MISCELLANEOUS FANDOMS

Chrestomanci It was only relatively recently that I discovered Diana Wynne Jones' books, and was pleased recently to come across fic using her characters (in particular Howl and Chrestomanci) by Eildon Rhymer, here. I particularly recommend 'A Boy Less Ordinary', where the young Chrestomanci finds himself having an unexpected adventure. Gen. Chronicles of Narnia 'Carpetbaggers' by cofax - Aslan has left and the Pevensie children are now Kings and Queens of Narnia, a country that does not as yet really exist. So what happens now? Gen. 'By Royal Decree' by rthstewart - in which King Edmund the Just has to cope not only with two incredibly dumb princesses, complete with requisite heaving bosoms, but also suffers horribly from a seasonal affliction. Gen. 'Herd Mentality' by rthstewart - another well-written story in this fandom's ongoing attempts to flesh out just what life would actually be like on a day-to-day basis in Narnia post-Pevensie. I'm particularly a fan of this writer's very sweary otters. Gen (with non-con warning). Dr. Who Yes, I'm strange, I know. Slashing Dr. Who? Well, I thought I was the only one who saw something going on between the Doctor (in his whatever-number incarnation as played by Peter Davison) and Turlough, but apparently not. To date, Viridian5 has written five Doctor/Turlough stories and I urge you to go read them now... you can find them here. Entourage 'Top Billing' by astolat - Eric looked at the bill and the neat little line of coke lying on the polished desk. This was clearly the beginning of the end, doing coke with Ari Gold on a Friday night, just so he could get i's dotted and t's crossed.. E/Vince. 'Home Sweet Home' by astolat - E makes it big as a producer and suddenly everyone in Hollywood thinks it's kind of odd that he's still living with Vincent Chase... E/Vince. Glee 'I Bring My Better Angels to Every Fight' by lls_mutant - it's no secret on the show that Kurt's dad is awesome, but that wasn't always the case and this is a beautifully-written story that brings him to that point. Gen. Grimm 'Of All' by laetificare - a kind-of-AU where the Grimm hunt Wesen because they have to, since eating a Grimm's heart will make any Wesen immortal. Nick/Monroe. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang 'Noir Enough' by thefourthvine - My current job description reads: 'Answer telephones, make appointments, run errands, file papers, avoid all mention of Jonny Gossamer, don't pretend to take or work cases, and don't touch my guns'. Perry wrote that one night and left it taped to my desk with WHAT YOU DO IN CASE YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN BECAUSE YOU ARE STUPID written on the top of it. Harry/Gay Perry. Leverage 'I Lie, I Cheat, I Steal (and I Just Don't Get Any Respect)' by fiercelydreamed - a nice crossover between two of my current favourite shows (Leverage and White Collar), where Nate decides that what they really need for their next con is a particular con artist, one who's currently working with the FBI. Various pairings implied. 'Life in the Twenty-First Century' by aces - Alec Hardison, if pressed, would probably suggest that he subscribes to a post-modern definition of identity. or 'how being a geek made Hardison who he is'. Parker/Eliot/Hardison. Life 'What Has Happened Between Us' by Dira Sudis - in which Rachel asks what should have been an awkward question and still doesn't quite understand the relationship between Charlie and Ted, either in prison or afterwards. Charlie/Ted. Lord Peter Wimsey 'Green Ice' by Adina - a cleverly-written crossover fic has Bertie Wooster turning up (as usual) at the wrong time and the wrong place, just right to be accused of stealing a particularly fine set of emeralds. It's down to his former army colleague, Wimsey, to set things straight. Gen. 'The Secret Library' by Copperbadge - "I've been meaning to speak to you about something, actually," Peter said, blowing on his tea to cool it. "I suppose you've considered the fact that when we do marry, both our lives will suffer considerable change?" Gen. 'The First Year After' by Nineveh-uk. There's some excellent Lord Peter Wimsey fic out there, with suitable interest paid to getting the voices right, and this one has to join them. How do the main characters get past the events of Strong Poison, and in particular Harriet Vane and Charles Parker, destined to be in-laws? Gen. 