The Worst Journey in the World by shapinglight (R)

[lyr]

Hello again! This is your friendly neighborhood Lyr once more; I'm back to drive the Angel & Buffyverse van for July. I shall again be attempting to represent a broad spectrum in my recs, so that hopefully there'll be a little something for everyone. Let's get rolling!

Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing: Mostly gen with some Spike/Buffy
Length: 26,861 words
Author on LJ: shapinglight
Author Website: Distorting Mirrors
Why this must be read: There is absolutely no aspect of this story which fails to impress. The characterizations are stunningly perfect, both in their trueness to canon and all the extremely believable ways they've been changed by later events. The setting is so richly detailed and vivid that it creates a compelling sense of full sensory reality---I actually feel a vicarious chill while reading. The plot is also wonderfully novel and exciting, as well as beautifully paced. The historical details about Scott and Oates and the Polar expedition add a wonderful grace note to the whole picture, too. What I love best about this story, though, are the emotional dynamics: how Spike and Buffy have settled into a comfortable, mutually reliant partnership that suits them both well; how Spike and Wesley mostly snarl at each other, but still have some connections and mutual understandings between them; how all three of these characters still love Angel after their own fashions with amazing force, and how that love still guides their actions in surprising, yet ultimately perfectly understandable, ways.

The Worst Journey in the World