Jacqui wrote:
Does that American detective story with 'a group of names' deliberately borrowed from Blake's Seven count?
Which one's that? Do you have any details? How close are the names? Are they recognisable as characters too?
In her avatar list, Judith mentions a western novel ("Darrow's Law") with the two main characters called Darrow and Keating. I actually read it out of curiosity and it was pretty light-weight and forgettable, but the sheriff and his deputy were definitely Avon and Vila. I read another one, ("The Raven Ring"), also not that great, but with a recognisable Vila avatar.
However, I'd highly recommend another book I read last year, before I saw the recent B7 reruns here. It was "City of Diamond" by Jane Emerson, a wonderful book with a fascinating and detailed universe, quite different from that of B7. Two of my favourite characters from it were Tal the 'demon' (an alien who found human emotions incomprehensible) and his side-kick, a charming, funny and nervous thief, whose name I've forgotten, but whom I liked very much. Great, well-drawn, rounded characters. It was only when I saw it mentioned by Judith that I realised that those two were indeed Avon and Vila, though I don't think I would have recognised Avon as readily. I must re-read the book - it's good enough to enjoy many times. I hope Emerson writes a sequel; she left the way open for one.
Nico
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Nico said:
Does that American detective story with 'a group of names' deliberately borrowed from Blake's Seven count?
Which one's that? Do you have any details? How close are the names? Are
they
recognisable as characters too?
Barbara Paul, Full Frontal Murder--lots of name-checks, but no connection to B7. Paul also wrote an earlier book in the same series, The Apostrophe Thief. The setting is the production of a play called The Apostrophe Thief-- a tip of the hat to the missing apostrophe in Blakes7.
Dana
Ps--a pound of feathers is a 16-oz avoirdupois pound, whereas a pound of gold is a 14-oz troy pound.
In message 007301c18757$d537e840$f681590c@dshilling, Dana Shilling dshilling@worldnet.att.net writes
Nico said:
Does that American detective story with 'a group of names' deliberately borrowed from Blake's Seven count?
Which one's that? Do you have any details? How close are the names? Are
they
recognisable as characters too?
Barbara Paul, Full Frontal Murder--lots of name-checks, but no connection to B7. Paul also wrote an earlier book in the same series, The Apostrophe Thief. The setting is the production of a play called The Apostrophe Thief-- a tip of the hat to the missing apostrophe in Blakes7.
In fact the last four books in the Marian Larch series all feature hacker Curt Holland, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Avon. A deliberate uncanny resemblance by the time of Full Frontal Murder, so there is a B7 connection other than the names. There is even a BUARA scene in Full Frontal Murder...
See http://www.barbarapaul.com/holland.html for more details on Holland and the B7 connection. Holland also gets a short story to himself, apart from the four novels he appears in.
Julia said:
In fact the last four books in the Marian Larch series all feature hacker Curt Holland, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Avon. A deliberate uncanny resemblance by the time of Full Frontal Murder, so there is a B7 connection other than the names.
Except that they both have dark hair and neither of them is likely to be elected president of the Rotary Club any time soon, I don't see the resemblance myself. Pause for a moment to recollect that in Holland's first appearance in the series he is an *FBI agent*--and his girlfriend Marian Larch is a homicide detective. I suppose it could be argued that Anna was something of the sort, but Avon didn't know that.
-(Y)
Dana Shilling wrote:
Julia said:
In fact the last four books in the Marian Larch series all feature hacker Curt Holland, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Avon. A deliberate uncanny resemblance by the time of Full Frontal Murder, so there is a B7 connection other than the names.
Except that they both have dark hair and neither of them is likely to be elected president of the Rotary Club any time soon, I don't see the resemblance myself. Pause for a moment to recollect that in Holland's first appearance in the series he is an *FBI agent*--and his girlfriend Marian Larch is a homicide detective. I suppose it could be argued that Anna was something of the sort, but Avon didn't know that.
Ah, but he's a RELUCTANT FBI agent basically "forced" to to the work by the man he's working with. (not going further with comparisons so as not to spoil the ending).
Susan M.
In message 00d301c187cf$177973a0$2480590c@dshilling, Dana Shilling dshilling@worldnet.att.net writes
Julia said:
In fact the last four books in the Marian Larch series all feature hacker Curt Holland, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Avon. A deliberate uncanny resemblance by the time of Full Frontal Murder, so there is a B7 connection other than the names.
Except that they both have dark hair and neither of them is likely to be elected president of the Rotary Club any time soon, I don't see the resemblance myself. Pause for a moment to recollect that in Holland's first appearance in the series he is an *FBI agent*--and his girlfriend Marian Larch is a homicide detective. I suppose it could be argued that Anna was something of the sort, but Avon didn't know that.
A professional hacker who has been blackmailed into joining the FBI after being caught hacking into bank accounts...
There are actually a lot of points of resemblance - Pat and Sarah did nice essays on the subject which are on the Holland/Avon page, so I won't repeat it. And yes, I go with the "evil Kirk avatar" theory for the other potential avatar in the first book. (Did any of the Avon-without-guilt group actually ask Barbara about him?) And by _Full Frontal Murder_ Holland's a deliberate avatar, and his experiences in that book show distinct signs of the author having spent too much time with certain Citizens:-)
Dana Shilling wrote:
Except that they both have dark hair and neither of them is likely to be elected president of the Rotary Club any time soon, I don't see the resemblance myself. Pause for a moment to recollect that in Holland's first appearance in the series he is an *FBI agent*
Yeah, but only because the FBI caught him illegally hacking into computers and told him he could either join up and help *them* with his computer abilities or go to jail. I could certainly see Avon doing the same for the Federation, if they'd given him the choice.
Nicola Mody-Nikoloff wrote:
In her avatar list, Judith mentions a western novel ("Darrow's Law") with the two main characters called Darrow and Keating. I actually read it out of curiosity and it was pretty light-weight and forgettable, but the sheriff and his deputy were definitely Avon and Vila.
Either you're being very kind, or I'm simply too demanding. I went to the trouble and expense to order a copy of this from Amazon.co.uk and found it to be *the* most unreadable piece of pro-fic I've ever encountered. Nobody in this book *says* anything - they all snarl, or spit, or expostulate it - and the sentence rhythms are atrocious and grating. I tossed it away in disgust after only a cursory skim. Trying to salvage the expense, I loaned it to my dad, who goes through westerns the way some people go through chocolates, and even he couldn't finish it.
On the upside, after trying to read _Darrow's Law_, I was able to view my own fanfic with a somewhat less jaundiced eye. But consider this a plea for anyone who's interested in reading it to try to borrow it, or get it on interlibrary loan; don't waste your money. It is, IMO, beyond dreadful.
Mistral
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Betty Ragan -
Dana Shilling -
Julia Jones -
Mistral -
Nicola Mody-Nikoloff -
Susan Moore