Prosfic and Science Fiction

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

So... Pros and science fiction!

I've been reading various Sci-fi Prosfics lately - AUs, obviously! - and sort of wiggling my way back into Sci-fi in general, and really, really enjoying it again. It even occurs to me that the lads were obviously fairly aware of Sci-fi, though I probably wouldn't go so far as to think they're likely to be fans or anything (I've read some fics which have them all geeky about Star Trek, and I've got to say I can't quite buy that). But Doyle's got his "talking adenoids", and Bodie says straight away "androids", and he's the one talking about "tractor beams" too, come to think of it. And I'm sure there was another Star Wars reference from Bodie, that I noticed in a recent ProsWatch, but I can't for the life of me remember it... Come to think of it, I can imagine Bodie being into Sci-fi movies like "Star Wars" and "Blade Runner" and so on - fast and exciting and full of gadgets... *g*

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has any Pros Sci-fi AU recs - especially ones that might be a little more "obscure" or less well-known? ProsLib CD only, perhaps? But anything really! I know, have just re-read and adore:

The Cook and the Warehouseman by Helen Raven
Bronze Metal Lover by Stew
Suitable Gravity by DVS

and also love all of Helen Raven's sci fi AU stories, Jane and Madeleine Ingram's Nothing Left to Lose (guilty pleasure! *g*) and I remember one where the world has become cold... Meg Lewtan, maybe? It's on the ProsLib CD... Then of course there's Ellis Ward, must re-read her sci-fi AUs... And I've got Merlyn's Tales somewhere, actually - a Blade Runner crossover, that I've read the first of and quite enjoyed...

Any other suggestions?

ETA - I see that there's a list of SF AUs over at The Hatstand - I'd love to hear anyone's opinions of these! Following the link above will link you to some of the stories themselves...

SCIENCE FICTION - includes post-apocalyptic
After the Fire - in Other Times and Places 2
Aquamarine - in Fantazine 5
Bodie's Luck
Breath of Eochaidh Oll-Athair - in 21
Bronze Metal Lover - in The Concrete Jungle
The Constant Tin Soldier - in Celebrations 1
The Cook and the Warehouseman by Helen Raven
1. Detect in the Future Tense by Wally
2. In the Future Tense by Wally - zine novel (expands "Detect in the Future Tense", so 1 and 2 are combined in this zine)
3. In the Future Tense Part 3 by Wally - in Fantazine 5
ECHO duology by Ellis Ward:
1. Echo - 318K
2. Broadcast Difficulties - 173K
Echoes of Remembrance
Fear of Immortality
Free Trader by Debra Hicks - 161K
Heat
Hostage to Peace - zine novel
1. Nothing Left to Lose
2. Bounty - in Other Times and Places 5
Out of This World - in Professional B and D
The Price to Pay by M. Fae Glasgow - in Oblaquest [pairing - Andru Brodie/Avon]
Rebels and Mercs
Right Here, Right Now
The Same River by Helen Raven in Bene Dictum: Noughts and Crosses
Showfolk - in Fantazine 6
The Silence of Knives - in Fantazine 5
Suitable Gravity by DVS - 290K
Vortex
The Wounded and the Outcast - in No Holds Barred 6

Comments

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

I recently read "Bodie's Luck" by Stew, based on C J Cherryh's Downbelow Station world, and really enjoyed it. Funny, because I'd read a couple of her other stories & they didn't grab me. Maybe SF is her strong point.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ooh, must check out Bodie's Luck - I've thought that about Stew too, actually, I've often passed her over when she comes up as a random, just cos she's not grabbed me at all when I have read her. But Bronze Metal Lover changes my mind - you could be right about SF being her strength!

Cheers! *g*

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

I did a little searching - seems the plot is somewhat based on Cherryh's "Merchanter's Luck", which I don't remember reading. I have "Downbelow Station" though - might look at that again, I remember enjoying it the first time around.

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's in a zine... :(
I want a Pros library! There is one in the UK, but not in the US, right?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sorry, it is... Hmmn - there's other Stew fic up at Circuit Archive though, and I know the archivist says that she has permission to put up an awful lot of zine fic that's not available anywhere else - you could try dropping her a line and asking if it might be posted anytime soon...

And yeah, there's a Circuit library still going in the UK, but the US one is defunct... You're in Germany, right?!

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

I'm from Germany, but have been living in the US since 1989.
Whatever happened to the US circuit library?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ah... *g* I'm not sure exactly what happened to the US Circuit library - just that it isn't running any more, and I think the fic was sold (I could be wrong about that!) Be interesting to know more specifically...

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, you know... I just finished Bodie's Luck, and I've got to say it didn't really work for me... darn it! It was sort of... didn't quite ring true as the lads, somehow. Doyle being younger than Bodie always throws me, cos it's not canon (though I know you'd blink and miss it, so I understand why some writers might have just written them the other way around) and Bodie calling Doyle "colt" in the middle of all the SF stuff threw me too - where did it come from? Why in the world "colt"?! And then... I dunno - I felt like there should have been alot more of the story - the final resolution was a bit pat, and Doyle was always too quick to trust/believe Bodie, and... I dunno! Mind you, I'm not at my best reading from the computer screen, but... it didn't really grab me either, I had to keep coming back to it... Thanks for the rec though!

