LUNACY'S FAN FICTION REVIEWS
WordWarior
Reviewer can be reached at
Last modified: November 03 2012 12:33:01

Please make sure to read the EXPLANATORY NOTES before reading these reviews.

Alternative stories are designated as such with an [Alt] at the end of the title line.

This file features reviews of stories written by WordWarior. For any other fiction by this bard please visit any of the Xena fan fiction indexes.

**BABYSITTER (THE) by WordWarior
An absolute GEM from the keyboard of this exceptional writer, THE BABYSITTER is a story for the entire family which will likely warm your heart as few tales ever have. Set at the time of the harvest festival in Amphipolis some years before the infamous attack by Cortese, it has a thirteen-year old Xena feeling VERY frustrated when instead of being allowed to join her friends, she's forced into babysitting duty by her mother. Reluctantly, the teenager soon finds herself taking care of the visiting couple's precocious five-year old - a little girl with an uncanny ability to worm her way into the babysitter's heart. Funny and very sweet, the story also has a startling poignancy to it in light of the events we know will soon change the life of this thirteen year old forever... WordWarior has shown before in stories like THE CHILD and WHEN XENA CAME TO TOWN (both alt. fiction) extraordinary talent for portraying children. It is once more clearly evident in this tale. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! - 9 pgs., 10/1/97
http://cousinliz.com/fanfic/wordwarior_tb.html
http://xenafan.com/fiction/content/babysitter.html
[Spanish version: CANGURO (LA) at http://www.la-concha.com/xena/encarn10.htm]
[Palm Pilot version available at XENA FAN FICTION FOR THE PALM PILOT]

**BAD SEX by WordWarior - [Alt]
After four years of AMAZING fanfic sex we at last get a little reality check courtesy of one of our most gifted parodist and folks - this is an INSTANT CLASSIC! Be FOREWARNED that you should avoid this one in all public settings unless you want to share because passerbys ARE gonna wonder what's so hysterical. If you can read this and keep your composure you're a much better lunatic than I am ;-) Involving a simple scenario - Wordee's latest has the warrior and bard camping by a lake when the bard is compelled to declare her ardor for tall, dark and deadly. Eager to oblige, tall, dark and deadly obliges but...well...that first time just doesn't turn out as smoothly as they'd hoped... ;-) Tragically, I suspect this new contribution is more familiar to most of us than the usual fare alt. fanfic offers. It's an UNJUST world I tell yah! - but fanfic gems like these can certainly help to ease the pain. <:) Run, don't walk to this one guys. It gets my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION! - 3 pgs., 6/20/99
AWARDS: "Fooling Around" Swollen Bud Award (May 1, 2000)
http://cousinliz.com/fanfic/wordwarior_bs.html
[French version: MAUVAISE BAISE translated by Fausta at http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Studio/4243/badsex.html]

**CHILD (THE) by WordWarior -- [Alt]
At last we have the anxiously anticipated sequel to one of the BEST XWP alternative stories written to date - TRUTH OR DARE. Like WordWarior's first story, this is EXCEPTIONALLY well written and edited. Taking place shortly after the events in TRUTH OR DARE, this story has Xena and Gabby coming upon a gruesome murder scene - two bodies, that of a man and a woman, travelers from the land of the Norsemen, tortured and killed. In shock, nearby, the Warrior Princess discovers a little girl, three years old, whose fate then becomes interwoven with those of Xena and Gabrielle as the two struggle to return her to her people even as the child becomes a bigger part of their lives with every passing day. This story features the return of Widgie - the wonderful healer we first met in TRUTH OR DARE and Xena's first-ever encounter with the mighty Thor - Viking God of Thunder. Long, NOT TO BE MISSED and a definite kleenex alert!! VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! [Do not miss the sequel THE EMPTY HEART] - 63 pgs., 3/97
FANFIC ART: Ciegra Story Cover - Not currently available on the Web
http://cousinliz.com/fanfic/wordwarior_tc(1).html
http://xenafan.com/fiction/content/thechild.html
[Palm Pilot version available at XENA FAN FICTION FOR THE PALM PILOT]

