Yuletide recs II -- Case stories
Satisfying case stories are surprisingly rare in fanfiction. Here are four...
Chrestomanci/'The Snow Queen'
A Snowflake and a Holly Crown, by Rosie Rues
'Cat Chant was easy, all curves and squiggles, and he could knot his seal into it like tangled vines. Chrestomanci-in-waiting, however, felt like barbed wire, and needed to be sealed with lightning and panache.' Marianne has to rescue Cat in a satisfying adventure that would slot easily into canon, despite the fairy tale borrowings. There's plenty of magic, sympathetic villains, & just enough twists to keep things interesting
Isaac Asimov
A Woman's Touch, by Sath
'"If you'd asked me what I thought the impact of pseudo-female 'companion robots' would be before going ahead with the MR project, I would've told you it'd end exactly like this."' A short case for Susan Calvin that forms a loose sequel to 'Lenny'. Sath successfully retains a strong feel of canon despite distancing the story a little from Asimov's gender prejudices. Believable & poignant
Rivers of London
Folly To Be Wise, by Philomytha
'London is constantly being destroyed and recreated, old buildings improved, extended, knocked down, blown up and redeveloped into something new.' Atmospheric ghost story that builds on the fallout from Ettersberg and feels just like a missing case from canon. Philomytha gives us some interesting insights into Nightingale's youth & the history of magical practice in this universe, too
Thursday Next
To Begin With, by Aubry
'Usually, when protests kick off in Dickens's social commentaries it's in Hard Times, or the back-story of the first volume of David Copperfield. Carol was a different fettle of kitsch.' This enjoyable casefic set in A Christmas Carol has a ball with the best bits from both canons. There are amusing sidelines on the nature of fiction & Dickens lit crit on the way to the requisite treacly ending
Crossposted from Dreamwidth (with
replies). Reply wherever you prefer
Chrestomanci/'The Snow Queen'
A Snowflake and a Holly Crown, by Rosie Rues
'Cat Chant was easy, all curves and squiggles, and he could knot his seal into it like tangled vines. Chrestomanci-in-waiting, however, felt like barbed wire, and needed to be sealed with lightning and panache.' Marianne has to rescue Cat in a satisfying adventure that would slot easily into canon, despite the fairy tale borrowings. There's plenty of magic, sympathetic villains, & just enough twists to keep things interesting
Isaac Asimov
A Woman's Touch, by Sath
'"If you'd asked me what I thought the impact of pseudo-female 'companion robots' would be before going ahead with the MR project, I would've told you it'd end exactly like this."' A short case for Susan Calvin that forms a loose sequel to 'Lenny'. Sath successfully retains a strong feel of canon despite distancing the story a little from Asimov's gender prejudices. Believable & poignant
Rivers of London
Folly To Be Wise, by Philomytha
'London is constantly being destroyed and recreated, old buildings improved, extended, knocked down, blown up and redeveloped into something new.' Atmospheric ghost story that builds on the fallout from Ettersberg and feels just like a missing case from canon. Philomytha gives us some interesting insights into Nightingale's youth & the history of magical practice in this universe, too
Thursday Next
To Begin With, by Aubry
'Usually, when protests kick off in Dickens's social commentaries it's in Hard Times, or the back-story of the first volume of David Copperfield. Carol was a different fettle of kitsch.' This enjoyable casefic set in A Christmas Carol has a ball with the best bits from both canons. There are amusing sidelines on the nature of fiction & Dickens lit crit on the way to the requisite treacly ending
Crossposted from Dreamwidth (with
replies). Reply wherever you prefer