thank you thank you for the recs~! i don't think i've read self reliance, the road less traveled by or price of the future, so i'll definitely try those (sad to hear that one or more may never be finished - WIPs are quite prevalent in the naruto fandom, don't know why...). i've read parallels (good stuff, the authors have some other good fics as well) and the sound of dreams, but this reminds me that i should go back and re-read some of my favs, including parallels, though i'm not sure i'll go back to the sound of dreams. i was a bit conflicted reading it - loved the writing, the plot and the super hot smuttiness, but something about the characterizations didn't jive with me. naruto seemed a bit too serene and powerful while sasuke felt a little too childish and weak... the thing i love about this pairing is that no one ever seems to get the upper hand, and a nice tension is maintained through their relationship, it's pretty essential to me that they are both equally emotionally wrecked and physically skilled. thinking back a bit, i remember this one scene in the sound of dreams where sasuke is easily beaten by naruto in a sword fight... seemed off given that sasuke is the one with sword education... but all that aside, i think zrina is a great author and have enjoyed her other fics, including short pwps like qwiky lube :)

outside HP, i've never read fanfics based on published fiction, so i'm super excited to check out a deeper season. it sounds fantastic.

i agree with you on how the seafort saga ended. the penultimate book killed me - jared's death seemed sooo senseless - consequently i couldn't enjoy the last book either.... i enjoyed the still by david feintuch, but thought that the follow-up was kinda weak. i've read the honor harrington series and enjoyed it (which surprised me at the time, because i tend to prefer male protagonists and POVs, don't know why). i haven't read any sharon lee/steve miller, but i pulled them up on amazon and am intrigued by their liaden series. love love well written space operas. i'm always looking for a good book, so thank you for the rec!! if i can return the favor, don't know if you've read the chosen by ricardo pinto, but it's rather intriguing. totally brutal at times, but the prose is practically lyrical. plus, it's the first of a trilogy and the second book is actually better than the first. still working on the third.