rec: The Road to Shalka (series)
Feb. 15th, 2008 07:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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calufraxStory:The Road to Shalka
Author: Soldeed
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 98,199 words in five installments
Author's Summary:In the BBCi animated webcast Scream of the Shalka, a lean, cold-eyed Doctor was embittered, lonely and grieving for some past tragedy. Where did he come from? What past adventures had he experienced? And just what happened to leave him so wounded? A serial in 5 separate stories.
Characters/Pairings: Webcast 9th Doctor, Original Companion
Warnings: None given
Recced because: There are a lot of reasons not to click on this series. It's very long. It's all about an obscure Doctor and an original companion who has the detriment of having several Mary-Sue-ish traits at first glance. From the description, it seems like it could devolve very easily into angst and heavy-handed melodrama.
But oh, if you don't trust me on any other rec I make, trust me on this one: click through and read it. Because while it may seem like all of the above at first glance, what it is, is bloody brilliant. I'd never even heard of Richard E Grant's webcast ninth Doctor when I started reading this, but it didn't matter. With deft dialogue and a light-handed, vivid narrative style, Soldeed gives us an instantly recognizable Doctor, with a well-rounded and utterly human companion, in a series of wildly creative adventures. From its humble beginnings with an ancient, AU Eight in calm retirement, through alien invasions, futuristic planets, historical mysteries and dramatic space station showdowns, Soldeed offers nothing less than an Old-school-style Series 27-that-could-have-been for WebCast nine. And it's no less than he deserves. Soldeed knows their Whoniverse and hands us new monsters and old enemies apace-- their characterization of the Master is especially brilliant. Good action/adventure, episode-style fic is so hard to find, and this one's better than good; it's five levels of fantastic. So, give it an afternoon or a series of such to read, and then please join me in telling the author how wonderful they are.
"He?" she repeated. "I thought you said you were him."
This had been the extent of his explanation as to how he had transformed from the ancient grandfather figure she had known all her life to this brusque, energetic man in his thirties. Announcing that they had no time for further discussion, he had simply ordered her to follow him and she had found herself doing so. Too much had already happened tonight to be stunned by this new impossibility.
"Well, yes," he responded airily, already turning away to retrieve the bucket and set off again down a path which looked like it had been made by sheep. "But changing bodies isn't like buying a new hat, you know..." He clapped his hand on top of his head. "Where's my hat?"
"You threw it away. You said it smelt funny."
"Ah. Anyway, it's too bad the old fool didn't tell you the plan before he checked out. Hopefully it will come back to me."
Jasmine trailed after him, bunching up her skirt to avoid tripping over it.
"Then where is he?" she protested. "What's happened to him?"
"Fascinating existential question," he called back, not turning round. "Which I'd be happy to discuss at a later date. At the moment, in case you've forgotten, your planet is being attacked by aliens."
Author: Soldeed
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 98,199 words in five installments
Author's Summary:In the BBCi animated webcast Scream of the Shalka, a lean, cold-eyed Doctor was embittered, lonely and grieving for some past tragedy. Where did he come from? What past adventures had he experienced? And just what happened to leave him so wounded? A serial in 5 separate stories.
Characters/Pairings: Webcast 9th Doctor, Original Companion
Warnings: None given
Recced because: There are a lot of reasons not to click on this series. It's very long. It's all about an obscure Doctor and an original companion who has the detriment of having several Mary-Sue-ish traits at first glance. From the description, it seems like it could devolve very easily into angst and heavy-handed melodrama.
But oh, if you don't trust me on any other rec I make, trust me on this one: click through and read it. Because while it may seem like all of the above at first glance, what it is, is bloody brilliant. I'd never even heard of Richard E Grant's webcast ninth Doctor when I started reading this, but it didn't matter. With deft dialogue and a light-handed, vivid narrative style, Soldeed gives us an instantly recognizable Doctor, with a well-rounded and utterly human companion, in a series of wildly creative adventures. From its humble beginnings with an ancient, AU Eight in calm retirement, through alien invasions, futuristic planets, historical mysteries and dramatic space station showdowns, Soldeed offers nothing less than an Old-school-style Series 27-that-could-have-been for WebCast nine. And it's no less than he deserves. Soldeed knows their Whoniverse and hands us new monsters and old enemies apace-- their characterization of the Master is especially brilliant. Good action/adventure, episode-style fic is so hard to find, and this one's better than good; it's five levels of fantastic. So, give it an afternoon or a series of such to read, and then please join me in telling the author how wonderful they are.
"He?" she repeated. "I thought you said you were him."
This had been the extent of his explanation as to how he had transformed from the ancient grandfather figure she had known all her life to this brusque, energetic man in his thirties. Announcing that they had no time for further discussion, he had simply ordered her to follow him and she had found herself doing so. Too much had already happened tonight to be stunned by this new impossibility.
"Well, yes," he responded airily, already turning away to retrieve the bucket and set off again down a path which looked like it had been made by sheep. "But changing bodies isn't like buying a new hat, you know..." He clapped his hand on top of his head. "Where's my hat?"
"You threw it away. You said it smelt funny."
"Ah. Anyway, it's too bad the old fool didn't tell you the plan before he checked out. Hopefully it will come back to me."
Jasmine trailed after him, bunching up her skirt to avoid tripping over it.
"Then where is he?" she protested. "What's happened to him?"
"Fascinating existential question," he called back, not turning round. "Which I'd be happy to discuss at a later date. At the moment, in case you've forgotten, your planet is being attacked by aliens."
no subject
Date: 2008-02-15 07:21 pm (UTC)