Difference Is Excuse Enough - Marina Bailey
The subtitle of this story is one of those “from an idea by” things, and boy does it show. The moral-loaded
plot, in which a new immortal is taken under MacLeod’s wing after he and his boyfriend are killed, isn’t
actually too bad an idea, but the way in which it has been dealt with is more like a lecture than a piece of
fiction. MacLeod spouts about his loss, and the responsibility of Immortals, Richie confronts his jealousy and
newcomer Jonathan seeks guidance, and the speech patterns of the characters move in archaic directions that
seem out of place in the modern Seacouver setting. Where violence would for once be appropriate, the
language is chaste to the point where even the word “god” is censored. What we have here is basically a
response to the gay hate groups of America, but it has all the punch of a leaflet campaign. [2.5/5]
Friends Will Be Friends: A Tale Of Two Swords - Jonathan Shimkus
Not sure what to make of this one. On one hand it is shoddily written, and seems to be some kind of poor
attempt to retell Highlander in the style of Hercules. On the other hand, it finishes up in a place far beyond
sanity, with Ramirez, the Kurgan and a Japanese geisha chorus singing a medley of Queen songs. It’s an
attempt to get a cheap laugh, and I suppose it almost succeeds. If the whole thing had been riddled with gags
instead of “comical” bad dialogue, it might not have been so bad. [1.5/5]
Holy Ground His Only Refuge? - Rene Gibson
There is a significant overlap between the Forever Knight and Highlander fandoms - just look at the
Highlander FAQ to confirm it - so it comes as no surprise that there are more than a few HL/FK crossovers
floating around the InterWeb. I haven’t seen FK, but I shall be visiting an FK fanfic archive soon by request,
and if this is anything to go by, the trip shall be an enjoyable one. The story, a follow up to Gibson’s Long
Lifelines (reviewed below) follows Connor MacLeod’s (the French Scotsman) meeting with the vampire
LaCroix in a graveyard after a battle. Though nothing interesting happens (Nick shows up as LaCroix is about
to turn Connor) the prose is smooth and flowing, and immensely readable. Worth reading. [3/5]
Long Lifelines - Rene Gibson
On the way to warn Duncan of the return of Slan Quince, Connor MacLeod runs into and old friend, a
vampire who is very much against the Game. Yes, this is another Forever Knight/Higlander crossovers, and
although it is basically a culture clash tale, it is told extremely well. The shallow plot of evil Immortal Richter
is little more than MacGuffin to bring the two shows together, and nothing else really happens. This story is
an attempt to compare and contrast to very similar scenarios, and pulls this off admirably. Over the story, Nick
Knight takes a long look at the morals of the Gathering - after all, this is a sport where the object is to cut off
someone’s head - and spends much of the story mistrusting Connor. Connor in return is subtly scared by the
vampires who seems to have a secret network built up over the city, and pall around together. This is an
intriguing story, which could have done with a little more action, but still works well as a frictionless and
enjoyable read. [3.5/5]
Blind Faith - Kim Smith
1775 - the seeds of American revolution are being sown, and Arcadiana St John is killed for the first time.
Two hundred years later, Cadian waits with mentor Duncan MacLeod for the reappearance of her muderer,
who is determined to take both their heads. This is a very good story, with a great and subtle twist in the tail.
