Katrinka
Doors and Walls
(1) Doors and Walls (X-Files)
Reviewed by Kathryn A on 1st October 2001 (1)
I read this because I was looking for X-Files crossovers, and the
5th in this series is a Tomorrow People crossover, so I thought I'd check
the series out, in order. Avoid them.
This the first story carries on in an AU fashion from the X-Files
episodes "Biogenesis" and "The Sixth Extinction" (and it helps if you've
seen them or at least read the transcripts) with the premise that Mulder
actually remained telepathic -- an interesting premise but its execution
left much to be desired. The style is a jumble of dialogue and
narrative that's too jumpy, and is full of telling, not showing.
And this first story had something in it, that I simply can't believe --
that Byers is a telepath.
(2) Shadows of the Mind (X-Files)
Reviewed by Kathryn A on 1st October 2001 (2)
This is the second story in a series of stories I read because I
wanted to read the 5th story in the series, a Tomorrow People crossover.
Beware, this becomes NC-17 at the end, something I unfortunately hadn't
paid attention to... oh well. The style here did not improve, the
author not only telling-not-showing, but also can't punctuate all that
well. Another unbelievable thing; Byers just happens to come up with a
convenient piece of technology for telepaths, yeah, right. I also can't
believe that Mulder would break down sobbing...
(3) Voices of the Mind (X-Files)
Reviewed by Kathryn A on 1st October 2001 (3)
This is the third story in the Doors and Walls series -- and I
really should have stopped here, but I wanted to read 5 because it was a
Tomorrow People crossover. This story, 3, has two versions, an "NC-17"
version and a "PG" version. I read the PG version, naturally, but this
author has a weird and strange definition of "PG" where "Make love to me
with your fingers" (and the resultant description) is something suitable
for non-adults to read.... As well as all this, this story suffers from
bad punctuation (doesn't anyone know the difference between "your" and
"you're" any more?) and malapropisms (I'm sure she meant censured and
not censored)
(4) A Nice Relaxing Tub (X-Files)
Reviewed by Kathryn A on 1st October 2001 (4)
The fourth story is just a nice MSR thing, Scully gets her cast off
and Mulder does nice things. Not much here at all.
(5) Reflections In The Waves (X-Files/Tomorrow People)
Reviewed by Kathryn A on 1st October 2001 (5)
This is the actual story which put me onto this series in the first
place, since it was a crossover and I was looking for crossovers. It
wasn't worth it. There were some moments, some touches of interesting
potential, attempting to meld the TP universe into the X-Files one
(though it seemed to contradict some of the points made in "The Sixth
Extinction" which seems odd, considering that this whole series is an AU
based on the events of that arc). Unfortunately it was drowned under the
accumulation of telling-not-showing, point-of-view changes, inconsistent
characterisation, and malapropisms & bad grammar:
Scully had drug herself out of bed
"I knew I would be adducted"
and the classic:
"a bunch of people from different plants thinking their better then
everyone else"
No, actually, this one is even more notable:
"All right," Adam said coming to a dissention. "Let's do it."
Avoid this like the Black Oil.