'Gentle Antidote' by x_los - in an AU where your soulmate's name appears on your arm, Harriet Vane gets quite a surprise when hers begins to emerge, then yet more when she meets the man in question. Harriet/Peter. Merlin 'We're a Storm in Somebody Else's Teacup' by paperclipbitch (all entries for this fic linked through from that page) - an AU, where Merlin and the others are in the present day, meeting through the auspices of a support group for people with superpowers. Arthur/Merlin. The Musketeers 'The Stars Incline But Do Not Compel' by Suzie_Shooter - an AU where the King decides that the Comte de la Fère and the Comte d'Artagnan are to marry. Hijinks ensue, naturally, in a sweetly-written story in one of our smaller fandoms. Various m/m pairings. Numb3rs 'Gleam' by Dira Sudis - determined to figure out what the hell it is Charlie Eppes is going on about, Colby Granger finds himself unexpectedly becoming something of a maths geek. Or at least a geek for maths geeks. I'm not sure I quite buy the author's idea of Charlie, but I'm willing to be convinced! Charlie/Colby. Miriam Heddy has written a number of excellent and intriguing character pieces, capturing Larry Fleinhardt's circuitous thought patterns with deceptive ease. I particularly liked 'Dinner for Four' and 'Late Victorians', but it's all good (and all Charlie/Larry). Onmyoji 'The Hawk Killer' by glitterburn - I've been incredibly remiss in not previously recommending this writer's Onmyouji fic, which is consistently the best out there in what is admittedly a teeny-tiny fandom. For those that don't know the fandom in question (based on a manga series, which in turn is based on a novel, but more on a couple of fantastically wacky movies), it's set in Japan's Heian Period (754 - 1185) and is well worth a watch. It has wonderful costumes, pretty actors, bizarre special effects and all round bromance to the max. ;) In this story, an AU from the movie, Hiromasa is a poor but well-connected nobleman who finds himself unexpectedly sponsored by Seimei, in his turn fantastically wealthy but with ties to a former emperor. It's beautifully written, as is the case with all glitterburn's Onmyouji fic, which is well worth seeking out on her lj. Seimei/Hiromasa (OTP!) Pacific Rim: 'Cable Knit' by downjune - in a different beginning to the movie, Mako goes to Sitka in search of one particular burned-out Jaeger pilot and finds Raleigh making ends meet in a less-than-legal manner. Mako/Raleigh. Only available to registered users of AO3. Peacemakers Another teeny tiny fandom gets the nod! 'The Winter Trail' by Keiko Kirin - Marshal Stone and Detective Finch find themselves investigating the death of a farmer and discovering more than they might have suspected behind the sleepiness of their surroundings. Finch/Stone preslash. 'An Honest Man' by Michelle Christian, and it's so nice to see people writing in this teeny-tiny fandom - "The future is exciting, full of possibility and wonder. There are so many new and fascinating discoveries happening every day, and so many more just around the corner. A whole new undiscovered country, just waiting for us." Stone gave him a wry look. "The 'undiscovered country' is death. Most people aren't too eager for it.". Stone/Finch. Pirates of the Caribbean 'The African Star' by Erin Rua - Elizabeth manages to get herself kidnapped again and so Will Turner must take up piracy in order to save her. How convenient that he knows someone who'll happily sign him on... Gen. Queer as Folk (UK) 'I Like it Like That' by Mallory Klohn. Funny, sexy … what more could you ask for? Stuart/Vince (and others). 'World's Biggest World 1 - Two Sleepy People' and 'World's Biggest World 2 - I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper' are both equally fine and dandy. Queer as Folk (US) In Love of His Life, Julad takes a fic cliché (amnesia) and uses it to great effect. The last thing Brian Kinney remembers is being 19 years old with a paper due in two days. Whatever happened to all his plans? Maybe he needs a new one... Brian/Justin ReGenesis I never thought I'd be reccing this fandom and especially not this pairing, but here goes, because the story is really good and really Bob... 'Let's Not Talk About It and Say We Did' by Miriam Heddy. He thought about food, and a little about death, instead of the things he just didn't need or want to think about right now, most of them, not coincidentally, revolving around the problem of Bob. Bob/David. Only available to registered users of AO3. Rivers of London 'Though I Sang In My Chains Like the Sea' by lightgetsin - a fantastic Yuletide fic, set in the universe of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London (which series is highly recommended!), where magic is real and there's a tiny section of the Metropolitan Police tasked with dealing with it. Gen. 