Reading Room - Theme I - Science Fiction - Fic I

[scherwood]

Title: Free Trader
Author: Debra Hicks
Link to story or zine/ProsLib info: The Circuit Archive | Text Only | The Hatstand
Pairing: B/D

Hi, I'm going to kick start this SciFi theme with one of my favourite fanfics in the genre. I don't know when I first read it, but it must have been years ago, and this is one of those fics I keep coming back to. It's heart warming and sweet. Yeah, I know, sweet and Bodie in the same review. What can I say? I'm totally in love.

I re-read this fic only a couple of days ago, and I found to my surprise new stuff I've never read before. I must have skipped them or something the other 100 times I've read this fic. That's what I love about reading fic, you always find something new, depending on when, how, why, age and what state of mind you are in when you read.

Anyway, to get back to what I was doing... reviewing the fic. (I think *g*)


This fic takes place in... wait for it, space! and we follow Doyle as he's leaving a planet and sets off into space. But it doesn't take long until he's in danger, (of course the lads being in danger is always fun), and he has to defend himself but fails. This is where the knight in shining armour (or ship) makes an apperance and saves the day, almost destroying his ship in the process. The saviour is one tall, dark and handsome stranger... just so you know.

And from there on a lot of good stuff happens. The lads being isolated, on a ship, in the middle of nowhere. Yeah, you can see it too, huh? All that tension between them. Sparks flying in more than one way, the lads working together, and then lots of enemies. Yay! \o/

The best bit though is the ending. And damn, I have to andmit liking endings a hell of a lot (pardon my language). And this one's epic... and if not epic, then... great! A well written fic with lots of dialogue... and I love dialogue. It makes this fic flow smoothly, and I can never put it down once I've started.

And with this I'm off, trying to figure out my Pros Big Bang fic. I hope you've enjoyed reading the fic (and possibly my review), and if not... just think about the lads and it will all go away, drowning in their lust for each other. *g*

Enjoy!

Comments

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

I love sci-fi and I love fanfic sci-fi AUs so I enjoyed this. I hadn't read it before so thanks for alerting me to it! The fail/rescue part was great and so was the UST while Bodie sorted himself out. However, I have one or two reservations. I thought the crossover 'deus ex machina' came too late - if something is going to have a crossover I want it earlier and more 'up-front'. I also found myself skimming most of the sex, which suggests it was either too explicit/mechanical or not really furthering the plot/character development. I think the latter. But the scene where they were crushed together in the repair space was wonderful! The later sex wasn't quite for me. I loved the sub-plot with the jealous computer. Altogether an interesting read and a good start to our new Reading Room venture!!

[scherwood]

Nice - I'm happy I could show it to you, and that you liked it! :D
Ah, I hardly noticed it was a x-over. *g*
Tihi - I'm obsessed with Slash... so sex scenes are always welcome. But I can understand what you mean, it's not _really_ necessary. *nod, nod*
I loved the computer too!! She's a mean one. *grin*

Thank you for stopping by! *hugs*

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I thought the crossover 'deus ex machina' came too late - if something is going to have a crossover I want it earlier and more 'up-front'.

I really have to agree with this. All the Star Trek references I was catching—Star Fleet, starship, Romulan, Vulcan, Constellation class—I kept looking for Kirk and Spock to show up. And every time one of those references did show up, it threw me right out of the story. If I'd known it was a crossover, I could have easily incorporated that world into that of Bodie and Doyle. When Dr. Crusher showed up everything fell into place—though I was sort of disappointed. *g*

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

Great review! I'm sure I haven't read this one, and you make me want to give it a go - thank you!

[scherwood]

Hehe - that's great! Enjoy it! :D *hugs*

[tango65.livejournal.com]

I loved your review, almost as much as I love this fic. Its also one I keep returning to. Its got boys just as I like them, in trouble, but together in all ways imaginable. Great review and great fic, thanks for highlighting it for others!

[scherwood]

Thank you! :D *g*

Its got boys just as I like them, in trouble, but together in all ways imaginable.
Amen to that~ *nod, nod*

I'm happy I could show it to people not familiar with it.
Thanks for stopping by! *hugs*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I must admit that I struggle with this one, I'm afraid, mostly because I have real problems with the characterisation of the lads - I just can't see them as particularly related to our ep Bodie and Doyle. I guess it raises the question of how close to the original show an AU has to be - but for me the characters still have to be there, I have to believe that they're the same people, and I find that hard in Free Trader.

Doyle in particular seems to have vanished - he's lost all of the confidence and arrogance and fight that make him Doyle in the eps, and instead is unsure of Bodie, unsure of his own skills, finds it hard to make decisions on his own... On the first page we're told that he's not piloted a ship for several months, and never in actual combat - but Doyle from the eps skids the Capri and his other cars everywhere, so surely a logical point of ep-AU contact would be similar competency with a spaceship? Especially as Bodie is later introduced as a spaceship captain, who's a great pilot? And he's not been in fights before? But ep-Doyle most certainly has (albeit this moves the action to space!), and ever since he was a kid, as he says in Mixed Doubles. Also, he's just been ultra-cool under fire on the ship, so why does he suddenly have "a brief flutter of panic" about fighting back?

