbling experience to realize that Hussie was writing a story about teenagers for teenagers including, y'know, me at the time, and probably not a literary epic, although it might still be that.
- I rewatched [S] Descend to get the full internet experience instead of reading a paper book! It was great hearing that Toby Fox music.
As a fun fact, I originally read Act 4 on January 21, 2012 - over nine years ago now!
Today was 413! And since I had a free evening, I decided to finally read Book 3 that had been sitting on my shelf for like half a year. I did a pseudo-liveblog of my reading on tumblr, but here are the edited highlights (aka without the majority wordcount that was just me talking about how nostalgic I felt):
- Book 3 was shockingly comprehensible and actually reads like a story. I forgot how much of the kids' situation was more or less explained in Act 4 (and I can’t wait to find out how wrong I am about this later). In comparison reading Book 2 was a ludicrous experience. It might be because the time between me reading these books was shorter (about 8 months instead of 2 years, but also in my defense I’ve read Act 1 way more times than I care to admit and thought I’d remember it better heading into Book 2) or it might be mostly Hussie’s decision (that he brings up in the footnotes) to actually move along with the content.
- As always, the best part of reading these books are Hussie’s footnotes. They're super funny and I legit laughed out loud multiple times. Here's a direct quote: "Never stop thinking about this story. I won't allow it." It's also both absolutely insane reading about how he pieces parts of the story together and so, so useful to actually understanding what’s happening and what will happen in his own words. Authorial intent!
- I'm having an odd realization that Homestuck was never as good as I once thought it was but also maybe that it was every bit as good as I thought it was (which is, once again, insane, actually) because I just have a very different way of understanding media now. I also have a very different understanding of teenagers and fictional teenagers in general, and it's a humbling experience to realize that Hussie was writing a story about teenagers for teenagers including, y'know, me at the time, and probably not a literary epic, although it might still be that.
- I rewatched [S] Descend to get the full internet experience instead of reading a paper book! It was great hearing that Toby Fox music.
As a fun fact, I originally read Act 4 on January 21, 2012 - over nine years ago now!
January 4, 2019
This is the volume that wrinkled my brain and also probably cemented a lot of neat storytelling ideas in terms of what the f is going on ever.
December 22, 2018
En el tercer libro, aparecen más de los trolls, al menos de la primera camada (de las muchas que vendrán). Aún se sabe poco y nada de su cultura, pero algo de eso se puede apreciar en la forma en que interactúan, entre ellos y con los cuatro protagonistas. También se profundiza la historia de los vagabundos, con una nueva integrante que había comenzado una serie de eventos muchos años en el pasado, para lograr escapar de algo que consideraba inútil. Las alegorías sobre el ajedrez suben veinte niveles y s ele agregan esteroides.
Las vueltas temporales ahora se hacen mucho más evidentes: hay un personaje que viaja en el tiempo para integrarse a una línea temporal que, sin su presencia, estaría condenada. Y aparece por primera vez, de forma evidente, el autor en la misma obra.
Las últimas páginas son cuarenta y cinco para una sola animación, una de las tantas en las que pasan muchas, muchas cosas, y el poder apreciarlas cuadro por cuadro hace que notes detalles que antes se te pasaban por alto.
Vemos más de Derse y Prospit, que son un par de planetas presentes en cada sesión, aunque los "yo del sueño" aún no dejen en claro para qué existen y cuál es su utilidad.
Todo termina con un giro argumental de los que te dejan al borde del asiento, y si has leído el webcómic, sabes que lo mejor está por venir... aunque falten alrededor de dos mil viñetas para el [S] que marcó un antes y un después, Cascade.
Las vueltas temporales ahora se hacen mucho más evidentes: hay un personaje que viaja en el tiempo para integrarse a una línea temporal que, sin su presencia, estaría condenada. Y aparece por primera vez, de forma evidente, el autor en la misma obra.
Las últimas páginas son cuarenta y cinco para una sola animación, una de las tantas en las que pasan muchas, muchas cosas, y el poder apreciarlas cuadro por cuadro hace que notes detalles que antes se te pasaban por alto.
Vemos más de Derse y Prospit, que son un par de planetas presentes en cada sesión, aunque los "yo del sueño" aún no dejen en claro para qué existen y cuál es su utilidad.
Todo termina con un giro argumental de los que te dejan al borde del asiento, y si has leído el webcómic, sabes que lo mejor está por venir... aunque falten alrededor de dos mil viñetas para el [S] que marcó un antes y un después, Cascade.
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November 28, 2024this is the one where hussie alludes to the extra lore that would be later revealed in the skaianet systems arg and result in post-canon homestuck being put on ice for a few years.
alongside the author notes, reading the books helps spotlight some details that only appeared in the animations for a few frames, like the monster chess pieces.
alongside the author notes, reading the books helps spotlight some details that only appeared in the animations for a few frames, like the monster chess pieces.
January 7, 2019
I forgot how much this story started going off the rails in Act 4.
The author's notes are a pretty nice addition.
The author's notes are a pretty nice addition.
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June 1, 2022incest has entered the chat. kinda getting bored by the stable time loops and hussie trolling the audience it kinda seems like they hate and all the early 2000s forum humor.
February 4, 2025
[S] John: Reunite with your loving wife and daughter forever remains my favorite cutscene and also probably my favorite thing in general
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December 31, 2025Im such a reader 😊
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews