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					surfacing by Paul Seely and Jennifer Garza http://members.xoom.com/pjseely/surfacing.html NANCY: Here's another one for you, Ewok. Summarise this story in two sentences or less. I dare you! EWOK: I'm sure that isn't in my contract. But here goes ... <deep breath> SYNOPSIS: Diana Starrett is a deep-cover agent for some shadowy UN division, who decides she wants to go clean after she forms an attachment to feisty - but unfortunately named - Californian lawyer Charlotte "Charlie" Browning. But the dark powers that hold Diana in their thrall have messed seriously with her head, and surfacing will be the greatest challenge she has ever faced. EWOK: ... So, how'd I do, Nancy? NANCY: <applause> The only thing I would add is that this is the most aptly named story I think I've ever read. EWOK: Oh ja, you betcha. NANCY: I know a story deserves at least a seven when it deprives me of sleep! (Well...maybe I'll just log on for second to get the next couple of parts...<g>) This "novel" reads like the first draft of something great. All it needs is a fierce editor with no tolerance for self-indulgent authors and it could be a tight, slick piece of work. In the end it is an enjoyable piece of work with flashes of pure brilliance, usually in the form of the little comments the characters make to themselves about each other and their surroundings. I'm beginning to get a little worried about fanfic authors and their rather bizarre attachment to Miami, Florida and Cuban drug dealers, but hey. EWOK: It was the little things that really made the story work for me. Background details, pop culture moments, conceits like Harry Mars' always-apropos hold music ... uh oh, I'm waxing lyrical. NANCY: As a crime story it does not have the stamina of something like Lucifer Rising (the ultimate cornerstone of this particular fanfic genre!); by that I mean that it doesn't sustain its pace through the whole story. It begins well, and then loses momentum. On the web page the authors write that they fought every step of the way while writing this collaboration. I'm sorry to say it but I think that shows. On the up side these characters are witty, intelligent (most of the time!) and the flashbacks to Xena/Gabrielle that are littered through this are used well. Since I've started making comparisons, I think the "connection" to the show is better explored here than in, say, "Tropical Storm" where the dreams/flashbacks only hindered the pace of the story. In that respect "Surfacing" has some of the most poignant lines I've read in fanfic. EWOK: 9 out of 10, she said magnanimously. (And hell, why not? I really enjoyed reading this.) NANCY: 7.5, I wasn't quite as hooked.