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crack_van2005-06-13 08:46 pm
marycrawford.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2005-06-13 08:46 pm
Entry tags:
A Prize of War, by Sheffield (NC-17)
Fandom: HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS
Pairing: Ares/Iolaus, Hercules/Iolaus
Author Website: Dreamtime
Why this must be read:
I had some qualms about reccing this story. Not because it's not good; I think it's fantastic. But if you're anything like me, you're going to read this story alternately shuddering in horror at what the author puts the characters through and sighing at the excellent writing and characterisation. If you have nightmares, I don't wish to be held responsible.
The bombastic intro to Hercules: the Legendary Journeys begins, 'In a time of myth and legend, when the ancient gods were petty and cruel and they plagued mankind with suffering...' and in A Prize of War, Sheffield shows us what that really means. What a god can really do, with an endless cold cruelty at his disposal.
The plot sounds hackneyed - Ares captures, tortures and rapes Iolaus, to get back at Hercules - but the execution is brilliantly, terrifyingly original. It's not just Ares who is the villain here. Both Zeus and Hephaestus play ambiguous parts, and it's clear that they are very nearly as cold as Ares is when it comes to mortals: they are tools, toys, weapons. Xena, Autolycus, Salmoneus and others show up to help Hercules, who nearly goes mad trying to find Iolaus, while Iolaus uses all his audacity and cleverness to try to escape. But mortals can also be turned into weapons against each other...
A Prize of War
Pairing: Ares/Iolaus, Hercules/Iolaus
Author Website: Dreamtime
Why this must be read:
I had some qualms about reccing this story. Not because it's not good; I think it's fantastic. But if you're anything like me, you're going to read this story alternately shuddering in horror at what the author puts the characters through and sighing at the excellent writing and characterisation. If you have nightmares, I don't wish to be held responsible.
The bombastic intro to Hercules: the Legendary Journeys begins, 'In a time of myth and legend, when the ancient gods were petty and cruel and they plagued mankind with suffering...' and in A Prize of War, Sheffield shows us what that really means. What a god can really do, with an endless cold cruelty at his disposal.
The plot sounds hackneyed - Ares captures, tortures and rapes Iolaus, to get back at Hercules - but the execution is brilliantly, terrifyingly original. It's not just Ares who is the villain here. Both Zeus and Hephaestus play ambiguous parts, and it's clear that they are very nearly as cold as Ares is when it comes to mortals: they are tools, toys, weapons. Xena, Autolycus, Salmoneus and others show up to help Hercules, who nearly goes mad trying to find Iolaus, while Iolaus uses all his audacity and cleverness to try to escape. But mortals can also be turned into weapons against each other...
The first they knew there was a problem was when the water started dripping through the ceiling. Oh, they ignored it for a while, but soon it wasn’t a drip but a steady stream of water that threatened to bring the whole ceiling down with it. In spite of his reluctance to disturb what was evidently intended to be a private and special moment, the innkeeper couldn’t let two customers destroy the evening’s entertainment for all his other customers - or let them destroy his ceiling, either.
But when he went along the landing to the room he had rented to Hercules it was immediately apparent something was very wrong. The demigod was patiently, thoroughly, concentratedly - what? Searching, might describe it. Demolishing was perhaps closer. But he had upended the enormous hottub - hence the water - and was now engaged in systematically taking the tub itself apart, stave by stave.
"Hercules - what happened?"
"I’m looking for Iolaus."
"Iolaus? But - he was with you. Where is he? What happened?"
"I turned my back on him. I turned my back on him and he vanished."
The pain in his voice was unendurable. The innkeeper watched the demigod carry on methodically demolishing the room. He understood at once that Hercules wasn’t going to stop until he had found his lover, or demolished the inn. Or the village. Or the entire kingdom.
A Prize of War
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Incidentally, do you know of any good Iolaus II stories? I keep rewatching "Just Passing Through," and I love that poor cowardly guy. The angst just screams from the screen. But I'm having a hard time finding stories since his names the same as the other Iolaus.
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Heh. Yeah, you might have some luck searching for 'jester Iolaus', but it's tricky. I may not be the right person to ask: I love Michael Hurst, but I had issues with the jester, especially the way he was introduced as a replacement for Iolaus. However, I do know of one writer who writes the jester so well that I read her fic with pleasure: Nym. Unfortunately, not all her stories are up on her site (http://nym.amplexus.org/) right now, but there are still a couple there that feature him.
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Thanks for the reminder. *hurries off to re-read*
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Contact
I haven't watched the show but still loved the fic.
On a note which is, I expect, unrelated, I saw a great sculpture of Hercules and Iolas in the British Museum. Hercules was a large figure with bulging muscles and a big sword. When you looked carefully there was a tiny, tiny Iolas nestled in his lap.
Re: Contact
That sculpture description makes me crack up. When I'm next in London I'm going to look for it. Also? It's not really that far removed from some of the badfic I slogged through, looking for good Herc/Iolaus. I remember this one story where Iolaus has 'tiny delicate hands' and a 'slight malleable body'...
Mary, queasy