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.