'Birdcage' by philomytha - When Nightingale disappears, Peter tries to find out what happened to him. But with the London Olympics opening in a few days and a string of magical crimes across the city, he can't afford to let any more major tourist attractions blow up either. Gen. 'Waterloo Sunset' by philomytha - off to deal with another nest of vampires, but this time it doesn't go so well. Gen. Rome 'semper hic erro' by Bastet - Vorenus is near ready to sleep when Pullo comes back into the dark room, swagger in his step and an indecent smile on his face. Vorenus/Pullo. 'The First Prayers of Man' by Destina - a poignant look at how Lucius Vorenus copes with everything that happens to him in season 1. Vorenus/Pullo. Sleepy Hollow 'Go Wash Your Heart in the River' by mardia - a beautifully written story with elements of Celtic mythology wound through it. Gen. Star Trek Reboot 'The Sky Was Made for Us Tonight' and its sequel 'Looking For A Place To Happen' by waketosleep - two stories set in a slightly dystopian AU where the people of Vulcan have decided that the last thing the universe needs is those pesky humans all over the place and has restricted their opportunities for space travel. Naturally James T Kirk is not overly keen on this and finds a way off-planet, whether they like it or not. Kirk/Spock. Singing in the Rain 'And Write That Symphony' by cimorene - long before there was White Collar and its OT3, there was this movie, which (for me and apparently cimorene at least, if not many others) has the same kinds of vibes. There's just something about the relationship between Don and Cosmo that gets me, so any romantic involvements from either just need to fit nicely alongside, as Kathy Selden does. Don/Cosmo/Kathy. Sports Night There's been a raft of 'five things' stories in a number of fandoms, but this one I really liked. Five Things That Never Happened (to Dan Rydell), by Shrift. Sweet but not saccharine, the author manages to capture the qualities of her protagonists and still has room to play the changes. Dan/Casey. Wild Wild West (the tv show, not the movie!) If you're looking for the best WWW slash online, then check out Taliesin's Jim/Artie fic here (scroll down to the bottom of the page). Wonderfalls I wouldn't say Wonderfalls is the easiest fandom to write in, because the voices are so distinct, but k manages it perfectly in 'Hiatus Machines' - for once, Jaye isn't hearing voices and now she doesn't know what to do with herself. Gen.

NERO WOLFE

aerye: 'Vagaries of Love' - their latest case has a troubling effect on Archie Goodwin. Wolfe/Archie. Coelogyne: 'Heroin Acre' - Wolfe had been peevish when I left, and I could only imagine his irritation on the second morning of my continuing fall from grace. If I stayed to discover what exactly Sophie had on her mind, I could be there all night, and would definitely not get enough sleep for another full day of resentful Wolfe. Gen. Jennifer Lon: 'Aesthetics' - how Wolfe and Archie first met, from Saul Panzer's perspective. Nancy: 'Too Many Goodwins' - on his way back to New York from California, Archie makes an unexpected detour via his home town when something odd is going on with his mother. Gen. Parhelion: 'Hunger' by Parhelion, which is an interesting take on Wolfe's last encounter with Zeck (which will only mean something to fellow book addicts!). Wolfe/Archie. 'The Warm Room' co-written with Coelogyne, which has Wolfe and Archie in Egypt with all kinds of shenanigans going on. Wolfe/Archie. 'Carny' has Wolfe and Archie meeting under different circumstances, when Wolfe is working as a mentalist in a 1930's travelling carnival. Wolfe/Archie. 'Romans' and 'The Feast of Folly' are a pair of nicely-written AU stories set in Roman times. Wolfe/Archie. 'Iron House' - another AU, this time finding our heroes both in prison and working things out from there. Wolfe/Archie. 'Impulse' - while investigating the theft of a painting, more things than just the identity of the thief come to light. Wolfe/Archie. 'Nurture' - another AU, this time with Wolfe owning a tumbledown house in California which Archie literally stumbles across while looking for work. Wolfe/Archie. 'Noted' - I'm a sucker for amnesia stories, so this one (with Archie getting dosed up by someone and trying to figure out who he is) was always going to end up on here. Wolfe/Archie.

