sholio | *explodes in a cloud of squee*

I seriously have the best Yuletide writer ever. I have never done

yuletide before, and I was prepared to be happy for whatever I got, but this, wow ...! I mean, they totally nailed it, the sort of thing I like, just ... nailed it! Long (and it is LONG!), plot-driven, hard-SF, perfectly canon-compliant, with no hearts & flowers but tons of just-below-the-surface caring and devotion; and h/c (the subtle kind! weeeeeeeeee!) and ... just, oh, they couldn't have done better if they'd known me. Heck, it's anonymous, maybe they DO know me; I guess I won't find out until Jan. 1.

Until and unless Ms. Cherryh writes more about the Hellburner crew, and possibly even then, this story is now my personal canon for what happens to them after Hellburner.

If you haven't read Heavy Time and Hellburner by CJ Cherryh -- they're two of my favorite SF novels of all time. I read Heavy Time in high school and one of my biggest squee moments ever was finding out a few years later that not only was there a sequel, but a sequel in which the characters developed in exactly the direction that my little fluttering fangirl heart wanted them to. (Hmm ... an asshole computer guy with lousy people skills and a pretty-boy pilot with a death wish -- sound familiar? *g* Except Ben's far more of a jerk than Rodney on his absolute worst day, and Dekker makes John look like the most psychologically well-adjusted person ever. Plus, it's got seriously awesome women, and fantastic universe-building, and couples that I really truly like -- I just love this series, and despite much searching, I have never found Dek/Ben/Meg/Sal fanfic, EVER. And now I have one that is just perfect. Yay, Yuletide! Rock on!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I haven't read your fandom, but now I wish I had.

It's so fun seeing everyone squeeing about yuletide! I haven't participated in that many ficathons, but of the ones I have this is definitely the biggest, most squee-inducing on a massive scale, funnest one. Everyone just gets so excited at the same time! And soon the recs will start pouring in! Yay.

I suppose that's the problem with rare fandoms -- you can't really share them with most of the other people on your friend list! (But, you know, I think that particular Yule story could almost be read as a stand-alone sci-fi story -- it takes place about 10 or 15 years in the future of the book canon, and introduces the characters at the beginning ... I think you could probably read it even without book knowledge.)

I've never done Yuletide before. For various reasons, I'm pretty conflicted about participating. But it turned out to be incredibly rewarding in the long run (and not just because I got a great story out of it!). It was just fun to see all the squeeing and happiness.

Have you read Cherryh's Cloud's Rider and Rider at the Gate? I'm wondering if the two books you mentioned are anything like them. Utterly fascinating world and concept, but for some reason I had the hardest time reading them on an emotional level. I don't know why. Some day I need to finish them.

I haven't read those books of hers, though I've seen them. However, I know exactly what you mean about having trouble getting an emotional connection to her books. Personally, I have this very hard-to-hit "perfect formula" for h/c and friendship, where it's deeply emotional and yet very restrained at the same time. When Cherryh is "on", she can hit my perfect formula exactly; she did this in Heavy Time/Hellburner and in Rusalka, both of which are among my all-time favorite books. (And by the way, regarding Heavy Time/Hellburner, knowing what you like, I really think you will LOVE these books ... hard SF with a completely and utterly messed-up main character who spends a lot of both books drugged out of his mind and physically injured.) However, her writing style runs close enough to the unemotional that it's really easy for her books to "miss", and that's been my reaction to several of hers that I've read, including Foreigner and Cyteen. She does gorgeous, detailed world-building, but sometimes she's just a little too restrained on the interpersonal relationships.

I'm so glad you got something you loved - because you certainly gave me something I loved! Thank you again for my wonderful, beautiful, PERFECT story!

Why hello! So happy to finally "meet" you -- at least non-anonymously! And you're welcome -- I was completely thrilled that you liked my story, especially since it really couldn't have been more different from the usual sort of thing I write (which is Stargate Atlantis gen!).

I actually just got done writing a really long post (http://friendshipper.livejournal.com/104445.html) about the process of writing the story, which you may be interested in. I really loved it; I enjoyed stepping outside my usual fandom and writing style for a little while. Thank you for giving me the opportunity!

I have no idea whether it's "done" for me to come talk to you about this like this ... but I am a sentimental fool, so I here I am.

I'm just so pleased that you liked it! Hellburner is one of my favorite books of all time, and I was very, very happy to get your request. I had noticed long ago that Graff had ended up on Norway, and I had often wondered how the other Dekker & co. came through the Company War, so this gave me a chance to think about it.

(BTW, if you like to talk CJC, I can enthusiastically recommend Shejidan (http://z11.invisionfree.com/Shejidan), which is a fan-operated CJC message board.)

Oh, I certainly don't mind you coming over here -- actually, I'm sure I would have gotten around to coming by your journal later this afternoon; I've been regrettably busy and am just now finding time to respond to my reviews and so forth and so on.

But your story made me squee; it just *couldn't* have been more perfectly what I wanted, and I was thrilled beyond measure to find such a wonderfully long, plotty story waiting in my stocking on Christmas morning! I have adored Hellburner for years and desperately wished Cherryh would write more with those characters, and your story fits so perfectly into that gap -- it's just a perfect fit with canon in style and tone and timeline; it's very plausible that things could have happened that way, and wonderful to think that maybe they did happen that way. And as noted in my squee-post above, you somehow managed to nail most of my fanfic preferences spot-on without even knowing me! It's a wonderful story and my only regret for it is that it hasn't garnered more reviews -- although I suppose that this isn't just a rare fandom, it's a *micro* fandom (since I've been searching for Hellburner fic for years and have never seen any). But it totally deserves more love; it's so wonderfully written and emotionally satisfying.

Thank you so much for making my holiday wishes come true!

p.s. Thank you for the tip about the message board! I'll have a look!

Now you've made me curious - is Hellburner actually a sequel to some other book? Because I bought it ages ago, and couldn't get into it, and if I was supposed to know the characters/universe, that would make a little more sense. Of course, I think I might just have been a little too young for it - my edition felt very dense, and I'm still not used to reading hard SF, so at 14 or 15, I'm not sure how well I did with the actual reading of it (it's not translated - this was the English edition).

Ahh, wish I had my copy of the book around so I could give it another go - but maybe the library will have it!

Yes, it is a sequel -- and Cherryh's writing style is incredibly dense to begin with; I can see how you would be totally lost! I adore the books, but I think they might be kind of an acquired taste; still, if you happen to get a chance to pick up "Heavy Time", which is the first book (or "Devil to the Belt", an omnibus edition of both books together) I do recommend giving it a try.

I'd be happy to let you borrow mine if you're going to be in one place for awhile; you're in the US right now, so shipping isn't too expensive.

explodes in a cloud of squee

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