Quantum Leap Net Fiction Reviews

Okay, okay, I hear you! These stories were (and hopefully are) available from Mark Baushke's site. I'll try to ferret out the addy, you need FTP (or presumably equivelant) to access it. Of course I couldn't possibly review my own stories which are on the same site, so...anybody????

HERE THEY ARE! The best of the bunch (IMHO).

Revelations Brian Willard

Sam leaps into Gushi at PQL. (Good start!) Unfortunately, what happens then is a sort of wish-list ending, finishing with Sammi-Jo taking her father's place as Leaper.

Sins of the Father Katriena R. Knights

Not for the fainthearted. Sam leaps into a battered wife called Laura Cole and has to undergo some nasty physical violence from her huge husband, Michael. Sam has to balance his options very carefully, because there's a good chance Michael will start on his daughter Kelly very soon if Sam gets it wrong. Hankies probably required, especially if you're a hurt/comfort type like me. Sam crying into his pillow....*sob*. Oh, poor sweetie.....

Twas the Night Before Laurie Slicer

Sam leaps into a most unusual individual on Xmas Eve. The guy back at the project reveals that both Sam and Al are Special People (I could have told them that myself). Sam is also a Protector ( no, not from the tv show, stop humming 'In the avenues and alleyways'!!) and Al is a Dream Painter. Gets rather schmaltzy in places, but stick with it because it's mostly well written, the leapee's semi-mystical conversations with Al make him annoyed, until he learns to accept what the guy is saying, plus the ending is worth waiting for. A big AWWW!

Whatever it takes Debbie Martinez

Al leaps after Sam to bring him home (hey, I've just written that scenario myself in a story called 'Girl Talk') and ends up at Al's bar on the day that he (our Al) was born. Mirror Image part two......with a nice little leapette at the end before reality gets back on track. The ending is a little rushed and confused and owes something to Dallas. I would have liked to have known just how much of what I'd read really had happened or was all a Horrible Dream. Help!

Third time's a charm Rhonda Hailstrom and Deb Parizek

Crossover between QL and Kung Fu: The Legend continues.

(Ah, Grasshopper....when you can walk to end of rice paper....and what are these ping pong balls doing in my eyes? I'm sorry, it's never been quite the same since Little and Large sent it up something rotten). Actually, this is very good, very good indeed. I was rather hoping that Sam would Leap into Kwai Chang Caine himself (ooooh, yes...yes, please...anybody?) but no. (Drat). Sam has Leaped into Kermit mental vocal image of Scott doing The Frog, or even better, Animal!) Griffin. Cue some nice Muppett jokes from Al! Kermit is working as a cop with Peter Caine and there have been ten mysterious suicides in Chinatown. Complications include Kwai Chang being able to see the real Sam and Peter partially perceiving Al. Then Alia and Zoey turn up and things get pretty hairy.... Caine tries to locate Kermit by mind power, but doesn't know where to look and it drains his energies somewhat. Lo Si, the Ancient One, tends him. Basically there is an evil female Tong group called the Wing Tsuan who have engineered a nasty Chinese text that will adversely psychically affect anyone who is feeling depressed and of Chinese descent. They are after Peter Caine, to wipe out the Caine bloodline from existance. Peter has ample reasons to feel unloved and inadequate due to a troubled past, seperated from his father. Kwai Chang is trying to be 'strong' which is not what the young man needs right now. Sam ends up saving Peter's life three times (hence the title) and Kwai Chang detects Sam's Hidden Potential for Greatness at a spiritual level. I sussed that one very early on during the QL original run, it doesn't take a Shaolin priest to see the hidden depths. Again the ending is a little confused, post leap....I felt that just a little more would have clarified things. Nice to see Sam being able to go back and witness the beneficial results of his handiwork, though. And apparently Leaping as himself and able to choose where he goes. Can he come here, please?

Good Intentions Ann Marie Tajuddin

A BIG story. Has several different strands that finally intertwine rather dramatically. Sam's role is considerably reduced (ooh, painful! Boo, hiss), but there is a very intriguing scenario for how the evil PQL might have started. (I covered that one too, see 'Looking-glass Limbo'). Anne takes in a younger Alia, a Doctor Christina Meth, a Lieutenant John Harrison' and a Mrs Ingalls, about whom the less said the better, because when I find out her true identity, I gasped! Al gets all the hard work and the glory in this one. I think I detect an Al-coholic.....

The New Number 6 Frank Perricone

Take a wild guess..... As baffling as I remember the Prisoner tv series to be, typical confusing ending. No real surprises, but good for nostalgia junkies.