ONCE A THIEF

AnneZo: 'Going Deep' - gay men are going missing and Mac and Vic have to find out why... Vic/Mac. Brenda Antrim: 'Stealing A Moment' - the OAT team is in Washington. Mulder catches a glimpse and thinks he sees Krycek... Crossover with X Files. Mulder/Vic, Mulder/Krycek. Lianne Burwell: The Director takes the gang to San Francisco in 'Carpe Noctem' (a crossover with Kindred). I don't usually enjoy crossovers, but I liked this one a lot and it certainly explains a few things about the Director ... . Merry: 'Happily Ever After' - Vic and Mac get sent to Mississippi, of all places, and naturally get into more trouble than even they can deal with. Vic/Mac. Orithain: The 'Tulips' series captures the somewhat strange humour of the show quite well ... Vic/Mac. Sylvia: LiAnn doesn't want him, and he can't think of anyone who does ... Vic Mansfield is having a rotten time until Mac takes a second look ... 'Men at Some Time'. Vic/Mac. Viridian5: 'Binding' - we knew The Director was sneaky, but did we have any idea of how sneaky? Slash, that's all I'm saying. *g*

ORIGINAL FICTION

aefallen: 'The Right-Hand Rule' - Landon looks down on the quiet world beneath him. At times like this, he feels like the only person left alive on earth. He knows it isn't true, though, and it's the reason he's still here. Gen. Ann Leckie: 'The Nalendar', originally published in Uncanny Magazine. Gen. Fleeing an unwelcome suitor, Umri heads down the Nalendar river. This is a universe full of gods and, to make her escape, she makes a deal with a small god who is looking to reclaim his former status, getting dragged into his complicated (and not a little dangerous) scheme to do so. 'Needle and Thread', co-written with Rachel Swirsky, originally published in Lone Star Stories. Having returned from a deal with the Sidhe, a dressmaker is commanded by her queen to sew a dress that will make her daughter beautiful. Of course, it's not as simple as that. Gen. Carrie Patel: 'Here Be Monsters', originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Each day I watch the horizon, and each night I watch the stars. They can tell you a lot if you know how to read them: where you are in the world, how long you’ve been there. Charlie Jane Anders: 'As Good As New' - Marisol was an award-winning playwright, but that hadn’t saved her from the end of the world. Gen. Chartreuse: 'The God Eaters' had me doing the 'just one more part' thing quite early on. Two outlaws (one of whom really just gets dragged along for the ride) take on the totalitarian Theocracy in a bleak story with some really interesting twists along the way. Slash. Damien Angelica Walters: 'The Serial Killer's Astronaut Daughter' - Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I'll make my return trip to Earth in two months and get back in time for my father's execution. Peachy. Delilah S. Dawson: 'Catcall', originally published in Uncanny Magazine. Gen. The first time it happened, I was thirteen. I was in a bar, but not because I wanted to be in a bar. Because my Uncle Louis took us to a fancy restaurant in a fancy hotel that had a fancy bar stuck down in the middle of it like a freaking gauntlet you had to run for the privilege of peeing. I didn’t see it as a gauntlet then, not yet. But now, looking back, remembering those trembling fawn footsteps in my cheap, barely–high heels, I can’t believe my mom just flapped a hand at me and told me I’d be fine. Elizabeth Bear: 'In Libres', originally published in Uncanny Magazine. The Library was not a single building, but rather a complex of buildings on the edge of campus, with only one way in. It was said to have one copy of every book ever written. This was probably an exaggeration, despite the fact that it seemed to have a functionally infinite interior. The Library was bigger on the inside, and it iterated. Ellipsis: 'A Frequent Traveller's Guide to Jovan' - our protagonists are Valentin and Cassius, uncles to the reigning Empress and diplomat and soldier respectively. Stories may contain both het and slash, though none of it particularly explicit to date. flamebyrd: 'Thieving Jackdaw and other stories' - a series of three stories, where you take one minor member of the nobility and one private detective and shake them in a 1930's style cocktail shaker. Slash. 'a prince(ss) and a gentleman' - of the two of them, it was his sister who was always interested in politics and running the kingdom, so why was she suddenly planning to marry a man with no interest in the subject and live in the middle of nowhere? Alaith finds out exactly what she is planning when it's too late to do anything but go with the flow... Slash (kind of, see warnings). hazard_us: 'Serving Grace' - a story from the ib_archive wu xia collection, where the serving maid Lanfen discovers she already has put her foot on the path towards becoming a warrior. Gen. Jennifer Pelland: 'Snow Day' - I was recommended this story by a friend and found it very entertaining and well-written. Getting snowed in isn't always a bad thing, as our protagonist is about to find out, even if the situation isn't quite as it first appears. Implied het. K.C. Norton: 'Goatskin' - this is the story of Shanzi, a 'goatskin girl', who can turn herself into anything or, as she discovers, anyone. Gen. K.J. Parker: 'Heaven Thunders the Truth' - I've read a few of his/her books but hadn't come across