The two major scenes are well visualised and the ending is both tense and thrilling. Floating viewpoints and
the confusing running on of paragraphs are dertrimential to a well written story. [4/5]
The One And The Many - Noah Johnson
The time of the Gathering has passed, and Richie Ryan is the sole survivor. But when he reaches middle age,
the Game begins again, and Richie trains a whole new set of Immortals. Don’t get me wrong, I quite liked this
story, and anyone who wants to take fan fiction into a new and exciting direction is okay by me, but this
whole fan fiction is built upon a massive plot hole. For a start, every new Immortal born (or created) around
the planet could only learn the rules of the Game from Richie or one of his students. Sure, there is a chance
that one of the few mortals who know of the Game might see an Immortal come back to life, recognise it, and
take them under their wing, but this isn’t very likely and does not happen in this story. So, Richie teaches
good *and* bad Immortals to kill each other. He creates a war that will last centuries. And he’s supposed to be
a hero? Where is the angst over whether he should be doing this or not? He is the root from which the new
Game grows, and he is teaching people rules that have lost all meaning over time, the rules that led to the
death of his own mentor. These people will fight until the end of time because of him. Doesn’t he feel guilty
about it? Doesn’t he realise that if he stood back and didn’t interfere countless lives - both mortal and
Immortal - would be saved? As you can see, this is something that I feel rather strongly about, and was at the
heart of the series. Oh well. The writing isn’t bad, although the opening of the story feels like it has been
written by someone else. The story progresses rather lazily to a good conclusion, but the best part of the story
is undoubtedly the quick glimpse of the future we are given in the last few paragraphs, which adds the type of
epic feeling you get in all good science fiction and fantasy. Oh, and it’s a good job that the author didn’t
retread the ground of the terrible second Highlander movie. For a moment at the start, I was worried. [3/5]
And Promises To Keep - Robin Fingerson
After the death of Tessa, Duncan’s old friend Averroe appears to reaffirm his will to live, while she loses her
own faith and asks Duncan to keep his end of a bargain. This story is excellently written, and apart from the
occasional viewpoint changing it could easily be a professional story. What lets the thing down is the plot.
Admittedly there is a great idea hidden away in there, but the actual story is little more than three lovingly
written fight scenes and a whole lot of talking. The main problem is that you feel nothing for Averroe, and as
she is the star of this fanfic, it really is a fatal flaw. In the Highlander series, a rapport with each new
Immortal is created by the ubiquitous flashbacks. We are told that Averroe has lived for thousands of years,
so surely there is a lot of scope for flashbacks. Why not have a scene where she meets Duncan, or visits him
in the past as part of their bargain? Why not have a flashback with Averroe and her treacherous lover Parset?
For a story that explores something that should apply to all Immortals, it seems strange that this fanfic
should limit itself to just a handful of characters. This is still a wonderful story, though, and one that all
Highlander fans should check out. [4/5]
Is There Something You Want To Tell Me? - Richard Carter Jr
The story of Duncan MacLeod and Tessa Noel is one of *the* great tragic romances, and like all great
tragic romances, there is a lot of food, a lot of blood, a lot of tears and a lot of beheading. This fan fiction is
set shortly after the two first meet, and is concerned with both their courting and the revalation that Duncan
is an Immortal. I’ll get the bad point out of the way - there is more than a little perspective changing -
thankfully it doesn’t impinge on the story, instead it reads like those little lines of asterisks used to separate
stanzas have gone on holiday. Now to the rest of the story. Brilliant. Amazing. Fantastic. If you are a
Highlander fan, then I can think of no reason why you should not download this immediately. If you aren’t a
Highlander fan, well, check it out anyway. Yes, it’s a romance, but it’s a romance done *well*, and there is
more than enough intrigue to keep the story flowing. It doesn’t bog itself down with slush or violence. It just
tells a marvellous worthy-of-the-series story, and the ending is incredible. Well crafted and well written, this
story is gold. [5/5]
Mother’s Love - NL Cleveland
As you all know, I love it when a fanfic is well written. The thing about fan fiction is that anyone can and