As it fell upon a day Terri Librande

Sam leaps into a Dr Barry, a psychology lecturer at Kent State, two days before the massacre in 1970. Can/should Sam change history? Very well written, obviously well researched. I felt Sam's dilemma as he is caught between what he wants to do and what he ought to do. Again, Terri pulls out an Ace. This woman deserves to be published!

Flashover Tracy Finifter

Tracy makes no secret of the fact that this is backdraft-meets-QL, but written from real insider knowledge of the fire service. It would make a great episode. I LOVED Al's sleazy comment about his 'old' firefighter girlfriend. 'Her name was Kelly, and boy could she handle hose....' I always thought it was the fireman's pole. (Sorry). Sam gets wet a lot and generally Does His Best under trying and dangerous circumstances. Very good.

There but for the grace of God.... Beth Hlbase (or could be Hblase)

Sam Leaps into a cheerleader (stop it!) called Janice Miller, complete with The Outfit. I wonder how much danger money Scott would want for that? Actually, after the Leap-in, this gets pretty emotional and tear-jerking. Janice's brother is suffering verbal mental abuse from their father. In trying to help, Sam is 'forced' to remember that he went through the same thing (yes, I know this is outside 'canon') from Professor LoNigro. Sam gets nightmares and goes through the emotional wringer, which will raise the sympathies of all hurt/comfort fans everywhere. Hankies at the ready....

Love honor and obey Jason Dzembo

Sam is one of a love triangle. Should Lisa choose him or the other guy, one Jonathan Dwyer? Again, it could make a good episode. Classic small family drama QL stuff.

Orphan Christine Wirick

QL crossover with Highway to Heaven. Perhaps somewhat saccharine and rather laden with Divine references for some. Good story, though....although the ending has too many loose ends tied up for comfort. More like Highway than QL. Jonathan can see Sam (figures), they and Al club together to save this orphanage from going down the pan. (No, not Al's; it's not that obvious).

Leap of Faith Livengoo (that's her pen-name!)

QL crossover with X Files. I thought from the GUI that this was going to be a spoof, but it just has some nice humourous touches. Sam Leaps into Dana Scully (look, how else can I put it?) and has to deal with her wardrobe AND Mulder. This is very well written, has Al going slightly ga-ga over Scully (him and the rest of the male population). The story revolves around what looks like a sighting of a UFO and the temporary disappearance of a courting couple who were (ahem) rather busy at the time. Mulder and Sam go off snooping, getting shot at and dodging the inevitable Men in Black. Mulder gets badly affected by the 'UFO' taking off and becomes disassociated. This means that he can hear Al and thinks the aliens are bringing his sister Sam back. Oodles of hurt/comfort if you're a Mulder drooler too. (Not personally; I think he needs a good shake for not realising before now that Dana is the woman he's been looking for all these years). Again, if they ever got the rights sorted, it would make a very good episode. Sam in heels and pantyhose again and having to hold Mulder in his arms when the latter goes off the deep end.

Like as a child Ann Marie Tajuddin

Al finds an 11 year old girl on the streets after having been abused again by her father. She is Callie Winters and Al takes her under his wing for a bit and even files an application to adopt her. (Awwww). Sam (once we get to where he is) has Leaped into a chemical engineer called Chris Walton, in 1989. Sam is there to help his work colleague, Jody Hawkins, from going on a shooting spree when life deals her one last blow when she looses her job. Al finds out that Callie's dad is one Francis Winters, who is basically up to here in corruption and running for Senator. Al's very life is now threatened, especially when Francis sends two of his boys round.... While Sam is at the supermarket, trying to pacify Jody, who has several Hidden Secrets, one being that she is (just) pregnant and the father of the baby is a complete bastard. I'll leave you to figure out the rest, but Callie's future/past gets a whole lot better because of what Sam and Al did.

