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crack_van2006-03-13 10:07 pm
the-hobbet.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2006-03-13 10:07 pm
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Walking with Dark Angels by C. D. Stewart (PG-13)
Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: C. D. Stewart's Homepage
Why this must be read:
Two hundred years ago an amoral scientist discovered how to genetically engineer Sentinels but not their necessary, empathic Guides. Now empaths are extremely valuable to all sorts of people.
Three powerful unbonded Sentinels. Three wild empaths. 'The Man', a shadowy user/abuser of the powerless. A far future universe with complex webs of wealth, power, and duty.
C.D. Stewart is one of the authors who uses concepts from Susan Foster's GDP universe, and then does it so much better. Writing in a deft, witty, almost conversational style, she lays out her tale with entertaining diversions into history, social structure, economics, gossip, and pointed observations on the numerous, finely-drawn characters. She explores the conflicts between civilized behavior and instinct, the almost multiple personality natures of Blair Sandburg - anthropologist, activist, wild empath - and the instinct driven Dark Guide and of Jim Ellison - intelligent, ethical human being - and the Dark Sentinel, who must have, protect, and control his Guide at any cost.
Most of all, she tells a compelling story. Once you get into this novel, you won't want to put it down.
Thoughts on bonding in Sentinel fan fiction
Though not really developed in canon (there were hints) a popular concept in Sentinel fiction is that there is an one-on-one, lifetime bond between Sentinel and Guide. There are many variations on the theme, but most trace back to the fiction of Susan Foster in which Guides are empaths (and near slaves). After bonding, they are dependent on their Sentinels to maintain the mental barriers that protect them from being overwhelmed by the emotions around them. Sentinels rely on their Guides to provide a baseline for control of their senses, without which they will eventually go insane.
Susan Foster and authors who use her concepts have been criticized for writing slash but being unwilling to admit it. The declarations that the intense, clearly erotic bonding scenes are non-sexual may seem laughable. I can see the point. Nevertheless, I take the writers at their word. If they imagine relationships that are emotionally, and physically intense, yet don't involve sex - to be blunt, no boners, no orgasms - it is their prerogative to portray a profound relationship that happens on a level other than the sexual, though perhaps parallel to it. I find that interesting and the flavor is subtly but significantly different from outright slash. On the other hand, the reader is free to explore whatever subtext she finds.
In some ways it reminds me of the Renaissance sculptures and paintings of saints in ecstasy at the touch of God, especially Bernini's masterpiece 'The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa'.
Saint Theresa describes her experience: "The pain was so great that I screamed aloud; but at the same time I felt such an infinite sweetness that I wished the pain to last forever. It was not physical but psychic pain, although it affected the body as well to some degree. It was the sweetest caressing of the soul by God."
The imagery is erotic on the surface, but it would be crass to suggest that is all that is happening. The effect on the person experiencing it is profoundly different. We may be talking sublimation, but that's a legitimate redirection of energy. Perhaps it is a good metaphor for bonding as depicted in these stories, which is described as physical, emotional, neurological, spiritual, sensual, and psychic.
This digression is intended as a general discussion of the bonding concept in Sentinel fiction and some of the controversy it has engendered, not specifically the works of any one author. C.D. Stewart is an outstanding example of an author who successfully portrays intense bonding, while making it vividly clear that the relationship is overwhelmingly spiritual.
But I digress :-)
An Excerpt from 'Walking with Dark Angels':
"The fine will be paid." The flat declaration, bleak as an arctic windstorm, cut across his drawing in breath to attempt to smooth things over. "Charge them to my private account."
Umbutu raised one eyebrow expressively. Daric knew her sharp eyes would have missed nothing, from the ridiculously high number of coloured bars through the Dark Angel pin and the tattoo, even to the barely visible black-on-black panther badge. Her slow smile would have turned a shark green. "Certainly, Sir. To what account shall I send the fine invoice?"
"James Joseph Ellison – BY7906ABVX Petty Cash."
Oh, crap. Daric closed in eyes. The only thing needed for his life to get worse was for a piano to drop on his head. Ellison, the oldest, richest, most powerful of the Nine Ruling Families, House Ellison, founder of the Oligarchy, who could destroy the economy of worlds and bring down the governments of solar systems with one languidly waved hand. Daric swallowed heavily and kicked himself for not putting it together – while several scions of the Nine Ruling Houses were rumoured to be black operatives, James Ellison was the only Body Heir whose face was not repeatedly splashed, instantly recognisable, across the Inhabited Galaxies media, which meant that he was a very covert covert operative. At that moment, Daric would have been willing to bet that the man's own parents didn't even possess an accurate – and therefore identifiable - physical likeness of him.
I'm not linking directly to the story, since it is offered in several formats. Scroll a bit more than half-way down the page for chapters or the whole novel in Word, or text, or for it print-formatted (like a zine) for download in Word or a zip file.
