UBER-XENA AND ORIGINAL FICTION REVIEWS
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Reviewer can be reached at lunacy@dc.seflin.org
Last updated: 12/10/00

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

The file includes reviews of both uber-Xena and/or original fiction. It is a combined file of general and alternative stories. The alternative titles are designated as such with an [Alt] at the end of the title line.

Also, several of the uber stories deal with the characters of Mel Pappas and Janice Covington featured in the episode THE XENA SCROLLS. Mel/Janice stories are designated as such with a [M/J] at the end of the title line. You can also find them listed separately in the Mel/Janice Fan Fiction Reviews

**BATTLE by a href="https://lunacyreviews.ausxip.com/Wishes.shtm.htm">Wishes
It is undoubtedly no secret that reading fan fiction is one of the greatest pleasures I derive from the Xena experience online. The depth of talent, the creativity and the generosity of bards continues to amaze and humble me every day. One bard in particular has stood out as a rare talent since her first appearance on the NetForum just about a year ago. Extremely prolific and multi-talented, Wishes has produced a truly extraordinary body of work which includes poetry, skits, parodies, and stories, in both the general and alternative categories, featuring rich, insightful depictions of just about every character from the series. It should come as no surprise then that having decided to explore further the uber-Xena concept she first dealt with in her Mel/Janice stories, Wishes now brings us a tale which raises this increasingly popular type of XWP fan fiction to a new level. BATTLE is a dark piece of fiction - a story which in the author's own words deals with "totalitarianism and the banality of evil". Some of you will be profoundly touched by this story, some will be deeply disturbed by it but I can guarantee NO one will walk away from it unaffected. It is a testament to the skills of this bard, that her writing doesn't just create images - it INVOLVES us - it sparks our imagination daring us to create our own images, daring us to envisage horrors and a sense of hopelessness which imbues this tale with a very personal sense of psychological terror. Caroline is a young technician charged with the care and supervision of prisoners sent to the medical facility she works at. Elizabeth is her latest assignment. In the character of Caroline we can easily see ourselves, a young woman making her way through the days, working to improve her lot in life, working to fit into a system that is all she knows - a system she doesn't want to or doesn't care to question. In Elizabeth we see a prisoner - someone who chose to place herself above the system and who must now pay the consequences. BATTLE is the story of these two women - of two souls connected by a bond which evil will test once more as it did long before. This is a MUST READ for ANYONE who enjoys a well-crafted, brilliantly written work of fiction. BATTLE carries my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!! - 8/26/97
https://ausxip.com/fanfic/judy/battle.html
[Palm Pilot version available at a href="http://members.xoom.com/xenadocs/judy.htm">XENA FAN FICTION FOR THE PALM PILOT]

BATTLE KICKS by a href="https://lunacyreviews.ausxip.com/Verrath.shtm.htm">Verrath
This ninth installment in Verrath's delightful TELL ME SERIES finds a little Warrior Princess on the warpath determined to conquer her battle field...even when it just includes a ball, a couple of goals, and soldiers that aren't quiiiite as imaginative as their fearless leader ;-) Another adorable look into the minds of two of fanfic's most cleverly conceived and endearing ubers. DO NOT MISS! - 3 pgs., 1/12/00
https://ausxip.com/fanfiction/b/battle_kicks.html

BEAUTIFUL LIE (THE) by a href="https://lunacyreviews.ausxip.com/Curiositee.shtm.htm">Curiositee-- [Alt]
Curiositee continues the story begun in THE DANGEROUS TRUTH as Alex Bryson contemplates the recent changes in her life - the new vigor that has her feeling more alive than she has in a long time and the beautiful reporter that has her feeling more loved than ever before. For both women, however, many questions about the past remain unanswered. Alex cannot ignore the curiosity she feels over a woman long believed dead, while Bridget cannot ignore the concern she feels over a possible threat from the ancient past... Curiositee adds new depth to the characterizations in this sequel as she starts to explore the history of these two women. The sense of suspense and mystery is in evidence right from the start. Showing great potential this is one to be checking on regularly. DO NOT MISS! [unfinished] - 21 pgs., 12/14/98
FANFIC ART: a href="http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Bungalow/2591/page17.html">"Alex" by Barbara Maclay
http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Heights/7228/tbl1.htm

**BEFORE THE DAWN OF TIME by a href="https://lunacyreviews.ausxip.com/Blade_Mast.shtm.htm">BladeMast
Amidst all the brouhaha over Creationism vs Darwinism comes the REAL story about how it all got started folks. BladeMast recounts how once upon a time there was this VERY dark place in the Universe and this rather insistent little speck of light and how together they discovered...how to have fun :) Firmly establishing itself as the "first" uber, this certainly gives us cause to reprint all those text books!! >:) HUGE grin alert on one of the cleverest entries this year. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! - 4 pgs., 11/18/99
https://ausxip.com/fanfiction/b/beforethedawn.html
[French version: AVANT LE DÉBUT DES TEMPS translated by Cat at a href="http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Land/8379/beforethedawnfr.html">http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Land/8379/beforethedawnfr.html]

BENEDICTION (THE) by a href="https://lunacyreviews.ausxip.com/PatR.shtm.htm">PatR - [Alt, M/J]
A touching Mel/Janice vignette about a love so deep it inspires workship. - 2/14/98
http://www.sonic.net/LightStreams/AAfanfic/benedict.html

**BLACK BY GASLIGHT by a href="https://lunacyreviews.ausxip.com/Nene_Adams.shtm.htm">Nene Adams - [Alt]
[Story previously titled XENA BY GASLIGHT]
This is an Uber-Xena story based in the London of 1888 and featuring the first encounter between Lady Evangeline St. Claire ("Lina"), a tall, wealth beauty who lives by her own rules and the lovely Rhiannon Moore, streetwalker with a gentle heart who has faced much misfortune. Rhiannon's latest bad luck comes when she agrees to service a strange gentleman on a dark night - a fellow who will soon reveal his true deadly intentions but which in so doing, will ironically bring Lady Evangeline and Rhiannon into one another's lives, awakening feelings of familiarity and more within both women. Soon they are working together to try to stop a madman who walks at night - a killer the world will come to know as...Jack the Ripper. Nene brings a sense of realism to this story that is really stunning. She describes Victorian London - the clothing, the people, the nuances of the period with exacting detail. Even her dialogue is written to sound like the vernacular of the time. In "Lina" and Rhiannon she has created two characters that stand on their own while maintaining a strong connection to the warrior and bard from whom they are apparently descendants. This is a very well-written, suspenseful and different XWP story. It is the first entry in Nene's GASLIGHT SERIES. Note: PLEASE make sure to read the author's disclaimer as the story does contain graphic violence. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! [Make sure to also read the sequel THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE] - 110 pgs. 7/30/97
FANFIC ART: