Reading Room - Hazardous Fortune
Oct. 20th, 2011 06:33 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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ci5hqHello everyone. You've got me as your friendly Reading Room Rec-er today and I bring you the wonderful Hazardous Fortune by the even more wonderful Sally Fell:
http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/18/hazardousfortune.html
The first thing I have to gush about is how much I love Regency AU. I bet most of us read our fair share of Jane Austen in our teenage years, swooning over Mr Darcy and imagining ourselves in Elizabeth Bennet's shoes. Well, I don't think there's any reason that kind of hopeless romanticism should diminish as we get older, and the lads lend themselves so well to a bit of good old fashioned corset-busting, bodice-ripping, breeches-swelling, rip-roaring regency adventure.
Warning – here be spoilers
So, what puts Hazardous Fortune a cut above your average regency AU for me? Well, firstly I love the plot. We start off with the reading of a will, which is always a brilliant set up for a bit of drama. And right from the beginning, it's as though we're right there in the room with young Raymond Doyle, sitting uncomfortably to attention while his fusty old uncles fuss and faff in the background. The writing is so vivid and fluent I was practically leaning forward at my desk myself, anxious to “hear” what the terms of the will would be.
And of course, another major attraction of this fic is our other dashing hero – Captain Bodie. I mean seriously – it's regency AU Bodie and he's a Captain! And he's slightly aloof and grumpy, and slightly tortured. I love how Doyle falls in lust with him immediately, and as the reader we get to swoon alongside him and use Doyle as the conduit for our own swoonsome fantasies:
Tomorrow he would see Bodie again; he smiled indulgently to himself at the picture that appeared in his mind. The dark-haired man astride his horse, resplendently handsome in his red dress uniform and tall hat, and every inch the Army officer. He did have to admit to a certain weakness for a uniform, and he had no doubt whatsoever that Bodie would fill his admirably. And with that pleasing image in his head he gave himself up to the arms of Morpheus and slept soundly until morning
Oh Doyle, you lovestruck little devil.
What else do I love about the fic? Ooh, there's one particular image that I really love, after Raymond has set to work cataloguing Bodie's library. He's been at work all day and has succeeded in doing nothing but making a big old mess. And I just adore the image of Doyle sitting in the middle of the library, all dishevelled, with ink on his hands having been completely absorbed in his task. I must admit this ticks another one of my boxes, because really how can anyone resist a man who loves books that much? Once again, I swoon.
One thing that struck me upon re-reading the fic was how much of an innocent Doyle seems to be, in that he's unaware of lots of things. He's unaware of Frederick's character, unaware of his aunt Charlotte's wealth, unaware of the existence of her old lover. It works as a way of revealing all those things to the reader as the fic progresses, but I'd never thought of Doyle in that way before. Does anyone agree, or is that just my interpretation? I often wonder when I read an AU whether I enjoy it because I love the chosen genre, or because it's Bodie and Doyle. I must admit it's a little of both – I suspect I would love Hazardous Fortune whether or not I thought Bodie and Doyle were completely “in character”.
Another thing I love about the fic is the ever-present shadow of Frederick Doyle. We hear so much about him and it's fascinating reading a fic where we basically have Doyle's wicked doppelganger. And what good story is complete without a villain? For most of the story, Frederick Doyle is only present through Bodie's hatred for him. There are so many stories and comments within the fic about Frederick being thoroughly wicked and about how much he looks like our Doyle, I really felt bad for poor Raymond who is again, the innocent one. The scene where Bodie lovingly describes all the differences between Frederick and Raymond is completely gorgeous, and is another key scene that has always stuck in my memory.
So, all in all I really love this fic. The romance is romantic, the smut is smutty, the plot is plotty and the writing is seamless. As I've said, it ticks so many of my boxes that it's basically my guilty little fantasy fulfiller! I pretty much want to Mary Sue my way in to this fic and hang out with the boys, flirt with Bodie, read the books in his library, have tea with Mr Chaplin and sit by the fire with Jem and Martha. And of course, you're all invited to join me. Come on everyone, put on your finest sprig muslin and help yourself to a plate of cucumber sandwiches.
