Fiction:
Passions in Death by J.D. Robb is fifty-ninth in this series and yes I am still reading it because every once in a while I crave a mystery because the point of mystery novels is for justice to prevail. Also, reading J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts is a masterclass in providing just enough information for readers new to the series when you’re more than fifty books into it. The series is also topical; Roberts’ feelings about current events and social change surface in the murder plot with both victim and killer. A young woman artist is murdered a few days before her wedding to another woman; suspicion fall on friends and ex-lovers of both partners, both male and female, and one trans woman. The motive seems more personal than simply homophobia, and Roberts skillfully juggles two equally likely suspects until close to the end of the book. I felt this was one of the better entries in this long-running series.
Rosebud by Paul Cornell is science fiction in the weird vein; the characters seem to be prisoners in digital form in a miniature space ship. The crew of the Rosebud are, currently, and by force of law, a balloon, a goth with a swagger stick, some sort of science aristocrat possibly, a ball of hands, and a swarm of insects. They encounter a mysterious spherical black ship and decide to gain favor with The Company by exploring it. For some reason, this involves them taking on different forms that lend an element of humor as well as horror to subsequent events. I am not really sure what happened in this story, and I had a hard time holding on to the plot. But it was definitely a cool experiment in narrative.
Fanfiction:
The War Was In Color by boopboop is a Captain America story set during World War II, but not trying very hard to stick to historical diction and details. While being ahistorical is not usually my cup of tea, I found it interesting that the author explored the time between Bucky Barnes being experimented on by Dr. Zola and his supposed death in detail, including some recaptures and graphic torture (which I skimmed as I wasn’t up for reading it). I didn’t love the story, but I do respect it, if that makes sense.
and my glory shall be love by Lake (beyond_belief) is a slash AU of the show Generation Kill in which Nate Fick is the Vice President and Brad Colbert has been assigned to help the Secret Service protect him from credible death threats. Otherwise, it’s a Romance. I am unfamiliar with the original canon but still enjoyed this story a lot!
Falling by Nikki Pond is MCU canon divergence in which, post the first Thor movie, Loki falls to Midgard and lives among humans, eventually becoming a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and falling in with familiar characters in a totally different way. I enjoyed that the author grappled a bit with his character flaws and Asgardian morals.
Will You Stay Just a Little Bit Longer? by Bedalk05 is a no-powers contemporary AU of The Old Guard focusing on the romance between Joe/Yusuf Al-Kaysani and Nicky/Nicolò di Genova and how they make a new family including widower Joe’s twin children. It is a very slow, gentle, kind story of supportive partners, loaded with Found Family and coming to terms with trauma via therapy.
