Homestuck: Book 5: Act 5 Act 2 Part 1

Homestuck (Rerelease) #5

by Andrew Hussie

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.

Genres: Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Adventure, Fiction, Comedy

480 pages, Hardcover

First published October 22, 2019

About the author

Andrew 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.

Reviews

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit: there are moments when I wonder why I'm reading this series. Make no mistake. It's mostly compelling, and unlike anything I've ever read before. But it does get bogged down in its own weirdness now and then. I'll be reading along smoothly, turn the page, and Wham! Four pages of text dialogue, often in hard to read colors and with quirky spelling to boot. Don't try to read this without adequate lighting.

A book is, arguably, not the best way to take in Andrew Hussie's Magnum Opus. It was originally an online thing, a heady brew of webcomic, Flash animation, playable RPG, story, and more. The advantage of the book is mainly in having Hussie's running commentary at the bottom of most pages. He points out all sorts of details that, in normal comics, wouldn't really matter to the story, but here they do. There's just so much incident and detail. Sure, it doesn't always make a lot of sense to me, but I find it compelling nevertheless.

As I've mentioned in my previous reviews, the closest antecedents for Homestuck that I can think of come from the world of fine art: Marcel Duchamp's "The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even" and the works of Henry Darger (Darger is more outsider art than fine art, but still …) All are works that are so startlingly different from what came before them, that they practically created new forms, and required new standards of critiquing them. Further, Hussie's insanely detailed footnotes are reminiscent of Duchamp's famous "Green Box" of notes pertaining to "The Bride …"

So do I like Homestuck? Definitely yes, but it's something of an acquired taste. Do I completely understand it? Honestly, I'm dubious as to whether Andrew Hussie completely understands it. Do I recommend it? Most definitely. It may not be for everyone, but it's worth checking out if you haven't already.

[Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize how often characters said the r-slur at this point in the comic. It's kinda jarring. For the most part I liked the author commentary. I think a lot of people forget that Hussie is still just a person. I feel like those people put him up on a writing pedestal then call him the worst person ever when his writing doesn't live up to their standards. I agree with a lot of his writing philosophy and how he deals with character arcs and humanity. However, unlike someone like Terry Pratchett, from what I can gleam from his personality in the comments, he's not someone who I'd enjoy casually hanging out with. Anyway, I only gave this 4/5 stars because he doesn't talk at all about Aradia's character on the pages where she has that really cool conversation with Rose, and instead talks about the art style he was using at the time. :'(

[David M. M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Constantly torn between wishing I was copying down quotes from the author's notes to use in the master's thesis I want to write about this bullshit and wishing Andrew Hussie would just shut up with his stupid author's notes and get out of the way of his own story. But then being torn between admiring Hussie and hating Hussie has always been a part of these stories. Anyway despite his and everyone's best efforts I still love this shit. Sigh.

[Obspogon]

wow, sometimes andrew hussie comes off as pretty weird and i don't respect them at all when he does. also tbh i'd also hate vriska if i had to hear hussie talk about her like that.

my opinions on their humor aside, still informative and interesting. now just to finish the last one.

[EmmmettSaltsman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book about 50% was AlterniaBound which I loved on MSPA because it was a legitimate game.Now it's just reduced to half of the book that i payed $25 for. The rest was pretty good,the story was excellent and when my mom says that I can't be on my phone it's a good book to sit down and read for a hour or two.