I'm not a fanfic person - I'm sure a lot of them are good, but I don't really have time for them. I checked out the first chapter of NXE because I was bored one afternoon in mid-January after seeing it reccomended on everything2.com. It's now early February and I've just finished my second read-through. I haven't been so enthusiastic about any piece if literature - online or paperback - period.

NXE is a rare thing in that it actually improves on the subject matter - I've lost count of how many times I've wanted to see Shinji grow balls, Asuka get over herself and Rei just lighten up. It's amazingly refreshing to see stuff like Second Impact make sense. And a coherant ending! Glee!

The writing is top-notch (I own published books with poorer writing - I'm looking at you, Dan Brown), the characterisations dead-on and the situations tweaked from the original to the point where I started to forget what was supposed to be going on. This isn't a rip-off of a cult classic - it is a cult classic, to a far greater extent than the original NGE in that it has heart. Gryphon, Truss et al actually care about their readers, and it shows in the writing.

While I'd desperately love to see a return for my favourite characters, I guess I can (grudgingly) accept that the story is over and move on to other Eyrie Productions. Not that I wouldn't mind seeing a followup series... ;)