does have a go at writing it. Quite often, they have no idea how to write, but this is okay. After all, there is
no big book of how to write - everyone has there own styles and quirks - but the most popular fanfics are
almost always written by someone who has read quite a bit, and knows how to write. Unfortunately, this is a
story in which the author has gone too far in this direction, and has completely over written the plot. This
takes a particularly strong form in the last third of the story, where we experience every single nuance of
thought from Richie Ryan. We get a looong sentance, describing one thought, followed by lots of tiny ones
adding to that thought, and then the thought is repeated over and over, hammering home Richie’s feelings
until we scream ‘uncle’ from under a bloody pile of excess prose. Yes, I’d much rather read something like
this, where the author obviously has an inkling of how to writer ‘properly’ rather than a fanfic written by
someone who doesn’t read because ‘books are boring’, and has written the first thing that comes into their
mind, but this is overkill. The plot follows a good idea, of a crazed mother who is searching for an Immortal
(in the form of Richie) to take the place of her dead son (following on from the middle of season 3), but it
takes place across two long scenes, when it could really have been expanded. In fact, for a story that is
actually quite short, the padding is incredible. [3/5]
Descendants To The Prize - Brian Procopio
This fanfic is actually a ‘novelization’ of an actual film - but before you all start pointing to Destroy!s
no-transcripts policy, and all those ‘rip-off’ remarks, I must add that it is based of a film that most of us have
not seen - a student movie based around Highlander. There may even be a chance that the actual film was
never released. So this film is fan fiction, and consequentially, so is this story. What it *isn’t*, however, is
original. It’s all very well making a student movie for a bunch of judges who stopped watching films after
‘Citizen Kane’ but we the public are already familiar with the subject matter. The plot is basic ‘Highlander’:
a MacLeod (David, this time) discovers that he is an Immortal, is trained by another Immortal, and ends up
beheading a nasty Immortal. There is very little else. The writing is good, although the author often
unnecessarily hyphenates words (‘in-dividual’, ‘concious-ness’), although this could just be the conversion
to HTML. Any Highlander fan could have plotted this. [2.5/5]
Mentor - Betsy Scroggs
One of the things that the Highlander series never really delved into was Duncan’s relationship with
Clansman and fellow Immortal Connor MacLeod, and it’s good to see that the strange accented one
continues to sword-fight in fan fictions such as this one. In ‘Mentor’ the renegade Watcher Horton (yes, he’s
*still* not dead yet) captures Connor in an attempt to get to Duncan. Does he succeed in taking both of
their heads? What do *you* think? We get some nice flashback moments with the youthful Immortals, and
insight into the MacLeod’s friendship, but what is basically a good idea is really a bit dull. It’s all a bit
skinny, too; there should have been some more scenes with both Duncan and Connor in the present day to
help pad things out a bit. [3/5]
Blood And Steel - Noah Johnson
Remember Rene Gibson’s ‘Holy Ground’? In it, there was a brief foray into the possibility of an Immortal
that was also a Vampire. Well this Forever Knight/Highlander crossover is all about that possibility. In it,
Duncan MacLeod and Nick Knight have been friends for centuries, and come together in Paris as Nick hunts
down a vamp and Duncan sees a Quickening. Unfortunately this results in a long and tedious conversation
which takes up the whole fanfic and contains little more than Dunc and Nick trying to make out that each’s
life has had far more grief than the other’s. This is really a two-handed game, with Natalie from FK making
little more than a cameo appearance, and the villain of the piece only making a brief showing at the end. At
the beginning, Duncan’s attempts to show Nick the importance of the rules to the Game make him seem like
a zealot, ands this leads to a major bullet/foot intersection when come the end Duncan says “Hey, let’s kill
this freak”, or words to that effect. To create a genuine reason to attack this Immortal Vampire, the author
should really have shown him using his unfair advantages in sword-fights *before* the finale. As it is, the
good guys label him an abomination (while agreeing that this is how mortals see them) and go off to hunt
him down. The writing isn’t bad, but the story is so biased that this doesn’t matter. Oh, and I find it highly
