Torchwood: Novel
Late Night Loss by Galadriel1010
Didn't read it. A preliminary skimming revealed that the dialogue punctuation is consistently incorrect. For me, getting this basic issue so wrong so often is a deal-breaking flaw, especially when the problem can easily be fixed with the help of a beta reader.
As for those poor commas, recently I've seen comments that they are boring, minor, picky details. I totally disagree, but I appreciate commas enough to make up for several people who don't. Just look at the following sentence:
“So how do you know Jack Mickey?”
As it reads, the questioner is asking someone how that person is acquainted with an individual named Jack Mickey.
The author meant to type the following:
"So how do you know Jack, Mickey?"
In the above sentence, the questioner is asking Mickey how he came to be acquainted with Jack. There's quite a difference in meaning between sentence 1 and sentence 2, and it's all because of a comma. Lovely things, commas. They matter.
Magwitch by angstosaur
I'm the reviewer who looked at this story's sequel, Queen Takes Knight's Pawn, over in the Dark category. I didn't have enough interest in the plot to finish that fic. Fortunately, this one was better. I made it all the way through, and was reasonably entertained. The story starts soon after Gwen's wedding, with a mystery involving a dead Weevil. Some of the action was very good, I liked a lot of the cliffhangers, and the mystery got me interested right away, but points off for too-frequent technical errors.
Sample text from the end of a chapter:
He was so very tired, if he could just rest up for a while, he realised that at least the shivering had stopped, although something in the back of his mind tried to alert him to the fact that that wasn’t necessarily a good sign. It didn’t take long before he collapsed for the final time, his pulse slowing as the cold claimed him.
The Theory of Two Centres by sam_storyteller
Intriguing story where Ianto wakes up to discover that he's been retconned and has lost his memories from the last four years. He has a choice between taking an ordinary job, or meeting Jack to find out why his memories are gone. Ianto chooses the second option. The story moves between "Now" and "Then" to gradually reveal the truth. The writing is brilliant, the characterization is excellent, and I read all of the chapters straight through when I maybe should have been doing something else instead. It was that good.
The following terrific sentence serves as both summary and opening line:
Ianto Jones woke up in a bed that wasn't his, in a flat that wasn't his, wearing clothing that definitely wasn't his.
Torn by missthingsplace
Previously saw this one in the Dark category. The dialogue punctuation is still consistently incorrect.
A brief quote:
“It's okay Cariad, I've got you.” Ianto told him softly.
Vizzini's Rule by buttononthetop
This fic goes from Ianto's decision to work at Torchwood Three all the way to the end of the first season. I preferred the chapters with original material to the ones that mostly recapped various episodes of the show. The former gave the author more opportunity to display her own style and abilities. The writing tends to be pretty good, though I could have done without the bits in the End of Days sections that reflected the author's dislike of Gwen's actions.
Here's a good bit from early in the story:
Ianto didn’t think it would be wise to correct the Captain’s misinterpretation of his astonishment. He’d been thinking that it was a pit and he couldn’t imagine how four people could make such a mess. Instead he simply nodded, fearing his voice might betray his dismay.
Overall: It's got to be obvious that I think The Theory of Two Centres is in a league of its own.
Didn't read it. A preliminary skimming revealed that the dialogue punctuation is consistently incorrect. For me, getting this basic issue so wrong so often is a deal-breaking flaw, especially when the problem can easily be fixed with the help of a beta reader.
As for those poor commas, recently I've seen comments that they are boring, minor, picky details. I totally disagree, but I appreciate commas enough to make up for several people who don't. Just look at the following sentence:
“So how do you know Jack Mickey?”
As it reads, the questioner is asking someone how that person is acquainted with an individual named Jack Mickey.
The author meant to type the following:
"So how do you know Jack, Mickey?"
In the above sentence, the questioner is asking Mickey how he came to be acquainted with Jack. There's quite a difference in meaning between sentence 1 and sentence 2, and it's all because of a comma. Lovely things, commas. They matter.
Magwitch by angstosaur
I'm the reviewer who looked at this story's sequel, Queen Takes Knight's Pawn, over in the Dark category. I didn't have enough interest in the plot to finish that fic. Fortunately, this one was better. I made it all the way through, and was reasonably entertained. The story starts soon after Gwen's wedding, with a mystery involving a dead Weevil. Some of the action was very good, I liked a lot of the cliffhangers, and the mystery got me interested right away, but points off for too-frequent technical errors.
Sample text from the end of a chapter:
He was so very tired, if he could just rest up for a while, he realised that at least the shivering had stopped, although something in the back of his mind tried to alert him to the fact that that wasn’t necessarily a good sign. It didn’t take long before he collapsed for the final time, his pulse slowing as the cold claimed him.
The Theory of Two Centres by sam_storyteller
Intriguing story where Ianto wakes up to discover that he's been retconned and has lost his memories from the last four years. He has a choice between taking an ordinary job, or meeting Jack to find out why his memories are gone. Ianto chooses the second option. The story moves between "Now" and "Then" to gradually reveal the truth. The writing is brilliant, the characterization is excellent, and I read all of the chapters straight through when I maybe should have been doing something else instead. It was that good.
The following terrific sentence serves as both summary and opening line:
Ianto Jones woke up in a bed that wasn't his, in a flat that wasn't his, wearing clothing that definitely wasn't his.
Torn by missthingsplace
Previously saw this one in the Dark category. The dialogue punctuation is still consistently incorrect.
A brief quote:
“It's okay Cariad, I've got you.” Ianto told him softly.
Vizzini's Rule by buttononthetop
This fic goes from Ianto's decision to work at Torchwood Three all the way to the end of the first season. I preferred the chapters with original material to the ones that mostly recapped various episodes of the show. The former gave the author more opportunity to display her own style and abilities. The writing tends to be pretty good, though I could have done without the bits in the End of Days sections that reflected the author's dislike of Gwen's actions.
Here's a good bit from early in the story:
Ianto didn’t think it would be wise to correct the Captain’s misinterpretation of his astonishment. He’d been thinking that it was a pit and he couldn’t imagine how four people could make such a mess. Instead he simply nodded, fearing his voice might betray his dismay.
Overall: It's got to be obvious that I think The Theory of Two Centres is in a league of its own.