vaznetti | Entries tagged with recs

And I'm still here. Which is something, overall. In any case, I have been doing some reading over the last week or so.

On paper, Persians: The Age of the Great Kings by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones. As far as I can tell this book was written in 2022, which amazes me because it is so obdurately old fashioned a work of history, even of political history. The discussion of the royal women (because this is not the kind of book which cares about women who are not the wives, mothers, or concubines of the Persian kings) is incredibly naive. But if what you would like is a rollicking narrative of the Persian kings from Cyrus to Darius III this is the book for you. When I lie awake at night and my thoughts start running away with me I sit up and read five or ten pages of it.

Like a lot of popular histories the book has no proper citations within the text, and since I am not a specialist on Persia I have no way of knowing how well-grounded these lurid stories of court intrigue are but I am not strongly inclined to take them at face value. I guess Ctesias is the source for a lot of it but I feel like the author underestimates his prejudices about women and barbarians just because he isn't as bad as Herodotus.

On the internet, The Winter of Widows (524008 words) by laughingnell, an ASOIAF self-insert (or maybe more properly isekai? I'm not always clear on the difference) about a modern person born as the second daughter of a very minor Riverlands house; the story is set in the immediate aftermath of the Dance of the Dragons. It's really lovely: it's an uplift story but the uplift is about being humane and caring about other people. There is a little agricultural and technological development (four fields, glassworks and a spinning jenny) but none of the focus on military technology and political power that often overwhelm SI stories. Magic is real in this universe, as one would expect of something that takes the SI premise seriously, but not a panacea. The main character and her inner circle are all wonderfully-written, good people, even if they have some flaws. This is a very hopeful work, and I needed that this week.

It's a WIP, currently on chapter 62 of ???. Even if there's never another chapter written, I would recommend it.

Should I be packing? Yes, I should be packing. Look, I'm mostly packed.

Last month's theme at

fancake was black characters, and I thought about recommending this story, because it is such a remarkable work. I did not because it isn't actually fanfic, and indeed the degree of fictionality involved is complicated. It's alternate history, based as usual on a single point of divergence: the Malê Uprising of 1835, a revolt by Muslim slaves in Brazil, is more successful. After fighting a guerilla war in the hills for a few years, the survivors are put on a boat as a unit and sent to Africa, where they conquer one of the Sahel caliphates and set up a short-lived revolutionary state in 1840.

This is a story about a family, and about a place, and about three or four different shades of Islamic philosophy; it becomes a story about changing the world. It starts in West Africa, but the story spirals out to changes all over the world; I'm not sure if there's an update set on Antarctica but I wouldn't be shocked if there was. It isn't a utopia, but it's a world which is different in many ways, and better in some.

The story is called Malê Rising, by Jonathan Edelstein; it can be read over at alternatehistory.com. That's a link to the index of posts; this is a link to the first entry. The family of Paolo Abacar remains at the heart of it, but there are plenty of other characters along the way, some familiar from history, some less so -- and some very different from how we knew them (if you've ever wanted to read about Theodore Roosevelt as a gay pacifist, or Jules Verne as the visionary president of the French Republic, this is your chance).

The other reason I didn't link to this story over at

fancake is that it isn't a story in a traditional sense; a lot of the development and worldbuilding occurs in the discussion between Edelstein and readers on the board, and it's difficult to skim through the 373 (or something like that!) pages of discussion to get at the story sections. At one point the story updates had embedded images, but those have mostly disappeared, at least for me. So it's in a practical sense a difficult story to read -- not all the discussion is useful, but some is. For example, as I read through the opening parts, I kept thinking to myself, wow, people on this board keep talking about the Franco-Prussian war, how predictably eurocentric! can't they see that this is a story about Africa! But it turns out that the Franco-Prussian War goes slightly differently and that ends up having some really interesting consequences, not just for Europe but also for West Africa. This may or may not have been the point where I realised that this is a story about how everything is connected, and about how much those connections matter.

Other warnings: There is certainly the kind of racist language you would expect to find people using in 1840, and later. It's history, so there is war and violence and disease (including an early outbreak of HIV) and starvation. There are no characters incapable of self-redemption. There is a reasonable amount of discussion of Islamic philosophy, for a story in which philosophy matters.

This is a story which has made me smile and made me cry. It's complicated and amazing and hopeful, and well worth the trouble.

Obviously I have not read everything in the collection, but here are some things I have read and enjoyed. Below the cut are recs in: Crusader Kings 3, For All Mankind, Detectorists, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and Casablanca. ( click here )

As I keep reading, there may be another set of recs.

