rec: Janovay

[eve11]

Story:Janovay
Author: roseveare
Rating: All Ages/PG-13
Word Count: 82,126
Author's Summary: 'Missing adventure' style novel in which the Doctor refuses to save the world, Nyssa isn't turned into a monster or taken over by an alien intelligence, and Tegan is in several places at once.
Characters/Pairings: Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan
Warnings: None Given

Recced because: Yes, I've saved the tomes for the weekend :) Roseveare's novel is one of the older fics on the site, being archived in 2003. And if you printed it out, and bound it in paperback with a nifty MA cover, it would be indistinguishable from the better published Fifth Doctor Missing Adventure novels out there. This one has the advantage, though, of being entirely a labor of love :) Tight plotting, fantastic characterization and dialogue, all work together to bring to life a fully realized alien world, from the perspective of the Doctor and his companions who (of course) become embroiled in the politics of war and disease and cultural mysteries. Roseveare makes wonderful use of the timey-wimey aspect of the Whoniverse (a full four years or so before the invention of the term), and gives us a huge helping of action, plot twists, peril and drama. It's a long read but well worth it. Five stars.

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Rec: Jackie Tyler in the Fourth Dimension

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

Story: Jackie Tyler in the Fourth Dimension  
Author: Cryptile

Rating: None given; I’d say all ages

Author's summary: Jackie Tyler hates time travel.

Characters/Pairings: Jackie Tyler, with guest appearances from Ninth Doctor, Tenth Doctor, Eleventh Doctor, Rose Tyler, Ace McShane

Warnings: Author warns for swearing; it’s pretty mild

Recced because: If you love Jackie, as I do, this is the Jackie fic to read. It’s about Jackie’s relationship with the Doctor(s), with her daughter and also with life in general. If you loved Jackie and Nine snarking at each other, this story will have you alternately laughing out loud, exclaiming that’s EXACTLY right!, and maybe even shedding a little tear on occasion. In a way, it’s also a love story, but it’s not romantic love; it’s the love between two people who can never make up their minds whether they like or hate each other. There are two incredibly touching scenes, very subtly written, both of which left me with a lump in my throat. On the other hand, we have crossing timelines, a Welsh Doctor who plays the spoons, Rose defending the Earth with Ace and a missing finger. This story is unmissable.

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Rec: The Life Fantastic

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

Story: The Life Fantastic   
Author: HonorH

Rating:  G (Doctor/Rose intense friendship, Jack friendship)

Author's summary: One life, from beginning to end. The Doctor grieves, lives, fights, dances, eats chips, and falls in love. Not such a bad life after all.

Characters/Pairings: Ninth Doctor, with insights into Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness
Warnings: None

Recced because: This is a gorgeous, poignant study of the Ninth Doctor. His life is defined by sacrifice: born out of one, dies in another. It’s a chronicle of his journey from that painful birth to his completely voluntary death, committed for love, and it’s a story about how he heals, helped by the most unlikely of companions for a battle-scarred Doctor: the nineteen-year-old shop-girl, Rose Tyler. It’s about why he needs people around him, and ultimately what leads him to sacrifice once more, for a much smaller cause this time than the fate of the universe. In companionship comes healing, and in death comes peace. This story is poignant, but ultimately so very affirming, and a perfect tribute to the Ninth Doctor.  
 

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rec: the fate of the earth depends on it, probably

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

Story: The Fate of the Earth Depends On It, Probably
Author: Doyle
Rating: All-ages
Word Count: 3227
Author's Summary: A moment of madness on a certain internet auction site leads Torchwood to Manny’s door. Bernard is even less happy than usual.  Black Books/Torchwood crossover.
Characters/Pairings: Jack Harkness + the Black Books characters
Warnings: Crack

Recced because: It's that rare, perfect gem: a crossover that's quite comprehensible even if you have only the vaguest idea of what Black Books is all about.  And I know, because when I first read it, I had this idea that Black Books was about a reading group, and that Bernard was Father Jack from Father Ted, only with less swearing.

(If you're as clueless as I was, it may help to know that Black Books is about a trio of semi-functional eccentrics.  Bernard and Manny work in a bookstore; Fran sells ... well, doodads, I think.  And they drink a lot.  None, as it happens, are priests, although Bernard is Irish.)

The plot is quite simple: Manny, over the course of an eBay all-nighter (Crocheted cushion cover of the Pope? His! 1978 issue of Amateur Photographer, slight creasing at the corners? Showed you, cameraboy63! Every win, however small, however ultimately useless, was a tiny rush of power. Manny, whose last taste of that particular drug had been during his one week as milk monitor in Mrs Pembleton’s Primary 1 class, couldn’t get enough.) has purchased a genuine alien artifact, and eBay user twoodinst really, really wants it.  And you know how charming Captain Jack is when you have something he wants...

Just as Bernard had predicted, the American was still there when Manny crept downstairs. Everyone else had cleared off - he didn’t like to guess what Bernard might have said to them. The American (he had to be! Look at the way he stood!) was looking over the shelves with his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, and he was wearing sunglasses even though they were inside, which must have racked him up another few places on Bernard’s scale of hate. Something about him, Manny decided, radiated coolness. Put up against him, the Fonz would end up slinking away to join a travelling folk group.

I'd read this three times when I finally watched Black Books.  I got to the end of season one, and went back to read it a few more times.  Jack is perfectly Jack, and Manny, Bernard and Fran are all present and correct.  And the final twist at the end is simply perfect -- I still howl with laughter every time I read it.