In message 001d01c15837$8a61df00$e535fea9@neilfaulkner, Neil Faulkner N.Faulkner@tesco.net writes
From: Natasa Tucev tucev@tesla.rcub.bg.ac.yu
It almost inspires one to write a parody of the 'cave' sub-genre.
Some of them do a pretty good job of that without even trying.
Yes, I think I've read one or two.
Of course, "parody" means "satirical imitation" - the parody does not need to be overtly humorous, which can lead to all *sorts* of interesting possibilities when writing one.
'Course, like any top ten, a lot depends on the mood of the moment.
Ditto. Or which zines I've read most recently. Which is why I'm not going to put up a top ten. It will be different tomorrow.
Besides, which top ten do you want? Neil's stories are unlikely to appear on my top ten "lie down in private for a while" list, but quite likely to appear on my top ten "political rant" and "action adventure" lists. Then there are several stories by more hydraulically inclined authors that are likely to appear on both my "lie down in private for a while" and "political rant" lists. (I do wish MFae would come back to B7.)
The thing I notice about both lists is the preponderance of UK authors. Hmmm...
Is that because you mostly read UK zines, though?
Mind you, having been recently going through a stack of early zines with a view to writing reviews, I am struck by how awful a lot of them were. And being early zines, they were British. I've just read a classic Mary Sue, 55 pages of this wonderful woman with red hair, violet eyes, and legs down to *there*, single-handedly saving the crew and knowing more about operating the Liberator than they do. Pass the sick bag...