Anthology Slash zine from OTP Press
Review by: Slantedlight
Review
I wasn't entirely sure who was supposed to be on the cover of this zine, although it's a pretty enough picture, but the fact that it was a young man with most of his chest showing, standing in front of a unicorn, both of them in the water, didn't lead me to expect great things, I have to admit. But...
I really enjoyed this zine! There are essentially four stories within (the four poems really aren't my thing), all alternative universe.
"The Little Merman" by Jane Mailander sounds like a relatively dreadful premise - Doyle is the merman in question, Bodie the human he falls for - but Mailander completely pulls it off. It's a historical fantasy au, and I really enjoyed it. Well written, neither soppy nor plain, just right in fact! (This is the only story available outside the zine, at time of writing).
"The Swordsman" is a long fantasy story from Jane. Bodie is heir to a dukedom, and his life is in danger. Doyle, a swordsman travelling the lands for reasons he keeps to himself, is hired as his bodyguard, and with the help of a few original characters they manage to uncover the plot and the plotters. The ending, though, is not at all what I expected, which was actually quite refreshing!
"The Incubus", by Dee, sees Doyle discovering a rather unusual ability (yeah, guess which, eh?) and is a mixture of slightly-mission and relationship based plot. Another enjoyable read.
Finally, "And Now For Something Completely Different" by Gena Fisher - well, with a title like that I really should have guessed, but I didn't and so I giggled quite alot all the way through. Just to taunt you a little:
"... dead, I'm tellin you." Bodie pointed out as he and Doyle regarded their prisoner. Doule shook his head, he had a bad track where the longevity of prisoner's lives were involved and so refused to be convinced without proof.
"Nah, 's not dead. Just restin'." Doyle edged closer nudging the man with the toe of his boot."
See where Fisher is going with that..?
In general, yes there are some typos and some grammar mistakes - but I only noticed the latter when I was typing out that excerpt, the writing is good enough that you skim over them, otherwise.
In general - liked this zine, recommend it! (As long as you're happy with alternate universe and fantasy, anyway!)
Slantedlight, 2007