The Fanfiction Section (July - August)

With this second issue, we've given the staff a rest and asked our forum members to review their favourite piece of fan fiction from the past two months.

Story chosen: Shattered (by RedRanger 1)
Reviewed by: Sol
Shattered is based around a 'what if' scenario, what if Melody hadn't been able to fight Axel off? We follow Melody's journey through the difficult days, weeks and months after the attack. The challenges she has to face as she recovers, form the centre-piece in a story that touches on many difficult issues - not least the wider effects that such an attack can have. The effect on Melody's friends and family is profound, each having to face their own demons as they come to terms with what has happened. Charting a time period of almost a year, we see Melody evolve from a timid broken shell, to a confident young adult. Her maturity is astonishing, her transformation remarkable.

The greatest strength of this story from a technical perspective is, without a doubt, the dialogue. Smooth and realistic, you can almost hear the conversation as it flows between the characters. Complicated feelings and emotions are portrayed with deceptive simplicity, as the language used makes the feelings of each participant crystal clear...even when the character is confused!

Difficult, emotive issues are tackled sensitively and honestly. There is no attempt to brush over them, this undoubtedly difficult strategy really paid off. The result being a realistic piece of work, thoroughly engaging and a pleasure to read. I would, perhaps, have liked there to have been a bit more of Geoff's perspective. Where his perspective has been tackled, this was accomplished with exceptional success - but maybe that's me being greedy. If I had any criticism it would be that the description is at times a little disjointed, the unspoken thoughts of characters not always flowing as smoothly as the dialogue.

The over-riding impression is of a well thought out storyline, written by a talented author. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Shattered and I look forward to reading future fictions by Red Ranger 1.

Story chosen: Small World (by RedRanger 1)
Reviewed by: Zetti
Firstly I love the plot, it is simple and not too overcomplicated which makes it a pleasure to read. The first scene was well written but I felt needed slightly more emotion on the atmosphere and more emphasis on Sally's emotions. Like how she was so devasted and heartbroken at never knowing her niece and you could have done a flashback scene to when Miles told her about the daughter he lost. The scene by the water as she was remembering her was very touching and possibly one of the best scene in the fanfiction.

Secondly apart from the first scene which I have already reviewed the dialect in the fanfiction is superbly done. I could imagine myself in the story. You described the scene in a lot of detail maybe at time a little too much but that is hard to define. I love how it wasn't just based on Sally and we got a chance to see Cassie in the story struggling to deal with the HIV and meeting someone out of a whole world who reacted quite badly to the news that she was HIV positive. I felt you described those scenes with thought and maturity and I am glad to say it was a very good piece. Only one critiscm I have is that it may have been better if you had let the HIV storyline play out a bit more and have more scenes of Cassie struggling to deal with Scott's reaction and even Scott trying to figure out his own feelings.

Thirdly, you made up your own characters such as the waitress, Kasem and the other characters. I love how you made their own connections to Sally and with Scott and Cassie. The arrival of Harry aka Vinnie was good as you took into account how much he had missed and for that I think it is awesome.

Overall, you are an exceptionally good writer and this fanfiction is one of the best I have read in terms of descriptive language and the manner that you potray the author.

Story chosen: Geoff's Choice (by Miranda)
Reviewed by: LUC
Geoff's Choice is, as described by the author herself, an experimental story. It is set just after the Olympic Cliffhanger, and Geoff and Nicole have washed up on an isolated Island, and a black hooded figure is watching an unconscious Geoff. Gradually, Geoff's recalls a moment he had with his pop, about how he thought work should become pleasure. As Geoff gradually wakens, he looks over to the cloaked figure, realising there is something different about him. Between this, Geoff's future starts to unveil itself in front of his eyes, but what will happen to him?
I really enjoyed the usage of the cloaked figure as somewhat storyteller, unveiling what Geoff will amount to as he gets older.
The only thing I can suggest that she could have done to improve the fic was to make it longer. The story was great, but I myself prefer longer fics, and Miranda could have gone into more detail about how Geoff's life would be like when he grew up. But that is my personal opinion, and I loved it all the same.