Strange Days Indeed, by HG

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Title: Strange Days Indeed
Author: HG
Link to story: Not online, but it's on the ProsLib CD
Zine: Strange Days Indeed

Short review: If you've read this zine, do comment below, even briefly, to let us know what you thought of it!

Comments

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I've read this before from the version on the ProsLib CD, but someone kindly loaned me the zine version, and I spent a happy morning re-reading today. Got to the end, and thought squeeeeee - this is the new bit! The zine version has extra reading at the end (or at least compared to my CD version it does) and that made me very happy!

The story is lovely and angsty, but the background to it is very ep-like in that there's inadvertantly a mission going on (a la Weekend in the Country, the lads sort of stumble into the situation) and so it's plot-y at the same time.

I love HG's stories, and this one is nice and long and angsty and I love it for curling up with on a blow-y old weekend...

Anyone else read it? Have any thoughts?

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

My favourite of all the HG zines. It's Bodie and Doyle locked away in a cottage, away from the rest of the world as Doyle recovers from a beating to look after Bodie who's recovering from a rape.. If it sounds like too much angst and gloom, it's not. The scene where Bodie cuts a high-as-a-kite Doyle's jeans off him is one of my favourites in fandom, and I quoted a chunk of it here if anyone's interested:
http://callistosh65.livejournal.com/10633.html#cutid1 (Scroll down a bit, it's #5)

Fab idea, btw:))

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I always think this is what most of the zine is about too - there's always more than I expect after these scenes too... and definitely not all angst and gloom, definitely not! *g*

And yeay that you like the idea!

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Yes, also one of my favorite of HG's novels. I love the way the h/c is mutual--and that it is Doyle's suffering and need that leads to Bodie's recovery. That rings true for me. The zine version is an improvement over the circuit version, but both are good!

Possible spoilers

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I've bought this and read it but I can't remember any of the things mentioned here! So maybe I need to read it again or I didn't buy it? Hmmm.....Is this the story where they both get kidnapped and there's a scene in a gym in a large house and I think Doyle is tortured a bit - that is, if it's possible to get tortured a bit......

[londonronnie.livejournal.com]

'Strange Days Indeed' was one of the very first stories I read in Pros. I have to admit that in the intervening five years or so I had forgotten the plot, and so I was surprised to find that callistosh65's brief summary was very reminiscent of something that I'd read quite recently.

Upon looking through my little notebook (yes, I'm afraid that I'm a very sad person who keeps notes on stories I've read...ahem...) I discovered that the story I was thinking of was one entitled 'Remember Angola', written by 'Anne-Lewis'.

So, now I'm wondering - was 'Strange Days Indeed' purposely based upon 'Remember Angola' (or vice versa)? Or could 'Remember Angola' have been HG's first working of the story, written under another name.

Can anyone throw any light upon this?

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

I asked about it once, on Pros-Lit. Apparently "Remember Angola" was written by 'Anne Lewis' and HG did "Strange Days Indeed" as what would today be called a remix. I've only read "Remember Angola", and I liked that. Must drag "Strange Days" off the CD sometime soon and reformat the text so I can read it properly. Or get the 'zine, because I gather the ending is different (longer) from the proslib version.

[probodie.livejournal.com]

Ooh I have this but I cant remember much about it, except I know I really enjoyed it.

Have to put it on my 'to re-read' list.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

I love, love, love this story. I've read the zine many times. It's the perfect HG story. Thanks, HG, for writing this wonderful story.

Spoilers...



When Bodie runs off (the prat), my heart breaks. But I have to give HG so much credit. When Bodie realises his mistake and hightails it back to Doyle's flat, Doyle gives him a reluctant smile and invites him in. And they actually talk instead of assuming what the other wants/needs/feels. I love that reunion. It's just perfect. Another writer would have dragged me through pages of angst-ridden guilt and misunderstandings, but this was so wonderful. Doyle knew Bodie and he knew himself. I was so happy I could have cried. More than once. *bg*

[ancastar.livejournal.com]

I feel like a big buzzkill this morning when it comes to HG stories, because I keep posting comments that are counter to those who are writing to say how much they enjoy a particular work.