1. Wooo! It is

multifandomdrabble time again. Round 1 for 2021 is now open for signups! I love this exchange, because I like writing drabbles, and it's a good excuse to write a lot of them. This is my note to myself to remember to sign up -- I have a busy week and don't want to forget!

2. Every now and then I take a dive into the boards over at alternatehistory.com; I usually only read in the pre-1900 board, and avoid anything involving the American Civil War (I have a blanket "no Confederates and no Nazis in my pleasure reading" rule). But I really enjoy the site, especially the sort of deep dives into the marriages of minor and not-so-minor European nobility; one day I will actually make an account there, or even write something. In the meantime I found something I thought was really interesting, and it's the sort of thing a number of people on my access list here might like:

A Horn of Bronze: The Shaping of Fusania and Beyond: this is an alternate history of the western part of the North American continent based on the idea that caribou were domesticated in the Yukon in the early 1st millennium, and that this leads to plant domestication and the domestication of other animal species. From that point it's a survey of the complex cultures which develop in the arctic, subarctic and Pacific northwest and the effect that they have in the rest of North America and beyond -- the writing is very anthropological in a somewhat old fashioned way but the worldbuilding is extremely impressive. At some point (which I have not reached in my reading) there is contact via the coast with Japan & China, and the ethnographies reflect that, since in-universe some of them are ethnographies by people from Asia, or by people from North America residing in Asia. If what you really want in your worldbuilding is a survey of the most common domesticated plants in this version of the Pacific Northwest, and their spread beyond that region, this might be for you. It is really deep and engaging.

3. I've also recently read a very very long ASOIAF (book, not show) AU, involving Rob marrying a genderbent version of Domeric Bolton at the start of the events of the series. It carried through the whole of the foreshadopwed plot, building in a reasonable way from what we know is likely to happen. The author insists that it isn't a fixit, and enough bad things happen to make that true, but it does come to a satisfying conclusion. It's also a version of the ASOIAF story which is very much focused on the female characters and their view of the world they live in. It's called I lack the patience to haunt / Instead, I hunt by

dwellingondreams. Be warned, it's over 700,000 words. But they're 700,000 really good words.

I've been re-reading McKillip's Riddle-Master Trilogy, bout which I have little to say except that it's one of my old comfort reads. I'm also starting Martin Goodman's History of the Jewish People as my serious book.

And I've been reading some fanfic, and thought I would provide links to some of the longer ones I've enjoyed.

The Westerosi (120333 words) by Mal3
Chapters: 40/40
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV), A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, Star Trek (Sort Of)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Series: Part 1 of The Westerosi
Summary: Being an account of the Green Witch, the Fallen Star, known also as Captain Jade Hasegawa, Federal Worlds Starfleet Ranger, who crash-landed in the North of Westeros in the year 298 AC and what she did there afterwards. Feudal lords, ancient aliens, terrible threats and snarky heroics: all in a day's work for the Starfleet Rangers.

This is a delightful fish-out-of-water crossover, although the nature of the story means that it's mostly ASOIAF content not Star trek content -- and it's also got references to the Martian, because it's clearly a kind of Martian pastiche, but with ice zombies. I think the OC's name owes something to Homestuck, too, but I actually know nothing about that canon so can't be positive. In any case, the narrative voice is great. The first story is complete, and covers the first book of ASOIAF; the second story is not complete and was last updated in November, so who knows.

Six Pomegranate Seeds (185965 words) by Seselt
Chapters: 46/46
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Series: Part 1 of a Season in Hades
Summary: At the end, something happened. Hermione clutches at one fraying thread, uncertain whether she is Arachne or Persephone. What she does know is that she will keep fighting to protect her friends even if she must walk a dark path.

I really love Harry Potter AUs -- in this one, something goes very wrong at the final battle, and Hermione has to go back in time, not as herself, but as a Slytherin, to fix it without upsetting all the things that didn't go wrong. If you like Hermione when she's smart and angry you might like this. The story is complete in itself; there's a "what happened next" sequel which has not been updated recently.

After the end of Game of Thrones, I went looking for stories that dealt with some stuff I found unsatisfactory about the last season. Here are two:

No End and No Forgiveness (104351 words) by chss
Chapters: 49/49
Fandom: Game of Thrones (TV), A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Relationships: Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen, Sansa Stark/Original Male Character(s), Yara Greyjoy/Gwyneth Yronwood
Summary: The Three-Eyed Raven rules in King's Landing; a boy who never wanted to be king, aided by largely untested advisors. Dorne and the Iron Islands do not see why they should remain under his rule. The North is experiencing the realities of independence as winter takes its hold. In the east, the Lord of Light decides that Daenerys Targaryen's story is far from over.

