[Certain]

Seymour BUTTS: Not many writers can execute the complex narrative based in an entirely different world the way you did here. That's not to say there weren't hiccups. There were several times I had to reread (for instance, trying to figure out who Soniclus was). But you mostly made this a clear narrative and gave me good mental images. You didn't overdescribe but used words that I could attach my own images to. I liked that a lot, and I'm guessing that everyone who reads this is going to have their own images for a lot of these things. The pace was the key component. You didn't rush through anything because you kept the backstory to the required minimum, giving you plenty of space for the action. This was very enjoyable and impressive, good enough that with a bit of smoothing out and just a little more development of the backstory and clarity at the end, you could have yourself a truly great verse.

Peter McPuffington: I liked this verse a lot. It required a close read because the narrative was told subtly, and that made it even more difficult to follow than Seymour BUTTS's substantially more complex narrative. But there was a degree of intri***y in the phrasing, and though some of it missed, it added a level to a verse that otherwise would have been a fairly straight-forward retelling of Nikola Tesla's life. This approach to the topic wasn't quite perfect, as it seemed more like you wanted to write a verse about Tesla and shoe-horned it in. But I think the ending brought it close enough. You could have beaten a lot of verses this week with your submission, but Seymour BUTTS had one of the three best this week (along with gaseous snake and Template).

Vote: Seymour BUTTS