Harlequin Airs

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Having been dragged away by rl I'm going to try and finish posting those rec50 recs now - with apologies for the delay (oh and since these were purposefully kept short for rec50 extra comments/thoughts on the fic would be gratefully received!)

Title: Harlequin Airs
Author: Ellis Ward
Link to story: at Circuit Archive or at the Hatstand
Zine: Harlequin Airs, Uzi Press, 1993.
Permission to archive the rec/review at Palely Loitering: Yes
Short review: Review at rec50 and
There are so many fabulous Pros alternate universe fics to choose from that this was a particularly hard prompt to try and match, but in the end it had to be Harlequin Airs. As soon as I flicked on the link and re-read the first sentence I was sucked right back into the universe. Doyle works for CI5, having had a previous career as a trapeze artist, and so when Cowley needs someone to go undercover at Circus Sergei he is the obvious choice. He meets Bodie, who also works the trapeze, and has to decide exactly where the man fits into the IRA operation he has been sent to investigate. The author writes beautifully, the plot is brilliantly conceived, the characterisation spot on, and the whole thing reeks of sawdust and magic…

This is a novel-length fic with art by Suzan Lovett. The art is also included at at Circuit Archive