He also panics later on, when he comes across Bodie, and in fact decides to "immediately gave up the idea of fighting his way out" because Bodie's too big and formidable and opponent - but since when, in canon, has Doyle been afraid of hitting Bodie?! And I've never once had the impression in canon that Doyle would back off from a fight with him (or anyone!), or lacks confidence in his own abilities, or indeed sees Bodie as "too big" to fight... This just isn't my Doyle... Later on he flinches from Bodie's gaze, he looks away from him, he covers himself "modestly" with a blanket when Bodie comes in - our Doyle? Modest?! - and he feels "oddly shy" in front of Bodie.

He's apparently also incompetent enough to forget his "Compac", which was apparently the centre of his mission and he nearly reveals classified information very easily to Bodie. He comes across as a complete ingenue when Bodie takes him up to the bridge for the first time and he sees out through the viewports - even though he's just been piloting his own ship (or riding in it on autopilot, or whatever he was supposed to be doing) - stands quietly stargazing, apparently struck dumb by the beauty of space. This just doesn't sound like Doyle - he's so self-confident in the eps, to the point of arrogance, he gives back as good as he gets to everyone and even when he's tearful over Bodie it's at the same time as being belligerant, he's just... Later on he asks Bodie a question about tactics, and Bodie leaves him "to consider the information" - again as if Doyle's never been involved in the world that they apparently live and operate in - space - whereas Bodie's experienced, knowledgeable and smart about it.

In a similar way, I can't imagine him saying later on "I graduated... top of my class", cos it's just not something people say - it'd be considered boasting. Which I guess brings us to the question of how much an AU author can say that characterisation has been changed by time - the social more against boasting might have vanished completely by the time of Free Trader, but... but then surely a character is made that way through the social mores they follow, so if you take those away, you're taking away that character...

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Doyle's also been made a member of Star Fleet, which is perhaps trying to translate his police background into space/the ST world, but Star Fleet seems much more like the army/airforce to me, and his role as cryptographer/code-breaker comes out of nowhere. It seems to be a translation of "spy" from what's said, but CI5 aren't spies either, so... To me, Bodie makes more sense as a member of Star Fleet, because of his ep-army/SAS etc background - having him be the Free Trader harks back to his mercenary days, rather than Pros-Bodie, which could be interesting but somehow twists me all up as far as how they're supposed to be our B/D set in another time and place. Hicks has effectively done that twice, in a way - taken Bodie back to another time and place as a mercenary, and then taken him forward again to the AU time... And Doyle's background just doesn't match up at all, for me!

Bodie actually seems to have been given some of Doyle's characteristics - in frustration he thumps the arm of his command chair, but I don't think I've ever seen him react like that in the eps, though Doyle does, often. And Doyle gets one of Bodie's - he reacts in surprise with an open mouth, which is much more a Bodie thing, there are dozens of pictures!

Bodie is the perfect hero, and descriptions of him tend to emphasise how manly he is - he's formidable in looks, he's tall (Doyle, of course, is "the smaller man"), he's "well-muscled"... and he's very confident about his ship and what he does, doesn't seem to hesitate about anything. To be honest I find him quite patronising to Doyle, too - and while Bodie "ruffles Doyle's curls" in canon, here he seems to be doing it in the way you might with a child - it's not teasing, as it is in WtHCO, it's somehow... patronising...

And after all this it really threw me when Bodie thinks of "the rare and unusual rapport they shared", cos I don't see any rapport in the dialogue and descriptions - I see Doyle being quite submissive to Bodie, and Bodie insisting on this... Another example is the "custom" that higher ranking people on a ship are the ones who must make any sexual offer between a couple - quite apart from the frightening social implications of this, ep-Doyle doesn't seem like he'd put up with that for very long, if he wanted someone!

Then there's the completely missed opportunity to get in some proper B/D banter, when they're in the tight shaft making repairs, Doyle lying on Bodie, and Doyle says "Why don't they make these things bigger?". Surely Bodie would have said something along the lines of "Well I've never had any complaints before..." rather than answering so seriously... *g*

And I've already gone on for ages, and can think of many more things to say, but that's probably enough! I've not even got to the ST crossover bit yet (I've read this before, but can't remember it in enough detail) and I'd agree with Moth that it comes too late to make much sense, somehow... I quite like various parts of the plot etc (esp Cory!) but... I just don't see the B/D that I know and love, and so for me that makes this a science fiction story using the names of characters I know, rather than a Pros AU... Sorry!