The Road Not Taken Ann Marie Tajuddin

Paradox Delusion Christine Wirick

Another BIG story....and what a story! Sam leaps into a psychic called Patrick Marland and learns to develop his own latent abilities, whilst dealing with ghosts, the current owners AND falling in love. For only the second time in all the QL fiction I've read off the net, Sam gets to do more than just kiss the woman goodnight. (I more than make up for that in my fiction, but that's another story). Sam nearly gets killed (beaten up and left hanging from the bannister rail by a sheet...oh, poor lamb). There's lots of 'instruction' in realising psychic potential and talk of Divine help. Just don't go into this stuff carelessly, please. The dangers of opening up your mind are stressed in the story...you could let anything/anyone in if you're unprepared. As indeed, one of the ghosts did and BOY, did he let the wrong character wreck his life and afterlife. I won't reveal the identity, but hints are dropped from pretty early on, so it's not really a surprise when SHE turns up. Sam can cook meatloaf and potatoes and enjoys taking long, hot baths with aromatherapy oils (volunteers to scrub his back over here, please). After the leap-out, Sam goes to some really Weird Alternative Realities, including one where he's in a harem, in bed with the 'sultan' and wearing a see-through pink nightie. Er, Scott.....?!? (I know this sounds hysterically funny, but actually it goes serious very fast, with someone about to get broken on the wheel in the worst way imaginable). Apparently photos of other people can 'trigger a severe psychic charge'. Uh-huh. And I thought it was only drooling. No, I know what they mean....I'm interested in all of these sorts of things, and the idea of someone choosing to sacrifice themselves over and over voluntarily is unspeakably powerful. If you enjoy thinking about psychic issues, including psychic links across space and time (yup, I can go with that, can I link up with him now, please?) then you'll enjoy this story as much as I did.

Future Perfect Tony Perrault

Sam's persona is flooded mid-leap by tachyons and neutrinos and he gets thrown way back into the past....Scotland 1023 A.D. to be exact, on the island of Iona. Of course there are temporal problems with this, which is why two members of the future Paratemp Corp from the Trek universe are sent back to help. Ummmm. Tony has obviously done extensive research on the period and he's been to Iona. The story is well written and both Sam and Al come across pretty well, as does Thom (from the future). It was nice to find out that there is a statue of Sam, set up in his memory, in the future. It's certainly not classic QL, but taken on it's own merits it works very well. But I can hear people quibbling about it in my mind. Could someone else read this one? I'm torn between giving it a hit and a miss.

Top Secret Julie Jeckel

This is an X-Files/Lois and Clark/QL crossover. Basically this is a Scully and Mulder story with Sam having little more than a walk-on role. (Boo, hiss). Julie takes in the Maxwell Stoddard tape, Al's lost handlink and where the evil PQL might have come from. It does get rather confusing in the middle section when there are two separate time-lines going on PLUS two Scullys and Mulders, but resolves pretty well at the end. 'There are no coincidences in life, only connections we haven't yet seen'..... yes, absolutely. To quote Pocohontas, we are all connected to each other. I could certainly see an X files/QL crossover without any trouble at all, given Mulder's interests. Anyone?

Circles of Fate K. Freymuth (I'VE LOST MY OTHER REVIEWS OF THIS LADY'S WORK, BUT PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND READ THE LOT. SHE'S BRILLIANT!)

Sam's body is slowly dying from the effects of prolonged leaping (Oh, poor sweetheart). Al has problems of his own and Sammi-Jo is acting very strangely. Thus starts a very long story, that takes in Sam coming home (briefly), Donna's remarriage, (another author who doesn't like Donna much),their son and a timeloop. Oh, and Alia acting independantly for the good of PQL.

Voyage to a weird Planet Lenora McCoy

This one's just a big hoot! Dean Stockwell and Al change places!! (During the filming of 'Dreams'). The one big quibble I have is that Dean didn't have to....erm....handle Tina. As t'were. I'm pretty certain that Dean would be a good boy, but his reaction to her would be interesting to witness. Apparently there is a sequel planned where Sam and Scott change places. Gimme, gimme!!

In Circles A M Tajuddin

Three boxes of hankies warning. I sobbed (this is an accolade - it takes a lot to make me cry) and swore in exclamation at one twist. If you can imagine a QL version of Groundhog Day, but dark , gritty and deeply moving, then it's not far from the truth. The funding to PQL gets cut, Sam gets stranded in his host, Beth turns up, Sam gets shot and bleeds to death in Al's car (damp, incoherent noises), Donna goes off the rails, Senator Franklin acts like a nasty 'suit' out of the X Files and Al has a heart attack. (Had enough yet?). Best quote (referring to Sam): "And when he looked inside himself for the answer, all he found was an empty hole into which he had lost more than his best friend; he had lost himself." (Gulp)

U.S. Open

Fairly light little piece in which Sam leaps into Boris Becker during the crucial tennis match. Will appeal to a certain QL mad friend of mine no end, who has a Thing about male tennis players'....erm...behinds.

Roundtable A Various authors

A series of connected leaps, where a new author(ess) takes over where the last left off. Everything from naff through to pretty good - a real curate's egg.

