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starvinbohemianHeh, had myself a bit of a shock.
I recently purchased The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, an anthology of the best (and mostly supernatural-inspired) Holmes pastiches from past years. There are stories from Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Anthony Burgess, Anne Perry, etc. etc. and, yes, I highly recommend it.
However, I was very surprised to read a story from Naomi Novik (author of the Temeraire series, which I've never read) that was very familiar. In fact, it was already familiar because it's one of my favorite Sherlock Holmes fan fics. My first thought was that the impeccable reputation of Yuletide had been tainted by some old fashioned plagiarism, but even that idea was confusing because the story really read like a fic. Much as it is experimented with by any number of authors, fanfiction very much has its own recognizable writing style.
Anyway, I did a little sleuth investigatingGoogle and discovered that author Naomi Novik is none other than the fabulous fanfic author [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]/shalott! Chica had her Yuletide fic published in a famous anthology! Wowzers. I really don't think I'll ever be completely comfortable with the erosion between fandom and real life, and I'm still kind of dazed by the fact that Cassandra Clare and Maya have become famous "real life" authors whose work I can find prominently displayed in a Barnes and Noble. I usually find myself standing in front of Clare's books while surreptitiously eyeing the people around me to see if anyone displays visible signs of some awareness of her fanfic origins. I'm weird, yes. Nonetheless, authors like Novik/astolat deserve to have their work recognized on both scales, and it's what we all wish and strive for, yes? On that note, here is the fic that became the published pastiche:
Title: Commonplaces.
Author: Naomi Novik/[Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com].
Rating: R.
Pairings: Irene Adler/Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson.
Summary: Only to be adored was, in the end, nothing; to be adored by someone worthy, everything.
Also from the same anthology, here is Neil Gaiman's pastiche, A Study in Emerald. I won't spoil the big twist ending (which is brilliant), but I will tell you that it's a crossover between Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu universe, which you don't need to be familiar with at all. A reworking of the famous Holmes/Watson meeting in A Study in Scarlet. It's Neil Gaiman, so you know it's going to be worth your time.
I recently purchased The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, an anthology of the best (and mostly supernatural-inspired) Holmes pastiches from past years. There are stories from Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Anthony Burgess, Anne Perry, etc. etc. and, yes, I highly recommend it.
However, I was very surprised to read a story from Naomi Novik (author of the Temeraire series, which I've never read) that was very familiar. In fact, it was already familiar because it's one of my favorite Sherlock Holmes fan fics. My first thought was that the impeccable reputation of Yuletide had been tainted by some old fashioned plagiarism, but even that idea was confusing because the story really read like a fic. Much as it is experimented with by any number of authors, fanfiction very much has its own recognizable writing style.
Anyway, I did a little sleuth investigating
Title: Commonplaces.
Author: Naomi Novik/[Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com].
Rating: R.
Pairings: Irene Adler/Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson.
Summary: Only to be adored was, in the end, nothing; to be adored by someone worthy, everything.
Also from the same anthology, here is Neil Gaiman's pastiche, A Study in Emerald. I won't spoil the big twist ending (which is brilliant), but I will tell you that it's a crossover between Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu universe, which you don't need to be familiar with at all. A reworking of the famous Holmes/Watson meeting in A Study in Scarlet. It's Neil Gaiman, so you know it's going to be worth your time.
Re: Prepare for Long Response!
Date: 2010-01-20 09:17 pm (UTC)it was lacking in dry humor,It was just dry in general...i dont know how to explain it. I got the fic from the ship manifesto, you know i like to read it when starting a new pairing.
And in the manifesto it said that if you liked fluffy bunnies and undying love then this pairing isn't for you, but if you like angst ridden one sided desire then here you go. And i like both sometimes don't get me wrong, but....i need fluff like a crazy crack whore needs crack. seriously. This is why we don't like the same pairing sometimes, since you live on angst and i live on fluff. Like a crazy, boy on boy obsessed odd couple...
Re: Prepare for Long Response!
Date: 2010-01-21 08:04 am (UTC)Was the fic "Absurdly Simple"?
I've read the ship manifesto, too, and I agree to a certain degree with what she wrote but not entirely. The thing is, yes, there are a lot of angst possibilities for the pairing. In the canon stories, Watson gets fed up with Holmes's cocaine addiction and leaves Holmes to get married. Holmes angsts about it and then fakes his death for three years. Those are incredibly angsty parts of their history, and there are a lot of fics dealing with those bits.
HOWEVER, there were also fifty or so other stories and a bunch of years they shared together that were perfectly fluffy, full of adventures, and completely lacking in angst. And there is plenty of fic that plays in the happy times!