REC: The Man Who Would Be Nyder

[biichan.livejournal.com]

Story: The Man Who Would Be Nyder
Author: mary_pseud
Rating: Adult
Author's summary: The story of Security Commander Nyder's youth, training, suffering and achievements. A boy born on Skaro during the Thousand Years War grows up to be Davros' feared second in command.
Characters/Pairings: Nyder, Davros, lots of Kaled OCs
Warnings: graphic violence, rape, character death

Recced because: This is a difficult fic. I won't lie to you. Reading it made my stomach hurt and more than once I thought of turning back, but I stayed with it because it's very good, although it's utterly heartbreaking. Mary_pseud tells the story of Nyder, Davros' lieutenant. It's coming of age story and a brutal one. But then, Skaro is a brutal place and Mary_pseud fleshes her setting out in admirable detail. It's a place that you really can believe has been at war longer than anyone remembers.

The Man Who Would Be Nyder is part of Mary_pseud's Damnatio Memoriae alternate universe, but it functions quite well as a standalone story. All of the stories in Damnatio Memoriae are very well done and I'd recommend the series as a whole, although you'd want to have a good deal of free time in which to read it, as it's quite long. (The Man Who Would Be Nyder is itself about twenty-five thousand words long.)

If you have trouble reading about painful subjects, please turn away now. If, however, you enjoy a good tragedy from time to time, this story is definitely the one for you.

Comments

[calapine.livejournal.com]

(No H in Kaleds - unless they've sneaked one into Daleks that I didn't know about. :P And I think it's closer to 25 000, rather than hundred.)

I recall this one giving me odd flashbacks to Ender's Game.

[marypseud.livejournal.com]

I think the Kaled language never met a hard consonant it didn't like. Perhaps biichan is thinking of Gharman?
And yes, the story is in fact 25,000 words; I only wish I could have gotten all that out of me in 2500 words! That would have been a story like a diamond, I think, every word a new sharp facet.

I certainly thought of 'Ender's Game' while writing this story, but while young Ender Wiggin has the hope of being someone special someday, Nyder does not.

[biichan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think I was thinking of Gharman. *is a bit embarassed now*

[biichan.livejournal.com]

Eeeep. Yes, I confused hundreds and thousands there. I should have wrote the number out! Forgive me, do.

Also, thanks for the Kaled correction! (Yeah, I should have known better. No H in Dalek after all.)

[calapine.livejournal.com]

No worries, heh.

[marypseud.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for the recc!
This story is probably my darkest and most unpleasant. Also, I think, one of my best. However, the Damnatio Memoriae series is large, and has a broad variety of stories, from SF to comedy to action to romance to even (gasp!) SEX on occasion. So if this one is too strong for your stomach, feel free to step ahead a story or two, and see if the next one isn't more to your taste.

[biichan.livejournal.com]

I agree on all three points. (Darkest, most unpleasant, and definitely your best.) And I'm glad to rec you! I've been meaning to ever since I read Damnatio Memoriae.

[wolfy-writing.livejournal.com]

This is harsh and nasty and painful.

It's also utterly brilliant. Go read this, and tell the author how amazing she is.

[marypseud.livejournal.com]

(bows in appreciation)

[eve11]

Fantastic rec. Thanks for pointing me to it.

[marypseud.livejournal.com]

I heartily endorse biichan's taste; glad you liked the story!