**DUNE (THE) by WordWarior - [Alt]
One of the premier talents in the business brings us a terrific new story that finds the warrior and bard desperately trying to survive after pursuing an assassin into the desolate wasteland known as the Sahara. It's an ordeal that will push them to their physical limits even as it draws them closer than ever - moving them toward a deeper understanding of themselves and their relationship. A seemingly simple tale at first, this quickly turns into a complex character piece driven by WordWarior's unique ability to imbue her fiction with meaning and depth. The dialogue in this story is particularly well done - clever and insightful, it both drives the plot and helps to mold the characterizations. A first-class effort by a very skilled storyteller, this one comes VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! - 13 pgs., 11/5/98
http://cousinliz.com/fanfic/wordwarior_td.html
[Palm Pilot version available at XENA FAN FICTION FOR THE PALM PILOT]

**EMPTY HEART (THE) by WordWarior -- [Alt]
Originally written in the Spring of 1997, this phenomenal story is the final entry in the trilogy WordWarior began with her masterpiece TRUTH OR DARE, and which she followed later with THE CHILD. Starting just after the events in that second story, THE EMPTY HEART has Xena emotionally decimated by the loss of little Ilsa and trying to deal also with the repercussions of a promise she made to a foreign god. Unbeknownst to the Warrior Princess, the fulfillment of that promise has brought into her life perhaps the deadliest enemy she has ever known. An enemy willing to hide in the shadows watching as Xena looses everything and everyone she's ever cared for. Exceptionally written and edited, this story features the return of the ever-popular healer "Widgie" we first met in TRUTH OR DARE and whom we learn a bit more about this time around. THE EMPTY HEART is a dark tale of guilt, regret and revenge all pitted against the power of love to heal and ultimately overcome. It is a treat from one of the finest talents in Xena fan fiction. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! - 138 pgs., 3/18/98
http://cousinliz.com/fanfic/wordwarior_teh(1).html
http://xenafan.com/fiction/content3/theemptyheart.html
[Palm Pilot version available at XENA FAN FICTION FOR THE PALM PILOT]

**ETERNAL BLISS by WordWarior - [Alt]
HILARIOUS new entry from this veteran bard set after the end of season four which finds Xena and the Gabster in paradise where the bard is simply loving the experience but the warrior is finding those heavenly rewards just a tad...pesty ;-) Huge grin alert for this fine example of how a comedy can stir that funny bone while maintaining our gals' characterizations intact. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! - 4 pgs., 6/5/99
http://cousinliz.com/fanfic/wordwarior_eb.html
[French version: BONHEUR ÉTERNEL translated by Gabby Bate at http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Land/8379/bliss.html]
[Palm Pilot version available at XENA FAN FICTION FOR THE PALM PILOT]

**FOR THE LOVE OF CLICHES by WordWarior - [Alt]
Would you guys believe this is so TERRIFIC precisely because it's so BAD!!! ;-) Yeap, the multi-talented Wordee sets out in this little offering to include just about every fan fiction cliche out there and she succeeds in creating a tale that is going to leave you in stitches! :) VERY funny folks. A literary endeavor that should be suspiciously familiar to all fanfic readers and which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! - 2 pgs., 6/18/98
http://cousinliz.com/fanfic/wordwarior_ftloc.html
http://whoosh.org/uber/essays/bongo/appendix2.html
[French version: POUR L'AMOUR DES CLICHÉS translated by Fausta at http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Studio/4243/amourcliches.html]
[Palm Pilot version available at XENA FAN FICTION FOR THE PALM PILOT]

