A Different Game by DVS

[empty-mirrors.livejournal.com]

Leaping in feet first - never let it be said that I'm a coward.

*hides under the bed*


Title: A Different Game
Author: DVS
Link to story: It's at the pros-lib site and also the Hatstand.
Originally published in: LOVERS 2 (Chained-to-the-Typewriter Press; oop.)
Permission to archive the rec/review at Palely Loitering: Yes, if wanted. :-D
Short review:

I had hopes of this. I much enjoyed The Flat by the same author and have gone back to reread it a couple of times. But this one? Not so much. Why?



(Beware story spoilers)

To start with, the writing seems jerky in places. There's a lot of 'He did this' and 'He did that'. A lack of natural flow, perhaps. A feeling not aided by the lack of contractions. It's all, 'can not' and 'did not', an affectation which I find jarring in the extreme.

But my major issue is with the end. It stops. The metaphorical mantlepiece is fair bristling with shotguns - Cowley coming to convalesce, the employment situation, the much unresolved physical relationship between Bodie and Doyle - and yet none of these story lines are played out. It's almost like the author got bored and simply stopped writing it. Most disappointing.

On the upside, if you like domestic fic, this is great. I have to admit to a fondness for it. It's almost furniture porn in places. Or maybe house porn. :-D I get much pleasure in watching the lads make a home together. I'm sad that way. Their personal relationship is also handled well. As is, IMO, their characterisation. Cowley's is a little weak. I couldn't really hear his voice as I was reading his dialogue, whereas the lads came through pretty clearly.

In summary. Cute hurt/comfort fic with a good dose of domesticity, let down by technical problems and a poorly thought out ending. I'd be interested to see what others think.



ETA Sequel, very short and not really progressing the lads storyline can be found here on pros-lib or here on the Hatstand.

Comments

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

(spoilery still)

*Snap*! Great minds, etc. I wondered if this was a much earlier piece, before she really hit her stride, because I love so many of her other stories, especially 'The Flat'. Although it wasn't bad, and for once I didn't mind the domesticity angle, I wanted the situation if not resolved, at least progressed to a point of choice. And they weren't anywhere near that. They were both still horribly injured, Doyle more than Bodie. The physical relationship was still very tentative on Doyle's part, but getting closer (agonisingly slowly)!

It's almost like the author got bored and simply stopped writing it.
*Nods* Or intended a part 2 & never got around to it.

[empty-mirrors.livejournal.com]

Yeah, maybe it is an early work. And I wondered about a sequel. Maybe there is one? That would be cool. :-) There's certainly potential there. The set-up was fun and interesting, and I have a real kink for domestic fic like this, so long as both the lads are still laddish and they were.

[phantomas.livejournal.com]

I don't remember reading this..which says a lot ;)
I know I've read The Flat and found it okay-ish. But there's a story by DVS which is in my top five favourites, which is "Suitable Gravity"...though I have no idea if it is archived anywhere, I have it on a zine, and it's a re-read, everytime the same or even more pleasure than the first time :)

[empty-mirrors.livejournal.com]

Not read that one. Maybe you could do a rec and tell us which zine and whether it's still available, etc etc. That'd be cool. :-)

[phantomas.livejournal.com]

Will do ;)

[metabolick.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this story despite the lack of resolution. It hits a lot of my hot buttons like h/c (though there isn't enough c) and Bodie in protective mode. A second reading was fun as I looked for all the clues at the beginning for B's ulterior motive in playing the game. But there is a niggling worry in the back of my mind that R will decide he can't give B all he wants, and one of them will eventually walk because of that. Of course, I would much rather see R come to his senses!

I keep a list of zines I want to get (and probably won't, as I am not able to buy many zines), and this was on my list. I had heard about it elsewhere. But I wrote something down what I think is the name of a sequel. It is "Lovers, Too." It may also be the name of the zine it originally appeared in. Does anyone know which? Is it by the same author?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

The ProsLib cd has this information about A Different Game in the Background/Zine Contents/Multimedia file:

"LOVERS 2 (Chained-to-the-Typewriter Press; oop)
Pros content:
A Different Game by DVS
The Other Game: A Post-Game Wrap-up by DVS"

Is that the title you had written down?

I'm so glad to hear this might have a sequel - it felt really incomplete to me too, too many ends left dangling... will they/won't they, whatever are they gonna be able to do with Cowley hanging around like that, and as for Andrews..?!

[metabolick.livejournal.com]

You get a CI5 commendation for good research! I had written down "Lovers, Too" and I'm sure I copied it as I saw it, but my source must have had it wrong. So it's the title of the zine the stories are in.

I would love to read a review of the sequel. I hope that someone who has that zine will write one. Perhaps I'll post to ProsLit and see if anyone replies.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

The second story really isn't much of a sequel; more Cowley consolidating his relationship with Andrew and his plans for the house. About six pages long.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting the link to the sequel - and to Frances at ProsLib who posted it out as well! Got to agree, not what I was wanting in the sequel at all...

[metabolick.livejournal.com]

Agreed! And where does Cowley get off thinking he could appropriate Bodie's house for CI5 use!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh I know! Completely threw me that did! It was like suddenly reading a completely different fic... I really can't imagine why Cowley made an appearance in the first place, cos it seemed at first to be all about the lads coping with their injuries and relationship and leaving CI5... and then it wasn't! Argh!

I re-read The Flat last night though, and remembered that DVS is a good writer - I really liked that one, and there was a beginning, a middle and an end and everything!