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

I'm never really sure about definitions and what the difference is (if any ) between sci-fi and futuristic (maybe they overlap?) but I think Bodie would probably have enjoyed Outland too, a very likeable film starring Sean Connery which someone described as an OK Corral type film in outer space.....anyway continuing with the theme of not knowing what the correct definition of sci-fi actually *is* I'll hazard a guess and say what about L.Stone's Heat? - that's fututistic isn't it? Does it qualify as sci-fi? And The Same River - one of my favourite stories. Hmmm....I'll think on....

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Sorry! Just realised you've mentioned Helen Raven...

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's coming to me! What about the two stories.....oh, sorry, you've already mentioned them as well - Ellis Ward - and Bodie's got a parrot on his shoulder (or something that flies..) sorry....

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yes! Lainie Stone's Heat was the one I was thinking of - thank you! *g*

I always think futuristic and sci fi are the same thing - because people mostly put at least a bit of science explaining how they got to a particular futuristic scenario, so... I dunno about anyone else, but they cross over for me, anyway! *g*

I printed off Same River the other week to re-read, not got to it yet, though. And Ellis Ward - yes! Although... the parrot on Bodie's shoulder? I'm intrigued - was that one of the Ellis Wards? I don't remember it at all! *vbg*

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Broadcast Difficulties and Echo were futuristic, sci-fi stories, if I remember right, and I think there was some kind of bird on Bodie's shoulder....wasn't Bodie the spaceship's pilot or summat?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Excellent - shall put them on my reading list for today too! *g*

[metabolick.livejournal.com]

It's a very interesting creature called a sfang, which is one of the most appealing aspects of those stories imo.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ah - cheers! How can I have no memory of that?! Of course that's the beauty of my memory - I can read alot of Prosfic as if I'm reading it for the first time! *g*

[metabolick.livejournal.com]

Join the club, Sunshine! ;-)

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

"Heat" is what you were thinking of, with regards to when the world was cold. *g* You've mentioned all the good ones I think of--and kiwisue's recommendation of "Bodie's Luck" I heartily endorse. Um... There must be more....

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

There have got to be more! I want more! *g*

Heat was definitely the one - I rather adore it, and I seem to remember wanting more of that as well... Cheers!

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

There have got to be more! I want more!
Well, ahem, the obvious answer to that is to write... *g*

There's the whole B&D's Excellent Adventures series. I like some of those. Umm...there must be more....

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Lol - oh, for time and... Maybe today! Reading and writing rather than venturing out into the glorious autumn sunshine here! Sounds good to me... *g*

I've not read all the Excellent Adventures - I've liked the few that I've read, though I tend to think of them mostly as historical AUs really. Though technically they are SF really, aren't they... hmmn! *g*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I just read Bodie's Luck - it didn't work for me! I felt like I was missing alot of information (like why Bodie's luck was so important and relevant to the story) and the lads weren't quite the lads for me... Ah well - shall keep looking! I found a list at Hatstand (edited it into my original post up above if you're interested!) and shall have a meander there... *g*

[metabolick.livejournal.com]

Free Trader (http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/2/freetrader.html) by Debra Hicks, a Pros/ST crossover which I confess not being able to get into.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

You know, I thought I'd read that one but when I looked at the start I didn't remember it at all - or it wasn't the fic that I thought it was! I've got to admit, Star Trek crossovers put me off, just cos I never liked Captain Kirk...

But I read it tonight, and there's no Captain Kirk! In fact it's almost exclusively Bodie and Doyle right through to the end. Trouble is, I don't quite recognise them as the lads, and then it gets really soppy... a few too many tears for me, and treating Doyle as if he's a woman being wooed by Bodie... Not my thing I'm afraid, that one! Ah well, hey-ho! Thanks for the thought!

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

This is a really useful list - thanks! I'd forgotten about so many of them e.g. Free Trader and discovered new ones, like the M Fae Glasgow story. Cheers.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

The list is all down to our brilliant Hatstander - I just copy-pasted it from her page! I keep forgetting that she has those lists, and they're so good!

[rochvelleth.livejournal.com]

Ooh, this is interesting. I've never read a Pros SF story, so I don't know about recs - but I do like the idea. I'm writing something sort-of horror themed if that counts, but it won't be ready for ages :)

I'm also thinking of a Torchwood or Dr Who crossover at some point. But I suppose I really should give the PhD priority... *g*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Eep, I'm so sorry, I don't know how I missed this and didn't reply, except of course for my general rubbishness - I am sorry!

There are some fabulous Pros SF stories out there - I'd start with Suitable Gravity, or Broadcast Difficulties, because they're both by wonderful authors... *g*

Horror-themed eh? Will it be ready in time for the 31st?!

And a TW crossover - that'd be tough, given the timeframes of the two shows - be interested to see how you do though!

Phd Schmeehd... write fic, that's what I say! (From the same distance of a completely different country to my adviser... *g*)