Cartman Makes a Woman - Jason Gaston
Oh dear, a crossover script. The story starts off all right, with a
neat pastiche of South Park "stop talks", but soon degenerates. No jokes,
no characterisation: no point. [1/5]
'Twas the Slide Before Christmas - Annie M
A crossover poem? Oh, my! Prepare to see all meter and rhyming go out
the window - but this actually isn't bad. As much as I hate the
crossover angle, this story is better than most filk. [2.5/5]
The Other Slide of Dorkness - Jason Gaston
Tenses switch line by line; jokes are pinched from other series.
Admittedly this spoofs an episode I haven't seen, but is it funny?
No... [1/5]
A Possible Scenario - M. Gullwhacker
A grim tale that lies somewhere between a synopsis and a story. It
should have been kept at one or the other. There are too many
inexplicable plot points. [2.5/5]
A Slider's Story - Micheala McPhillips
An "I remember when . . ." story with a twist. The writing's not bad,
though not much happens. If you want plot look elsewhere, but for
those Sliders fans who like the romance angle, this is a good read.
[2.5/5]
War! - Pf2144@aol.com
Great title! Bad plot, spelling, formatting, everything. Lot's of
enthusiasm though, and a fun "Quantum Leap" style ending. The best
lines are unintentional, with "Things will be much easier if you
corporate" and "The silence in the room was deathening" being my
favourites. Towards the end, an attempt at humour fails miserably.
[1/5]
X-Files Meets Sliders - James Boe
Alternate sliders, anyone? Fear not, despite a few tiny differences
(one of which is accidently rectified towards the end of the story)
these are the sliders that we all know and love, and they are well
characterized throughout this enjoyable xover. Starting with a
hilarious disclaimer, the story carries a reasonable plot that
actually feels like one of the Charles L Grant pro fanfics. X-Files
fans will be disappointed that Mulder and Scully appear as little more
than cardboard cut outs (though, to his credit the author apologizes
for this), but a surprise crossover from another popular series (or
should I say pre-series) almost makes up for it. The writing is
amateur trying for all its worth to be professional, and works well
despite some bizarre turns of phrase. There are a few too many
plotholes, and the ending is somewhat deus ex machina, but it's not
bad at all, *especially* for an X-Files crossover [3/5]
Yours Forever - Julia Mayer
Another X- Files crossover! But pass the sick bucket, because this isn't the Scully and Mulder that you an I know - these are romantic, tragic heroes, and the Sliders only make a cameo appearance. The writing would be good, if it wasn't so obtuse, and the plot is nothing to write home about, though the three endings are a nice idea. [2.5/5]
Mary - Nigel G Mitchell
One of the great things about writing fan fiction is the opportunity to take one small detail from the sourceshow and expand it to a full story. In this case, a character from one episode is given a complete history, and while it's not a great piece of writing, it's not really all that bad. The problem lies with the fact that the prose
is extremely simple, and when dealing with issues like prejudice, war propaganda and torture, this isn't very
appropriate. [2.5/5]
Meanwhile - James Boe
Quinn's mother talks to her sister about the disappearance of her son. That's it. It's a little pointless, and
doesn't give much more information about Quinn than we already knew. It's okay, I suppose. [2.5/5]
Merry Christmas Sliders - Sandrine Ociepka
It's almost Christmas, Wade is depressed, and Rembrandt has something up his sleeve. This story was
translated from the original French version, but thankfully, that doesn't show. Really, this is a simplistic story
that could be applied to any scenario, but it is well written (I especially liked the used of Wade's journal),
and supplies that fuzzy Christmas feeling. [3.5/5]
Monsters And Angels - Kyrie Daniels
On a word without censorship, Quinn answers to his double's promiscuity and finds himself choosing
between Wade and an exotic singer. There are some very good ideas in this story, but instead of persuing
them, the story follows a dull and uneventfull plot line that is extremely boring. The writing isn't bad, but is
told in third person present tense, meaning it is incredibly awkward to read. Also, our perspective of the
world keeps changing as every character's thoughts are brought to the fore, clashing and causing confusion.
[2.5/5]
MUD - Jen McEllen
The Sliders' adventures clash with real life in this unusual fanfic - but wait, this isn't a millingfic! Instead, it is
a well written piece that *sort of* explores the nature of reality, and it's good, as well. If only there'd been
more . . . [3.5/5]
My Heart Will Go On - Melody Ortloff
Quinn remembers Wade while he listens to Celine Dion. Um. That's it. [1/5]
Myth And Legend - Andrew Volcanas
The Sliders travel to ancient Greece in this horrible "Hercules" cross over. The fact that the plot is terrible
(the group go to Athens and take photographs. We are told that a fight happens) really emphasizes the fact
that the previous world described at the beginning of the story would have been a much better place for an
adventure. The writing is pretty dismal; it keeps switching between minimal prose and script, and the
"comedy ending" is cringingly unfunny. Oh, and "vortex" is actually spelled with an "o" and *not* an *e*.