**GAMES by WordWarior
This is an absolute MUST READ for ever Xenite out there!! A story in the grand tradition of that classic of episodes A DAY IN THE LIFE. The tale finds our two heroines playing "games" to pass the time as they unsuccessfully try to stay dry in the middle of a heavy downpour. Stuck with a mysteriously smelly blanket, Xena agrees to play another of the Gabster's "creative" games in hopes of exchanging blankets. It is a decision she will live to regret as things go from bad to worse for the poor warrior. Wordee's characterizations of Xena and Gabrielle are dead on and simply beyond compare. This is GUARANTEED to make you forget all rifty thoughts and put a big ol' grin on your face. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! - 10 pgs., 12/4/97
http://cousinliz.com/fanfic/wordwarior_g.html
http://xenafan.com/fiction/content3/gameswarrior.html
[Palm Pilot version available at XENA FAN FICTION FOR THE PALM PILOT]

JUNGLE REIGN by WordWarior - [Alt]
This talented bard returns with a fourth season character piece that has Gabrielle struggling with self-recrimination and doubts as she and Xena travel through an Indian jungle and have a close encounter with one of its less-than-friendly denizens. Well- written with some intense moments. - 11 pgs., 3/13/99
http://cousinliz.com/fanfic/wordwarior_jr.html

**JUST ANOTHER DEAD WARLORD by WordWarior -- [Alt]
Nice tale of the Warrior Princess in a melancholy mood as she shares with Gabrielle a difficult piece of her past, finding in her love for the bard, the strength to comes to terms with yet another nightmare. - 12 pgs., 1/97
http://cousinliz.com/fanfic/wordwarior_jadw.html
http://xenafan.com/fiction/content/deadwarlord.html
[Palm Pilot version available at XENA FAN FICTION FOR THE PALM PILOT]

MEMO SERIES (THE) by Wordee and Batsky - [Alt]
Can you guys BELIEVE this pairing!!!! None other than the Bat and Ms. TRUTH OR DARE herself! This may possibly go down in history as one of the funniest parody series ever. Follow Wordee - that stoic, courageous Warrior of words as she joins with her bardly sidekick Batsky to make the world a better place. Poor Batsky has to deal with a costume that shows off her pasty white midriff, a MommaBat that absolutely loves helping out, and a Clan McBat that idolizes her, while Wordee, in trying to reform after her darker days as Destroyer of Phrases, now spends time singing National Anthems and recuperating from fractured...well - you just have to read this...no way to describe it. Written as a series of memos between our fearless two-some this warrants a very serious funny-bone alert! - 26 pgs., 7/11/97, re-released 4/01
http://cousinliz.com/fanfic/wordeebatsky_tms.html

**TESTAMENT (THE) by WordWarior -- [Alt]
We get another gem by this brilliant author tonight - a poignant story about the Warrior Princess in the twilight of her years, remembering her life, dealing with the challenges of being a legend, readying herself for the coming marriage of her granddaughter...and always missing her beloved bard. There are moments in this that will have you grinning at the old warrior's tendency toward mischief...and others that will pull at your heart in remembrance of what was. Beautiful and stirring. MAJOR kleenex alert but a MUST READ! - 3 pgs., 6/97
http://cousinliz.com/fanfic/wordwarior_tt.html
http://xenafan.com/fiction/content/testament.html

**TRUTH OR DARE by WordWarior -- [Alt]
Extremely well-written and edited, this unusual story features a somewhat chilling characterization of the Warrior Princess. Trapped in a cave after a landslide, Xena and Gabrielle struggle to find a way out but this is just the beginning of a greater struggle as events unleash a darkness that will test both them and the fragile new bond their souls form in that cave. Gabrielle's love and dedication in this tale are deeply moving. A MUST READ which has become a classic of XWP fan fiction! Make sure also to read the sequel THE CHILD. This story carries my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!! - 66 pgs., 1/97
AWARDS: "Getting Serious" Swollen Bud Award (May 1, 2000)
FANFIC ART: