LUNACY'S FAN FICTION REVIEWS
EXPLANATORY NOTES
Reviewer can be reached at lunacy@dc.seflin.org
Last updated:
03/11/01
NOTES:
[1] This site consists of reviews for fictional stories I have enjoyed. The ones marked with two asterisks (**) are personal favorites. The majority of reviews are for Xena fan fiction and Xena-inspired stories but I also include reviews of Star Trek Voyager fan fiction, original Internet fiction and commercially published titles. Reviews are organized as follows:
[3] The date at the end of some of the reviews is indicative of when the story was published on the Web. I tend to review stories around the time they are published.
[4] Please note that I do not host any stories at this site. The links at the end of the reviews are for sites throughout the Web where the stories are located.
[5] When you read a story that you really like, that touches you in some way, PLEASE CONSIDER SENDING THE AUTHOR A MESSAGE LETTING HIM/HER KNOW ABOUT THIS. These bards spend COUNTLESS hours working on their stories and then they share them with us for FREE! It takes tremendous courage to post a creative effort like this for the world to see. The LEAST as beneficiaries of their talent that we can do is let them know how much we appreciate their effort and if possible provide some positive feedback - what did you like about the story, what touched you, what made you cry, what made you laugh?
[6] This site DOES **NOT** FEATURE OBJECTIVE REVIEWS OF STORIES. The reviews very much reflect my OWN taste in fan fiction and original fiction. I DO NOT review every story out there. I write ONLY about stories which I like or which I consider otherwise significant for some reason. You will therefore NEVER see a negative review from me. If I don't like a story for whatever reason I prefer not to write about it and let readers make up their own minds - rather than risk discouraging people from reading something they may very well like - we all have different tastes after all.
So what type of stories DO I include in the report? Honestly, there are no set rules. Obviously I include stories which I've enjoyed reading. Currently I'm reading mostly Xena fan fiction although I also read Star Trek Voyager stories and original fiction. Sometimes I'll include stories which I don't personally like all that much but which are unusual or indicative of some new type of genre within the specific fan fiction. I take into account things like spelling and grammar but a few errors in this area wont necessarily keep a story from appearing in the report. I consider also how believable the characterizations in a tale are given what is depicted in the TV series. I'm not particularly sensitive to violence, gore or rough language so you will see reviews of stories featuring these. In some cases, and particularly if authors themselves don't include disclaimers at the beginning of these stories warning about the content, I will include a short warning note in the review. Some of the stories I include in the general fiction section include very mild subtext - inline with what we tend to see in the TV series. In those cases I usually include a note letting people now that the story does include subtext. You can assume subtext *IS* the maintext in all alternative fiction stories :) I include ONLY stories which appear at public web sites. On occasion I've included stories which require the reader to first obtain a password in order to access a story - in those cases I've obtained permission first from the appropriate webmaster to review the story and I provide in my fan fic report information on how to obtain the require password rather than a direct link to the story.
**VERY IMPORTANT POINT** - DO NOT by any means limit yourself to just reading the stories reviewed at this site. These reviews are only one person's opinion. There are a lot of good stories out there I will not review simply because they're not my thing in that particular type of fanfic but which you might very well like. Something else to consider with regards to the Xena stories is that I'm primarily a big fan of the first two seasons of Xena: Warrior Princess and of the original concepts and characterizations the series was based on. I have not enjoyed the series much since season three so stories that closely parallel the direction the series took in terms of themes and characterizations starting with season three are not likely to make it into my reviews either. If you're a more recent fan of the show or an older fan who has enjoyed the past couple of seasons then make sure to look at other stories out there. To find Xena stories not listed in my reviews look at one of the following XWP fan fiction indexes:
There are also other sites available which offer reviews of Xena fan fiction:
[7] My PRIMARY objective in writing these fan fiction reviews is to inform readers of stories I think they will enjoy. Although I'm delighted when the reviews do serve to encourage bards - this is a service FOR READERS. Bards should NEVER consider the reviews a sure way of advertising their stories because there is no guarantee their fiction will be reviewed.
[8] I will not feature reviews for ANY titles by "authors" found to have plagiarized stories written by others. This is a one-infraction-you're-out deal. I urge other webmasters, indexers and reviewers to adopt a similar policy with regards to plagiarists. I also encourage webmasters to notify reviewers/indexers when there are instances of plagiarism so we do not inadvertently give publicity to these stories.
[9] Although I try to keep these reviews current, please be aware that Web addresses are continuously changing therefore some of the links I include may not work. If you find a broken link please let me know by e-mailing me at lunacy@dc.selfin.org. You can then try locating the story by searching for it in one of the fan fiction indexes listed above.
Note that I DO NOT update the daily reports that were written from March 1997 - May 1999. When those were posted the individual reviews were immediately incorporated into the cumulative review files. I ONLY update these latter files so if you're looking at one of the reports and a link does not work check in the appropriate alphabetical file for the story
[10] The term alternative [Alt] refers to stories that add a romantic element to the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle, depicting them as more than just friends. Be aware that most of the stories reviewed in the alt. section depict a sexual relationship between women. There are some cross-links in the general reviews pointing to stories in the alternative section. When that is the case I point it out either with a note or by including an [Alt] by the title.
[11] REVIEWS OF COMMERCIAL FICTION: Starting in July 1999 I've added to the site reviews of commercial fiction written by current and former Xenite bards as well as by non-Xena writers. Some of the stories I first reviewed as uber-Xena fanfic and the uber reviews will remain available linking to the web versions of the stories as long as those remain on the Net. The reviews in the commercial section are for published titles which are original works of fiction featuring only characters and stories created and owned by the respective authors. I am a member of the a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/stores/abkbot/ref%3Db_bh_b_as/002-8707364-8197603">Amazon.com Associates Program and include links to commercially-available items in the Amazon.com catalog whenever these are available for purchase there.
[12] I periodically will be posting ALERTS on the main page to let people know of stories that will shortly be unavailable or sites that will be closing down so readers can have a chance of saving personal copies of stories about to go out of circulation. If you're a bard and plan on removing your fanfic from the Web or a fanfic archiver planning on closing down your site PLEASE notify me at least a few days before you do so to give readers a chance of reading and/or saving copies of your stories.
Alternative Reviews: |
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General Reviews: |
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Uber-Xena and Original Fiction Reviews: |
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Holiday Tales: |
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