Actor fiction, Agatha Christie, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, Alien films, Amélie, American Psycho, Angel, Arsenic and Old Lace, Arthurian legends, Artworks, AS Byatt, Aubrey–Maturin series, Batman films, Beauty and the Beast, Beauty and the Beast (Disney), Bible, Blackadder, Blade Runner, Blake's 7, Bluebeard, Bones, Breakfast Club, Brokeback Mountain, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cadfael, Calvin & Hobbes, Charles Dickens, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlotte Brontë, Chaucer, China Miéville, Chinese poetry, Classical music RPF, Classical mythology, Comics, Coriolanus, Coupling, Dark is Rising, Das Leben der Anderen, Diana Wynne Jones – Chrestomanci, Diana Wynne Jones – Dalemark, Diana Wynne Jones – Dogsbody, Diana Wynne Jones – Eight Days of Luke, Diana Wynne Jones – Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones – Power of Three, Discworld, Disney cartoons, Doctor Who, Dogma, Dracula, Duchess of Malfi, Dylan Thomas, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, EM Forster, Exeter Book, Fairy tales – Various, Finnish mythology, Firefly, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Frankenstein, Galaxy Quest, Georgette Heyer – Cotillion, Georgette Heyer – Regency Buck, Georgette Heyer – The Convenient Marriage, Georgette Heyer – Sylvester, Georgette Heyer – The Black Moth, Georgette Heyer – The Unknown Ajax, Georgette Heyer – These Old Shades, Georgette Heyer – Venetia, Goblin Market, Good Life, Good Omens, Gormenghast, Gosford Park, Grand Budapest Hotel, Hadestown, Hamlet, Handmaid's Tale, Harry Potter, Hav, Hinterland, Historical RPF, History Boys, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hot Fuzz, House, MD, How to Train Your Dragon, HP Lovecraft, I, Claudius, Indiana Jones, Interview with the Vampire, Into the Woods, Irish mythology, Isaac Asimov, Jack and the Beanstalk, James Bond, James Tiptree Jr, Jane Austen – Emma, Jane Austen – Mansfield Park, Jane Austen – Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen – Persuasion, Jane Austen – Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen – Sense & Sensibility, Jeeves & Wooster, Jesus Christ Superstar, John le Carré, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Jorinde and Joringel, JRR Tolkien – Smith of Wootton Major, JRR Tolkien – Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien – The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien – The Silmarillion, Julius Caesar, Juno, Labyrinth, Ladies' Guide to Collecting Mermaid Love Songs, Le Petit Prince, Lemony Snicket, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Lewis, Like Water For Chocolate, Literary RPF, Little House on the Prairie, Little Red Riding Hood, Little Women, LM Bujold – Chalion series, LM Bujold – Sharing Knife series, LM Bujold – Vorkosigan series, Lord Peter Wimsey, Lost in Translation, Love Actually, M*A*S*H, Macbeth, Maltese Falcon, Mary Renault, Mary Russell series, Matrix trilogy, Midsummer Night's Dream, Moby Dick, Much Ado About Nothing, Name of the Rose, Narnian Chronicles, Neil Gaiman – American Gods, Neil Gaiman – Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman – Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman – Study in Emerald, Neuromancer, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Norse mythology, North and South, Othello, Pan's Labyrinth, Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean, Princess Bride, Puss in Boots, Ray Bradbury, Raymond Chandler, Rear Window, Rebecca, Red Dwarf, Regeneration trilogy, Remington Steele, Reservoir Dogs, Rivers of London series, Robin Hood (BBC), Rocky Horror Picture Show, Romeo and Juliet, Rosemary Sutcliff – Blood Feud, Rosemary Sutcliff – Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliff – Frontier Wolf, Rosemary Sutcliff – Knight's Fee, Rosemary Sutcliff – Lantern Bearers, Rosemary Sutcliff – Outcast, Rosemary Sutcliff – Silver Branch, Rosemary Sutcliff – Sword at Sunset, Rosemary Sutcliff – Warrior Scarlet, Rosemary Sutcliff – Witch's Brat, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Rudyard Kipling – Just So stories, Rudyard Kipling – Jungle Book, Scarlet Pimpernel, Science