Yuletide 2014 recs III -- Worldbuilding
Stories that build up new worlds or shine light in corners of old ones, stories that focus on minors & original characters...
Artworks
we played escapees while they hunted in the woods, by drcalvin
'It was always harder to be an Escapee, because you had to remember to angle out your elbows, or keep your knees bent, or in some other way copy the imperfection of gyro-walk even the best balanced robots suffered back in those days.' Rich world-building & a strong narrative voice, inspired by Simon Stålenhag's Rymlingen Mecha
Chalion series
Communion of Saints, by Rthstewart
'There were the usual disdainful looks at her rustic table manners but Clara was too hungry to pretend to be ascetic and she wolfed down several hard biscuits softened with goat cheese and honey.' In this triptych, Rthstewart creates rounded & engaging characters from minors & OCs to illustrate the travails & joys of being a saint
A Child's Christmas in Wales
A Child's Apogee in the Black, by Kass
'Sleek and long as coiled cables, mincing and pouncing, they would glide and goosestep over the heating ducts, and the cyberenhanced hunters, Jane and I, imagining ourselves in spacesuits barely-tethered to the ship's pockmarked exterior, would proffer our leftover protein shreds as though to alien lifeforms on an uncharted planet.' Re-envisioning of 'A Child's Christmas in Wales' which clings tight to the original, underlining surprising parallels between the worlds, but leaves room for some wonderful inventive flourishes
The Hour
Impatient Both of Delays and Rivals, by Disenchanted
'Adam was one of those bad actors who compensate for their lack of talent by clinging to the common wisdom that all members of the profession are bound by nature to be false.' Most The Hour fanfiction is a bit syrupy for my taste, but this edgy piece bucks the trend, succeeding in making Angus sympathetic without making him out to be any nicer than he is
Incredible Hulk
The Middle Way, by Mithrigil
'His gangly and underfed body, beneath the wreck of his kimono, is covered in ofuda, holy seals that cling to him with paste. She doesn't know whether to remove them or not. Nobu was always so spiritual, so committed to the Way. There must be a purpose for them that she couldn't know.' A retelling of the Hulk's tragedy set in Sengoku era Japan, based on Genesischant's Sengoku Avengers. The fusion works amazingly well, & the Sengoku period is vividly conjured in well-chosen details
Sharing Knife series
Terminus, by Castiron
'To eyes, though, the Accretion was strangely beautiful, almost as beautiful as Aruvem had been when she hoisted a shimmersail and rode laughing across the lake.' I've always found the barely there history the most intriguing aspect of the Wide Green World. Castiron weaves together the little that Bujold provides to give us a key scene in the First Malice War, deepened by hints of all the Lakewalker civilisation has lost. The ending is perfectly judged
Crossposted from Dreamwidth (with
replies). Reply wherever you prefer
Artworks
we played escapees while they hunted in the woods, by drcalvin
'It was always harder to be an Escapee, because you had to remember to angle out your elbows, or keep your knees bent, or in some other way copy the imperfection of gyro-walk even the best balanced robots suffered back in those days.' Rich world-building & a strong narrative voice, inspired by Simon Stålenhag's Rymlingen Mecha
Chalion series
Communion of Saints, by Rthstewart
'There were the usual disdainful looks at her rustic table manners but Clara was too hungry to pretend to be ascetic and she wolfed down several hard biscuits softened with goat cheese and honey.' In this triptych, Rthstewart creates rounded & engaging characters from minors & OCs to illustrate the travails & joys of being a saint
A Child's Christmas in Wales
A Child's Apogee in the Black, by Kass
'Sleek and long as coiled cables, mincing and pouncing, they would glide and goosestep over the heating ducts, and the cyberenhanced hunters, Jane and I, imagining ourselves in spacesuits barely-tethered to the ship's pockmarked exterior, would proffer our leftover protein shreds as though to alien lifeforms on an uncharted planet.' Re-envisioning of 'A Child's Christmas in Wales' which clings tight to the original, underlining surprising parallels between the worlds, but leaves room for some wonderful inventive flourishes
The Hour
Impatient Both of Delays and Rivals, by Disenchanted
'Adam was one of those bad actors who compensate for their lack of talent by clinging to the common wisdom that all members of the profession are bound by nature to be false.' Most The Hour fanfiction is a bit syrupy for my taste, but this edgy piece bucks the trend, succeeding in making Angus sympathetic without making him out to be any nicer than he is
Incredible Hulk
The Middle Way, by Mithrigil
'His gangly and underfed body, beneath the wreck of his kimono, is covered in ofuda, holy seals that cling to him with paste. She doesn't know whether to remove them or not. Nobu was always so spiritual, so committed to the Way. There must be a purpose for them that she couldn't know.' A retelling of the Hulk's tragedy set in Sengoku era Japan, based on Genesischant's Sengoku Avengers. The fusion works amazingly well, & the Sengoku period is vividly conjured in well-chosen details
Sharing Knife series
Terminus, by Castiron
'To eyes, though, the Accretion was strangely beautiful, almost as beautiful as Aruvem had been when she hoisted a shimmersail and rode laughing across the lake.' I've always found the barely there history the most intriguing aspect of the Wide Green World. Castiron weaves together the little that Bujold provides to give us a key scene in the First Malice War, deepened by hints of all the Lakewalker civilisation has lost. The ending is perfectly judged
Crossposted from Dreamwidth (with
replies). Reply wherever you prefer