It's an interesting example to use when wondering what makes a Pros AU rather than just a story using their names, though... (and obviously we all have our own characterisations interpreted from the eps, so mileage will vary... *g*)

[scherwood]

I think I'll leave this for someone else to answer, because I see what you mean, but... *shrug*

I'm sure many text could be written a lot more true to the episodes. But if the characters are put in a AU 'verse, I guess I'm a bit more open then if/when they do go OOC. :)

Thanks for this round of Reading room. I'll look forward to the next fic presented by merentha13. It's such a nice fic, and I like it very much! \o/

[cornishcat.livejournal.com]

As you said in your review, this story is heart-warming and sweet but these are not words I would normally use to describe Pros. As a consequence I couldn't find my lads here ... and I did look hard. I don't believe that characterisations should be lost simply because they are placed in AU and if that were the case then I wouldn't bother reading any. It's Bodie and Doyle I love, wherever they are. *g*

I also think a good beta could have improved read. The numerous typographical errors were very distracting and the author's use of commas instead of conjunctions inhibited the flow of the sentences.

So sadly, I didn't really enjoy this fic but thanks for the rec.

[scherwood]

To each his own. :)

Thanks for stopping by! *hugs*

[cornishcat.livejournal.com]

To each his own ... definitely because it would be a very sad, boring old world if we all liked the same!

[scherwood]

Absolutely~ *bow* :)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yes, the typos etc were very distracting - and I was very good and didn't get into the language too... *g* ("He drug himself up to the table" made me wince in so many ways... *g*) So yeah, a beta would definitely have helped too - and a good one might have pointed out the characterisation, too... I wonder if this was betad... I'd argue on the side of having it Brit-checked too, though I know that could be brushed aside as not relevant to a futuristic AU, especially one crossing over with the Star Trek universe... but again, that's part of B/D to me, that they're not American, because that has other implications for them too... DVS manages a good balance in Suitable Gravity I think, making them not-Brit, but not making it look as if any other culture has taken over language either...

And it looks like I'm not the only one who didn't quite see B/D there, too!

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

I was distracted by the typos and Americanisms, too. When was it written? Before the days of good betas??!! I have to say Americanisms don't annoy me as much in an AU as they do in a story set in present-day London, but typos are always a pain and some of the ones in this have gone into my collection of outstanding typos...

I was also irritated by the 'smaller man' thing but decided to ignore it. As for the characters, I thought maybe Bodie as mercenary and Doyle as young policeman but I can see why you think Doyle's character here is flawed. Maybe I was too happy with the sci-fi to notice? This was, after all, my first reading of the fic!! As a sci-fi adventure it succeeds, despite the typos, up to the point where the Enterprise appears out of nowhere.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

And after all this it really threw me when Bodie thinks of "the rare and unusual rapport they shared", cos I don't see any rapport in the dialogue and descriptions - I see Doyle being quite submissive to Bodie, and Bodie insisting on this...

Because of all the Trek references (which I wasn't sure at that point if they were on purpose or showed an amazing lack of originality,) I was thinking that any moment it was going to come to light that one of them was half Vulcan and a bond was forming. *g*

Another example is the "custom" that higher ranking people on a ship are the ones who must make any sexual offer between a couple - quite apart from the frightening social implications of this, ep-Doyle doesn't seem like he'd put up with that for very long, if he wanted someone!

That really threw me, especially since in most Trek slash the reverse is true. Because of the implications of coercion if a higher ranking officer were to instigate a sexual affair, it's usually supposed that a captain would never make the first move.

And while I was able to see something of Bodie in the story, for me Doyle was basically MIA.

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry but I haven't had a chance to read this story in time for your post but your entertaining and enthusiastic review has made me want to read it so I'll add it to my stories-to-read list. I did take a look at it tonight and thought the writing was strong and flowed and I liked (what I saw) of the relationship between B and D. And what you wrote above The saviour is one tall, dark and handsome stranger... is very appealing....

Thanks for this.

[scherwood]

It's up to you what you want to read, but I'm happy you're going to give it a try. :)
You'll have to see. Enjoy!
It is veeeery appealing. *drool*

Thanks for stopping by! *hugs*

[merentha13.livejournal.com]

I've mixed feelings about this one. I'm not a fan of AU (but I'll talk about that next week when its my turn to review a story!). I did like the story, the idea, the plot. I wasn't happy with Doyle's characterization. And the cross-over surprised me and not in a good way. I guess not being into AU would preclude my liking cross-overs as well? But I did enjoy the story and thank you for the rec. I enjoyed your review too. Its very clear that you don't share my hesitation over AU and its fun to read someone else's enthusiasm. Makes me wonder just what it is that I've missed! Thanks for this!

[scherwood]

Thank you for stopping by! :D *hugs*

I did try to make it interesting. *blush*
And yeah, I like a lot of things... ;P

See ya later when it's your turn. I'm looking forward to it!

[milomaus.livejournal.com]

I really like this story, and you did a great job introducing it!

Even though I agree with most flaws pointed out above, I still think it´s a wonderful fic, but then that´s probably me, the more I can read about the lads the better!

I never realised the crossover until Data appeared, and then it was just funny, that they should meet up there.

Thanks for your review!

[scherwood]

Thank you very much, I'm happy you liked it! :D

I agree, the more the better. *g*

I thought it funny too, because I love those guys, but I wouldn't have wanted the fic to include them if you know what I mean. :)

Thanks for stopping by. *bow*