Or: An exploration of the consequences of the bizarre end of S8.

Daenerys lives, and comes back to get her revenge. I feel like this sags a little toward the middle but it is extremely satisfying nonetheless. I read a lot of stories along these lines and this was one I particularly liked.

The Prince That Didn't Come (276039 words) by IGotNothin
Chapters: 63/63
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Jon Snow & Arya Stark, Arya Stark/Gendry Waters, Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen
Summary:

On an normal winter day, Hot Pie happily delivered two meat pies and a jug of ale to a waiting table.
There was no interruption from his ordinary work. No happy reunion, no thrilling tales, and no missing Stark girl to steal his food and change the world. There was nothing but another group of hungry mouths to feed.

Or Arya Stark does not visit the Crossroads Inn, and the world of ice and fire is changed forever.

This is a tough read, no doubt about it, but it's so well done that it's worth it. If you felt like the war against the Others deserved more time and more weight, this is the story for you. Arya-centric, and there is a high likelihood that one or more of your favourite characters are either already dead when this starts or die in the course of the story. The violence is more than canon-typical, too.

Something odd happened with my Yuletide authors this year -- I did go out to the pinch hit list twice, and then had a gift at the deadline, but then for some reason was sent out again at the last minute despite having a gift! So I think I have two gifts and a treat, and am feeling very lucky because they are all really delightful! And they also could all use more love.

First, two stories for Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell:

Seneschal, a post-canon story with Segundus and Childermass, and

Nameless, which explains Stephen Black's role in the Raven King's spell very neatly;

and then a story for Poldark:

An Enormous Wardrobe, which is a lovely look at Caroline and Demelza's friendship, featuring my favorite character in the series, Caroline's dresses.

All of them are really thoughtfully written to meet my prompts and wishes and I love them all!

I had to default on the Wayback Exchange (and am still sad about not being able to write the story I wanted to in the time I had), and was sure I wouldn't receive a story for it. But I did! A Highlander story! And it is delightful!

Who Watches? (3400 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Highlander: The Series
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Methos, Darius, Ian Bancroft, Don Salzer
Additional Tags: Pre-Series
Summary:

The thing about secret societies is that they don't recruit just anyone.

-Or-

How to Join a Secret Society in Five Easy Steps: A Case Study

This is how Methos joined the watcher, and everything about it is excellent. Especially Methos' inner narrative. It is funny but also (given how everything worked out for some of the people in this story) a little bitterweet. Go read it, and leave my anonymous author some feedback!

Hello internet! I kind of avoided you between December 15 and last Monday, when I finally got to see the Star Wars movie. I guess it was sort of strange to be so spoiler-phobic, but I saw all of the first trilogy completely blind (because I was something like 7, 10 and 13 when they came out; I remember walking out of Empire and complaining loudly to my father about how we wouldn't know what would become of Han Solo for ages, and how could they leave the story hanging like that?) As a side benefit I also got to see the Dr Who Christmas special with no preconceptions.

But anyway, I had to default on Yuletide myself; this was a good decision, especially because the next day my computer turned into a solid lump of nothing (it got better). But I still received this really excellent story. I don't think it will make much sense if you haven't see Humans, the show it's based on (but this is a show that many of you would like, since it is basically about AIs and what it means to be human, with a sideline in feminism, and is very well-acted and well-written and comes to a satisfying conclusion.)

Existential Issues (2818 words) by Black_Knight
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Humans (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Leo Elster & Niska, George Millican & Niska, Niska & Anita/Mia, Niska & Joe Hawkins, Niska & Laura Hawkins
Characters: Niska (Humans), Anita | Mia (Humans), Joe Hawkins (Humans), Laura Hawkins, George Millican, Leo Elster
Summary: Four times Niska talks with a living being, and once with a dead being.

I loved all the characters, but Niska was one of the most interesting to me -- arguably she went through the most and traveled the furthest of all of them. This story does a great job moving her forward again.

Crossposts: http://vaznetti.livejournal.com/566266.html

A few more, worth reading. These are all in books fandoms, and capture the tone of the originals perfectly.