Troubled Waters Terri Librande with input from Crystal Olson

Sam leaps into a dying HIV patient. He is estranged from his partner and Sam manages to effect a reconciliation and get his host out of the hospital in spite of his condition, so that he can die free of machines in his lover's arms on Venice Beach. Sympathetically written and somewhat moving. I don't think they'd film it, not even after Tom Hanks' performance (and several others), but I know that Scott could do it.

Twist in Time Cheryl A. Belucci

Based on the authoress' real experiences of the tornado that hit Xenia, Ohio in 1974. Sam is working part-time washing cars and being a general gopher called Wayne Garber. I've never seen a tornado, but the description of the colour of the sky and the noise seems terrifying. After the Twister film, maybe a QL tornado episode would make it, but it'd leave a huge dent in the SFX and props department. Well written, especially Sam's feeling of helplessness in the face of such elemental forces and not knowing who he should try to save, or where.

Knight Leap Glenn St Germain

Sam leaps into Nick Knight and has to deal with being a vampire.... The passage where Sam finds out what Nick keeps in his fridge.....!!!! (For those of you not up to speed, it's wine bottles full of blood. Cows' blood) . Not enough angst over the change of lifestyle, but well written, especially the fight scenes and the pivotal encounter with Lacroix at the end. It makes you wonder what a real vampire could do for a living. The obvious answer would be to open a kosher butcher's shop.....

Partners Beth Hilleman

A crossover between Starsky and Hutch and QL. Oh, memories.... This is very well written indeed. I could 'see' it being performed/acted in my mind. Sam leaps into a cop called Michael Jennings and has to deal with a grief-stricken and reckless Hutch after the apparent murder of Starsky. (Howls of protest - you can't kill Starsky off, he's my favourite!! Oh, dear God....Paul Michael Glaser....a truly nice man who had more sorrow thrown at him than anyone should have to deal with. I can't tell you how deeply his tragedy affected me and how proud I felt that he somehow got through it and has found happiness again. God knows how he did it.) Anyway, personal tribute aside; this is extremely well written and takes in the local 'mafia' boss, a woman cop trying to get her promotion and Huggy Bear. Al LOVES his choice of clothes (figures....especially those hats). Sam has a tough time getting through Hutch's grief, apart from anything else it makes him re-asses his relationship with Al who can only stand and watch while Sam enters dangerous situations. Sam's gentle and persuasive tactics start to help Hutch quite a lot. Sam eventually finds various missing pieces that all slowly lead to the mafia boss who is out for revenge against Hutch AND drug dealing into the bargain. And a nasty big cover-up of the truth..... But what DID happen to the red tomato with the white stripe? You can't have the partnership without that car!! 10 out of 10 for plot, characterisation and emotion. Wish the rights would allow this one to be filmed.

One Leap over the Moonies F Lee Whaley

Sam leaps into what appears to be a brainwashing scenario and the guy who's talking him down is very stern. But it's actually the leapee's father, trying to 'rescue' Sam from the cult. I don't think they'd ever film it, though Scott could do anguished-terrified-and-bemused standing on his head. There'd be complaints from the Moonies for a start. But I thought it was good.

Revelations

Basically a wish-list alternative ending to QL with almost everyone getting a happy ending. Pretty good although a bit 'pat' at times.

Timestorm

Hmmm. Sam gets timenapped by a mad scientist out to Put An End to Pesky Time Travellers forever. Anyone who's seen Independance Day will immediately cast Brent Spiner in the role. Good idea; could have been much better written and since when was Alia a drip and Zoey still alive?

Terrible Price

Brilliant tortured lead-in writtn from Al's point of view - he arrives just in time to see Sam die. (Sob). Unfortunately the rest of the story doesn't quite live up to the leap in although it is quite good.

Trinity

Don't worry this isn't blasphemous. We are talking 1945 New Mexico and The Bomb and an Al-centred leap. Not bad but what about the radiation implications?

Two Dweebs and a little monster

Sam leaps into a two year old boy! Mostly lighthearted and fun - I'd love to see Scott in a child's car seat sceaming his head off!!

QL Squared

Take a deep breath, this gets seriously complicated. Sam leaps into Scott. Yeah! Oodles of technobabble from 'Gushie', and I wish Al had commented on Dean's portrayal of himself!

To Thine own Self be True

This is a stinker! Absolutely brilliant, but a stinker! Sam leaps home and wants to see Al, give him the Hug we've all been waiting for, but..... Be prepared to throw things!

All reviews by Philippa Chapman

Philippa is about to release "BEYOND THE FERMI SUIT", a collection of all of her own fiction, including (hopefully) the truly excellent Octarine Leap, a crossover between Terry Paratchett's Discworld and QL. All proceeds will go the Spring Leap '99 Convention funds. Contact her for further information.