Let me start off by saying that Look to the West continues to be one of my all-time favorite alternate history narratives. I'm sure it's inspired many others along with myself, and it was foundational in my experience with this genre. Recently I've been rereading the entire TL from the start, this time in its published form, and it's been great to experience some of its myriad twists and turns all over again. The present chapters are equally thrilling, and I can't wait for the Black Twenties to enter its second round of societist horror.
Insofar as there is anything to critique about this grand narrative, I really only have a few comments, mostly related to core aspects of the TL which might simply be the result of our differences in opinion. First off, while I acknowledge one of the TL's central conceits--that the main ideological conflict of modern history might be over something other than economics--I do think the element of class conflict has gone a bit too ignored as a result. While the societists don't seem too interested in class as a force of societal discord, their false image of class harmony and meritocracy probably still appeals to some working-class people. More importantly, I imagine that the basic disruptions of capitalism, be that in the form of enclosure, industrial labor, or simple market crashes, would have a greater effect on this world's history than presently seems to be the case. Perhaps the issue is that TTL's historians aren't too interested in labor, or maybe it's just that we see the national perspective more than what's happening to ordinary citizens. Still, the influence of strikes, unions, and other expressions of class conflict would be interesting to see in the context of TTL. Could diversitarianism accommodate non-capitalist societies, for example?
Secondly, I feel like the general perspective that the post-Pandoric chapters have taken is a little too unbalanced, specifically to the detriment of the societists. I understand that their ideologically colored views and scholarship might be harder to articulate than that of their diversitarian counterparts, but their importance to this narrative overall means that depicting them properly is essential. A basic issue I am still faced with is that it's hard to know what living in a societist society is really like. I thought that the move to Carolina would mean we'd see more of their perspective, and while that has been broadly true, there are still many parts where proper detail is lacking. To be clear, it's not that I need more explicitly pro-societist sources, or that I think they have been unfairly maligned. But creating a good antagonist often requires a great degree of 'character' development, and my picture of the Combine is still too vague as of yet. If that lack of detail is on purpose, the result of both societist censorship and the Last War of Supremacy, then I understand. Even so, I think some historical chapters or Pandoric-style narratives written from the ground level of the Combine could do a lot of good for TTL's worldbuilding.
That's about all I have to say! I'm eager to see where this story goes next; in terms of graphics, my only request would be another world map. Maybe when the Black Twenties are roughly 'halfway' (or entering some kind of new phase). Also, I'll be sure to get the volume 5 e-book when it releases; not long now, I hope!