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Possibly my favorite piece of writing on the Internet, a substantive, totally engrossing investigative mystery set on what feels like the Martian frontier. The

Possibly my favorite piece of writing on the Internet, a substantive, totally engrossing investigative mystery set on what feels like the Martian frontier. The writer’s descriptions of preparing for searches limited by the environment to a couple of hours might as well have taken place in an airlock, and (spoilers!) when they finally turn up some evidence towards the end and manage to involve the local scattered populace & sheriff in the hunt before the payoff... Read with a tab of Google Earth open and follow along with the clues for a weirdly immersive experience, preferably on a hot and dry day!

paulcole 6y ago
> Turned out I was experiencing the onset of Graves Disease (a friggin’ chick thing that hardly ever happens to guys!!) One of many passages that really turned me off of this as a piece of writing. It’s a thorough collection of amateurish blog posts but is it anything more than that? Not to me.
- Fezzik 6y ago
  The story is still fantastic, despite some poor phrasing. Graves Disease does predominately occur in women, so what the author is saying is true. It may not be the way I would phrase it, but instead of imputing malice or amateurishness, I opt to think the author was trying to be humorous/add some levity to the story and it just may not have worked for me (or you) in places. Which is okay. Heck, the author even leads with stating that his “usual writing style tends to be somewhat lighthearted and flippant”. Edit, to add: I think it is a great thing that every article on the web is not crafted like a think-piece in The New Yorker. That would be exhausting.
lorey 6y ago
Read this by chance because I usually come to HN for tech articles, but I feel exactly the same and have been recommending this ever since. One of the most thrilling and exciting stories I've read so far.

paulcole 6y ago

> Turned out I was experiencing the onset of Graves Disease (a friggin’ chick thing that hardly ever happens to guys!!) One of many passages that really turned me off of this as a piece of writing. It’s a thorough collection of amateurish blog posts but is it anything more than that? Not to me.

Fezzik 6y ago
The story is still fantastic, despite some poor phrasing. Graves Disease does predominately occur in women, so what the author is saying is true. It may not be the way I would phrase it, but instead of imputing malice or amateurishness, I opt to think the author was trying to be humorous/add some levity to the story and it just may not have worked for me (or you) in places. Which is okay. Heck, the author even leads with stating that his “usual writing style tends to be somewhat lighthearted and flippant”. Edit, to add: I think it is a great thing that every article on the web is not crafted like a think-piece in The New Yorker. That would be exhausting.

lorey 6y ago

Read this by chance because I usually come to HN for tech articles, but I feel exactly the same and have been recommending this ever since. One of the most thrilling and exciting stories I've read so far.