Agnes Mage

Author at Wolfpup's Den http://www.skeeter63.org/wolfpupsden/.

Glassfish (Sentinel)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 28th August 2001 (1)
Tags: Novella
(182K)

This story was nominated in the Cascade Times Awards 2001 for Favourite Drama Story, which is why I read it. Why I started reading it. I don't normally review stories that I haven't finished, but I simply couldn't bear to finish this one. Why? It wasn't the style -- the writing was very good, most noteworthy in the little passages which were put in front of each part, where others often put quotes -- those were lovely, and very quotable. No, it was the characters. The Jim and Blair here are off -- as if they'd been viewed in the Goblin's mirror, and distorted, just enough, into the worst versions of themselves. Just one or two steps beyond. Blair is free-spirited and disorganized, yes -- but he isn't an irresponsible child! Jim is organized and a control freak and sometimes a bit of a hardass, yes, but he is neither Blair's father nor his commanding officer, and he has absolutely no right to treat Blair the way he treats him. Blair is a responsible adult, dammit! He's perfectly capable of looking after himself. And yet this Blair is grateful -- grateful for the way this Jim "looks after him". And this Jim doesn't trust Blair to even tell the truth about whether or not his friends were drinking! This was a distortion for the worst of both of them, and it was just too painful for me to bear to watch. So when a friend told me to stop being a masochist, I did, and didn't finish the story. Now, I know that this story is obviously popular, otherwise it wouldn't have been nominated. That's fine. Some people obviously adored it. I didn't. YMMV.