Okay? [1/5]
Exactly - Kyrie Daniels
Story one of the Maian Connection series doesn’t kick off with a bang, but with a thoughtful piece of quiet
feminist SF in the tradition of “The Stepford Wives” and “The Handmaids Tale”, and indeed, both stories
are name-checked at the beginning. The Sliders find themselves in a world where the male gender is both the
dominant force and an oppressive regime. Women are forbidden information, and (though there seems to be
some unevenness on this point) are given all the household chores. The team is separated, with Rembrandt
and Wade taking on the guise of a rich couple, and Arturo and Quinn in the old Sliders standby of shacking
up in a motel. The latter two are left on the side for much of the story, with the plot-line concentrating on
Wade’s coming to terms with the world she is living in and Rembrandt facing the dark deeds of his double,
who is on the exterior a much lauded war hero. Wade strikes up a friendship with a childhood friend, and her
story is intermingled with the gentle depiction of a nightmare world.
As with Daniels’ other works, the present tense and floating viewpoint add a detached, ethereal quality to the fanfic, but in this case it works pretty well. The horrors that lay in wait for disobedient women are played down, emphasising the two violent attacks in Wade and newcomer Maia’s households. A plus point is the servant Charles, a man who is paid to do the housework in Wade’s place but cannot see why she is seemingly rebelling against her husband’s whims by attempting to cook and clean herself, to relieve her boredom. Towards the end of the story, a number of complex plot points are embroidered into the weave of the story, with Arturo’s double making an appearance.
The whole thing is rather good, but is inappropriately leavened by brief moments of humour. A few made up words make an appearance, and while they would be welcome in a lighter work, they seem horribly out of place. The prose occasionally seems too light to carry the weight of the story, and Wade’s character seems unsteady, as she rocks from mock submissive to angry upstart.
While this story does not reach the heights of the similarly themed Sliders episode “California
Reich”, and the ending is rather a disappointment, this is a well crafted piece of drama that casts away its
action series routes to become something far more interesting. [3.5/5]
Boycott - Jessica C
Hi all, and welcome to the “We Hate Maggie” show! Well, that’s what some of this story seems like to me.
It’s obvious that the other sliders hate her, and no-one sheds a tear when she decides to leave them. There
are some fans who won’t mind this at all, but the chances are they’ll take offence at the rest of the story,
which contains some of the dumbest sci- fi concepts this side of an L Ron Hubbard novel. The story is set on
a world in which men and women live on the opposite sides of the planet, only to meet at a giant ritual
mating. Sound silly? The author seems to think so, because within a couple of paragraphs the idea has sunk
without a trace. The main plot of the story follows the sliders attempts to leave the world before the Earth’s
magnetic fields are shut down (!) to prevent the Kromaggs from invading. Another invention is the “sliding
airport” (why not slideport?) which is ill at ease with the plot. And then there is Chelsea Shaw, an
all-knowing Mary Sue who everyone likes and Quinn falls in love with immediately. This is a pile of terrible
fan fiction clichés (though the writing is - at times - passable) and could have been written to a fanfic
handbook of what not to do. Avoid. [1.5/5]
Questions - Fox Cutter
I don’t usually review really short fanfics, but I had to mention this, as it contains the worst spelling I have
seen in years, and therefore is unmissable. Read it now! [1/5]
Five Minutes - Kyrie Daniels
One of those “our life is on screen” stories - and rather good, too. Remember the episode of Moonlighting
which began with the question “Should we take off all our clothes to boost the ratings?”? This is that type of
thing. With a spare five minutes in the schedule to fill during sweeps week (what the hell *is* sweeps week,
anyway?) our heroes find themselves in Quinn’s basement with a book on how not to get cancelled. Step by
step the producers inflict the method upon them, visiting other TV shows in the progress. While I didn’t get
all the references (I got Wade’s “Don’t Panic!” one, though) I did enjoy it. It’s harmless fluff, and it is
actually funny. Roll on next sweeps week. [4/5]
Just Another Day - Renata Duque
A alternate set of sliders in which Arturo stayed behind on a world and Quinn and Wade are married land on
a world and wait for their next slide. The alternate angle is interesting, and the colour coded bridge idea
(expanded from the series) is rather good, but if you’re going to spread the toys out on the floor, you should
at least play with them. In other words, nothing happens. [2.5/5]
© Dan Ness, 1998. So you want to redistribute this, huh? Well tough! This is my work, and it stays here. Link to the title page.
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