La Batalla Ultima by PJ -- thoughts (possible spoilers)

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

La Batalla Ultima by PJ is one of the zines I borrowed from a friend. It's not on line so I'm always interested in stories that are only in zines. I honestly can't decide if I liked it or not. Let's make some notes on why.

I liked the subject matter, archaeology. It's one that's near and dear to my heart. I found that part of the story fun.

I thought Doyle was all right, if a bit weepy. It seems to be a common occurrence. Also I do feel he could have been less whiny and more agressive.

Bodie was fine, strong and the warrior of the day. I liked who he was in this. Interesting and inventive. I also liked use of a canon character for the adversary.

What I didn't care for was the many pages dedicated to the other characters. Many pages of their thoughts, plans, etc. I admit I skipped much of that part of the story. *hangs head* I didn't care about them (they were the bad guys, after all!). There was enough of the story otherwise for me to follow it.

Overall I'm glad I read it. Well, the parts that I did read. This author has some stories in another fandom that I've enjoyed and I do feel she's a good writer. I liked the subject matter and the story in this zine. I would read the Bodie and Doyle bits again but I'd still skip the other characters' interactions.

Comments

[golden-bastet.livejournal.com]

Actually, I haven't read *any* zines, and I'd like to (although I recently got the Proslib CD). Do you have any recommendations of ones to start with?

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

There are hundreds of zines to read, but I'd first start with the ones that are on line. There are great zines that aren't on line but you can keep yourself busy for a long time with what's on the archvies and on the CD.

My favs might not be yours, but several of my favs are on line or on the CD: Catch a Fallen Star by Rosemary, Hunted by Devils by HG, Strange Days Indeed by HG. I admit HG is one of my favourite writers. You can't go wrong reading her stories. Same with O Yardley.

The Unprofessional Conduct series is a great group of zines. I should mention I only read slash. I buy zines for the art a lot of the time even if they're on line, like Harlequin Airs. Another beautiful zine is P.R. Zed's Exile and Lizzie's A Bird Watcher's Guide to Cornish Ghosts.

I love Pros because of the great variety of beautifully presented zines with fabulous stories in them.

[golden-bastet.livejournal.com]

Okay, maybe I've read some 'zines, 'cause I've definitely heard of several of these authors and read at least A Bird Watcher's Guide to Cornish Ghosts. :D

I spent my first several months in Pros doing random selections from the Circuit Archive. Maybe it's time to go back and start looking up things with specific authors in mind... :thoughtful:

Thanks!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

A "zine" is simply a series of stories, or a novel-length story that was printed, bound and distributed amongst Pros fans. They might include artwork as well, or letters of comment, editorials, poetry - all sorts of things - but the focus was on sharing Pros stories. Because Pros is an old fandom, there are lots of fab zines, though the vast majority are out of print. Many of the stories/novels that were in zines have since been put online, with or without their artwork, but some will never be online because their authors either don't like the idea of it, or are either uncontactable or no longer with us in order to give permission.

You can find a pretty comprehensive (but still growing!) list of Pros zines here at palelyloitering (http://www.palelyloitering.com/zines/zineslist.html). The definition I've used for "a zine" is a bit stretched there, because I've included some long/novel-length stories that were only ever on the paper circuits - but I have copies that look just like zines to me, so... *g* Although palelyloitering is a work in progress, I think there's information about how to get hold of most of the zines (and if not, please ask!) and/or whether they're out of print or not longer available.

There are some zine publishers still active in Pros - but be careful, as some publishers are re-printing zines and they may be priced more highly than you can buy them secondhand elsewhere. Also be very careful about buying zines on ebay, because most of the "regular" zine sellers I see there are selling with huge mark-ups, often zines that are still in print and available much more cheaply from the zine publisher! (You certainly don't need to pay $100 for a zine!) In other cases the stories may be freely available online. There's alot of controversy over some zine sellers/publishers, and it's worth doing some research before sending out any money - especially as even the best, cheap zines are expensive in the first place! Zines were never meant to be sold at a profit, because it would go against copyright laws to make a profit from someone else's creation, but some publishers seem to stretch their definition of "no-profit" until it seems to cover much more than just printing and binding costs (eg, to "covering the costs of attending a convention so I can sell the zines" or to "buying a new version of Adobe to help put together the zines"). On the bright side, the reverse was sometimes also true (though I've not seen it nowadays) - you'll find zines out there that were only ever meant to be passed freely from fan to fan, and they state as much in their editorials.

You can find further information and reviews of current zine sellers over at loiteringpalely - in the sidebar you'll find a list of zine publishers/distributors (http://loiteringpalely.livejournal.com/5000.html). The links take you to individual information and contact details for those people - and also to reviews of their zines/transactions/value for money, etc etc.

Hope that helps! *g*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I absolutely didn't like it! It was quite a while ago that I read it, but I do remember that Doyle was too wimpy and uncertain (was this the one where he's in a wheelchair, too?), Bodie was too much The Hero and neither of them bore much relation to the lads I know and love. The setting was bizarre - I love AU, and I love a good archaeology AU (hello, The Secrets Beneath (http://www.palelyloitering.com/Fic/secretsbeneath.htm) *g*) but the setting the author chose only exacerbated the mischaracterisation - Mexico? America? How did they get there, what was the link with the heart of our lads? Which obviously depends on what you'd define as the heart of our lads, which'll differ for everyone, but still... Oh, and the other characters - I wouldn't have minded them taking up so much time, but only if I had some reason to like and/or be interested in them, and the author didn't give me that, either! I'll be interested to see whether anyone else saw the lads in this one, apart from a general description of hair and eyes... *g*

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree. I found the parts with this version of the lads interesting but overall, I figure if I can't decide if I like it or not that isn't a good way to feel about a story. I admit I wasn't turned off but I also took a month to read this small zine!

You and I know about archaeology from a technical standpoint so it takes a lot to really write a great archeological based story like The Secrets Beneath. :) I'm even willing to stretch facts if the story is engaging because a story isn't supposed to be a lesson. Some authenticity, though, enhances the story for people who are well versed in the subject matter. On the other side, I can enjoy a story on say, geology, because I know nothing about it so I wouldn't know if the general facts are correct or not.

I did write one in another fandom and I took my setting from my own personal experience because I had stood in the spot I put the characters in. I might not be the strongest writer but the archaeological aspects were dead on. I've never been to Teotihuacan but I have been to Chichen Itza so I had to picture that instead. *g*