Title: The Cuckoo's Agenda
Fandom: C.J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union 'verse, primarily Cyteen
Pairing: gen
Categories: Drama, Post-Canon
Length: Medium (4,813 words)
Warnings: ( Spoiler )

Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: vanillafluffy (on AO3)

Summary:
There is more than just a scientific breakthrough on the table when the second Ariane Emory meets with a spacer of humble origins.
Or, as the Author's note put it, "a young woman confronting Ari II with an important discovery and suspicions about Ari's part in her life."

Review:
This is one of those stories where you really have to have read the canon to really get it; if you haven't read Cyteen, it probably won't make a lick of sense. But if you have, it's brilliant. There was a little something, a backstory sub-plot about a certain character, that always tickled at me...always made me wonder. This fic fills in that hole, and does so marvelously with an original character's vibrant first-person narrative. The original character, Grette Pedersen, fits seamlessly into Cherryh's greater Alliance-Union universe, and has a unique voice. Confident, smart, and clever, she's a great conversational foil for Ari, and I really enjoyed Grette's story and it's addition to Cherryh's world.

The Cuckoo's Agenda

Title: The Cuckoo's Agenda
Fandom: C.J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union 'verse, primarily Cyteen
Pairing: gen
Categories: Drama, Post-Canon
Length: Medium (4,813 words)
Warnings: ( Spoiler )

Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: vanillafluffy (on AO3)

Summary:
There is more than just a scientific breakthrough on the table when the second Ariane Emory meets with a spacer of humble origins.
Or, as the Author's note put it, "a young woman confronting Ari II with an important discovery and suspicions about Ari's part in her life."

Review:
This is one of those stories where you really have to have read the canon to really get it; if you haven't read Cyteen, it probably won't make a lick of sense. But if you have, it's brilliant. There was a little something, a backstory sub-plot about a certain character, that always tickled at me...always made me wonder. This fic fills in that hole, and does so marvelously with an original character's vibrant first-person narrative. The original character, Grette Pedersen, fits seamlessly into Cherryh's greater Alliance-Union universe, and has a unique voice. Confident, smart, and clever, she's a great conversational foil for Ari, and I really enjoyed Grette's story and it's addition to Cherryh's world.

The Cuckoo's Agenda

Title: On Adventures and Other Forms of Conduct Unbecoming of a Wizard
Fandom: Tolkien: The Hobbit (both book & movie 'verses)
Pairing: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield
Categories: Action/Adventure, AU, Romance, Canon Fix-it
Length: Epic (51,524 words)
Warnings: Spoilers for Entire Book

Author on LJ: manic_intent
Author Website: manic_intent (on AO3)

Summary:
That AU where Bilbo is a hobbit-shaped wizard who doesn't approve of adventures.

For as long as even the old Gaffer could remember there had been a wizard living in the hill at Bag End, overlooking the Shire. As wizards went, this one wasn't the wandering sort, always out to lure gentle folk out onto nasty adventures, or even the powerful kind, the sort that lived in high towers, reaching out into the ways of the world.

Review:
This story follows canon closely, save for the major difference that Bilbo is a wizard...and that is a difference that makes all the difference in the world. Events are tweaked in just the right ways with a wizard hobbit along on the journey instead of a burglar hobbit (I was particularly fond of the resolution of the dragon problem here). The developing relationship between Bilbo and Thorin is at turns sweet and fraught, with two such people having so wildly divergent outlooks and motivations while still pulled together by friendship and affection. The tragedies of the book still occur, but in slightly different forms, a trade-off of one type of pain for another. That said, there is a happy (if slightly bittersweet) ending for the story and characters.

Overall, the story is so well written with great understanding (and playful tweaking) of Tolkien's mythology and just great fun.

On Adventures and Other Forms of Conduct Unbecoming of a Wizard

Title: On Adventures and Other Forms of Conduct Unbecoming of a Wizard
Fandom: Tolkien: The Hobbit (both book & movie 'verses)
Pairing: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield
Categories: Action/Adventure, AU, Romance, Canon Fix-it
Length: Epic (51,524 words)
Warnings: Spoilers for Entire Book

Author on LJ: manic_intent
Author Website: manic_intent (on AO3)

Summary:
That AU where Bilbo is a hobbit-shaped wizard who doesn't approve of adventures.

For as long as even the old Gaffer could remember there had been a wizard living in the hill at Bag End, overlooking the Shire. As wizards went, this one wasn't the wandering sort, always out to lure gentle folk out onto nasty adventures, or even the powerful kind, the sort that lived in high towers, reaching out into the ways of the world.

Review:
This story follows canon closely, save for the major difference that Bilbo is a wizard...and that is a difference that makes all the difference in the world. Events are tweaked in just the right ways with a wizard hobbit along on the journey instead of a burglar hobbit (I was particularly fond of the resolution of the dragon problem here). The developing relationship between Bilbo and Thorin is at turns sweet and fraught, with two such people having so wildly divergent outlooks and motivations while still pulled together by friendship and affection. The tragedies of the book still occur, but in slightly different forms, a trade-off of one type of pain for another. That said, there is a happy (if slightly bittersweet) ending for the story and characters.

Overall, the story is so well written with great understanding (and playful tweaking) of Tolkien's mythology and just great fun.

On Adventures and Other Forms of Conduct Unbecoming of a Wizard