Laura Picken

Author at Cascade Library http://www.skeeter63.org/tslibrary/authors/auth-laurapicken.htm.

Blessed Protector (Sentinel/Buffy)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 16th January 2000 (1)

Good stuff. I liked how the author did the Prophecy, suitably vague and informative both. There were some interesting "sense" things (to say more would spoil), one a particularly good idea. The interaction of the characters was good, particularly Blair going into enthusiastic-academic mode (grin). A couple of Buffyverse inaccuracies niggled me a bit, but they were very minor.

This is my second read-through, Laura's stuff is actually some of the first Sentinel fic I ever read, I thought I'd better re-read it so as to put it up here on the reviews page.

Divine Intervention (X-Files/Touched By An Angel/Piercing the Darkness)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 16th January 2000 (2)
Tags: Novella
(249K)

Really good story. Drags you in and keeps you there, weaves the three universes together very well. For those who don't know, "Piercing the Darkness" is a fantasy novel by Frank Peretti, involving the battle between angels and demons - and the human beings on each side. The connection with TBAA is obvious - and the fact that Mulder and Scully have encountered demonic forces before is also a linking factor. So it all works. Good character stuff - how would Mulder and Scully react when encountering the divine? And I like the idea that someone is praying for them as a team which explains why things always seem to go wrong when one of them hares off without the other. (grin) This is also better than the usual TBAA crossovers, because the PtD and X-Files factor means that it isn't just about healing relationships, encouraging and forgiving people, but there's murder and mayhem and danger as well.

Addendum: This story is available at http://www.gossamer.org/ but note that there is more than one story there called "Divine Intervention" so check the author as well.

The Fleeting Feet (Sentinel)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 29th January 2000 (3)

Nice little short. Sometimes Sentinel hearing is a real pain... (grin)

Sentinel, Watcher, Warrior, Guide (Sentinel/La Femme Nikita)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 17th January 2000 (2)

(Alternative title: Substation Sentinel) Starts with a bang. This is a good story, but it makes me sad. It made me realize another reason why I never got into LFN; such slavery is abhorrent to me no matter how many lives might be saved by its employment, and to whitewash the crime by declaring that it is in a good cause (which didn't happen in the movie) makes it worse. "The fear of death is the beginning of slavery." The ends do not justify the means. Seeing it all happen to characters I know and like, as distinct from a character that we were just getting to know, brought the issues into sharp focus. Which probably means that this is a really good story since it stirred me up so much!

Threefold: Truth and Consequences (Charmed)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 18th August 2000 (2)

This story is in The Hot Corner issue 6/7. I liked this. The epilogue was fun.

To Protect And Serve (Sentinel/Quantum Leap)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 28th January 2000

Reasonably good crossover, some good ideas there, the thing with Sam coping with Jim's senses, and the thing with Al were good. There's only one thing that's niggling at me: why was it actually necessary for Sam to have leapt into Jim in the first place? As far as I can see, Jim already had all the information he would have needed, and having Sam leap only made things more difficult.

PhD

(1) What If I Stumble? (Sentinel/Touched By An Angel)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 26th January 2000 (1)

Prequel to Blair Sandburg, PhD.. Good. Reading it for the second time, I see more what the connection between the song of the title, and the story is: both Blair and Jim are walking on tightropes, finding they can't protect the other, saying No more!. Blair runs smack into the dissertation problem: how can he publish his dissertation (or even continue it) without revealing Jim's identity and abilities? And then Blair gets hurt, and Jim, again, worries how he can't protect his partner from the violence of his life. And what have the angels got to do with it? What do you think?

(2) Blair Sandburg, PhD. (Sentinel)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 26th January 2000 (2)

Laura's Alternative Universe solution to the dissertation problem. What If I Stumble? is the prequel to this. Pretty good.

(3) Truth, Justice and the American Way (Sentinel)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 26th January 2000 (3)

Laura's solution to the post-dissertation problem: once Blair has finished his dissertation, how can he keep working with Jim? Sequel to Blair Sandburg, PhD. Pretty good.

(4) Venom (Sentinel/Kung Fu: The Legend Continues)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 29th January 2000 (1)
Tags: Novella
(162K)

I had actually forgotten that I had read this one before. I think I found it hard to engage, because I've never seen KFTLC, and couldn't click with those characters.

Addendum: nominated for favourite crossover story in the 2001 Cascade Times Awards.

(5) Blinded By The Light (Sentinel)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 29th January 2000 (2)

I have mixed feelings about this one. Continuing on in the author's AU universe, a different way of revealing the Sentinel secret. Seems almost more probable that it would be done by an enemy than by a well-meaning friend; or maybe it's just easier to cope with that way. Anyway, that part was good. However, I'm not comfortable with the Shamanistic stuff when it gets too magical. Call it personal taste. So that was a negative for me. Even though that was a very powerful scene! (shrug)

Someone to Watch Over Me

(1) Someone to Watch Over Me (Sentinel/X-Files)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 16th January 2000 (3)

The problem with this one is that I can't really accept the premise. This isn't helped by having been written before "Sentinel Too" and therefore inconsistent with that and later Sentinel lore. Given that, however, it's not bad. Some bits are passed over a bit quickly, that might have been better gone into in a bit more detail, but the idea about this particular serial killer was a good one, though again, a bit lacking in detail, since we never actually find out his motive.

(2) Siege (Sentinel/X-Files)

Reviewed by Kathryn A on 16th January 2000 (4)

Sequel to Someone To Watch Over Me. Now, having read Tate's "psychic" series (starting with Dead Drop: Alternate Ending), this story makes more sense than it did when I read it the first time. When I read it the first time, having a psychic link between a Sentinel and a Guide seemed too far-fetched, and treated far too casually. Now that I know the antecedents, I still feel as if it were treated too casually. At least in Tate's series, it was something surprising, dangerous and disturbing. Here, it's simply accepted, snap, like that. I find that a bit hard to believe.