any shorter fiction; loved this look at someone ending up much cleverer than they ever thought because of magic which is also (naturally) quite destructive in other ways. Gen. K.M. Ferebee: The Earth and Everything Under' - Peter had been in the ground for six months when the birds began pushing up out of the earth. Small ones, at first, with brown feathers: sparrows, spitting out topsoil, their black eyes alert. They shook and stretched their wings in the sunlight. Soon they were pecking the juniper berries and perching on rooftops, just like other birds. They were small, fat, and soft; Elyse wanted to hold them. But they were not tame and they would not come to her. Gen. Kaerutobi Ike: 'Final Exam' - another excellent story from the s2b2 community, this time around a prince's struggles to complete his education by rescuing a princess and marrying her when he doesn't really like girls all that much. Slash. Kami Oh: 'Across the Universe' - complete with some lovely artwork, Herne the Hunter makes a starring appearance in this Mabinogion-inspired story from the Shousetsu Bang*Bang story community. Slash. Kat Howard: 'A Meaningful Exchange' - Quentin told lies to people for money. Or drugs. Or kittens. Or anything, really. The particular currency didn’t matter, so long as what was being offered had value to the person who needed the lie. Gen. 'The Universe, Sung in Stars', published in Lightspeed Magazine. Gen. There is music in the stars. The stars, the planets, the asteroids, the galaxies. Everything that is flung, whirling in orbit through space and time. We dwell inside an enormous, ever-changing symphony, and each of the many universes sings a song of its own. Kate Marshall: 'Stone Prayers', first published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Gen. Her gods are made of stone, but these people worship a beast of bone and sinew. They keep their god and their emperor in the center of their city. He is an emperor of nothing; his empire was broken before he was born, and the Korondi now seek to suck its marrow. But his palace rises from the shell of a god, and so an emperor he is called. ladyjaida: 'Master of Ravens' - My father speaks to the birds. That is his gift. I’ve heard it said that he has come to resemble them, and that I am his raven son. When I was very young he put their feathers in my hair, which may account for the resemblance. Gen. ladysisyphus: 'The Stone Fox and the Bloody Hands' - another great story from the Shousetsou Bang*Bang community, this time a young acolyte finds a strange boy underneath the monastery where he's lived his whole life, and soon finds himself thrust into a position he never expected. M/M. 'Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been' - dragged against his will into the ambit of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, Les is asked to 'do some digging' where one of the McCarthy hearing's witnesses is concerned and finds himself in a world that is both utterly unfamiliar to him and also something like home. M/M 'Bright Mouths' - As the whisky burned the back of his back of his throat, he could finally start to convince himself that it had been nothing more than his imagination that had spooked him in the boardroom. Mot was an unusual-looking man, to be sure, but Tenzjin had seen many unusual things since he'd come to the mainland, and none of them had turned out to be inexplicable. There were things that looked like the creatures the superstitious called demons, in the way children saw animals in summer clouds, but there were no demons; there were human vendettas and sworn vengeance, but there were no such things as curses. There was a rational explanation for everything in the world. M/M. 'Riding Drag' - a Chinese snake-oil seller picks up an unlikely hitchhiker in this story set in the Wild West. M/M. Lianne Burwell: I've been very remiss in not recommending this story before now - it took three years or so to finish and was well worth the wait, imo. The story in question is 'The Quartz Key', a sweeping saga of two unlikely characters thrown together by fate. Judas is an outcast from his tribe, Nemir the prince who becomes his master and lover; together and apart they attempt to discover what Judas' true destiny is. Slash. Manna: I'd heard lots of good things about The Administration, but I'm always reticent to rec stuff till I've read it for myself. In this case, the sheer size of the offering daunted me a little but I'm glad I got the chance to read them all pretty much one after the other and now wholeheartedly echo the comments I'd heard previously! The lengthy series, featuring interrogator Val Toreth and corporate technical genius Keir Warrick, shows how the characters develop both in their relationships with one another and as individuals - best part of all, it's not just about the sex, there's real complex plotlines here. Slash. mellish: 'Clear as god's own tears' - Your mother, the master would often say, was a beautiful and deadly woman, and you are in every way like her. Another fantastic story from the ib_archive wuxia collection. Gen. moonsheen: 'Alby and the Manticore' - despite what his family might tell other people, the job Alby had landed at the Menagerie wasn't usually all that interesting. And then suddenly, that changed. Gen. Ogiwara Saki: 'The City of a Thousand Days' - In dreaming of home, he wondered if home dreamt