( Star Trek (Rihannsu books); Tam Lin; The Princess Bride )

ETA: Also, happy new year! I know a lot of you had crappy 2014s, so here's hoping 2015 is a great year for everyone!

Crossposts: http://vaznetti.livejournal.com/559266.html

This hardly represents a full trawl of the archive, but here are some stories I have enjoyed.

( 6 stories in North & Hillard, Greek Prose Comp; Vorkosigan Saga; The Wire; The Dark is Rising; Flashman Papers; Oxford Time-Travel Universe )

And now off to read some more!

Crossposts: http://vaznetti.livejournal.com/558866.html

I got an excellent story this year! If you read only one story in Forever, make it this one! You won't be sorry.

A Mistaken Assumption, Repeated (2947 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forever (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Abe (Forever) & Henry Morgan
Characters: Abe (Forever), Henry Morgan, Jo Martinez, The Frenchman
Summary:

"You know, I thought you two had a thing at first."

I have one story in the main collection, and one in the Madness collection (a first for me).

Happy Yuletide, and all that!

Crossposts: http://vaznetti.livejournal.com/558755.html

Our decision to build an extension has been answered by Mother Nature with freezing weather, snow, and then more snow. So work has stopped, and probably won't start again next week.

So instead, have a few Festivids recs! I have hardly even had a chance to look at everything I want to, but here are a few I particularly enjoyed.

All the Rowboats (Godfather I and II) I guess it helps to have beautiful material, and this vid uses it beautifully.

Gray Goes Black (Miracles) Chilling in the same way the series was -- very much a Paul vid, I thought, but about Paul's story. If that makes sense.

Stayin' Low! (Alien movies) This is a crazy inspired song choice! And it makes for a great vid. It's all about Ripley.

dance album of the '80s (Lost Boys) When I was 18, I was obsessed with this movie. So this vid spoke to that part of me. But our conversation should probably remain private.

The Angelic Look (Charlie's Angels - 1976) It made me happy and nostalgic. Adorable!

Crossposts: http://vaznetti.livejournal.com/547603.html

In the end I wrote two stories for Yuletide this year, both of which have my sticky fingerprints all over them, as far as I can tell. Neither has made a big splash, but both recipients seem to like them, which is what matters. I also received a story which I adore!

Big Bad (1731 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Olympic Opening Ceremony (2012)
Rating: Not Rated
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Voldemort (Olympic Opening Ceremony), Mary Poppins (Olympic Opening Ceremony)
Summary:

or, Lord Voldemort and the Massive Mary Poppins-Induced Existential Crisis.

My first ever Yuletide, for Vaznetti. I hope you have fun with it!

The author recommends enjoying this fic with a refreshing beverage of your choice, because it only gets sillier from here...

It is just as funny as it promised to be. There is a villain support group! Voldemort's internal monologues are hysterical! Thank you again, yuletide author, and congratulations on your first Yuletide.

I've done a bit or reading as well, and here are three recommendations:

The Spy's Guide to Survivor's Guilt (8103 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Homeland
Rating: Not Rated
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Nicholas Brody/Carrie Mathison
Characters: Carrie Mathison, Dana Brody, Peter Quinn, Nicholas Brody
Summary: The first postcard comes two months later. It’s sent to Maggie’s house, it’s not signed, and it’s not in handwriting you recognize. Carrie works, and she waits.

Amazing, amazing post S2 story.

Fragile Things (4252 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Call the Midwife
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Chummy Browne/Peter Noakes
Characters: Chummy Browne, Peter Noakes, Trixie, Jenny Lee
Summary: Chummy is the sturdy one.

I love Chummy, and I love this!

the little war (29486 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Sharpe - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Relationships: Richard Sharpe/Teresa Moreno
Characters: Teresa Moreno, Richard Sharpe, Michael Hogan, Patrick Harper, Blas Vivar, Josefina LaCosta, Louisa Parker, Original Characters, Harold Price, Canon Character(s)
Summary: "The term guerilla means "little war" in Spanish and was used within the English language as early as 1809. The use of the diminutive evokes the differences in number, scale, and scope between the guerrilla army and the formal, professional army of the state." (Wikipedia, "Guerilla Warfare") When French soldiers raid her hometown in the summer of 1808, Teresa Moreno's life is destroyed in one single day. Building a new life for herself takes much longer and happens just as unexpectedly.

This is a very long and very satisfying story about Teresa Moreno, and how she becomes who she becomes.

