Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Physicist by Nickey (R)
Rec Category: Alternate Universe
Pairing: John/Rodney
Category: Slash
Warning: none
Author on LJ: nickeyb
Author's Website: unknown
Link: http://nickeyb.livejournal.com/30007.html
Why This Must Be Read: A lot of Atlantis fics are sugar and crack and squishably adorable. And then there are the moody, gritty, atmospheric pieces. My first set of recs for Alternate Universe this month are all in the latter style.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Physicist, as you might guess from the title, is a John LeCarre-style spy story. Rodney is seduced -- lets himself be seduced, because, hey, John. He's smart enough to know the score, and he's smart enough to work out the best angle he can, but in the end he loves hopelessly, just waiting for the day the house of cards will fall. The writing is beautiful, and puts you right inside the head of Rodney in his grey London setting.
Excerpt:
Did it make a difference when it wasn’t your own country’s secrets you were asked to betray? Did that make it better or worse on the moral scale? More understandable surely. There was a lot less loyalty, after all, and stupid things like professional pride weren’t meant to enter into it. People didn’t assume physicists had things like honour or courage. That was for the boys in blue. Or khaki, or whatever colour they wore. It wasn’t for their world, John and his, murky and a little sordid round the edges.
Pairing: John/Rodney
Category: Slash
Warning: none
Author on LJ: nickeyb
Author's Website: unknown
Link: http://nickeyb.livejournal.com/30007.html
Why This Must Be Read: A lot of Atlantis fics are sugar and crack and squishably adorable. And then there are the moody, gritty, atmospheric pieces. My first set of recs for Alternate Universe this month are all in the latter style.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Physicist, as you might guess from the title, is a John LeCarre-style spy story. Rodney is seduced -- lets himself be seduced, because, hey, John. He's smart enough to know the score, and he's smart enough to work out the best angle he can, but in the end he loves hopelessly, just waiting for the day the house of cards will fall. The writing is beautiful, and puts you right inside the head of Rodney in his grey London setting.
Excerpt:
Did it make a difference when it wasn’t your own country’s secrets you were asked to betray? Did that make it better or worse on the moral scale? More understandable surely. There was a lot less loyalty, after all, and stupid things like professional pride weren’t meant to enter into it. People didn’t assume physicists had things like honour or courage. That was for the boys in blue. Or khaki, or whatever colour they wore. It wasn’t for their world, John and his, murky and a little sordid round the edges.