of him. He imagined it might be so, for the coins and the Caliphs called it Madinat al-Salaam, the City of Peace, and the people called it by its old name, Baghdad — but the poets called it the City of Dreaming. He rode in on camel through the Basra Gate on the southeast, from a road that led to the four quarters of the empire. The Basra Gate was well-defended from attack, with a bent entrance passage and an elevated chamber that a man could only reach by staircase or ramp. A domed structure topped the gate where the Caliph sometimes went to look over the walls and see what lay beyond the City of Dreaming, but Zamir knew well what lay beyond the city. He had known it well for seven years, and only now was he, the exiled traitor, returning home. M/M. Parhelion: Parhelion is responsible for some of my favourite stories in the Nero Wolfe fandom so I wasn't too surprised to discover some excellent original slash fic by the same writer. I was very much taken with 'The Devil and Cowboy Will' and the other stories set in the same universe in 1930's Hollywood, which have a real flavour of the period to them, but it's all good... Rachael K. Jones: 'Makeisha in Time' - Makeisha has always been able to bend the fourth dimension, though no one believes her. She has been a soldier, a sheriff, a pilot, a prophet, a poet, a ninja, a nun, a conductor (of trains and symphonies), a cordwainer, a comedian, a carpetbagger, a troubadour, a queen, and a receptionist. Gen. Rachel Halpern: 'Make No Promises' - what do you do when you can see the future? When the people around you don't know what's going to happen, but you do, including the betrayals? Gen. Rich Larson: 'The King in the Cathedral' - this is a really nicely drawn story of an unwilling king sent into exile where nothing is quite as it seems at first. Gen. ruffwriter: 'The Mountain Sleeps' - another stunning story from the ib_archive community, this time around where our protagonists are mountain guides, one with a secret to keep. Gen. salifiable: 'Climbing Mount Kunlun' - when Xiao Zhen's cousin falls ill, she knows only one thing can save her, even if she isn't completely certain how she's going to get to the garden of the Queen Mother of the West. Gen. Sarah Pinsker: 'When the Circus Lights Down', originally published by Uncanny Magazine. The circus landed in late October. It was a Tuesday night, near midnight, and I should have been asleep. I had been asleep, actually, on the couch that served as my bed, but then the rain started. Not a gentle autumn rain like we’d been getting off and on for the last week. Sharp, slanted rain that would rip the last brilliant leaves from the sycamores lining the street; the kind that drenched the floor under the window before I was awake enough to register what was happening. Scott Lynch: 'A Year and a Day in Old Theradane', first published in Rogues, edited by George RR Martin and Gardner Duzois. Gen. Amarelle Parathis and her gang of thieves have bought their freedom from prosecution (well, most of them though you'll meet the one who didn't in this story too...) on condition they obey the law in Theradane. So when Amarelle is approached by one of the wizards fighting for pre-eminence over the city, she's less than keen to get involved in what's going on, even before what she's asked to steal seems impossible to Shikkoku no Suzu: 'The King of Bayan' - wanting to see the fabled king for himself, Ruari finds himself in over his head in more ways than one. M/M. Shinju Yuri: 'Your Cover's Blown' - normally I'm not too fond of the more yaoi-style original fic because the characters aren't strong enough for me. However, for this story I'll make an exception! Jennings is an inventor, both his creations and himself a puzzle that intrigues Frederick sufficiently that he plans to burgle him next. Or at least that's the original intention... m/m. shukyou: 'The Heart May be Tiny but the World's Enormous' - Gong Ji is a thief, and not a very good one, but if it hadn't been for the baby then he was certain he would have got away with it... Slash. 'Murder Ballad' - Jake and Will are con artist-cum-exorcists who get called by the Government to the site of a prospective railway where something odd is going on and there are mysteries to solve, not least exactly what the relationship is between the two of them. Slash. Tom Crosshill: 'The Magician and Laplace's Demon' - This is a story about the death of magic, not because nobody believes but because someone/something (depending on your philosophical standpoint) is hunting magicians. Gen. Vandana Singh: 'Wake-Rider' - At first the ripples pushed the little scabship further back, but Leli knew how to play them. You had to get a sense of the frequency of vibration of the spacetime disturbance, wait for sufficient amplitude, position carefully, and let the disturbance hit you. She eased into the rhythm of it until it was as natural as breathing. Gen. Zen Cho: 'Prudence and the Dragon' by Zen Cho - Because Prudence Ong never read newspapers or watched British TV, she maintained a spotlessly pure ignorance of the dragon throughout. She encountered the dragon in a rather more traditional setting. She met him down the pub. Gen. 'Monkey King, Faerie Queen' - if, like me, you love the Monkey King, then you'll love this, as the Great Sage Equal to Heaven encounters the Fair Folk and probably scars them for life. Gen.