Lord Peter Wimsey fic and Sherlock fic, both by AJ Hall
Just found a nice little fic by AJ Hall.
It's only a short story, but it manages to cross three fandoms I like: Torchwood, Wimsey and Inklings (Tolkien)
The thing that totally sells it is the character voices. If you know your Lord Peter Wimsey, then you will recognise characters before they are actually introduced. (And, as there should be, there are lots of throwaway literary and poetical references, some of which I can identify and some of which I don't recognise but am sure are genuine.)
And there's a lovely little twist that is so perfect that it makes me cry out: "I love this idea -I want to read more about it!" (though I doubt I'll ever see it.)
Another story to love is The Affair of the Asphyxiated Acafan, I have slight quibbles with one aspect of the ending, but overall it's brilliant. The murder victim, even when dead, is an excellent original character who has that knack of reminding you of several people you know. Sarah (John Watson's girlfriend in some episodes) is extremely well written, intelligent and insightful. Harry, John's sister, also shines with a well-developed personality. When writers slash a couple (Hall has written John/Sherlock stories as well, which I'm looking forward to reading) they often tend to diss or simply ignore the canonical het pairings. I'm delighted to say this is not the case here. John and Sarah have a strong relationship and a good understanding of each other.
The murder plot has some nicely thought out details and is complex enough to feel like a TV episode. Sherlock himself is sharp as a razor and picks out lots of details (but I like it that Sarah works out a few things for herself).
(Thanks katlinel for introducing me to this particular writer)
This entry was originally posted on Dreamwidth where it has
comments.
It's only a short story, but it manages to cross three fandoms I like: Torchwood, Wimsey and Inklings (Tolkien)
The thing that totally sells it is the character voices. If you know your Lord Peter Wimsey, then you will recognise characters before they are actually introduced. (And, as there should be, there are lots of throwaway literary and poetical references, some of which I can identify and some of which I don't recognise but am sure are genuine.)
And there's a lovely little twist that is so perfect that it makes me cry out: "I love this idea -I want to read more about it!" (though I doubt I'll ever see it.)
Another story to love is The Affair of the Asphyxiated Acafan, I have slight quibbles with one aspect of the ending, but overall it's brilliant. The murder victim, even when dead, is an excellent original character who has that knack of reminding you of several people you know. Sarah (John Watson's girlfriend in some episodes) is extremely well written, intelligent and insightful. Harry, John's sister, also shines with a well-developed personality. When writers slash a couple (Hall has written John/Sherlock stories as well, which I'm looking forward to reading) they often tend to diss or simply ignore the canonical het pairings. I'm delighted to say this is not the case here. John and Sarah have a strong relationship and a good understanding of each other.
The murder plot has some nicely thought out details and is complex enough to feel like a TV episode. Sherlock himself is sharp as a razor and picks out lots of details (but I like it that Sarah works out a few things for herself).
(Thanks katlinel for introducing me to this particular writer)
This entry was originally posted on Dreamwidth where it has
comments.