HG was one of the first writers I gravitated towards when I found Pros. I loved Jigsaw Puzzle and immediately went out and bought pretty much everything I could get my hands on of hers. She's a wiz with snappy dialogue, her sex scenes are steamy, and she's got a really creative mind when it comes to plot. However, as I've read more, I've found a few of her writing conventions to be bothersome. One of them showed up here.

For the most part, she writes B&D as I see them. They're smart, capable, clearly attracted to each other, etc. However, she will, from time to time, when it suits her storyline, make them conveniently stupid. Some of the misunderstandings that pop up in this story, along with the way Doyle abuses uppers make me shake my head. These characters--in particular as written by her--are smarter than that. It feels contrived.

To me at least. :-)

[intheyear2004.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with Ancastar. I just finished (well, nearly, only ten pages or so left) this fic and, although I really loved Jigsaw Puzzle, Strange Days just didn't work for me.

My first Huh?!-moment came when Doyle admitted hand to hand combat wasn't his forte. Pardon me? If, as Cowley says in Wild Justice, it costs two times as much and takes four times as long to train a CI5 agent than a pilot, and he cannot fill his vacancies although he can chose the best of the best from all the services, then I expect his agents to be able to hold their own with anyone, unless they're fighting Bruce Lee himself or perhaps Agent Smith from the Matrix.

My second Huh?!-moment was when all of a sudden all these hard-boiled career criminals/ex mercs turned nurse maids to the injured B/D. People who chose crime as a living are generally not of the altruistic sort, I think.

The goings on later in the cottage were very confusing to me, but this could be due to the fact that the text saved on the ProsLib-CD was very badly formatted. No spaces between paragraphs etc. so that sometimes you were in an entirely new scene a few hours or even days further on within the next line. Words missing etc.

Anyhow, I just couldn't believe the Doyle I see onscreen to be stupid enough to try and exist on a diet of painkillers and uppers, even not for Bodie's sake, because what good would he be to him if he keels over?

All in all I don't recommend to read this fic with your sense of logic turned on.

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

I reformatted this in Word because I find the ProsLib layout and font hard to read, especially for long stories - probably too late, but I can send it to you if you want it.

Also, agree with you about Doyle & the hand to hand. The mobsters letting them go? A bit of a stretch, I had to put it down to Tony's charisma (OK, it's a hole - although I wonder what Tony's story was, really - I think this was explained a bit more in "Remember Angola" but I forget the details. Somehing else to look up.

[intheyear2004.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the offer, but I'm not keen on reading it again to tell the truth. But I will look up Remember Angola.

I imagine Tony being an assassin or agent hired by I don't know whom to kill off Angetti and his goons - perhaps he was an undercover secret service man who didn't want to harm fellow civil servants anymore than necessary? Or something along these lines.

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

'Remember Angola' gives a little more insight into Tony via an OC, but not much. It's shorter - starts with the kidnapping and finishes soon after their return to London, which also happens a lot more quickly, and a little too conveniently for my taste. I think the ideal would be somewhere between the two, with all the loose plot threads tidied up.

Where are you? If you can't find a copy locally I can get you one (email on my user info page).

[intheyear2004.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your offer, but I don't buy zines.

[rosie55.livejournal.com]

I haven't read "Remember Angola" - is it on the cd or online? Or only in zine form? Any directions to it gratefully received!
SDI is a favourite of mine, too, my sense of logic can obviously be turned off without too much trouble!

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

It isn't on the CD or on-line. If you can't find a copy locally, I can send you one. Flick me an email.

[mr2544.livejournal.com]

I'm a newbie to Pros fandom and would love to read "Remember Angola." Is there any way you could point me the way to the story? I would really appreciate it.