Meredith Lynne

Author at Any Road http://www.anyroad.org/.

The Body Electric (Stargate)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 28th August 2001 (13)

Having read and enjoyed this author's Sentinel stories, I guess it's no surprise that she does just as good a job with Stargate. I liked this story very much. It's an epilogue to Double Jeopardy which not only gives us the happy ending I was looking for, but cool character insight and great banter.

The Heart Hath Its Reasons (Sentinel)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 20th April 2001 (4)

I am very thankful to the folks on Senfic who recommended this story, because it is just so great! To start off with, we've got a Blair-as-empath story which actually gives an explanation, instead of just doing a what-if-Blair-was-empathic thing; weaving in little bits of canon to add to the plausibility. The actual empathy itself isn't the usual "sensing emotions" kind of thing so much as it is a really strong intuition and insight; it doesn't come across as a catalogue of emotion-names, but an impulse and a need to mend what is broken, and a reaching for the right words, the communication with the other person...

And that's only the start. Yes, there's a bit of fanon there that says that Jim can't control his senses very well without Blair there, but that's only a small bit, and the only niggle I had. The character stuff with Jim and Blair is just superb, insights and misunderstandings and friendship and heroism. Drama and angst, banter and courage. Gotcha moments. Leading us on, little by little, and then whamming us.

And lots of bits I want to quote.

"No, no. It's nothing like that." Jim had to kill a smile at the worried tone in Simon's voice. On several occasions, Jim had caught Simon watching Blair with a distinctly paternal light in his eyes. It was reassuring. Blair sometimes needed more oppressive hovering than one man could provide. "Just come over here and watch."

Or later...
    Simon moved past him, into the dimly-lit room. "He can't hear you."
    "Don't tell me what he can hear," Blair said. "I know what he can hear."
    "How do you know?"
    "I just know."
    With exaggerated patience: "How do you know?"
    "I took a class," Blair said sharply, before he could catch himself.

Or later...

Blair rolled his eyes as he was lifted bodily from his wheelchair into the waiting Expedition by an orderly who looked like a cross between King Kong and Ghengis Khan. He hoped the man had a lot of inner beauty, because his outer form was the stuff of nightmares -- all hair and muscle and big white teeth.

Or later...
    Jim folded his arms across his chest and jerked his head toward Blair's bedroom. "And put on something heavier than that T-shirt," he ordered, scowling. "You just got out of the hospital."
    "Got it, Jim." Blair ducked into his room for half a beat and returned with a black-and-white checked shirt. "Wanna check behind my ears? I scrubbed, man, I promise."

I better stop now. Just go and read it. And pester the author for a sequel.

Addendum: nominated for favourite drama story in the 2001 Cascade Times Awards.

Storms (Stargate)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 28th August 2001 (16)
Tags: Short Story
(43K)

And she shoots and scores again! I really liked this story. This one is an epilogue to The Torment of Tantalus, full of good soul-searching insightful stuff. I like things that ring true but make me think again about the characters, and that's what this one did, in regard to Daniel especially. This is one for Daniel and Jack fans.

Interiors

(1) Things Fall Apart (Sentinel)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 17th April 2001 (4)
Tags: Short Story
(17K)

This is another one of those Sentinel Too (part 1) fixes, but I'm not averse to reading more of them -- not if they're this good. This was short, just one scene, but I liked the imagery and I liked how they both chose.

Addendum: nominated for favourite epilogue in the 2001 Cascade Times Awards.

(2) Metaphysics (Sentinel)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 17th April 2001 (5)
Tags: Novelette
(68K)

This is the sequel to "Things Fall Apart" -- it was lovely! The guys actually talk about it all! They don't just gush it out in a soppy way, though, they talk around it, dancing around it, very in character. Angst and insights and resolution. My print-out is peppered with ticks for the good bits, like Blair's comments about Simon's car, phrases like "He'd been pretty spooked by the pulse-free anthropologist scene" and...
    For several long moments, Jim just stared. The kid looked -- really, really good.
    He looked alive, mostly, and everything else was gravy, but everything else, that looked pretty decent too.

And other bits too, not just nicely put, but good points.

Yes, the crowd goes wild.