unlikely that there is hotel in Paris called ‘The Bristol’. [3/5]
Questionable Beginning - Wendy L Milner
This is one of those ‘new Immortal’ stories that are quite common in Highlander fandom. Our fledgling
Immie this time is Kelly, a trained killer for Anonymous Government Agency Inc, and the fan fic follows her
as our Duncan tries to convince her that she is now part of the Game. What this basically is, is a Pilot for a
new Highlander series, and it works pretty well. There are some nice touches as Kelly absent-mindedly has
Dunc locked up for interrupting her work, and she is also quite a good character, being the type of strong,
hot-headed type that our previous stars weren’t. But in such a story, there should really have been a little
more action. Instead, the story is wrapped up in a disappointing couple of paragraphs at the end. The writing
is really good though, and it would probably be worth the while of any HL fan to read the thing through and
make up their own action packed ending. [3.5/5]
There Can Only Be . . . Sam - Jacquie Groom
Cowardly Immortal Paul Verduystert has planned for years to take Duncan MacLeod’s head, his power, and
his girlfriend Tessa, bu now something has happened to change all that, and that something goes by the name
of Doctor Sam Beckett. Yes, this is a Quantum Leap/Highlander crossovers, and doesn’t even go as far as
most crossovers by having the customary culture shock of characters from one show meeting characters
from another - instead, after a brief doubt, Sam and Al accept all the information about Immortals that
Ziggie gives them, and the story ends with a beheading. Simply put, this is crossover in its rawest form - not
even competent writing and a nice flashback can save the paper thin excuse of a plot, that does nothing for
either show. Beckett meets MacLeod - that’s all you need to know. [2/5]
The Sorrow Of Loss - Allen Lee
Great writing, but nothing else; a memory, a swordfight - and it’s all over. *Great* writing, though. [4/5]
Sins Of The Father - Samantha Lynn
A woman from Duncan’s past turns up on his doorstep, demanding answers. The catch is, she believes sthat
he is her father. This is a wonderful story - short, but elegantly formed, relying on dialogue to create a
delicate atmosphere around what Duncan wishes he could say. The epilogue is also great. What a fantastic
short story. [4.5/5]
A Change Of Perspective - Selma McCrory
Change my arse - this is one of those familiar ‘new Immortal’ stories and hardly differs from any of the
others. This fanfics slant is that the Immie in question is a Watcher, but where this should lead to all kind of
moral dilemas, it, um, doesn’t. The writing is competent enough, but we’ve seen this all before. Now, a
*Hunter* becoming Immortal - *that* could be interesting. [3/5]
Immortals Night - Sheri Richardson
Duncan has a very special visitor, and Joe accordingly sanctifies his office. Not much happens, but it’s an
amiable enough story, with a few Celtic references that indicate that the author has done her homework.
[3.5/5]
Surge Of Power - B Janis Roth
As we all know, Immortals have been around for thousands of years, walking among us, becoming part of
our mythology. This story follows the old cliché of the old ways clashing with the new ways, mythology
meeting technology. And it is a very interesting read. After a Quickening, Duncan falls ill, the wounds from
the fight fail to heal, and Joe discovers that something is still happening at the site of the Quickening. As well
as a great build up as to what has actually happened, we get some fascinating insights into the Watcher
organisation. This is a pretty good - and rather original - story, though I’m sure that the young apprentice
Watcher would disapprove of the punishment his name is put through. The formatting could have done with
a bit of work, though. [4/5]
In The Beginning . . . - Amy Denton & Mike Smith
With multiple author fan fiction, it usually isn’t very hard to see the join where one author takes over from
the other, and In The Beginning is no exception. Part of the writing isn’t bad, and part of it is terrible. This,
of course, has a detrimental effect on the etire story - but was it any good to begin with. Not really. Darius
reveals the secret of the Immortals to a newly dead Immie, but instead of a blaze of creativity we are
presented with select questions and answers from the Highlander FAQ. While most of thestory is pretty
uninspired, the highlight is undoubtedly the illusions Darius makes towards his former second in command
(I’ve got dibs on it being the Kurgan). Apart from that, it’s a pretty dull story. [2/5]
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