ext_6377 (![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
redstarrobot.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crack_van2005-11-03 11:33 am
redstarrobot.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2005-11-03 11:33 am
The Quibell Abduction by Lillian Sheperd (PG)
Good morning, I'll be your Blake's 7 Crack-Van driver for November. Now, I think we'll go with sort of a theme this month. One of the disappointing things for fans of Blake's 7 is how the female characters began with such flair and anti-stereotypical backgrounds, as guerrilla fighters or smugglers or professional gunhands, and all too often ended up sitting around manning the phones and chatting while the men ran off to play with explosives and dodge bullets, when, in truth, the women were almost across the board more experienced and better-qualified for that job. That, fortunately, is something fanfic writers occasionally take it into their heads to correct. So because the best things in life are aliens, which are all exoticism and the metaphorical exploration of modern alienation, and explosions, which are fun, we're going to have a month of Cally fiction.
Fandom: BLAKES 7
Pairing: none (Avon-Cally gen)
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: unknown
Why this must be read:
We're gonna start out old school this month, and turn back time 25 years. Blake's 7 fandom is zine-heavy, and much of its fic remains in hardcopy, although a few of the zines from those heady, lawless, pre-internet days are now turning up online. The Quibell Abduction is one of those; a story from 1980, only recently added to the online archives. It remains one of the most recommended Cally-centric stories.
At the heart of the story is an undercover operation that goes badly wrong - not for the usual reasons, but because there is a far more menacing and horrific operation going on underground. On a mission to obtain needed supplies, Avon and Cally start out masquerading their way under the noses of Federation security on a sleepy backwater planet and are rapidly involved in a sitatuion that forces them to work with the local Federation officers to avert a planet-wide catastrophe.
The xeno-gardens spilled their exotic scents into the warm breeze blowing from the dark, rippling lake. The leaves, branches, stalks, plumes, fronds, tendrils and flowers, imported from a score of worlds, rustled together in whispers even softer than the lapping of the water on the shore. The breeze had, no doubt, been bribed from Weather Control, Security Captain Drew Patel thought cynically, as had the clear sky, so brilliant with stars. Even so, that bribe would have been insignificant compared to the cost of the coloured glo-globes, drifting in their programmed patterns about the garden, and a fraction of the price of the double shell of Len Boler's beach house, shining softly with pink light, perched on the cliff above him.
What's it got going for it? This is good sci-fi, set a well-drawn world, with social tensions, complex characters, a rich enviroment, and detailed alien species. It's a fast-paced action story in a fandom frankly prone to a bit of navel-gazing, and it gives the alien guerrilla fighter a chance to shine, and use both her fighting skills and her alienness to her - and the plot's - advantage.
Less than twenty metres from collision, Cally pushed the power to full-
-and jumped. She hit the rock with bruising force, rolling over and coming swiftly to her feet. There was a sickeningly squelchy thump and screams of pain from the beetu as the sled rammed into them. Cally was already running towards them, her handgun out.
It's that classic formula for good Blake's 7: good and evil alike drawn in shades of gray, explosive sci-fi action, a hint of horror - and of humor.
Cally looked at him with wide eyes. "Teleport bracelets?" she said in horror. "I knew there was something-" then burst out laughing at the expression on her companion's face. "I am sorry, Avon, but... do you have to take me for a fool? Of course I have the teleport bracelets."
Oh, that dry, off-beat alien sense of humor, which somehow functions best when in the thick of major soldier-of-fortune action involving imminent explosions. So go on, wipe the cobwebs off the bottle, and pour yourself a nice big glass of some vintage Blake's 7. You're going to need that stiff drink later in the month.
The Quibell Abduction
Fandom: BLAKES 7
Pairing: none (Avon-Cally gen)
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: unknown
Why this must be read:
We're gonna start out old school this month, and turn back time 25 years. Blake's 7 fandom is zine-heavy, and much of its fic remains in hardcopy, although a few of the zines from those heady, lawless, pre-internet days are now turning up online. The Quibell Abduction is one of those; a story from 1980, only recently added to the online archives. It remains one of the most recommended Cally-centric stories.
At the heart of the story is an undercover operation that goes badly wrong - not for the usual reasons, but because there is a far more menacing and horrific operation going on underground. On a mission to obtain needed supplies, Avon and Cally start out masquerading their way under the noses of Federation security on a sleepy backwater planet and are rapidly involved in a sitatuion that forces them to work with the local Federation officers to avert a planet-wide catastrophe.
The xeno-gardens spilled their exotic scents into the warm breeze blowing from the dark, rippling lake. The leaves, branches, stalks, plumes, fronds, tendrils and flowers, imported from a score of worlds, rustled together in whispers even softer than the lapping of the water on the shore. The breeze had, no doubt, been bribed from Weather Control, Security Captain Drew Patel thought cynically, as had the clear sky, so brilliant with stars. Even so, that bribe would have been insignificant compared to the cost of the coloured glo-globes, drifting in their programmed patterns about the garden, and a fraction of the price of the double shell of Len Boler's beach house, shining softly with pink light, perched on the cliff above him.
What's it got going for it? This is good sci-fi, set a well-drawn world, with social tensions, complex characters, a rich enviroment, and detailed alien species. It's a fast-paced action story in a fandom frankly prone to a bit of navel-gazing, and it gives the alien guerrilla fighter a chance to shine, and use both her fighting skills and her alienness to her - and the plot's - advantage.
Less than twenty metres from collision, Cally pushed the power to full-
-and jumped. She hit the rock with bruising force, rolling over and coming swiftly to her feet. There was a sickeningly squelchy thump and screams of pain from the beetu as the sled rammed into them. Cally was already running towards them, her handgun out.
It's that classic formula for good Blake's 7: good and evil alike drawn in shades of gray, explosive sci-fi action, a hint of horror - and of humor.
Cally looked at him with wide eyes. "Teleport bracelets?" she said in horror. "I knew there was something-" then burst out laughing at the expression on her companion's face. "I am sorry, Avon, but... do you have to take me for a fool? Of course I have the teleport bracelets."
Oh, that dry, off-beat alien sense of humor, which somehow functions best when in the thick of major soldier-of-fortune action involving imminent explosions. So go on, wipe the cobwebs off the bottle, and pour yourself a nice big glass of some vintage Blake's 7. You're going to need that stiff drink later in the month.
The Quibell Abduction