RPF, Sesame Street, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Sex and the City, Shakespeare Retold, Shakespeare's histories, Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes, Singin' in the Rain, Sleeping Beauty, Sleepy Hollow, Smallville, Snow White, Songs, Sound of Music, Spirited Away, Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: TOS/AOS, Star Trek: Voyager, Stephen King, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, Sunset Boulevard, Tam Lin, The Buried Moon, The Highwayman, The Hour, The Incredibles, The Little Mermaid, The Mentalist, The Tempest, The Threepenny Opera, The Wild Swans, Thursday Next series, Tipping the Velvet, Torchwood, Twelfth Night, Twelve Dancing Princesses, Twelve Kingdoms, Twin Peaks, Ursula Le Guin – Hainish Cycle, Ursula Le Guin – Earthsea, Wagner Ring Cycle, Walter de la Mare, War for the Oaks, Watership Down, Welsh mythology, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Wilkie Collins, Winnie the Pooh, Wire in the Blood, Yes, Minister,
Chalion series
all the words that ever were or ever will be by Tequila Mockingbird
'He had the makings of a saint, carved into the hollowness of him, and that was no mean thing. She had been precious low on saints, in the last century or so, and although his poetry was very bad, he had written some poetry.' A Daughter's eye view on Curse of Chalion which does a good job of pulling off the god's viewpoint, and uses deft touches of humour to lighten the melodrama. The ending is perfect
[Added 23/12/2017; Drama; 2500-6000; LM Bujold – Chalion series]
A clear glass window, at a sea dawn by Lionpyh
'It is a perpetual irritation to divines of the Bastard that it is not possible to blaspheme against him. He has already thought of all the rude things one might instruct him to do. He would cheerfully do them. He minces one's oaths before one has got to them. He reduces one to the depths of decency.' Luscious prose & deliciously detailed world-building characterise this satisfying Umegat-centric novelette. Lovely!
[Added 10/01/2014; Drama; 6000-20,000; LM Bujold – Chalion series]
Communion of Saints by Rthstewart
'There were the usual disdainful looks at her rustic table manners but Clara was too hungry to pretend to be ascetic and she wolfed down several hard biscuits softened with goat cheese and honey.' In this triptych, Rthstewart creates rounded & engaging characters from minors & OCs to illustrate the travails & joys of being a saint
[Added 13/08/2015; Drama; 6000-20,000; LM Bujold – Chalion series]
First Choices by Rsadelle
'Annual Pride parades heavily feature celebrants dressed in the Bastard's white and signs with slogans referencing the Bastard's favor. "The Bastard Loves You" is a favorite slogan of Pride t-shirts.' Clever fusion, pastiching a New Yorker article, that explores how Quintarian & Quadrene religions might play out in modern America -- complete with statistics from the Pew Research Center. Funny & moving by turns
[Added 23/12/2017; Drama; 1000-2500; LM Bujold – Chalion series]
Life, stripped of all luxuries by Keerawa
'Moved by some obscure impulse, Cazaril rummaged through his saddle bags and pulled out the volume of classic Brajarn verse he'd carried with him for the past two decades. Its well-thumbed pages held many fond memories. And the potential for scores of fire arrows.' The careful structure of this vignette counterpoints the increasing chaos of life during the siege of Gotorget, and Keerawa's affection for the characters helps to keep the grimness at bay
[Added 06/08/2015; Character Piece; 2500-6000; LM Bujold – Chalion series]
The Saint, the Scholar, and the Whale by Neotoma
'Learned Bavo was pacing in a side courtyard, with his Islander guards like lazy cats around him. They were enormously tall, as if tree trunks had decided to put on clothes and walk like men, and their bushy beards made them even more like moving shrubbery.' This enjoyable & inventive tale, set in Jokona, succeeds in melding not just Penric–Desdemona canon but also The Hallowed Hunt with the Chalion sequence. The thoughtful world-building is supported by strong OCs
[Added 23/12/2017; Drama; 6000-20,000; LM Bujold – Chalion series]