Crossposts: http://vaznetti.livejournal.com/547039.html

Back from a wonderful weekend away -- we saw the sun! amazing! And then returned to nearly-unremitting gloom of Oxford. Woe!

But here are some more ASOIAF stories I liked. Many of them are also full of woe.

Goodbye Means Going Away (And Going Away Means Forgetting) (2368 words) by

lit_chick08
Relationships: Jon Snow/Sansa Stark
Characters: Rickon Stark, Sansa Stark, Jon Snow, Osha (ASoIaF), Wyman Manderly, Davos Seaworth
Summary: Memory is unreliable. No one understands this better than Rickon Stark.
This story ripped my heart out and then jumped up and down on it a lot. It's really, really good.

this house no longer feels like home by

juno_chan
Ned/Catelyn, for the prompt "'Take no wife...' AU where Ned is allowed to take the black, leading to angsty Ned/Cat." Or as the author puts it, angst, angst and more angst.
Who knew Ned not dying could be so tragic?

Crossing the River (8001 words) by

smirnoffmule
Relationships: Catelyn Stark/Walder Frey
Summary: Catelyn makes a different deal with the Lord of the Crossing.
This is a very interesting AU -- and ends on a very interesting note.

A Circle in a Spiral (3727 words) by

SomeEnchantedEve
Summary: An examination of Lysa Tully Arryn within the constructs of the five stages of grief/loss. "By the time the war is over, and her husband returns home (how glad she is, she must be, she tells herself), Lysa scarcely recognizes the woman in the mirror. Her eyes are granite, her mouth is steel, and she scarcely remembers the girl who drank and laughed and danced with a boy that she loved. Surely, she decides, that must have been someone else, and not myself. Surely, she wonders, she was never that happy."
This is really beautiful and sad. Poor Lysa. She's usually so easy to discard, you know?

And finally, something totally not angsty at all!
Allies in the Game (1689 words) by

SecondStarOnTheLeft
Relationships: Sansa Stark/Willas Tyrell
Summary: There's much to be said for having an ally worthy of one's trust in the game of thrones.
Hot! and sweet, and fun.

Crossposts: http://vaznetti.livejournal.com/542923.html

First, an insta-rec -- Fireball, by

celli. I may well be the least-likely reader for this fic, since it's an SGA AU set in the world of NASCAR racing, which is something I know absolutely nothing about. Maybe less than nothing. As I type this, I'm betting that the "R" stands for "racing," so that NASCAR racing is actually redundant. Whatever. The point is that I took a chance on it, and loved every single word of it. It's John/Rodney, but the whole team is there, and everyone seems perfect to me. It made me laugh out loud, it's a romance, the plot kept me going, and the whole thing just works really, really well.

Even if it's not your thing, go give it a try.

* * *

Last night I saw the Space Channel rerun of Jericho and ( why are you all not watching this show? it's amazing! )

The short version -- all the slow plot-and-character-and-world-building from the beginning is finally paying off, and paying off big-time. If you are looking for a show to catch up on over the summer, jericho is worth a look.

* * *

In other news, I have been reading Vorkosigan books pretty much non-stop for the past few days, and will probably have something to say about that, eventually.

Among the things that make

vaznetti happy, the following may be found:

the fact that her car started this afternoon, despite the weather and the fact that she hasn't used it for two weeks;

the lamb chops she's thinking of cooking for dinner, unless she decides on eggs and bacon instead, because being able to eat breakfast for dinner is one of the best things ever about being a grown up;

a couple longhand pages of a story that might actually work, who knows;

reading a really good story about John Winchester, called John: Seasons, by leonidaslion; and

all the really interesting posts still coming out of last week's Supernatural, which I should do a big linking post to someday.

Hm. There's probably more, but those lamb chops are calling me.

I was going to do one of those fanfic-year-in-review things (and discovered that I've written more, and more stories than I'm proud of, than I'd thought), but instead, here are a few more

yuletide recommendations, coming in just under the wire of anonymity.

Hot Shots Part Deus: God Strikes Back. Because it's Hot Shots fic, and it's hysterically funny and perfect in every way. I wish I had more to say, but each time I reread it to select a quote, I end up laughing too hard to cut-and-paste.

Lost Boys was one of my early fannish loves, and thank god the internet didn't exist back then, is all I'm saying, because I'd probably have to destroy it to get rid of my early self-indulgent work. But there are a couple rather nice pieces in Yuletide this year.

Landing is Michael, afterward and looking back -- and not exactly with regret, but with a kind of half-longing. It seems very right.