Walking With Dark Angels
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: C. D. Stewart's Homepage
Why this must be read:
Two hundred years ago an amoral scientist discovered how to genetically engineer Sentinels but not their necessary, empathic Guides. Now empaths are extremely valuable to all sorts of people.
Three powerful unbonded Sentinels. Three wild empaths. 'The Man', a shadowy user/abuser of the powerless. A far future universe with complex webs of wealth, power, and duty.
C.D. Stewart is one of the authors who uses concepts from Susan Foster's GDP universe, and then does it so much better. Writing in a deft, witty, almost conversational style, she lays out her tale with entertaining diversions into history, social structure, economics, gossip, and pointed observations on the numerous, finely-drawn characters. She explores the conflicts between civilized behavior and instinct, the almost multiple personality natures of Blair Sandburg - anthropologist, activist, wild empath - and the instinct driven Dark Guide and of Jim Ellison - intelligent, ethical human being - and the Dark Sentinel, who must have, protect, and control his Guide at any cost.
Most of all, she tells a compelling story. Once you get into this novel, you won't want to put it down.
Thoughts on bonding in Sentinel fan fiction
Though not really developed in canon (there were hints) a popular concept in Sentinel fiction is that there is an one-on-one, lifetime bond between Sentinel and Guide. There are many variations on the theme, but most trace back to the fiction of Susan Foster in which Guides are empaths (and near slaves). After bonding, they are dependent on their Sentinels to maintain the mental barriers that protect them from being overwhelmed by the emotions around them. Sentinels rely on their Guides to provide a baseline for control of their senses, without which they will eventually go insane.
Susan Foster and authors who use her concepts have been criticized for writing slash but being unwilling to admit it. The declarations that the intense, clearly erotic bonding scenes are non-sexual may seem laughable. I can see the point. Nevertheless, I take the writers at their word. If they imagine relationships that are emotionally, and physically intense, yet don't involve sex - to be blunt, no boners, no orgasms - it is their prerogative to portray a profound relationship that happens on a level other than the sexual, though perhaps parallel to it. I find that interesting and the flavor is subtly but significantly different from outright slash. On the other hand, the reader is free to explore whatever subtext she finds.
In some ways it reminds me of the Renaissance sculptures and paintings of saints in ecstasy at the touch of God, especially Bernini's masterpiece 'The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa'.
Saint Theresa describes her experience: "The pain was so great that I screamed aloud; but at the same time I felt such an infinite sweetness that I wished the pain to last forever. It was not physical but psychic pain, although it affected the body as well to some degree. It was the sweetest caressing of the soul by God."
The imagery is erotic on the surface, but it would be crass to suggest that is all that is happening. The effect on the person experiencing it is profoundly different. We may be talking sublimation, but that's a legitimate redirection of energy. Perhaps it is a good metaphor for bonding as depicted in these stories, which is described as physical, emotional, neurological, spiritual, sensual, and psychic.
This digression is intended as a general discussion of the bonding concept in Sentinel fiction and some of the controversy it has engendered, not specifically the works of any one author. C.D. Stewart is an outstanding example of an author who successfully portrays intense bonding, while making it vividly clear that the relationship is overwhelmingly spiritual.
But I digress :-)
An Excerpt from 'Walking with Dark Angels':
"The fine will be paid." The flat declaration, bleak as an arctic windstorm, cut across his drawing in breath to attempt to smooth things over. "Charge them to my private account."
Umbutu raised one eyebrow expressively. Daric knew her sharp eyes would have missed nothing, from the ridiculously high number of coloured bars through the Dark Angel pin and the tattoo, even to the barely visible black-on-black panther badge. Her slow smile would have turned a shark green. "Certainly, Sir. To what account shall I send the fine invoice?"
"James Joseph Ellison – BY7906ABVX Petty Cash."
Oh, crap. Daric closed in eyes. The only thing needed for his life to get worse was for a piano to drop on his head. Ellison, the oldest, richest, most powerful of the Nine Ruling Families, House Ellison, founder of the Oligarchy, who could destroy the economy of worlds and bring down the governments of solar systems with one languidly waved hand. Daric swallowed heavily and kicked himself for not putting it together – while several scions of the Nine Ruling Houses were rumoured to be black operatives, James Ellison was the only Body Heir whose face was not repeatedly splashed, instantly recognisable, across the Inhabited Galaxies media, which meant that he was a very covert covert operative. At that moment, Daric would have been willing to bet that the man's own parents didn't even possess an accurate – and therefore identifiable - physical likeness of him.
I'm not linking directly to the story, since it is offered in several formats. Scroll a bit more than half-way down the page for chapters or the whole novel in Word, or text, or for it print-formatted (like a zine) for download in Word or a zip file.
Walking With Dark Angels