Hmmm... am I the only one out there who actually really enjoys reading serial-files? When it's done well (i.e. when it's good fanfic with the serial numbers filed off, as opposed to bad fanfic with the serial numbers filed off), it's all the pleasure of "spot the character parallel" that a good AU fic gives you, plus the benefit of professional publishing.
One of my all-time favorite Space Opera series is a serial-file for Star Wars, and I like it light years better than any of the Extended Universe novels, because while it was clearly initially conceived as Star Wars futurefic about Han and Leia's mildly genderqueer daughter, it takes the story and character in directions the EU never did and examines questions the original trilogy never answered. It was a decent space opera story that could completely stand on it's own without knowledge of Star Wars, but if you could spot all the SW connections, it added an extra level of depth to it. And my current favorite newly-discovered urban fantasy series is Hellblazer fic starring Constantine and a Mary Sue, and it's awesome. The worldbuilding is very different from the vertigo comics, but the author does a better John Constantine than about half the Vertigo writers I've read recently. She just calls him by a different name, and includes a strong, three-dimensional women in place of Chas. (Meanwhile, Mike Carey's urban fantasy series that I thought would be Constantine fanfic sadly wasn't -- I liked the novel and the protagonist, but having picked up the book on the assumption that it was published Hellblazer fanfic, I was actually slightly disappointed to find that the hero wasn't a complete self-serving bastard, and moreover wasn't actually like John at all).
no subject
Date: 8 Feb 2010 09:07 pm (UTC)One of my all-time favorite Space Opera series is a serial-file for Star Wars, and I like it light years better than any of the Extended Universe novels, because while it was clearly initially conceived as Star Wars futurefic about Han and Leia's mildly genderqueer daughter, it takes the story and character in directions the EU never did and examines questions the original trilogy never answered. It was a decent space opera story that could completely stand on it's own without knowledge of Star Wars, but if you could spot all the SW connections, it added an extra level of depth to it. And my current favorite newly-discovered urban fantasy series is Hellblazer fic starring Constantine and a Mary Sue, and it's awesome. The worldbuilding is very different from the vertigo comics, but the author does a better John Constantine than about half the Vertigo writers I've read recently. She just calls him by a different name, and includes a strong, three-dimensional women in place of Chas. (Meanwhile, Mike Carey's urban fantasy series that I thought would be Constantine fanfic sadly wasn't -- I liked the novel and the protagonist, but having picked up the book on the assumption that it was published Hellblazer fanfic, I was actually slightly disappointed to find that the hero wasn't a complete self-serving bastard, and moreover wasn't actually like John at all).