Turn, and Turnabout is the threesome at the heart of the story, with a nice little twist at the end. Hot, and slightly unsettling.

Five Things Maggie Simpson Never Said. It has all the marvelous self-references you'd expect from The Simpsons. And there are zombies and mob hit-men, too. So much fun.

As well, I wish everyone a happy 2007!

This is only a taste of what I've been reading over the past couple of days, and there are so many excellent stories out there that I could come up with vast numbers to recommend.

Another story in the the fandom I received (the Riddle-Master trilogy), Coin for the Man Who Has Nothing gives us Deth in the first days of the series, as time, almost without warning, begins to grow short. I love Deth, and this story is very right for him.

There were a few Deadwood stories this year, and I think my favorite is not yet past mending, set soon after the end of Season 3, and thus containing spoilers for that season -- it's mostly Alma, with the others you'd expect, and the dialogue is nearly perfect.

Pride Goeth (Blade Runner) is the story of Roy Batty as he becomes the man (and really, there's no other suitable word) we see in the movie. From one kind of soldier to another.

I've seen Hyakinthos recommended quite a bit, and deservedly so. It's a fragment of a lost Greek tragedy, Artemis, Apollo and the chorus, and although I could actually care less about the story itself (the love lives of the Greek gods are strangely boring to me) the artistry of the fragment itself is perfect. So I suppose what I love about this is the form, rather than the content. Those who've read a lot of lyric will be especially amused, I think.

I have three stories from Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising series to recommend. Like a lot of readers, I found the memory-loss at the end of Silver on the Tree distressing*; all of these stories address this problem, one way or another.

The Land of Lost Content brings Will, Bran and Barney back to a Cornwall where the war between Light and Dark is not entirely finished. It has plot and character and makes me very happy indeed.

Memories of Things You've Never Known gives us a Bran who is just beginning to remember, and who is finding that memory may be no better than forgetfulness. The plot is implied rather than explained, which I like.

Eirias was, it seems, written to precisely the same prompt, but is a completely different story -- longer, with more plot and a different kind of atmosphere. It's possible that the sense of place -- Oxford in winter -- is what really strikes me, but also, that this is very much the Bran I think he was, if that makes any sense at all.

*I think this means that I was in some ways a bad reader of those books, but that's neither here nor there.

* * *

This is just a start, really; I hope there will be more to come.

Current Mood: satisfied

We're back from the Christmas extravaganza -- a good time was had by all, I feel. Since then I've been reading

yuletide stories, and feel like I have about a hundred and thirty two open tabs in my browser.

But I really should -- in case you've missed it -- draw your attention to the story which was written for me, because I adore it and it's perfect and if it was written by someone on my friends list I will laugh and laugh and laugh because... well, you know.

It Ends With Skies and Wings (McKillip, Riddle-Master trilogy) is Mathom of An, between knowing too much and knowing too little. It's marvelous.

* * *

I'll do a few more recommendations in a while, or tomorrow, or sometime. I'm going through one of those phases when one is absolutely convinced that one cannot write, and the best thing for it would be to actually write something, but instead there's the awful, grumpy paralysis. And this despite the fact that the story I wrote for Yuletide has been perfectly well-received. Hello, random insecurity! I think I may go feed my insecurity a mince pie, or maybe some stilton. And then perhaps I will be brave enough to, I don't know, try typing something.

Happy birthday to

cofax7, one of the loveliest people I've encountered in fandom. And apparently her birthday also marks the official start of the holiday season.

If anyone reading this commented under my name on the anonymous love meme (I was up twice, as far as I know), thank you very much. I do in fact now feel loved and a little surprised by what nice things you had to say about me there.

* * *

And, in case anyone missed it, Hossgal wrote Argus, a FF/SPN crossover with John and Kaylee. It's very good, although it did kind of break me a little. Go read it and leave feedback; perhaps it will encourage her write more crossovers.

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Page generated Jul. 27th, 2025 06:07 am

The Tyranny of Socks

Shit, where did all that time go?

Entries tagged with recs

look out, it's Wednesday

pre-travel rec

Tis the season... for Yuletide recs!

Three links to follow

Wednesday, right? I keep thinking it's Thursday.

Yuletide Joy

Wayback Exchange, sort of

Yuletide: better late than never

under the wire recs

A handful of Yuletide recs

Yuletide!

Festivids and Snowpocalypse

Yuletide!

more ASOIAF recs

insta-rec and Jericho

randomness and a rec

Happy New Year!

A small handful of Yuletide recs

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