Any takers? Yes? No? What did you all think of it?
http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/18/hazardousfortune.html
The first thing I have to gush about is how much I love Regency AU. I bet most of us read our fair share of Jane Austen in our teenage years, swooning over Mr Darcy and imagining ourselves in Elizabeth Bennet's shoes. Well, I don't think there's any reason that kind of hopeless romanticism should diminish as we get older, and the lads lend themselves so well to a bit of good old fashioned corset-busting, bodice-ripping, breeches-swelling, rip-roaring regency adventure.
Warning – here be spoilers
So, what puts Hazardous Fortune a cut above your average regency AU for me? Well, firstly I love the plot. We start off with the reading of a will, which is always a brilliant set up for a bit of drama. And right from the beginning, it's as though we're right there in the room with young Raymond Doyle, sitting uncomfortably to attention while his fusty old uncles fuss and faff in the background. The writing is so vivid and fluent I was practically leaning forward at my desk myself, anxious to “hear” what the terms of the will would be.
And of course, another major attraction of this fic is our other dashing hero – Captain Bodie. I mean seriously – it's regency AU Bodie and he's a Captain! And he's slightly aloof and grumpy, and slightly tortured. I love how Doyle falls in lust with him immediately, and as the reader we get to swoon alongside him and use Doyle as the conduit for our own swoonsome fantasies:
Tomorrow he would see Bodie again; he smiled indulgently to himself at the picture that appeared in his mind. The dark-haired man astride his horse, resplendently handsome in his red dress uniform and tall hat, and every inch the Army officer. He did have to admit to a certain weakness for a uniform, and he had no doubt whatsoever that Bodie would fill his admirably. And with that pleasing image in his head he gave himself up to the arms of Morpheus and slept soundly until morning
Oh Doyle, you lovestruck little devil.
What else do I love about the fic? Ooh, there's one particular image that I really love, after Raymond has set to work cataloguing Bodie's library. He's been at work all day and has succeeded in doing nothing but making a big old mess. And I just adore the image of Doyle sitting in the middle of the library, all dishevelled, with ink on his hands having been completely absorbed in his task. I must admit this ticks another one of my boxes, because really how can anyone resist a man who loves books that much? Once again, I swoon.
One thing that struck me upon re-reading the fic was how much of an innocent Doyle seems to be, in that he's unaware of lots of things. He's unaware of Frederick's character, unaware of his aunt Charlotte's wealth, unaware of the existence of her old lover. It works as a way of revealing all those things to the reader as the fic progresses, but I'd never thought of Doyle in that way before. Does anyone agree, or is that just my interpretation? I often wonder when I read an AU whether I enjoy it because I love the chosen genre, or because it's Bodie and Doyle. I must admit it's a little of both – I suspect I would love Hazardous Fortune whether or not I thought Bodie and Doyle were completely “in character”.
Another thing I love about the fic is the ever-present shadow of Frederick Doyle. We hear so much about him and it's fascinating reading a fic where we basically have Doyle's wicked doppelganger. And what good story is complete without a villain? For most of the story, Frederick Doyle is only present through Bodie's hatred for him. There are so many stories and comments within the fic about Frederick being thoroughly wicked and about how much he looks like our Doyle, I really felt bad for poor Raymond who is again, the innocent one. The scene where Bodie lovingly describes all the differences between Frederick and Raymond is completely gorgeous, and is another key scene that has always stuck in my memory.
So, all in all I really love this fic. The romance is romantic, the smut is smutty, the plot is plotty and the writing is seamless. As I've said, it ticks so many of my boxes that it's basically my guilty little fantasy fulfiller! I pretty much want to Mary Sue my way in to this fic and hang out with the boys, flirt with Bodie, read the books in his library, have tea with Mr Chaplin and sit by the fire with Jem and Martha. And of course, you're all invited to join me. Come on everyone, put on your finest sprig muslin and help yourself to a plate of cucumber sandwiches.
Any takers? Yes? No? What did you all think of it?
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